CHAPTER 10

In the forest, Phil ran up to Aladdin and Eric. "Have you guys seen Ariel?" he asked worriedly.

Aladdin chuckled at his brother. Sometimes he wasn't too bright, he thought. Out loud, he asked" Isn't she at the beach, where she always is?"

Phil shook his head. "No, she's not. We've looked everywhere she normally is, but we can't find her anywhere!"

Aladdin turned pale. "We just saw Jim being taken away. Do you think they took her too?"

"It's possible," Eric admitted reluctantly. "The witch lost me, so she may be trying to find someone else."

"What do we do?" Phil asked.

Aladdin thought fast. "We need a headcount. Go get everyone together, now!" he ordered his brother.

"I'm on it," Phil agreed, running off.

"While we wait, we should go over these papers," Eric suggested.

Aladdin agreed, and they began pouring over the contract. "What are we looking for?" Aladdin asked after a minute.

"Anything we can use to our advantage," Eric replied absently. "Wait a minute." He looked closely at the papers, then whooped with joy. "This is it! We found it!"

"What?" Aladdin asked.

Eric handed the paper to Aladdin, grinning ear to ear. "The forest is protected by law. They can't cut it down!"

Aladdin grinned back. "This should stop the contractors in their tracks," he noted happily.

"What should?" Shang asked, walking up with Cinderella by his side.

Aladdin opened his mouth to answer, but Eric stopped him, saying, "We'll tell you when everyone gets here."

Shang nodded, and they waited in silence. But they didn't have to wait long. Soon Phil ran up, followed by Pocahontas and Kida.

"I got them," Phil panted. "Did you find anything?"

Aladdin chuckled, holding out the contract. "You bet we did! This forest is protected as a wildlife preserve. Under no circumstances is it to be cut down."

"Which means," Eric cut in, "if we can prove this in court, the contractors will have to back off!"

"If we can prove it," Cinderella pointed out. "If she's as powerful as you say, it may be hard to prove anything if she's taken over their minds."

Shang nodded. "It's our word against theirs. They're bound to have papers saying they can bulldoze it."

"You're right," Aladdin said thoughtfully. "It's not like her to overlook something like this."

"She wants something from us," Eric said suddenly.

"What?" Kida asked, startled.

"She's been playing us like cards, and we're such idiots to fall for it!" Eric exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Pocahontas asked him.

"Think about it," Eric explained. "She's destroying the forest, but not through cutting it down." They looked at him, confused. "By fire! Little by little! If the whole forest is burned to ashes, then there's no reason to save it as a preserve!"

The others turned pale as they realized what he was saying. "They wouldn't even have to cut," Cinderella said quietly. "They could just bulldoze away the dust and make something new, without breaking the law."

"Exactly," Eric nodded. "But there's something else, too. Something she wants that only we can give."

"What?" Kida asked.

"I'm not sure," Eric admitted. "But we should stick together from now on, just in case."

Shang nodded. "Good idea. We have to be cautious."

"But what about Ariel?" Phil asked.

"And Jim," Aladdin added.
Shang thought for a moment before speaking. "Eric, Aladdin, Cinderella, you three go into town and see what you can find out. The rest of us will comb the beach again in groups of two. Under no circumstances will any of us walk alone. Understood?" The others all nodded in agreement. "Let's go then."

:::

When Eric, Aladdin and Cinderella reached town, Aladdin asked, "So where do we start?"

"The police station," Eric answered.

Aladdin asked, worried, "Are you sure that's a good idea? What if we have a warrant on our heads too?"

"We have to take that chance," Eric insisted. "That's the only place we can know for sure what's going on."

Cinderella nodded in agreement. "You're right. It's this way." And she led the way.

When they entered the station, they walked up to the desk where a woman was doing some paperwork. Her nametag read 'Sinclair'.

"Excuse me," Cinderella said politely.

The woman looked up. "Can I help you?"

"Perhaps," Cinderella answered her. "Have you seen a boy around our age with brown hair and a rat tail today? He dresses in old sailor clothes. His name is Jim. "

The cop shook her head. "Why are you asking?"

"He was supposed to meet us in the park this morning," Cinderella explained. "But he never showed up. We've looked everywhere in town, asked everyone he knows. He's nowhere to be found."

The woman leaned forward. "How do you know him?" she asked, suspicious.

Cinderella answered, "We go to school together, we're friends."

Lieutenant Sinclair sighed. "Let me give you kids a bit of advice: Don't look for him. In fact, forget you ever met him."

"But why?" Aladdin asked, stunned. This was not how cops normally acted!

Sinclair scowled. "That information is classified. Now I suggest you walk right out that door unless you want me to call security."

"That's all right," ma'am, we're leaving," Eric said quickly. "Come on, you guys." And he led them out the door quickly.

When they were back at the park, Cinderella asked, "What do you suppose happened?"

Eric sighed, frustrated. "I'm not sure. But she knows something. That's one of the cops that arrested him!"

Cinderella bit her lip, nervously. "I sure hope Jim's all right," she worried.

"You and me both," Aladdin told her.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Jim was in a glass room. There were soldiers and scientists surrounding it. They were laughing at Jim, provoking him, taunting him. A gas containing the smell of the transforming cream was being pumped into the room, causing Jim to grow more and more wild with rage. Before long, his wolf instincts were uncontrollable. But without moonlight, he wasn't able to transform. So he thrashed and snarled in human form, clawing at the glass to try and attack his provokers. He was a human animal. They all smile in triumph, this is what they wanted.