Thanks for your great comments! Now, here's Ch. 4!
Chapter Four
"Who goes there!"
"State your business!"
The three disguised Smurfs were startled to hear two rough voices shouting to them from the main entrance to the castle. Stopping in their tracks, they noticed for the first time that there were two guards stationed on either side of the enormous door.
Brainy and Clumsy were both gasping for breath after their short walk to the castle in heavy armor. Hefty shook his head disdainfully. It was up to him to state their business.
"Um, hi there!" he shouted back. The two guards looked at each other in amusement.
"Who are you!" shouted the guard to the right of the door.
"We are Sir Harold, Sir Clement, and Sir Brai-I mean, Brian."
"Very nice," said the other guard, clearly unimpressed. "And, what are you doing here?"
"We've come to share in the banquet Prince Theodore is having in honor of his fiancée. We are the escort of one of the sm-I mean, fair ladies that was invited."
"That so?" The guards seemed to take the questioning process in turns.
"Then, where's the lady you're escorting?"
Hefty thought fast. "Oh, well, she arrived ahead of us, we think."
"You think? What kind of escort are you?"
"Well, this is our first assignment," Hefty replied. "We sort of lost her."
The two guards laughed so hard they nearly fell off the drawbridge.
"Well, I must admit that's a new one! I'm almost tempted to let you in!" the one on the right shouted, once he'd recovered from his laughing fit.
"Yeah!" shouted the other one. "State the name of your fair lady. If she's on our guest list, we'll let you in!"
The three disguised Smurfs froze.
"Help!" Hefty hissed.
"Well," said Brainy. He hadn't quite recovered from the walk. He still sounded rather hoarse and breathless, and his face was nearly as red as his hair. "Smurfette's name is surely not going to be on their list. We've either got to make up a name or tell them we've forgotten hers. They think we're daft as it is, maybe they'll let us in anyway."
Hefty looked to Clumsy, who was still puffing under his helmet. Completely unable to think up any good names, Hefty shouted back, "It seems we've forgotten her name, too!"
The guards redoubled their laughter.
"You three really are idiots, aren't you?" shouted the one on the left, between chuckles. "Can you at least describe her?"
Hefty had never felt more helpless or put on the spot. He turned desperate blue eyes to Brainy. Brainy took a deep breath.
"She has long, yellow hair and...and..." he looked carefully at his fellow Smurfs to see how many details of their former features still remained. He noticed that their eyes were the same color blue as their skin had been. He took a chance. "...and very blue eyes!"
"Yeah!" shouted the guard on the right. "I remember a lady like that. Long, blonde hair. But, she came in a coach with a driver and four guards!"
Brainy spoke quickly, "Yes, that's our party! We were separated on the road! My friend Sir Clement and I have trouble walking in all this armor and we sort of got left behind."
The guards erupted into gales of laughter once more.
"Can you believe these guys?" the one on the left giggled to the one on the right.
"Yeah. I think I do. Though how anyone so hopeless could become a knight is beyond me. They must really be desperate in the Lady Xolynda's kingdom!"
"All right!" the one on the left shouted to the three Smurfs, who had been waiting very nervously while the two guards whispered to one another. "You can come in."
Hefty strode forward at once, but then remembered Clumsy and Brainy. They were shuffling forward with stiff knees, leaning on one another's shoulders lest they fall down. Hefty slowed his pace to accommodate them and tried very hard to ignore the derogatory shouts and gales of laughter directed at them by the two guards.
"Oh, put a sm-I mean, sock in it!" he shouted as they finally reached the door. The guards laughed harder than ever, even as the portcullis rose, allowing them to shuffle their way inside.
"When can we smurf this blasted armor off?" Brainy hissed to Hefty as they shuffled after a giggling crowd of well-dressed ladies, all bedecked in jewels and pearls, to what they hoped was the main banquet hall.
"I don't think we can," Hefty whispered back. "I've never seen a knight without his armor before, have you?"
Brainy sighed, trying to shuffle his metal-plated legs faster to keep up with Hefty's easy stride. He reached into his helmet to mop his sweating forehead, and discovered his hair was damp.
"Well, surely we don't need these awful helmets! I'm taking mine off."
"No, not yet!" Hefty cried in a hoarse whisper. "We have to wait and see what the other knights do. Then we'll copy them."
