By Aimee
Prologue
Lou realized too late that she was falling. Her last conscious thought before she hit the ground was "Something must have spooked Lightning!"
Her world was spinning. Spinning, spinning. "Please," she thought. "Make it stop." But the spinning continued. Finally, when it seemed as if she couldn't bear it anymore, all was still.
She lay in shock for a few minutes, letting her head clear before she attempted to sit up. Opening her eyes she looked around her, and stood up in surprise.
"Ow," she moaned, holding her head. "Where am I?"
Looking around, nothing she saw was familiar. There were beautiful flowers everywhere, and she kept hearing strange noises coming from the bushes. Like giggling. Flowers couldn't laugh, could they?
Hearing a noise behind her, she realized that wherever she was, Lightning was there too. "Lightning, boy," she said, "I have a feeling we're not at the way station anymore."
The horse nodded his head in response, as if he understood exactly what she was saying. Hearing the giggling sounds again, she spun around in time to see the flowers moving a little. Something was definitely there.
She moved to investigate, but her attention was distracted by a gleaming ball of light. It was moving towards her, growing as it got nearer. She began to walk backwards, away from it, until it stopped coming closer. She watched in amazement as the light disappeared, and before her stood a beautiful woman. She had blond hair and a beautiful pink dress on.
"Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?" She asked.
"What?!" Lou asked. This was definitely not what she expected.
"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" The beautiful woman repeated.
"I'm not a witch at all!" Lou replied. How dare this woman accuse her of being a witch!
"Well, is that the witch then?" The woman pointed behind Lou towards Lightning.
"Lightning? Lightning's not a witch...he's my horse!" Lou exclaimed, not sure whether to laugh or cry.
"Well, I must say, I'm confused," the woman said. "The munchkins called me, because a new witch is here to challenge the old witch. And so I came, and here you are...So the question is, 'Are you a good witch or a bad witch?'"
"But I already told you," Lou exclaimed again. "I'm not a witch at all. Witches are old and ugly!" She spun around as she heard the giggling again. "What was that?!"
The beautiful woman smiled again. "That was the munchkins. They're laughing because, you see, I am a witch. I am Rachel, the good witch of the North."
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lou exclaimed. "But I've never heard of a beautiful witch before!"
"If you're not a witch, then who are you?" Rachel asked again.
"I'm Louise Macloud, from the Rock Creek Pony Express Station."
Rachel smiled again as she called to the munchkins. "It's okay everybody. Come on out and meet Louise."
Lou watched in astonishment as tiny little people began to emerge from the bushes and flowers.
"Louise, these are the munchkins." The little people began dancing around Lou and Rachel, giggling and talking constantly.
Suddenly the talking and laughing turned to shrieking as a ball of fire appeared out of nowhere. Out of the fire appeared a woman dressed all in black.
"Who is that?" Lou whispered to Rachel.
"That's Rosemary, the wicked witch of the West."
Rosemary walked toward Lou. "So, you're the one who's here to challenge me?"
Lou looked at Rachel confused. "I'm not here to challenge anyone. I don't even know why I'm here. I just want to go home!"
Rachel turned to Rosemary, "Go away and leave us alone. You have no power here. Go!"
Rosemary turned to Louise. "I'll go now, but I'm warning you. Watch your back, because I'll get you my pretty!" With that, she disappeared in another ball of fire.
"Louise, I'm afraid you have made an enemy here. You must be very careful from now on," Rachel spoke as the munchkins began to get up. One of them approached Lou.
"I'm Jesse, the mayor of munchkin city. On behalf of all of the citizens of Munchkin City, in the county of the land of SW, I welcome you to our land." He handed her a bouquet of flowers."
"Thank you very much," Lou smiled at Jesse, causing him to blush. She turned to Rachel. "Can you tell me how to get home? Especially now that I have a witch mad at me."
"I'm afraid the only person who can answer that is the Wizard of SW. He lives in Sweetwater. He's very powerful, but very mysterious," Rachel answered.
