Get your own Free Home PageThe Keeper of the Bridge and the Elegant Elephant of Oz walked on the road to the Castle of the Red Jinn all morning without any problems. The country that they were traveling through was mountainous, but the road was flat, winding around the sides of the mountains. There was little scenery, except for an occasional fire-fall and a few Nomes who looked out of caves in the mountains, but either did not notice or did not care about the road-followers. The travelers once saw a path that branched off from the road that they were following, but Araunaudi stated that the branching-off path probably did not lead to the Red Jinn's Castle, so the elephant and the Balance continued to travel along the road that they had been taking.
Slightly after noon, the travelers came upon an obstacle. The obstacle was a high and long wall of stone that completely blocked the road. The two largest members of the party halted in front of the wall.
"Now what?" asked Kabumpo angrily. "If we travel around this wall, we'll lose the road. I suppose we had better turn back and try that other road. At least then we'll be walking on a well-defined path, and it must lead somewhere."
So saying, the Elegant Elephant turned around and attempted to walk. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not move a step.
"What is wrong here?" demanded Kabumpo. "I can't move an inch!"
"Didn't I say this was a one-way street? It leads to the Red Jinn's Castle, but not away from it," explained the Balance.
"Then what shall we do now?" was the Elegant Elephant's angry inquiry.
"I know!" shouted A. Miner. "I'll use the Magic Shovel to dig through the wall!"
Araunaudi commanded the Shovel to dig and threw it at the wall. Strangely enough, the magical tool went right through the wall.
"No, it COULDN'T be!" exclaimed Kabumpo.
The Elegant Elephant hit the wall with his trunk. Like the Shovel, the trunk went through the stone obstacle. After his experiment, Kabumpo walked through the wall himself. The Balance followed him.
"There was no wall!" explained the elephant. "It was just an illusion! But that trick is ancient! Witches and sorcerers have been using it since prehoztoric times!"
"But it's still effective!" said Oogab.
"I just can't believe that I was fooled by it," stated Kabumpo. "Well, come on, it can't be too much farther to Jinnicky's Castle."
So the travellers continued on their journey. By nightfall, the country had changed from a sandy, rocky, mountainous region to a land of grassy fields. A few apple trees grew in the area. A. Miner and Oogab picked apples to eat, while Kabumpo munched on the leaves of a tree. When the monkey and the miner had finished with their meal, they placed some apples in the bag that Araunaudi used to store jewels.
At about ten o' clock that night, Kabumpo became too tired to press on. So he and the two primates lay down under the branches of a fan tree. Kabumpo set an alarm clock from his pocket to ring at seven in the morning. The elephant, the Evian, and the monkey soon fell asleep. While they rested, the Balance and the Weights, who needed no sleep, stood guard.
The three sleepers were awakened on the next morning by Kabumpo's alarm clock. They then had a quick breakfast, Araunaudi and Oogab eating apples and Kabumpo eating leaves. After breakfast, the travellers resumed their positions, and the journey along the road continued.
Although the country remained pleasant, the party passed no people or residences. Therefore, the adventurers had no one to ask directions of, and they just had to hope that they were on the right track.
At about one-thirty that afternoon, the companions reached another fork in the road. A sign-post stood at this one, and two signs stated that the east branch led "TO THE ROLLING COUNTRY" and the north branch led "TO BLEACH BEACH."
"Well, which road should we take?" asked the Elegant Elephant.
"I would advise going to Bleach Beach," said A. Miner. "I've heard of the Rolling Country, and it's supposed to be a very unpleasant place."
"I have also heard of the Rolling Country," announced Kabumpo. "Ozma, the glorious and illustrious Queen of Oz, was once there, and she says that it's a land of earth that rolls like the sea. I would rather not go there."
"And besides, Jinnicky's Castle is on the beach," added Araunaudi, "so we can just follow the coast from Bleach Beach."
As everyone agreed with these reasons, the party took the road to the north. It was a good road, leading over plains and through small forests. However, the party saw no people until seven o' clock in the evening.
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