Brainy turned his head, with difficulty, at the sound of an exhausted moan behind them. He was just in time to see Sir Clement fall forward.
"Clumsy!"
One or two of the ladies turned to look, then giggled brightly when they saw the knight sprawled on the floor.
"He certainly is!" a raven haired lady with smiling green eyes shouted back, just before she and her friends turned a corner out of sight.
Deciding it was best to ignore them, Brainy jerked himself around and shuffled back towards his fallen friend. Despite his best efforts, Hefty got there first.
"Are you all right in there?" he asked, tapping on Clumsy's armor.
"Um, yeah, Hefty," came Clumsy's unmistakable voice. "I guess I tripped. My visor thingy fell down and I couldn't see where I was smurfing-I mean going."
"Here," said Hefty, holding out one gauntleted hand. "Take my hand, I'll pull you up."
Clumsy did, and Hefty heaved him effortlessly to his feet. Brainy shook his head in astonishment.
"You know, Sir Harold," he said. "Sometimes you truly amaze me."
Hefty turned to him. "Good," he said, striding past him to once more take the lead. Brainy scowled under his helmet and jerked himself around again. "Come on, Sir Clement," he snapped. "We've still got a ways to go yet."
When they finally reached the corner around which the girls had vanished, Clumsy called out, "Um, He-I mean, Sir Harold?"
Hefty, already several yards ahead of both Brainy and Clumsy, turned. "What is it?"
"I gotta stop, Sir Harold," Clumsy moaned. "My legs can't smurf me a step further."
"Same goes for me," Brainy panted weakly. "I fear I may collapse."
"Honestly," Hefty said in disgust. "I can't believe what total Smurflings you both are." He sighed. "All right, there's a door just ahead. I'll see if the room is empty, then we can go in there and you two can take off your armor for a while."
The two puffed Smurfs were too puffed to cheer.
"Come on, Clumsy," Brainy said weakly, no longer caring if they were found out. "Just a few more shuffles and we're smurf free."
It took all their willpower to make their aching legs move, but they were able to manage a desperately quick shuffle.
Hefty eased the door open a crack. The sun had just started to set, but there was still enough light steaming in from the lone window to show him that the room seemed deserted. He opened it a bit wider, then stepped cautiously in.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. A young girl with very long blond hair and large, deep-blue eyes was sitting in a corner of the room. She looked up at his exclamation, startled.
"Who are you?" she asked, suddenly very nervous. Hefty noticed that her dun-colored dress wasn't nearly as flashy as those of the girls outside, but he didn't know much about human fashions so he decided it would be better not to ask about it.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, my lady," he said, thinking up a cover story fast. "My name is Sir Harold. I was looking for Prince Theodore. Do you know where he might be?"
"No, I was just waiting for him here myself." The girl peered at him, curiously. "Your voice sounds familiar to me," she said. "Do I know you?"
The disguised Smurf removed his helmet, revealing a strong face and a head of shaggy auburn hair. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure, my lady."
Just then, a very loud, clattering crash resounded in the corridor outside.
"It's astonishing to me," came Brainy's voice, "that you can still be so clumsy, even as a human. Hold onto my arm, Sir Clement, I'll help you up."
Hefty looked over his metal-plated shoulder to the Smurfs struggling behind him. As he watched, Clumsy managed to pull Brainy down with him. Now, both of them were lying helplessly on the floor. Hefty sighed. "Excuse me, my lady," he said.
The girl watched with amusement as the strong, auburn knight effortlessly lifted the two other knights to their feet. The one who had been trying to help the clumsy one quickly ripped off his helmet. He blinked his deep blue eyes, looking around blindly.
"Quick, He-Sir Harold," he said rather frantically. "Look in my helmet. Do you see my glasses in there?"
The auburn knight-Sir Harold, the girl reminded herself-took the helmet from the squinting knight with the flaming red hair and reached inside. He pulled out a very familiar looking pair of thick, black-rimmed glasses. The girl narrowed her eyes, suspiciously.
"Here you go, Sir Brian," he said, pressing them into the blind knight's groping hands. With the greatest care, the red-head replaced his glasses on his nose. "Ah, thank you!" he said with genuine gratitude.
The third knight, Sir Clement, was now struggling with his helmet. The spectacled red-head shot a glance at the auburn knight. Then, he went over to assist the struggling knight.