"How do I find him?" Lou asked.
"You must travel to Sweetwater. It's a very long journey, and I'm afraid since you don't have a saddle for your horse, you will have to walk. All you do is follow the yellow brick road. It will take you where you need to go."
"But, what if..." Lou started to ask. But Rachel disappeared into a ball of light, floating away. "Oh my," Lou said. "People come and go so quickly here!"
The munchkins began to giggle again as they led Lou to the yellow brick road. They walked along with her to the edge of the Munchkin City, where they waved to her until she was out of sight.
Lou walked for hours, following the yellow brick road. Lightning obediently trotted behind her, and she didn't even stop to consider the fact that even though he didn't have his saddle on, she knew how to ride bareback. Rachel, the good witch, had said she must walk, so walk she would. She would do anything to get away from this land, as wonderful as it seemed so far, and back to Rock Creek...back to Auntie Em and Uncle Sam...back to Cody, and Jimmy, and Kid, who worked at the station, and were her dearest friends in the whole world.
"This doesn't seem too bad, boy," she spoke to Lightning. "The yellow brick road will lead us straight to Sweetwater, so there is no chance of getting lost."
Just then, as luck would have it, she came to a fork in the road. Looking around, all she could see was cornfields stretching for miles. There was nobody there to point her in the right direction.
"What do I do now?" She wondered out loud. "Which way should we go, huh Lightning?"
"If I was you, I would go that way," a voice said. Lou spun around to see who spoke. But nobody was in the field next to her, just a scarecrow who was pointing down the path to the right.
"Who said that?" she asked.
"Of course, a lot of folks go that way too," the voice said again. Lou looked toward the scarecrow again, only this time he was pointing to the path on the left.
"Lightning, wasn't he just pointing the other way?" she asked the horse, not taking her eyes off the scarecrow.
"Both ways look nice though," the scarecrow spoke again, crossing his arms to point in both directions.
"You did talk!" Lou said in amazement.
"Of course I can talk," the scarecrow said. "I can move, and I can talk. But I'm still so sad."
"But why?" Lou asked.
"Because when the farmer made me, he forgot to give me a brain," the scarecrow said, sadly.
"You haven't got a brain?" Lou asked.
"No," the scarecrow replied. "And without a brain, I can't figure out how to scare all these crows away. They just come in my field everyday, and eat all my corn." As he spoke a crow landed on his outstretched arm. "Boo," the scarecrow said. "Scat! Go away crow!" But the crow just sat there, munching on some kernels of corn. "You see," the scarecrow said. "Nothing I do will scare them away."
"So you just hang up there all day?" Lou asked.
"Yes," the scarecrow replied. "I can't get down you see, or I would. It does me no good to hang around here since the crows aren't afraid of me."
"Well, maybe I could help you get down," Lou said, climbing over the fence and into the cornfield. She helped free the scarecrow, and they climbed back over the fence and onto the yellow brick road.
"Whoa," she said, catching the scarecrow just in time to keep him from falling.
"I'm sorry," the scarecrow said. "My legs are still a little wobbly."
"That's okay," Lou smiled. "My name is Louise, and I'm on my way to Sweetwater to see the Wizard of Sw. He's going to tell me how to get back home to Rock Creek."
"You're going to see a wizard?" The scarecrow asked. "Do you think if I went to see him, he could give me a brain?"
"I don't see why not," Lou replied. "But even if he wouldn't, you would be no worse off than you are now. But I have to warn you, I have a witch mad at me. And if you are traveling with me, she might be mad at you too."
"Well," the scarecrow said defiantly. "I'm not afraid of any old witch. I'm not afraid of anything...except for fire, you know," he shook his straw arms in explanation.
"I can understand that," Lou said.
"Well, Louise," the scarecrow pointed down the road. "My name is Cody, Scarecody actually, and I would be honored to accompany you to Sweetwater. Shall we?"
