Chapter Nine- Bed Rest

Grim had been found!

But what did that mean for the rest of the D?

"Okay, the Glooms' residence is in sight…." Doc said to the other as he lowered his flying contraption out of the view of the house "If we move in quietly enough, maybe we can see if Hildy is in!"

Tip-toe, tip-toe.

The dwarves approached the window, all eyes looking in to see that Hildy was indeed inside the house.

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

But she was less than stellar.

"Oh my…" Doc whispered, feeling slight concern over the weeping witch.

"She…she looks so upset." Bashful meeped, sinking down sadly.

Hildy was MORE than upset at this point as she continued to bawl her eyes out. She clutched onto her pillow, grabbing tissues and blowing into it hard.

"Oh, Grim. Where are you?" she whimpered and sobbed "I have searched for you all over and…and-!"

The Earth began to shake, an oncoming torrent of tears about to break loose.

"I WANT MY HUSBAND BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"

Like magic the entire house began to flood, more and more water filling the space up the harder Hildy cried.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" cried Ball, the water rising uncomfortably close to him "I already spent an entire day in the toilet thanks ta ya! I would like ONE day so I can be dry!"

The five dwarves looked on in shock, the water filling all the way to the windows before they broke, sending a geyser of tears flooding out of the house and washing them away. Once the water had drained the little men came to their senses, Hildy still crying worse than before some distance away.

"Well, Doc?' Sleepy asked, hanging from the limb of a tree.

Doc took off his hat and wrung it free of tears "Guys? This may sound strange but….I think we need to help her."

The others gasped, ASTOUNDED that Doc would even suggest a thing!

"Are you serious?!" Bashful shook, very much afraid of the powerful witch "W-What if she doesn't want our help!? What if that makes her even more upset?!"

"Fellas, I know it's a risk but she just wants her husband back and it looks like she hasn't been able to do it on her own. Maybe with a few extra eyes we can solve everything?"

"And who knows!" Happy chimed in "If we're nice to her, maybe she'll be nice to us and get Sneezy back to dwarf size!"

The remaining three didn't know what to think. All those times the Glooms had attempted to do them in, all those times they had tried to overtake the kingdom and turn it into a twisted version of their own paradise? Why should they help them?

But…

They heard Hildy weeping and realized that while she was a brat she just wanted to be with the one person she loved the most.

Grimwold.

"Ohhhh…." Moaned Bashful "That is so sad. She's so lonely."

Dopey whistled sadly, wiping a tear from his own eye.

"Winkers, maybe we ARE the only ones who can help…." Said Sleepy.

"That's it fellas!" smiled Doc as he ushered his friends back towards the cottage "Now let's go."

By now, the house was so flooded with tears that Ball was floating about in a bowl, shaking his face toward the witch.

"C'mon Hildy. Put your chin up! I'm sure Grim is somewhere! Maybe ya can use all this water ta FLUSH 'im out! Eh-hah! I know I already had a bad encounter in tha bathroom but I couldn't resist it, folks!"

The witch levitated a hanky over to her nose and blew "It's been DAYS since I've seen that man and no amount of magic has helped me! W-who else can I turn to?"

"You can turn ta us!"

The woman spun around and let out a shriek "YOU!"

There were the rest of the D, standing at the window and oblivious to the witch's return to anger.

"Greetings Mrs. Gloom!" sang Happy "We just came here to-!"

Doc jumped on Happy and threw him to the ground just as a massive blast of magic shot through the air, turning the place he had been standing into a crater.

"You have a LOT of nerve coming here!" the woman growled as she got to her feet "After what you all put me through, I have the right to turn you all into bean-filled DOLLS!"

"B-Before you do that!" Doc stammered, standing his ground "We know that Grim is lost but we want to HELP you find him!"

Hildy froze, looking down at the tiny men in wonder "Help? You want to HELP me? But why?! Why should I trust you?!"

"B-b-b-because we know ho-how bad it can feel when someone ya care about is hurt." Shivered Bashful, hiding behind Sleepy.

"HA! Likely story!" snarled the witch "I bet you just want to round me up like you did my husband so you can take away my magic too!"

"We didn't do anything to Grim!" Doc said, waving his hands in front of Hildy "We promise you we did not! The only thing we know about Grim is that one of his spells backfired and that's what made Sneezy so, well, BIG!"

"Ah-HA! I knew it!" snapped Hildy "You just want to 'help' me so you can get Grim back THEN force us to use both of our magic!"

"No, NO! W-We do need Grim to solve this but even if we didn't! We would still help you find him!"

At those words Hildy froze, eyeing the wise old dwarf.

