Chapter 16: The Scepter of Faith
HALF HOUR LATER…Under Mama Smurf's request, Hefty guided her, Cowgirl, Tattlerette, and Brainette to the spot where Gloria found the Scepter of Faith.
"By what you have described to me, Hefty, this Scepter of Faith could be bad in the hands of Gloria. We must find it before she does." Mama Smurf warned.
"That's what I thought." Hefty nodded in agreement. "That is why I threw it in the river."
"Boy, what a scoop." Tattlerette cried out. "My readers will find this to be the most smurftacular article yet." She began to scribble notes down on her pad.
"Who invited you along on this hunt, anyway?" Cowgirl growled at Tattlerette.
"Well, this is the spot." Hefty announced as they arrived at the field where he and Toughette noticed Gloria digging for the scepter.
Brainette and Mama Smurf rushed over to investigate the hole that had been dug and the box where the scepter was kept. Meanwhile Hefty showed Cowgirl and Tattlerette the cliff where he threw the magical object.
"Well, even though the currant is moving fast, Gloria would not give up until she had found the scepter. That is if the river hadn't smurf her away first." Cowgirl speculated.
"…Hasn't…smurf her…away…" muttered Tattlerette as she jotted down more notes on her writing pad.
"Will you stop that?" Cowgirl spat at her.
Hefty let out an exhausted sigh. "Your probably right. I should have smurfed up a better plan then just tossing it over this cliff."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Hefty. There were more important priorities to smurf first." Cowgirl pointed out.
"Yes. Like rescuing our beloved, Toughette from the evil claws of Phoebe." Tattlerette said dramatically. Cowgirl rolled her eyes before nodding head in agreement.
"Er, thanks…I think." Hefty smirked.
"Did you find anything yet, Brainette?" Mama Smurf said looking up from the dug up soil.
"According to some of these ancient carvings on this box, there is a serious warning for anyone who would possess the scepter." Brainette said while still reading the distinct markings.
"That doesn't sound very smurfy." Cowgirl winced as she walked up to Mama Smurf and Brainette with Hefty and Tattlerette close behind.
"No, it doesn't." Mama Smurf agreed. "What else does it say, Brainette?"
"Hmm?" Brainette thought as she studied more of the markings. She began to blow away more dirt and wiped off the rest with her hand so she may be able to read the rest of it. "Oh, it says here 'when used right, the scepter can guide a lost soul back home'."
"Really?" Hefty's ears perked when he heard that. "Do you think that means it could help me find my home?" He paused for a moment when he realized the concerned looks he was getting from the smurfettes. "N-not that living here with you all of you hasn't been great…it's just that…"
Mama Smurf stopped him by placing her hand onto his shoulder. "It's alright, Hefty, we understand. You miss your home." She turned her attention back up to the young smurfette on top of the box. "Is there more, Brainette?"
"Um, let's see…" Brainette pondered over the symbols to make sure she was reading them correctly. "Yes, it does help find one's home, not to mention used as a guide to find places that cannot be found. But if the incantation is said in the wrong format, or even interrupted in any way, the scepter can cause the person become lost, forever."
"Mama Smurf? You don't suppose that Gloria is planning on using that scepter to find our village, do you?" Cowgirl asked.
"There are many possible reasons, but that one is the more likely one." Mama Smurf answered. "Our next step is to find the scepter before she does."
Mama Smurf dug her hand into her magic bag and pulled out a hand full of dust. She chants a spell then tosses the dust into the air. Almost instantly an image appears. It showed that Gloria had retrieved the scepter and is heading back home.
"Well the bad news is Gloria has found the scepter." Mama Smurf announced. "But the good news is that it appears that she hasn't activated it yet. So there may still be time."
"What are we waiting for? Lets go." Hefty cried out impatiently. He doesn't even wait for the others. As fast as he could, Hefty ran in the direction where Gloria lived.
"Hefty, wait!" Mama Smurf cried out, but realized that the smurf was not stopping.
"I'll get him, Mama Smurf." Cowgirl stepped forward and started swinging her lasso high above her head. She then tossed it towards Hefty which successfully snagged him before he could go too far. The impact of being caught by Cowgirl's rope caused Hefty to fall back onto his tail.
Mama Smurf casually walks up to him as he removed the rope from around his body. "We need a plan first before going after Gloria, Hefty." She sighed.
