The Straw King (Dorothy Must Die Novella) Read Free Page A

the Lion’s muscles bunching underneathhim as his friend began to run.
    More soldiers streamed out of the main gates of the palace, howling bloodthirsty cries and taking shots at the escapees, but they couldn’t match the Lion’s speed. Soon, their pursuers fell away behind them, and their warlike shrieks faded away, to be replaced with the Lion’s hoarse, gasping breath. “Out . . . of . . . shape!” he panted. But he continued to run until there was no sign at all of Jinjur or her army, finally slowing to a walk when it was clear they were well away from the castle.
    The Scarecrow finally allowed his fingers to relax their grip on the Lion’s mane, and he slid from his friend’s back and collapsed on the ground, too shaken to sit up. The Lion sat down with a sigh, sprawling. “We shouldn’t rest long,” he said. “They’ll be after us. Nasty piece of work, those girls.”
    The Scarecrow was so tired and frightened he couldn’t think. “Where will we go? What will we do?”
    The Lion gave him an amused look. “You’re supposed to be the one with the brains, Scare. You can come back to the Kingdom of the Beasts with me, if you want. You’ll be safe enough there, and you can figure out what this Jinjur wants and where she came from.”
    The Scarecrow shook his head. “She said she wanted to rule Oz,” he said, bewildered. “But the Wizard said I should be king. Isn’t that enough?”
    “Apparently not,” the Lion rumbled. A thoughtful look crossed his face. “Oz is changing, old friend, whether we like it or not. An invasion of the Emerald Palace—I’ve never heardof such a thing either, and I was a cub long before you were put on a pole in that cornfield. Even when people were dissatisfied with the Wizard’s rule, they never would have tried to oust him. But now . . .” He chewed the end of his tail. “You’ve spent all your time in the library, old friend, and not enough letting the people of Oz know you’re their king. Jinjur saw an opportunity and took it. She must have been plotting ever since the Wizard took power, but it wasn’t until you took over the throne that she saw her chance.”
    “But how can I be a good king if I don’t know the job?” the Scarecrow asked, his voice plaintive. “Reading is the only way to learn.”
    The Lion looked at him solemnly. “Maybe it’s time you learn by doing,” he said.

FOUR
    The Lion did not let them rest long. Sniffing and growling to himself, he paced around in the grass until he got his bearings, and then he urged the Scarecrow to his feet. The Scarecrow privately hoped his friend would continue to give him a ride, but the Lion did not offer and the Scarecrow didn’t ask. “The forest isn’t too far,” the Lion said as they started walking. “We’ll have to take care not to leave a trail, but we should be there within a day of walking.”
    The sun was high in the sky, and warm on their backs. The Scarecrow began to feel peevish. Already, the horror of the Royal Army’s death was fading. And now all he could think of was getting his precious books back. And the Munchkins, too, of course. “Tin is still on his way to the Emerald Palace,” he said suddenly. “We have to warn him.”
    The Lion shook his head in disbelief. “Of course. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it. We’ll tell him to take cover until wefigure out what to do next.”
    “The Winkies might fight for us,” the Scarecrow argued. “We should tell him to meet us in the Forest of the Beasts.”
    “The Winkies? Fight? I don’t think so. And you know Tin’s more of a lover than a fighter himself.” The Lion chuckled at his own joke, and then reared up on his hind legs, bellowing a sequence of guttural roars that sounded like a strange code. He waited for a few minutes and then roared again. Suddenly a huge old crow descended out of the blue sky, landing in front of the Lion and cocking its head.
    Looking at it, the Scarecrow felt a sudden churning