"How….how can I be certain that I can trust you?" Hildy said, taking a few steps back "I mean…after everything we've done to Jollywood. H-How do I know you're not trying to lure me?"

"Ma'am. If anything should go wrong….you…..you have my permission…."

The other dwarves looked about nervously, wondering what Doc was to say. The leader of the bunch lowered his head and offered a hand.

"Ma'am, if something bad happens to Grim on my watch then you can turn me into STONE."

"WHAT?!" gasped Bashful.

Even Sleepy was surprised enough to become fully awake for a moment "Doc, that's-! That's-! That's really, REALLY BAD!"

"But I have to do this fellas." The leader said in determination "For everyone's sake, I have to do this!"

Hildy saw the hand and after a bit of hesitation she reached down….and shook.

The '5Ds' and Hildy then began their search, sprawling out all over Jollywood once again in search of the wayward wizard. What they didn't know or could have even guessed was that Grimwold was a lot closer than they could have imagined.

"Oof! This guy is heavy for someone so skinny!" Grumpy strained as he dragged Grim's limp body into the cottage. Thanks to Sneezy's larger gait the three were able to get back home in record time but they still had many things to contend with.

"N-NOW!" Grumpy said, trying to flip Grim onto the couch "What to do with this guy?"

Grim felt as light-headed as a balloon, slowly leaning forward "Oooh, this place is waaaarm!"

*BOOM!*

Onto the ground he went.

"Hmmm, maybe I should tie him down?"

The roof began to creak loudly, the grumpy dwarf looking up to see Sneezy pulling it away to get a better look inside.

"If Grim is that sick, do ya think somethin' like SOUP would help?"

Grumpy took another glance at the wizard; SOUP?

It was going to take MORE than soup to clear whatever he had up.

"Sneezy? I think I know what this guy needs."

First?

Get rid of all that moss.

Grumpy, with some assistance by Sneezy, took buckets and buckets of hot water and soap and POURED it over Grim, the leaves, grass, and moss he had collected on his journey finally washing off, the man now looking like a sick, grey-skinned wizard in bunny underwear.

It was always something with bunnies.

"Now to get you dry…" said Grumpy as he brought over another Doc invention, this contraption looking like a massive hair dryer. He turned it on and a blast of hot air shot in Grim's face, blowing him right out of the tub in the process!

"Whoops. Guess I had it on tha high settin'…." Grumpy said as he looked down "No, wait. It was on LOW."

Grim had crashed into the wall and lay upside down on the floor but Sneezy, being as careful as he could, picked him up by the back of his undershirt and placed him in one of the beds. Grumpy rushed upstairs and then threw a large blanket over him before shoving a thermometer in his mouth and dropping an ice-bag on his head.

"Okay, timin' it…" Grumpy said, looking at his pocket watch. The thermometer peaked higher and higher right before it POPPED!

"Wow, that is some *snrk!* fever!" Sneezy said, watching the situation from the sidelines like a child. Grumpy put his hand on Grim's forehead, surprised at how hot it was.

"You're right. I'm surprised the guy was able ta last this long out here without-!"

"AAAAH-! AH-COOO!"

*POOF!*

Suddenly, the cottage of the Ds turned into a playland, complete with a massive ballpit which everyone was slowly sinking into .

"W-W-W-WHAT IS THIS?!" Grumpy shouted, jumping on the bed with Grim. The wizard snorted loudly and rubbed his nose.

"*SNNNRK!* Bless me…"

"Oh c'mon! As if Sneezy's sneezin' issue wasn't bad enough! Now we got this?!"

"Ah! AAAAH!" screamed Sneezy, getting pulled slowly into the pit as GIANT felt snakes began to wrap around him "Wait, this is a Ball-SNAKE pit?! HELP!"

"AAAAH-! CHOOOOO!"

*POOF!*

Now the house had turned into a VERY fancy and VERY classy apartment penthouse, the magic somehow fitting the large Sneezy snuggly in the room though his outfit wasn't exactly the same. Now for some reason, Sneezy was wearing tattered overalls and a plaid shirt.

And Grim was lying face-down on the floor in some sort of blue repairman's suit.

Sneezy blinked, too worried to move that much "UH?"

"I-I can fix it…"

"Oh! What tha-?!" Grumpy jumped, looking down at himself, noticing the blue cardigan he was wearing with the golden G stitched on the breast pocket.

"This feels…NICE?" Sneezy sniffled, not at all feeling comfortable in his new outfit nor how low the ceiling was "J-just a wee bit tight 'round tha neck, is all…."

