The hard days of slavery dragged on. Ellie worked in the kitchen from morning to night, helping the good cook Fregosa. The good Winkie tried her best to help the girl, and when the opportunity offered, she was happy to do the most difficult work for her. But Bastinda kept a sharp eye on what was going on in the kitchen, and Fregosa was constantly reprimanded for her kindness.
Bastinda was very mean to Ellie, and often swung at her with the dirty purple umbrella she always carried. Ellie didn't know that the sorceress couldn't hit her, and the girl's heart sank as the umbrella rose above her head.
Every day the old woman would go to the grate and ask shrilly for the Lion and the Tiger:
— Will you go in a team?
— We'll kill you!" - there was a constant response, and the Lion and Tiger menacingly threw themselves at the bars of the mysticamnevoy lattice.
Bastinda had not allowed the Lion to eat since the first day of his captivity, but he was not starving, and he was as strong and strong as ever. The Tiger did not need food, so it was easier for him.
The fact was that old Bastinda was more afraid of the dark and the water than anything else in the world. As soon as the darkness of the night enveloped the palace, Bastinda hid in the farthest room, locked the doors with strong iron bolts, and did not come out until late in the morning. And Ellie wasn't afraid of the dark at all. She was pulling out whatever food was left in the kitchen cupboard. And Fregosa took care that there was plenty of food left there. Carrying a basket of provisions and a large bottle of water, Ellie, Toto, Taffy, and Kaggi-Carr went out to the back yard. There they were greeted with delight by a Lion and a Tiger.
Friends crawled into the cage between the bars. The Lion pounced on the food and drink brought in. Then the Lion and the Tiger would make themselves comfortable, and Ellie would stroke their thick, soft furs and play with the Lion's tail brush. Ellie, the Lion, Kaggi-Carr, Toto, Taffy, and Tiger talked for a long time; they sadly remembered the death of their faithful friends — the Scarecrow, Goode, and Nikita, and made plans to escape. But there was no escape from the Purple Palace: it was surrounded by a high wall with sharp nails at the top. Bastinda locked the gate and took the keys with her.
After talking and crying, Ellie fell fast asleep on a straw mat under the reliable protection of a Cowardly Lion and an Elemental Tiger.
So went the dreary days of captivity. Bastinda stared hungrily at Ellie's silver shoes, which the girl only took off at night, in the Lion and Tiger cage, or when she was bathing. But Bastinda was afraid of water and never went near Ellie at this time.
The girl from the very first days noticed this strange hydrophobia of the sorceress and used it. It was a holiday for Ellie when Bastinda made her clean the kitchen. After spilling several buckets of water on the floor, she would go to the Lion and Tiger's cage and rest there for three or four hours from hard work. Bastinda screamed and cursed outside the door, but whenever she looked into the kitchen and saw puddles on the floor, she would run in terror to her bedroom, followed by the mocking smiles of Fregosa.
Ellie often talked to the good cook.
— Why don't you Winkies rebel against Bastinda?" Ellie asked. — There are so many of you, thousands of you, and you are afraid of one evil old woman. They would have attacked her in a heap, tied her hand and foot, and put her in a vengestone cage, where the Lion and the Tiger are now…
"No, no, no," said Fregosa, waving her hand in horror. — You don't know the power of Bastinda!" All she has to do is say one word and all the Winkies will fall down dead!
— How do you know that?" Taffy asked.
"Bastinda herself has told us so many times.
— Why didn't she say that when we went to her palace?" Toto said angrily. — Why did she send wolves, crows, and black bees to attack us, and when Goode, Nikita, and the Scarecrow destroyed her entire army, Bastinda had to turn to the Flying Monkeys for help?"
— Why, why!" Fregosa was angry. "Bastinda will incinerate us all for talking like that."
— How will she know?" Kaggi-Carr asked.
"Yes, indeed! Nothing will be hidden from her!..
But the conversations were repeated more than once, Bastinda did not know about them, and Fregosa became bolder. She agreed with Ellie that the Winkies should be freed from Bastinda's power.
But before she decided to do anything, the cook wanted to know exactly what magic the evil Bastinda had left. In the evenings, she would creep to the door of her bedroom and listen to the grumbling of the old woman, who had been talking to herself too much lately.
One day, Fregosa came running from Bastinda's door, extremely agitated, and, not finding Ellie in the kitchen, rushed to the back yard. The friends were already asleep, but the cook woke them up.
