Woggy and Sara watched as the last coin plinked into the water. Woggy dangled over the water, holding tightly to the rope. Sara pulled the rope as Woggy climbed up. Working together, soon Woggy was sitting on the ledge looking down into the water. The surface of the pool was calm and shiny now, but the waters were dark, and they could see nothing below the surface.
Woggy and Sara breathed heavily with exhaustion.
“Thanks for the rescue,” said Woggy.
“No problem, I wish I could have rescued both of you,” Sara said, “I wonder what was in that treasure box.
“I don’t know, but Mr. King sure thought it was important.”
“What do we do now?”
“Let’s go rescue our friends,” Woggy replied.
They stood up, careful not to fall into the water. Sara wound the rope, and slung it over her shoulder. Woggy locked the door to the booby trapped, treasureless room, and put the key back in his pocket.
The journey back was now familiar, and even quicker than it had been the first few times. The closer they got to the dungeon, the quieter they were.
The castle was dark. The stone walls stood strong, but let in chilly drafts of air from outside. Torches hung on the walls flickering light and shadow, and crackling ever so slightly as they burned. Can you picture it? The stones, the hallways, and doors, and all the castle things?
Woggy and Sara peeked around the corner at the dungeon entrance. They saw the two Night Knights still standing guard in front of the dungeon door.
“We need a plan,” Sara whispered.
Woggy looked at the Knights. The shiny one was still working on cleaning that stubborn smudge on his arm. The other one stood attentively, alert to his surroundings.
“I think I have a plan,” Woggy whispered. “Follow me.”
They turned around and walked into the dining room where Mr. King had been feasting not too long ago. There in the side of the room stood a great big fireplace. It was carved right into the stone walls and had an ornate marble mantle above it. On the ground beside the fireplace stood an iron rack with various fireplace tools. There was a shovel), tongs, a poker, a brush, and some bellows.
No fire was burning, but charred wood and ash covered the floor of the fireplace. It looked like whoever was the last person to make a fire was not very good at cleaning up after themselves. (It was probably Mr. King.)
I do not know if you know what a fireplace bellows is, so I am going to tell you, because it is about to be important to the story. It is called a bellows, which sounds plural (meaning more than one), but it is really just one little contraption that helps to blow air on a fire to get the flames going. It works by pushing two paddles together which makes air come out of a little nozzle on the front of it. Keep that in mind.
Woggy told Sara his inventive plan, which included rope, the fireplace bellows, ash, one medium sized bowl, and one large bowl. And this is how the plan worked:
Well, actually, before I tell you how the plan worked, I think that we should check in with our other friends, the ones in the dungeon.
The dungeon was pitch black and scary. The air was damp and cold, and smelled old. When Rob and Finn were first thrown in, they tumbled way down and landed on the cold, stony ground, trapped in the net. Finally, one of them was able to cut through the net with their sword. I am not sure which one it was because, as I have said, it was completely dark in the dungeon. There was only the smallest crack of light that peeked through under the door.
The dungeon door stood several feet above the dungeon floor, and there was no ladder or staircase. Rob flew up to the door and pounded on it for a while, but soon she was tired and decided to fly back down and sit with Finn. The ground was hard. They sat together for what seemed like weeks. Their only hope came when they had heard Sara’s voice saying that she and Woggy were there to rescue them.
The darkness was so dark that their eyes never got used to it. The light shining under the door was just enough to remind them that there was still a world of light outside, but it was not enough to light their world. They were surrounded by cool, damp, dark air, and the two children sat against the rock wall, losing hope by the minute. After what felt like several more weeks they finally heard something else. (It was actually just an hour or two later, but it is really hard to tell time in a dark dungeon.)
This is what Finn and Rob heard on their side of the door: They heard the voice of Mr. King calling for one of the knights. Then they heard a door slam.
A whoosh.
A crash.
A clang.
A smash.
Another slam. Then, finally, the sound of a key in the lock. The door swung open, and they saw light pour in.
You are probably wondering how Mr. King got out of that pool and whether or not he foiled Woggy’s plan. What happened when the door opened? What were all of those sounds? So many questions. Don’t worry, I am about to explain everything.
First, I must set the scene: two Night Knights stood as sentries in front of the dungeon door. Behind that door, deep in the dungeon, sat two lonely children with only the slightest glimmer of hope that they would ever be rescued. Just down one hall and around the corner, in the dining room, stood two more children scheming with all sorts of cleverness.