Grumpy was about to say something but that was before a rather snazzy looking lady dwarf in a pink dress sashayed up to him, a fancy cheese tray in her hand and a twinkle in her eye.

"Say Big G? Is this enough cheese for you?" she cooed, rubbing her hand against Grumpy's cheeks.

"Ah…..ya think ya can leave tha place as is?" Grumpy said quickly.

"Tee-hee-hee!"

"AAAAAH! CHOOO!"

*POOF!*

IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER AAAAAAAAALL!

IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER AAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!

IT'S A SMALL SMALL SMALL SMALL SMAAAAAAAAAALL-!

Now the three had been transported into what seemed to be an ENDLESS dark cavern afloat in a boat, the creepy eyes of wooden children surrounding them as their terrifying song continued.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" Grumpy screamed, leaping onto Sneezy "WHAT IS THIS NIGHTMARE!?"

"Hey, I kinda like it." smiled Sneezy but then he looked down "Wait a sec. How can I still fit in this boat? And why are we still floatin'?"

"Bluurublurbrlburblu…." Gurgled Grim, his face down in the water as he hung over the edge of the boat.

"Gah! Get up, get up, get up!" shouted Grumpy as he yanked Grim free from the river

"AAAAAAH-! CHOOOOO!"

*POOF!*

"And here you see two dwarves in their natural habitat." Droned a low voice.

Grumpy looked out to see that now the entire house had been turned into some sort of safari adventure, a large cage of glass surrounding them all while on the outside a carriage full of children looked at them, pointing and laughing at the sight.

"The big one is so cute!"

"Hahah! That angry one has a funny beard!"

"Is the skinny grey one dead?"

"AAAAH! CHOOO!"

*POOF!*

FINALLY!

The house was returned in order, Sneezy once again sitting outside but feeling dizzy after the whirlwind he and Grumpy had been put through.

"Um, I think tha woods is good enough for us. Thank you."

Grumpy made sure that his flowerpot was back in place, that everything was as NORMAL as it could be given the situation "Okay, next thing on our list. We gotta get this guy ta stop sneezin' before he sends our house somewhere where it can't return from!"

"I'm tellin' ya Grumpster…." Sneezy smiled brightly, peeking in from the roof "He needs soup."

Grim coughed "Yes. Big Dwarf is-HACK!-right….I soup need…nooooow…."

"If that's tha case, lemme see what we have."

The grumpy dwarf went down to the kitchen and dug around the cupboards, tossing around a few cans until he found soup.

Just SOUP.

"Ah, perfect!"

Open can.

Heat.

Serve.

Grumpy returned with the steaming hot bowl, handing it over to Grim.

"What…*SNRRRK!* what kinda soup is it?"

"Hmmm, didn't catch tha label."

Grim took a small sip "It…it tastes funny."

"Then its taste-funny soup." Retorted Grumpy "Are ya feelin' any better yet?"

Grim took another sip but he still felt that something was off about the entire thing "I feel….I feel less sneezy."

Grumpy smiled "Ah, good. Now maybe we can finally stop HALF of our sneezin' problem."

The wizard stirred the soup around, noticing some odd lumps inside. He looked perplexed at first but then came the worry.

"Aaaah…this isn't warthog stew, IS IT?"

Sneezy looked down "Warthog stew? Why would we ever buy THAT?"

"Oh, wait a sec…" said Grumpy "I think Doc said somethin' 'bout it only bein' good for cleanin' up axels or somethin' an'-!"

*HIC!*

*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!*

Grumpy screamed again as a massive wave of fire shot towards his face, burning a hole right through one of the walls.

"Criminy! What is-!?"

*HIC!*

MORE flames!

"BWHOA!" cried Sneezy as he carefully ducked out of the way, the flames big enough to burn even him "More surprises?!"

Grumpy, trembling horribly, looked up only to find Grim still sitting in the bed with his hands clamped over his mouth and a terrified look on his face. The dwarf growled, grabbing the wizard by his collar.

"What…IS THIS?!"

If only there were people around to see a wizard cower at the anger from a dwarf.

"I-I'm sorry!" the sick wizard pleaded "But warthog stew makes me-! *HIC!*"

There was a hiccup and then another burst of fire. Grumpy fell to the ground once more as some low-hanging beams were smoldering from the flames. Grim landed forward on the bed, realizing just how much trouble was coming for him.

"-HICCUP! *HIC!*"

"AN' breathe fire?!" Grumpy exclaimed "Is there ANY cure ya guys can take that doesn't involve puttin' others in danger?!"

Grim looked over innocently "Sorry, but it's always been like that-*HIC!*"

More and more flames began to shoot everywhere and if Sneezy and Grumpy didn't do anything there wouldn't be a cottage left!