"Oh. Heh, heh, right. A plan." Hefty bashfully agreed as he hands Cowgirl back her rope.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
GLORIA'S HOMEThe evil witch forced her door open and walked past her cat, Phoebe.
"Phoebe! Great news," she exclaimed proudly, holding the snake-like wand high above her head. "I have retrieved the scepter."
"Meow-ow." Phoebe whimpered still rubbing her sore nose with her paw.
"What happened to your nose?" Gloria asked. She then shook her head thinking that it was not as important as the object in her hand. "Never mind. We have more important matters to attend to… Namely, finding the smurfette village."
Gloria cackled loudly as she reached for one of her spell books and skimmed over the pages.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
TWENTY MINUTES LATER…Hefty and the smurfettes arrived at Gloria's just as she was studying the spell used for the Scepter of Faith. They watched for the perfect opportunity that'll enable them to grab the scepter.
"Meow?" Phoebe perked as soon as she noticed the little blue, unexpected, visitors.
"Not now, Phoebe. I need to concentrate. If I don't get this spell just right, I could be at risk of having my soul lost forever." Gloria announced.
"Meow…" Phoebe tried to sound persistent as she pointed towards the window with her claw.
"Phoebe, if you make that noise one more time I will turn you into a welcoming mat." Gloria threatened before turning once again to her spell book. She reaches for one of her spice jars and sprinkles a pinch of Pixie Dust as instructed into her caldron. "Ok, next I need a dash of spider's webbing."
"We don't have a moment to lose," Mama Smurf quietly instructed to the others. "Now, while Gloria is preparing the spell for the incantation."
Cowgirl tossed her lasso up to a loose nail one of the railings that are holding up the ceiling. Both her and Hefty started climbing the rope. Hefty made the mistake in looking down. He suddenly felt dizzy with regret in agreeing to this part of the plan.
"You can do it, Hefty." Mama Smurf encouraged.
"Uh-huh." He began to whimper as he closed his eyes and continued to climb.
"Gggrrr-meow." Phoebe hissed, ignoring Gloria's warning just moments ago.
"That's it, Phoebe!" Gloria screeched. "One feline 'welcoming mat' coming up." She paused as she now noticed at what had gotten Phoebe so worked up. "Mama Smurf?!" She gasped. "I will not let you ruin my plans this time."
"Don't be to sure about that." Mama Smurf quickly said. Seeing Phoebe rushing for her, Brainette, and Tattlerette, Mama Smurf quickly reached into her magic bag and pulled out a handful of dust. "Catigus, slumber." She spoke just before blowing the dust onto Phoebe face, causing the gray-blue cat to instantly crash onto the floor, and fall asleep.
Gloria applauds by clapping her hands together in a sarcastic manner. "Congratulations, you put my cat asleep. Not like you haven't done that a million times over." She gripped.
"Can't beat the classics. That's what I always say." Mama Smurf teased.
"Ohhhh, what a story." Tattlerette giggled with excitement as she wrote on her notepad.
"Do you really think it's appropriate to do that right now?" Brainette asked the redhead smurfette.
"Brainette anytime is an appropriate time to cover one of the greatest stories of the year." Tattlerette told her smugly.
Brainette sighed while shaking her head, and rolling her eyes skyward.
"AAARRG!" Gloria screamed as she charged Mama Smurf and the other to smurfettes.
"Move smurfettes!" Mama Smurf ordered as she leapt off the windowsill first. Brainette and Tattlerette followed suit.
While Mama Smurf and the others distracted Gloria, Hefty and Cowgirl prepared themselves to take this opportunity to swipe the scepter. Cowgirl turned when she heard Hefty groan.
"You're going to be alright, aren't ya?" Cowgirl asked out of concern.
"Huh?" Hefty glances up at Cowgirl. His face appeared to have a lighter shade of blue, due to the awareness of him being so high off the ground. "Yeah. I, uh, will be fine." He paused to swallow a lump that got caught in his throat. "I'll hold the rope while you go down and retrieve the scepter." He stated holding the rope tightly in his hands.
"Ok. Are you ready, then?"
Again, Hefty paused for a moment. He mentally asked himself that question. It was then that he figured that this fear of his is taking over his job long enough. Quickly he tied the rope around his waist and looked up at Cowgirl. He took in a deep breath and puffed out his chest. "I'm ready. Go."
Cowgirl nodded before letting her self carefully slide down the rope towards the scepter on the table beneath them.