With that said, the two started off down the yellow brick road, on their way to Sweetwater; Scarecody to get a brain, and Lou to find her way home.
A couple hours later, Lou, Scarecody, Tin Gunman (who finally insisted they just call him Jim because Tin Gunman was too much for me to type...I mean for them to say!:) entered a dark, creepy forest. Lou stayed close between Cody and Jim, feeling strangely protected by her two new friends...almost as if she had known them for a long time, and knew they could protect her.
The forest was dark and creepy, and as they progressed, it just got darker and creepier. Strange and scary sounds surrounded them, probably made from ordinary forest animals, but twisted into scary and horrible beings by their imaginations.
"It sure is spooky here," Lou said as she huddled closer to her two friends. "Do you think there are wild animals here? Ones that can hurt us?"
"I wouldn't worry," Jim said. "There's probably only cows and chickens and pigs."
"Cows and chickens and pigs?" Lou questioned. "Is there a farm nearby?"
"No, but that's what lives in this forest," Jim replied.
"Cows and chickens and pigs," Lou repeated again. "No lions, tigers, or bears?"
"No, I don't think so," Jim replied.
"Cows and chickens and pigs, oh my!" Lou exclaimed, surprised that such animals would live in the forest.
They continued to walk along, while Lou pondered this in her mind.
Cows and chickens and pigs, oh my, she repeated over and over again. Suddenly, in the middle of chickens a huge, ferocious-looking lion jumped in their path, roaring at them, and sending them running for cover. Lou and Lightning made it behind some trees that lined the path, but Scarecody and Jim weren't quick enough to get away.
"I'll teach you to sneak up on me," the lion roared at Cody. "And I'll teach you to pull a gun on me," he roared at Jim. "I'll fight you both, with one hand behind my back, standing on one leg, blindfolded, using just my teeth." The lion seemed stubborn enough to insist on fighting, no matter how prepared he was for it.
When Cody and Jim didn't move fast enough to please the lion, he headed toward Lightning, who had wandered out from his hiding place.
"Oh, you want to fight me do you?" the lion began roaring at Lightning and swiping his claws through the air in front of him.
"How dare you!" Lou stepped out from her hiding place to slap the lion on the nose.
"Why'd you do that for?" the lion asked, rubbing his sore nose. "I was just trying to scare him."
"Well how would you like it if something more powerful than you jumped out at you and tried to scare you?" Lou asked furiously. She looked at the lion, who was now rubbing his nose and beginning to cry. "Why, you're nothing but a big coward!"
"You're right," the lion said. "I am a coward. I'm afraid of everything. I haven't slept in weeks, because I'm too afraid. Look at these circles under my eyes," he turned to Cody and Jim.
"If you can't sleep, why don't you try counting sheep?" Scarecody asked.
"I would," the lion replied, "but I'm too afraid of them."
"Well," Lou said. "Why don't you come to Sweetwater with us. We're going to see the Wizard of SW to ask him to give Scarecody a brain, and Tin Gunman Jim a heart, and to help me get home. I'm sure if you asked, he would give you some courage."
"You really think so?" Lion asked. "I'm not sure...I would be too afraid to ask him for it."
"Nonsense," Lou replied. "All you have to do is ask...the worst that can happen is he says no and you are no worse off than you are now."
"Maybe I will come with you," Lion said. "When I was younger, my mom used to say to me, 'Kid, you're gonna have to face your fears sooner or later..it might as well be now.' Of course, I didn't face them then, I was too afraid. But I will now," he said with determination.
"Your mother called you Kid?" Scarecody asked.
"Didn't you have a real name?" Jim added.
"Yes," Lion said. "But everybody just called me Kid."
"Well," Lou said. "I'm Lou, this is Cody, and that's Jim. And this is my horse Lightning. And Kid, we'd love it if you would accompany us to Sweetwater."
"I'd be honored," Kid said, taking her arm. Together, the little group marched down the yellow brick road toward Sweetwater.
"Jim," Lou asked as they left the forest behind. "Why did you tell me there were no lions in the forest, when clearly there are some?"