"Okay bed-rest, soup….what else does one need for colds?!"

"*HIC!*"

The box that Grumpy was hiding under was set alight by another burst of fire, the dwarf unable to do anything but blink.

"I knew I shouldn't have gone with tha others…."

Where were the others by the way?

They were coming in close, the other Ds flying with Hildy right behind them.

"Am…am I really doing this?" the young witch said to herself "Am I really allowing myself to be led by these…these dwarves?"

She was starting to doubt their promise but even she was aware that Doc ALWAYS kept his word. Sure, he may have foiled her from time to time but lying?

That was far from proper Doc behavior.

But she could not shake the feeling she had in her stomach, that something was going to happen to either herself or her husband should she choose to go with the dwarves.

There was no turning back at this point. Her choice had been made.

"Mrs. Gloom!"

Hildy snapped from her worry, looking up to see Doc motioning towards her.

"This way!"

"O-oh, right!" she said, forcing a grin "Right…."

"Hickory-Dickory ME!" gasped Doc, seeing a massive burst of flame shooting from the clearing where their home was "What in Jollywood is that?!"

Another wall of flame rose up right between the dwarves and Hildy, the latter being unfortunate enough to wind up just close enough that her broom was burnt to cinders.

"I guess this has something to do with that bad feeling?"

Down she went.

"Oh, goodness!" said Doc looking own "Dopey, see if you can find her!"

Dopey rattled his head and leapt off the flying kart, his hat billowing out as a parachute as he flew down into the forest. Doc pushed the kart into high gear as he rushed home, only to be met with the sight of an enormous Sneezy ducking and covering his head for his life as many massive holes dotted the cottage, smoke billowing everywhere.

"NOW what's going on?!"

*HIC!*

*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!*

Grumpy ran out of the house screaming at the top of his lungs, his pants on fire as he had unfortunately been the target of Grim's latest 'outburst'.

"Stop drop an' roll, Grumpy!" Sneeze shouted.

"I CAN'T! IT'S MAKIN' THA FLAMES WORSE!" Grumpy hollered as the thrashed on the ground.

Sneezy looked around in a panic, scrambling until final-!

An idea!

Not wasting a beat, Sneezy simply picked the smaller dwarf up and DROPPED him right into the pool they had built for the chicken coop, Grumpy soaked but SAFE.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah….." the man sighed, sinking into the water slowly "Thank you…"

*HIC!*

"Great glittering gems! I told you to watch everything, Grumpy!"

"Well, sorry Doc!" Grumpy growled as he clumsily climbed out of the chicken pool "It's hard ta keep things goin' when you've been SET ON FIRE!"

*HIC-CUP!*

"Doc!" Sneezy said worried as he peered into the house. The leader of the D nodded, charging into the house without a fear.

"On it!"

Upstairs, Grim was trying his all to cure his hiccups, the wizard sitting on the floor as he held his breath, puffed out his chest and plugged his fingers in his ears but there was only so much he could do. The wall next to him was on fire, the BED was on fire….who knew what else could be set on fire should he take aim at something or SOMEONE unfortunate enough.

"Grimwold Gloom!" said Doc as he popped his head out of the landing to the bedroom.

Grim was blue in the face from lack of air but seeing Doc appear out of nowhere broke his concentration, the wizard yelping and hiccupping once more!

*HIC!*

This time, the flames shoot down the stairs and right out the door…..

Burning the chicken coop to a crisp.

"Oooh, bad luck there Grumpy." Sleepy said, the grumpy dwarf just looking at the sight, his hard work reduced to ashes.

"Ya know what?" the dwarf called out "JUST LET IT ALL BURN! BURN IT ALL!"

Inside, Grim hiccupped for what had to be the one-hundredth time and toppled from the landing, crashing hard onto the floor.

"HIC!"

"I know how to fix this!" Doc said, rushing down stairs. As soon as he approached Grim, several arms came from his hat, two of them taking the wizard by his sides.

"H-Hey! What are you *HIC-CUP!* doing?!"

Another arm came from the man's hat, this time holding a large bottle containing an orange liquid. It shook the concoction up and popped off the cap all before shoving the opening righting into Grim's mouth.

"MMUUURRGH!?"

Out of his control Grim drank the entire bottle down in a few big gulps, the hands dropping him hard on the floor as the others came in, standing behind Doc cautiously.

"I-is it over?" Bashful gulped.

Grim said nothing, still trying to take in everything as it had all happened so quickly.

"Well?"

"….*urp*."

Only a small tuff of smoke.