Meanwhile Gloria was chasing Brainette, Tattlerette, and Mama Smurf around the house. One by one she had been able to capture them. All who was left now was Mama Smurf. Mama Smurf found herself chased and trapped into the corner of the room. She reached into her magic bag, but it was too late. Gloria grabbed her and threw her and the other smurfettes in a smurf-sized cage.
"You see Mama Smurf. You are not going to ruin my chances this time. I will be victorious, not to mention rich after I turn you and the rest of the smurfettes into diamonds." Gloria gloated.
"We will soon see about that." Mama Smurf growled from behind the bars.
Gloria start to chuckle as she proudly held up the smurf cage. "Yes we will, won't we?"
As soon as the evil witch hung the cage up on a hook that was attached to one of the ceiling railings, Gloria walked back towards her caldron. "What's this?" She spat when she noticed Cowgirl reaching for her Scepter of Faith.
"Almost got it…" Cowgirl said stretching for the snake-like stick. Before she could grab it she realized Gloria's hand coming at her. "Uh ho." She cried before Gloria yanked her away from the rope.
"Come on, come on, come on." Hefty pleaded. He did not like being up this high for a long period of time. His eyes were shut tight. He wondered what could be taking Cowgirl so long; he knew that she should have given a little tug by now. Just then a huge force caused him to fly off his feet and nearly fall off the edge of the railing. He gasped when he saw Gloria throwing Cowgirl in the smurf cage with Mama Smurf and her sisters. "No." He cried out.
Without hesitation, Hefty lifted the rest of the rope up to him. He took a deep breath knowing it is now up to him to save the day. His focus no longer being taken over by his fear, Hefty tied the other end of the rope to another loose nail on the railing.
Gloria picked up the Scepter of Faith and grinned as she stood in front of her boiling fluid in the caldron. "And now, to find the smurfette village and the rest of my rich life." Gloria began to chant the incantation in Latin as instructed for the spell. As she spoke the first two verses, she, the scepter, and the caldron started to glow.
"It's now or never." Hefty told has himself bravely as he prepared to jump.
Without another thought, he leapt off the railing and swung on the rope towards Gloria and the scepter. Before a glowing trail reached the door of the house, Hefty knocked the scepter out of the witch's hand. As it landed in the boiling liquid, the snake-like stick sank. This caused the spell to turn sour. A magical blast burst up from the caldron, which burnt through the rope Hefty was still holding on to. He fell safely onto Phoebe's cat bed. The glowing path broke. Gloria's green shaded aura suddenly turned black.
"Nooo!" The witch wailed in agony.
"Cover your eyes, smurfettes." Mama Smurf ordered fearing what would happen next.
Another blast broke out of the caldron and filled the room. When the smoke cleared the smurfettes lifted their eyes up to look around. Each of them instantly viewed the room to scope out the damage. To their relief, they noticed Hefty still alive as he struggles to get out of cat's bed.
"Hefty!?" Mama Smurf called out to him.
After he coughed for a breath of fresh air, Hefty looked up at the cage where the smurfettes were being kept.
"Hang on." He calls up to them.
Quickly he panned the room until he spoted a key hanging up on a wall across from where he stood. Hefty tied the rope creating a loop at one end once more. Then using the lasso to toss it up to the key. With luck, Hefty was able to grab the key at the first try. After he caught the key, he ran just about underneath the cage. Taking the other end of the rope, he tosses it up to Cowgirl's awaiting hands. Together she and the other smurfettes in the cage lifted the key up to them.
After the smurfette's unlocked the cage they used the rope to slid down with Hefty at the bottom to make sure each of them landed safely. Mama Smurf walked up to Gloria to see of her condition. The smurfette elder peered into Gloria's now vacant eyes and shook her head in despair.
"Mama Smurf? How is she?" Brainette asked.
"I'm afraid that Gloria is forever lost. There isn't anything we can do." Mama Smurf regrettably announced. "At least not unless we find a cure for her."
"Why would we want to?" Tattlerette shrugged.
"Because Tattlerette, it is partly our responsibility that Gloria is in this condition. We will go home now and I'll begin my research to for a cure." Mama Smurf said.
"Meow?" Phoebe groaned as she opened up her feline eyes.
"W-what about Phoebe?" Shivered Brainette when she noticed the gray-blue cat walking up to them.