"My friends, you were right! Fregosa shouted, waving her arms. "It turns out that Bastinda has exhausted all her magic, and she has nothing left to spare. I heard her wailing and cursing your friends for robbing her of her magical powers.…
The girl and her friends were extremely happy and began to ask Fregosa about the details. But the cook had little to add. All she said was that Bastinda had said something about silver shoes, but what it was, Winky didn't hear, because in her excitement she bumped her forehead against the door and ran away, fearing that the sorceress would capture her in the act.
The important news brought by Fregosa cheered the prisoners. Now they had the opportunity to follow Goodwin's orders and free the Winkies.
"Just open the cage for us," the Lion and Tiger growled, — and you'll see how we'll deal with Bastinda!"
But the cage was locked with a huge lock, and the key to it was kept by Bastinda in a secret place. After consultation, the friends decided that the Fregosa should prepare for the uprising of the servants. They will capture the sorceress and deprive her of her freedom and power.
Fregosa left, and the friends stayed up most of the night talking about the upcoming fight with Bastinda.
The witch herself was considering a plan to take the silver shoes from Ellie. She wished with all her heart that she could get this magic shoes, but she had to figure out how. Finally, Bastinda decided to take the shoes away by force.
The next day, Ellie was working in the kitchen as usual. Suddenly, Bastinda burst in and grabbed Toto, Taffy, and Kaggi-Carr.
— Well, you mean girl, have you finished playing?" — What is it? " she asked sarcastically. "Give me your shoes, or your friends are dead!"
"Let go of Toto, Taffy, and Kaggi-Carr!" Ellie shouted. — I won't give you anything!"
— I'll give you until morning, " the witch said. — Don't give up your shoes — say goodbye to your friends!
Bastinda carried the poor guys to her room, where she tied them up and threw them into a small crate.
The news quickly spread around the city and in the morning a lot of people were standing at the balcony of the sorceress. Bastinda carried out the bound dog, mouse, and crow and asked Ellie:
"Well, will you give me the shoes?"
"Let my friends go, I won't give you anything!" Ellie said angrily.
"Then say goodbye to them!" Bastinda shouted, and threw Toto, Taffy, and Kaggi-Carr down from the balcony.
But before they could fall, a hooded man with a cloak appeared out of nowhere. He was wearing purple clothes with belts and high boots. Most of the straps were on his left wrist, as if they were covering something. The hood completely covered the stranger's face. On his shoulders hung a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a sword in a scabbard. He was on a rope tied to an arrow stuck in the wall of the Purple Palace. The mysterious stranger managed to catch the bound trio, pushed off from the wall and made a huge jump, flying over the wall, although there was not such a large distance between the wall and the balcony. Using the cloak as a parachute, the hooded man landed on the roof of the cabin behind the wall, still holding Toto, Taffy, and Kaggi-Carr. Immediately, there was a difference in height between the stranger and the Winkies: he was a head taller than them.
- What the?! Bastinda shouted in rage. — How dare you?"
— Just like you dared to try to kill those poor devils, you old whore!" the hooded man replied mockingly. Something about his voice sounded familiar to Ellie. — You think too much of yourself, don't you, Bastindushka?"
— Who are you to be so impertinent to me, Bastinda, mistress of the Purple Land?" the witch was even more furious.
"Call me Mask," the stranger replied. — And I intend to put an end to your tyranny!" Girl, " he said to Ellie. — Don't give in to this witch's your shoes for anything!" Good luck!
With that, Mask threw a smoke bomb, smoke rose, and when it settled, Mask, Toto, Taffy, and Kaggi-Carr were gone. Bastinda was furious, and Ellie ran to the Lion and Tiger to tell them about the incident.
"Who is this Mask?", — Ellie thought, already sitting in the cage of the Lion and the Tiger. "Something familiar about him… No, nonsense." - with such thoughts, the girl fell asleep.
The next day, a leaf flew into the backyard. He flew straight into the cage and landed on Ellie's chest. She took the paper and looked at it. It was the announcement of the capture of the Mask. It said that whoever brought the Mask to Bastinda would be rewarded with a bag of coins. Ellie realized that Bastinda would stop at nothing until she caught the hero.
The next day, Bastinda sent her spies to look for the Mask — simple crows who were not fighting, but served Bastinda faithfully, sniffing out various information. By the end of the day, the crows had found nothing, and then there were a couple of relatives who were found shot. They both had arrows in their chests. A week passed, and Bastinda had absolutely no spies left — they had all been shot, and the old witch knew perfectly well who had done it. The reward for the Mask increased from a small bag to a bag of coins, but no one was in a hurry to catch the hero.