"Jolly-Maid Brand Orange Juice. Works for colds, fevers and flammable hiccups." Doc said proudly, the others taking a breath in relief.

"Great, now that we have THAT solved…." Grumpy began "Maybe we can finally sort all of this out so everyone, an' I mean, EVERYONE can get set right again! An' THIS guy can finally go home to Mrs. Gloom!"

Something went off in Grim's head once he realized that ALL of the 7D were with him.

This was his chance.

It had been long, it had been painful, BUT HIS CHANCE had come!

HE COULD FINALLY CAPTURE THEM ALL FOR HILDY!

"U-Urgh! A-AH!" Grim called triumphantly, stumbling on his feet and sniffling "Now I have you all!"

"Oh, REALLY?" moaned Grumpy "After all'a THAT you're gonna play tha bad guy again? Grim, it's getting' late an' we're all TIRED!"

"TIRED is what you're gonna be once I'm through with you!" the wizard laughed nasally, posing weakly to appear as menacing as possible.

"How are ya gonna zap us without your wand, GENIUS?"

"Lucky I keep SPARES stored-!" Grim began, reaching SOMEWHERE.

The five dwarves in the house cried out in horror, covering their eyes.

"Please, spare us!" cried Bashful "Kids could be reading this!"

"-ON MY SECRET WAND LEG HOLSTER!" Grim finished, pulling up the pants of his under-garment to reveal that he indeed had a cache of extra wands velcrowed on his leg. The dwarves felt much more at ease. He pulled one of the wands off, the Velcro ripping loudly "…probably shouldn't have put that on my leg hair but still!...owie."

"Man, I thought we were going down a bad territory with that…" said Sleepy but his ease was put on hold when he felt himself raise off the ground along with the others.

"Haha! Now you're mine!" said Grim.

"Hey, stop!" growled Sneezy as he peered into the cabin "I thought ya were gonna be nice ta us after we helped ya!"

"And I thank you for that." Grim smiled "But I still need to get a present for Hildy but since you'd be too BIG to take along-!"

Windmills that spin around!
Take his oversized D and hold him on the ground!

The wand cast its magic again on the windmills of the house, their arms suddenly wrapping around the stunned dwarf and pulling him to the ground with a massive thud.

"Ahh, not again!"

"Get outta that, Sneezer!"

"Ungh! SNEEZY!"

"Um, I'm sure it's just the fever." Happy tried to reassure the others "He just needs more bed-rest an' a few songs an'-!"

Bed that is burnt but is still intact

Fly me home, fast as a gnat!

"Do ya REALLY hafta rhyme like that?" Grumpy moaned, rolling his eyes as Grim threw him and the other dwarves into the now floating bed.

"It was the only class I got top-marks in college." Grim said proudly "That and my neo-classical glass blowing elective."

And like the wind, the group took off but down below….

"Oh, to be helped by a dwarf…." Hildy protested as Dopey dragged her along, the woman covered in thorns and sticks after her 'landing' "Everyone in my sorority would LAUGH at this."

Dopey whistled brightly as he pulled a head, Hildy nearly falling over.

"Oh, watch it!"

But when they got to the cottage they only saw that it was smoldering and Sneezy was trapped helpless on the ground, the wood of the windmill binding him tight. The witch gave another loud gasp, the dwarf looking even LARGER as she stood before him.

"I-! Ah-!"

"Auugh! Dopey?!"

The youngest dwarf whistled in reply, waving his arms in the arm.

"It's Grim! H-he took the others back to the Gloom cottage!"

"So he was here?!" Hildy gasped "When did you-?! Aurgh, forget it! This scavenger hunt has gone on long enough! We're ending this!"

"Don't you dare leave!" Sneezy said harshly, managing to move his hand just enough to plant his finger on the back of Hildy's dress, holding her in place "Your husband has my friends an' there is NO WAY I'm gonna allow ya ta go by yourself without ME!"

"You stubborn pipsqueak!" Hildy began "I should have your hat for-!"

Sneezy managed to push himself up, bracing his arms and shoulders against the woods before finally KNOCKING them off him. He glared down at Hildy, his massive shadow falling over her.

"What was that?" said the dwarf "Did ya call me? A pip-SQUEAK?"

Uh-oh.

The witch began to sweat realizing that she could be in even BIGGER trouble if she tried anything funny.

"Ah-hehe. Um….I-I think we might be able to talk to Grim."

"All of us?" Sneezy said, his hands on his sides.

"A-All of us…" responded Hildy "T-Trust me."

Without saying another word, Sneezy took both Hildy and Dopey into his hands and walked off towards the house of the Glooms.

And this time he was going to make sure things ended properly.