Woggy held the rope and the big bowl. Sara held all the other plan ingredients: the bellows and the small bowl full of ashes.
Holding the big bowl up to his mouth, Woggy yelled out: “Dull knight! Come into the dining room! I need your help.” He pitched his voice just right and with the help of the bowl distorting the sound, Woggy gave quite an impressive impression of Mr. King.
It definitely fooled the Night Knights; it might have even fooled Mr. King himself. The two knights looked at each other and shrugged. They knew that Mr. King was a cruel and impatient man, and that if he was not obeyed immediately there would be trouble. The shiny knight stayed guard, putting his polishing rag away (although I am not sure where he put it because there are no pockets in suits of armor.) He put his hand on his sword looking left to right with keen alertness.
The dull knight clomped into the dining room. He looked around, but he did not see Mr. King. He did not see anyone. He took several steps inside the room and looked around, confused. Then he heard the door slam and the lock click shut as Woggy turned the key from the outside where Woggy and Sara had snuck out once the knight was several feet in the room. He was trapped in the dining room!
One knight down, one to go.
The second part of Woggy’s plan had to happen quickly. They had to get to the other Knight before he knew what was going on. Sara ran towards the shiny knight holding the other bowl, which was full of ashes. The nozzle of the bellows was in the bowl. Do you remember the bellows? The contraption that blows air through a nozzle? Now Sara pushed the paddles together shooting ashes into the face of the knight. He did not even have time to pull his sword.
Sara dropped the bowl and the bellows. Woggy threw her one end of the rope and held on to the other. They ran on either side of the shiny knight, who was not very shiny anymore, and the rope hit him in the middle. They ran in circles around him, tying him up tighter with every step. Before he knew what was going on, Woggy and Sara had him completely tied up and locked in one of the other rooms. He may not have even bothered to chase them until he cleaned his suit, but they were not going to take any chances. Two knights down.
The only thing that stood in their way now was a locked door. Woggy put the treasure room key in the lock. He remembered that the key did not work for him when he tried it the second time on the treasure room door, and he worried that it would not work on the dungeon room door. The key was not even made for this door. But more than anything, he wanted it to turn.
The key turned. The door opened. Woggy and Sara ran in, almost falling down into the dungeon, but Sara caught herself, then stuck out her arm to keep Woggy from falling in. They looked down at Finn and Rob. Finn and Rob looked up at them. They were together again at last!
Almost.
Looking down at Rob and Finn, Woggy immediately realized that there was a flaw in his brilliant plan. They had used the rope to tie up the second Night Knight, and now they had no way to get their friends out of the deep dungeon. Rob flew up to the open-door leaving Finn alone in the dark.
“Can you climb out?” asked Woggy.
Finn tried, but the walls were slippery and there were not many places to hold on to. He could get up a few feet and then he would just slide back down the wall.
“I can’t do it!” said Finn. “Just leave without me.” This was, of course, a ridiculous but brave thing to say. Finn was still feeling a little helpless from sitting in the dark for so long. There was no way his friends were going to leave him.
Rob had already tried flying with Finn when they first got to the castle wall, and she knew that she could not do it. Woggy leaned over the edge and tried to reach his hand into the darkness for Finn’s hand. But, Finn was too far down.
“What if Rob flies down in the middle, and we grab her arms, and Finn grabs her feet?” asked Sara.
“It’s worth a try,” said Rob. She flew down to give Finn her feet. He grabbed on. Rob tried to fly up, but as she expected she could not lift Finn off of the ground. She reached her hands up, and Woggy and Sara could just barely grasp them. They each held a hand and together they fought gravity and lifted Finn up out of the darkness.
Now, finally, they were all together again at last.
They hugged each other and stepped away from the dungeon. They had finally done it! They were together again. Joy filled them. They laughed with relief and smiled. The room brightened. There had been so much danger, and so many obstacles, but they had overcome them all, and now they were reunited. Everything was good. They were ready to get back to the Perch for some rest in the hammocks, and some sweet mangoes. They had had enough excitement for one day.
Their joy of reunion was interrupted by a loud knocking sound coming from the dining room. It was the sound of metal against wood. Sword against door. The dull knight was trying to get out. They walked past the door when the tip of a sword hacked through it.
“No sense hanging out here,” said Finn. “Let’s go!”