The search party (minus the centaur and the horses, as I'm sure you'll remember) was lead from Queen Onyx's throne room to a small room filled with swords, armor, and, interestingly, a shelf full of crystal bottles of all sizes and colors. The queen took a small, round, pink bottle and gave it to Em.
"Use this wisely," Queen Onyx said. "It is a cordial made from one of the rarest berries in our land. It can counteract the deadliest poisons and heal wounds—but only use it when absolutely needed—when all other cures have failed."
Em put the little bottle in her dress pocket with extreme care and buttoned the pocket up again twice.
"I'll be very careful with it," Em said. "And thank you so very much."
Em sounded stiff and overly formal in the presence of the squirrel queen, but Queen Onyx understood.
"Henry," the regal squirrel said, removing a gleaming sword and silver scabbard from the wall, "you may need this along your journey. Use it judiciously. Do not spill blood when there is no justice for it."
"Thank you, Queen Onyx," Henry said graciously. "And I hope I shall never fall to thinking 'might makes right'."
The Scarecrow and the Tin Man, who usually walked ahead of the group, ever since leaving the Emerald City, each received a pair of what we would call binoculars now, but very intricately made, with unbreakable lenses—the lenses were crafted from diamonds. Queen Onyx didn't have anything for a lion, a rainbow's daughter, or a gnome, but she gave everyone some wise words, and told them to pass her message on to the centaur and the horses.
"Whimalith's magic is dangerous and the foolhardy will not escape her," the squirrel said bluntly, and then continued on in a softer voice. "Remember this, though—even the greatest of that witch's spells is not as powerful as love."
Queen Onyx saw them as far as the outer gate of the kingdom, along with Tay and a number of other residents of the fascinating squirrel country. Climbing up a rise yet again, the reunited party once more had the river at their sides and they continued to follow it, slowly but steadily on their way to save beloved Dorothy.
A shorter chapter this time, to serve as a short 'intermission' between the time in the squirrel country and the next phase of their journey.
I borrowed the idea for the curative in the crystal bottle from 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis.