Dorothy Must Die 00.9 - The Queen of Oz by Danielle Paige

Author:Danielle Paige
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

PART

THREE

First Pete had to find the Wizard. And then he could find Jasper.

Based on what Jasper had told him, he’d decided that the only way to escape Mombi for good was to ask for the Wizard’s help. Otherwise it was just a matter of time before she found him again and brought him back to that terrible hovel in the woods to spend the rest of his life locked away behind powerful magic, bored out of his mind. Jasper had said the Wizard had vanished, but maybe Pete could find him.

Pete knew the woods and mountains around Mombi’s cottage like the back of his hand, but he’d never gone more than a few miles in any direction. Once he came out of the countryside he knew, he got lost almost immediately. Jasper’s map was little more than a rough sketch, and it soon became clear that the Munchkin had traveled enough to take for granted landmarks that meant nothing to Pete. Plus, the map had gotten wet in his escape from Mombi’s, and whole sections of it were blurred and unreadable.

But he couldn’t bring himself to throw the map away, even though it was useless. Jasper had been the closest thing to a friend he’d ever made in his short, lonely life. At night, sleeping curled up in makeshift shelters of leaves in branches like a forest animal, wrapped in his lone blanket, he clutched the tattered paper to his chest as if it could show him the way in his dreams.

The farther he journeyed from the mountains, the more frequently he passed through villages and towns. In Gillikin Country, people were cheerful and friendly. Seeing that he was alone and often hungry, they offered him meals and even a place to sleep for the night. If he was hungry enough, he accepted their offers, but for the most part he was too painfully shy and tongue-tied. He was reminded again and again how strange and sheltered his life had been with hardly any contact with anyone besides Mombi.

When he passed other children laughing and playing, it occurred to him he had only read about things like games in books, never experienced them himself. The people he passed eyed him curiously; he was certain it was because he was lonely and freakish, although in truth it was mostly because strangers didn’t often come through Gillikin Country, and they were only curious.

His resentment of Mombi, always strong, only deepened. It was her fault he didn’t know how to talk to anyone. Her fault he was so painfully shy that he fled, speechless, from most offers of help. She hadn’t taught him anything; she hadn’t even taught him magic, the one thing she did know.

As the days passed, no matter how far he walked, the Emerald City only seemed farther and farther away. And once he found it, then what? He had no idea who in the city to ask for help, or if they would even help him. Jasper had said Dorothy was beautiful and kind and surrounded by friends.

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