"I didn't want to scare you," Jim replied.
The four travelers left the forest behind, and found themselves in a meadow. Just on the other side, they could see the outskirts of Sweetwater. At last, they were about to see the Wizard! They took off running through the meadow, and before long they were knocking on the gates of the city.
An odd looking man opened the window of the gate and asked, "Who goes there?"
Lou stepped forward. "We're here to see the Wizard, please. I'm Lou, and this is Scarecody, Tin Gunman Jim, and Kid the Cowardly Lion. We've come a long long way to ask the Wizard to give Cody a brain, Jim a heart, and Kid some courage. And I want to ask the Wizard to help me get home."
"Well, come on in, come on in," the odd man said, opening the gate. He led them to a wagon, which took them to the entrance of the Wizards office. Lou knocked on the door, and another odd looking man emerged...strangely, he looked just like the man who answered the gate!
"What do you want?" the man asked.
"We're here to see the Wizard," Lou said.
"Do you have an appointment?" the man asked.
"No," Jim said, "But tell him it's urgent."
"Why don't you tell me what you want, and I'll decide whether it's worth bothering the Wizard about," the man said.
"Why should we?" Jim asked defiantly.
"I'm Barnett, the Wizard's secretary. All requests for appointments must be made through me. If I think it's important enough, I'll tell the Wizard that you're here." Barnett told him.
"I'm Louise," Lou said, tired by now of telling how she wanted to go home, and Cody wanted a brain, and Jim wanted a heart, and Kid wanted courage, and how they had come a long long way, with a witch mad at her; but she told the tale once again, and Barnett soon disappeared into the Wizard's office to deliver their request for an appointment.
Soon, Barnett opened the door again. "The Wizard said, go away!" he told them, slamming the door shut!
Determinedly, Lou banged on the door again.
"What do you want now?" Barnett asked, frustrated.
"I want to see the Wizard right now, and I'm not leaving here until I do," Lou demanded.
Barnett once again said, "Go away," and slammed the door. Lou banged again, and they went through this little ritual, until finally Barnett grew so frustrated with her determination, that he opened the door and let them in.
"But I'll make sure the Wizard knows that I had no say in this matter," he threatened as they walked down a long hallway towards the Wizard's inner office, Kid trying not to turn around and run. Of course, they had to grab him a couple times to keep him with them.
Slowly the four travelers entered the inner office. Their journey had come to an end...at least they hoped it had. They approached a huge desk, where a large man was sleeping with his feet propped up.
"Excuse me," Lou timidly reached out to touch the man's shoulder. When that failed to wake him, she shook it harder. Finally, with a grunt, the man sat up and removed his hat from over his eyes.
"What are you doing here?" he asked gruffly.
"We are here to see the Wizard," Lou said, looking around for anything that might represent a Wizard of some kind.
"Why do you want to see me?" the man asked.
"You're the Wizard?" Lou asked incredulously, shocked that a Wizard could be so, well, so ordinary.
"The one and only," the man said. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm Lou and this is Scarecody, and..."
"I know very well who you are and why you have come," the man interrupted.
"Then why did you ask?" Scarecody stepped forward, only to jump back in fear at the look the man gave him.
"You Scarecody, shall have your brain. And you Tin Gunman Jim shall have your heart, and Cowardly Lion Kid your courage. And you Louise, you shall go home. But first," the man held up his hand to symbolize that they would have to wait for their requests to be granted. "First, you must do something to prove you are worthy of these gifts."
"What?" Jim asked.
"You must bring me the hairclip of Rosemary, the Wicked Witch of the West."
"Her hairclip!?" Cody repeated. "But we'll have to kill her to get that!"
"Bring me her hairclip, or you will not receive your requests," the Wizard boomed. The friends hurriedly turned to leave, Cowardly Lion Kid running back down the hallway to safety.
To Be continued...Chapter VII
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Copyright 1999: not be be reproduced