"Here you are, Sir Clement," he said, lifting the clumsy knight's helmet to reveal a kind, large-nosed face with big, trusting eyes and ruffled blond hair.
"Gosh, Bra-I mean, Sir Brian. I'm sorry about your glasses."
"It's all right, Sir Clement. No harm done." He turned to the girl, who was now looking quite curious.
"I'm sorry you had to see that, my lady," he said with a very familiar pomposity. "My friend here is a bit, well, clumsy at times."
His blond friend chucked as though he thought that was a joke. "Yup, that's right."
The three young knights waited for her to respond, but she was far too preoccupied with trying to think why these three strange knights seemed so extraordinarily familiar. Suddenly, it hit her. But, surely that was impossible? Then again, who else could they be?
She walked slowly over to them, a smile now on her face. "It's quite all right, Sir Brian," she said. "I don't mind a bit. In fact, you three remind me very strongly of three friends of mine."
"We do?" asked Hefty.
The girl nodded. "Yes. In fact, you even sound like them."
"Uh, we do?" asked Clumsy.
The girl nodded, "Mm hm. In fact, I'm willing to bet that you are them."
Now the Smurfs were confused. "What makes you say that?" asked Hefty.
The girl smiled mischievously. "I know, I'll give you a test. I'll start a quote, and if any of you know the end to it, you have to finish it. All right?"
The three knights nodded, not quite sure what this girl was up to.
The girl cleared her throat, then took up the pompous stance Brainy always used when lecturing the other Smurfs. Hefty and Clumsy were tempted to giggle, but Brainy didn't seem to realize he was being parodied—until the girl said:
"Who's the brainiest of them all? When you need a brain, who do you call?"
Clumsy hurried to finish the quotation. "Brainy!" he cried enthusiastically.
Brainy stood speechless, his mouth open. Hefty laughed.
"So," he said. "You're Smurfette. I should have known. We've been looking for you, you know."
Brainy recovered, then took up a lecturing pose of his own-somewhat hindered by the weight of his armor.
"Papa Smurf is very worried about you," he said in his best scolding voice. "This is by far and away the unsmurfiest thing you have ever done. How could you have smurfed such a foolish wish? Papa Smurf had to send us after you. You see what fools we look!"
"Actually, Brainy," said Smurfette with a small smile. "You're kind of cute as a human. I like your hair."
Brainy stopped scolding and blushed beet red. "Really?"
"Never mind that," said Hefty brusquely. "You're coming back to the village with us right now, Smurfette. You have to rub Gourdy's gourd and wish yourself a Smurf again before it's too late!"
"You must be Hefty," said Smurfette. "Clumsy was easy to guess, and so was Brainy because of his glasses. You were harder, though. Until you started being bossy, that is."
"Smurfette, you have to stop this smurfing around. You're smurfing back with us and giving up on this silly Prince Theodore crush of yours. Didn't Gourdy tell you what a dangerous wish you've made?"
"You mean the conditions?" Smurfette asked. "He told me that if Theo didn't recognize me for who I truly was before tomorrow at midnight, I'd change back into a Smurf. Unfortunately, since I didn't specify in my wish that I wanted to be a noble lady, Gourdy sent me here dressed as a peasant girl." She looked down at her dun-colored dress with a hint of distaste.
"And, if he does recognize you?"
"Then, I get to stay a human forever! I've always wanted to be a princess, you know."
Brainy stared at her incredulously. "And just what in Smurfdom makes you think he'd marry you?" he asked. "He's in love with Lady Xolynda. She's come here all the way from across the sea just to see him. Have you flipped your smurf?"
To the Smurfs' great shame and embarrassment, Smurfette burst into tears.
"Oh, I don't know! I don't know!" she cried. "Before you came, I was sitting in the corner there thinking that maybe I had. But, then I remembered Theodore. He told me he wished he could marry someone like me. He told me that I was the one who loved him best!"
Clumsy stared at her. "Gosh, Smurfette," he said. "This really means a lot to you, doesn't it."
Smurfette nodded, then buried her streaming face in her hands, sobbing.
Brainy turned to Hefty. "I don't believe it," he whispered. "A hundred Smurfs to choose from, and she goes and picks a human. I don't think I will ever understand Smurfettes."
Hefty nodded. "I hear you, Brainy. But, we've still got to help her over this and smurf back to the village before tomorrow night."
Brainy sighed. "This may just be our most difficult task yet."