"Well, until we can cure Gloria we could come every day, and feed her being that she is a pet and not a wild creature." Mama Smurf instructed.
"Great, now we are care-takers for an enemy's pet." Grumbled Hefty.
"Meow?" Phoebe looked down at the smurf with a pouty look that seemed to indicate a plea for help.
"Alright, alright. Just be on your best behavior, and we will come feed ya." Hefty warned the feline.
"Meow-purr." The blue-gray cat smiled as she tenderly rubbed her cheek up against his little smurf body.
"Ok, that's enough already." The smurf complained as he tried pushing Phoebe away. The other smurfettes stifle their giggles at how cute the cat can really be towards them.
"Can we smurf out of here now?" Hefty asked, as he finally was able to get Phoebe to stop rubbing her cheek on his chest.
All the smurfettes all nodded in agreement, and head out the door, leaving Phoebe alone with her coma-state master.
"I can't believe it…and what a story!" Tattlerette suddenly cheered. "Gloria's plan foiled, and is now lost in her own spell… Possibly forever." She said, thinking of the title of her next exciting article.
"Yeah," Hefty said softly. He stopped to look back at Gloria's home. "And possibly my only chance to find my home." The strong smurf sighed quietly to no one in particular. The other smurfettes did not hear him; they were too far ahead and talking amongst themselves about what had just happened. Hefty turned and followed the smurfettes back to their village.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
TWO DAYS LATER…Hefty sat on the fence with Babette on his lap. The little infant talks baby babble at him. Even though he had no idea what she was saying, he listened to her unconditionally. He smiled warmly at the youngest member of the smurfette village. How much she appeared similar to Baby Smurf back home.
Two smurfettes walk up to join him on either side of the fence. Hefty looked up to see Cowgirl and Gosipette looking at him with concern.
"Hey there, Hefty. How are you ya holding up?" Cowgirl asked.
"I'm alright." Hefty answered calmly.
"Recourses tell me that you are still feeling home sick." Gosipette told him.
With a deep breath, Hefty answers. "Always, Gosipette. Sometimes I wonder if I would ever make it back home."
"Awe, Hefty, don't feel that way." Cowgirl counseled. "One way or the other, we will all help you find your home.
"That's right!" Gosipette grinned. "You want to know what I've heard?"
"Sure." Hefty responded in a half interested tone.
"Well, just yesterday I was smurfing in my garden when I overheard Mama Smurf telling Brainette that she was going to visit Gloria and observe her condition. Why she would ever want to do that, I would never know. So, anyway, after Brainette goes to Gingerette tells her that she should help prepare some snacks for Mama Smurf, while she goes assist with research on finding a spell to help the evil witch. I say leave her the way she is. It will be less of a headache for the rest of us to deal with. You know what I'm saying?" She paused briefly so she could both take in a breathe and to see if Hefty was still listening.
Hefty simply stares at her with uncertainty. All the words that Gosipette said seem to just blur into one big long sentence that didn't make any sense. Before he could figure out how to respond to her, he then notices the clinic door opening and Nursette exiting it.
"But Toughette. Are you sure you are well enough to leave?" Nursette turned to ask her stubborn patient.
"Yes, Nursette. I promise I'll take it easy for a while, ok?"
"Hold that though, I'll smurf right back." Hefty said while he absently handed Babette to Gosipette.
"You think he'll smurf back?" Gosipette asked Cowgirl.
"The way you smurf your mouth? I highly doubt it." Cowgirl huffed with her arms crossed.
"But Toughette, you should stay in bed at least one more day." Nursette tried to warn.
"Nursette, if I have to spend one more day in this clinic I'm going to loose it." Toughette growled.
"Arg, you are one of the most difficult patience I have ever had to deal with." Nursette complained.
"Toughette?" Hefty called out as he ran up to the clinic. "You are feeling better I see."
"Oh." Toughette bashfully grinned. "Yeah. You know me. Nothing can keep me down for too long."
"Heh, I've noticed." Hefty smiled back.
Nursette started to feel like the third wheel in this discussion, and started to back away into her clinic. "Er, why don't I just leave you two alone?"
"You, ah, want to go for a walk with me by the river?" Hefty asked Toughette, not really noticing Nursette's escape.
"Sure, guess that sounds relaxing enough." Toughette responded.
Hefty politely held his hand out to Toughette, which she pauses briefly before accepting. Both of them then walk along the nearby path that lead straight to a beautiful spot by the river.