Dorothy, Jack, and Billina had recently walked underneath an emerald green bridge on the yellow brick road through the forest, which seemed to look less gloomy and dark, when…
"HEY, YOU!"
A rough voice called out, startling Jack and nearly made him trip on his legs again, almost falling on to the broken brick road. Dorothy quickly caught hold of him as the pumpkinheaded man collapsed into her arms. Jack blushed as he looked into Dorothy's blue eyes, but Dorothy wasn't in the mood to have someone gaze into her eyes. She looked around for the voice that made them stop in their tracks.
"Who said that?" she called out. "Who's there?"
"Over here!" replied the voice.
Dorothy and Jack looked, and they gasped. A wooden carousel horse was standing upside down on a pole stuck within his back. The horse was colored a dark pink all over his body, his hair and tail a scruffy ruddy brown color just like his hooves, and his saddle and halter were a dark blue color.
Billina walked around the pole checking him out. Dorothy and Jack stared at the woodenhorse on the pole in wonder, until the woodenhorse spoke to them in a gruff tone.
"Alright, alright! Don't just stand there staring, come help me!"
"Oh. Are you stuck?" Jack tried to look at him by tilting his head to the side so he could see the horse's face right side up.
"What do you think I'm doing like this? Bird watching?"
"Well, you ain't watching me, that's for sure," huffed Billina.
"Just get me off of this stupid pole!" cried the woodenhorse, indignantly.
Jack shrugged his shoulders, then pushed the woodenhorse around in a circle, the horse making a squeaking sound when he spun around in a circle.
"No, no! Not that way! You're making me dizzy!"
"Hold on, Jack! I've got an idea!" Dorothy gestured the pumpkin man to place both hands and hers under the horse's back, and carefully lift him off the pole. The woodenhorse was really heavy as the two friends heaved and lifted with all their might.
Suddenly, Jack lost his footing and slipped, accidently kicking at the pole and knocking it down, taking the woodenhorse with it. He wasn't hurt, but he glared at the pumpkin man for his clumsiness. Dorothy unscrewed the pole that wedged in his back, and the woodenhorse immediately sat up on all fours.
"Ugh! My aching back!" The woodenhorse groaned slightly, then sighed with relief. "Ah, feels good to be free. I thought nobody would ever come. I owe you guys a lot. I'm your friend for life! You can say a lot of things about ol' Woodenhorse, but he never forgets a friend or a favor! No way, man!"
"Woodenhorse? Is that what you're called?" questioned Jack.
"Yep! That's me!" smiled the carousel horse. When he saw Dorothy and first noticed her beauty, he took her hand in his hoof, giving her a flirtatious smile. "Well, au chante, mademoiselle. The name is Woodenhorse. At your service," he said, before kissing her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Woodenhorse. I'm Dorothy Gale. And this is Jack Pumpkinhead and Billina." Dorothy curtsied, and then introduced her friends to the new companion.
Upon hearing the girl's name, Woodenhorse stared at her almost in shock and became ecstatic. "Dorothy Gale!? The famous Dorothy Gale!? Oh man! I can't believe I'm actually meeting the Witch Slaying Girl from Kansas! I'm a huge fan!"
Dorothy giggled and blushed. Throughout six lonely years in Kansas, she had begun to miss the popularity she received in Oz. Then her mind went back to why the woodenhorse she had found had been upside down. "So, what happened to you, Woodenhorse? Why were you upside down?"
Woodenhorse frowned in deep sadness and his ears lowered. "Well, I was created and made to be a merry-go-round horse for a traveling funfair. But all I ever do is go around in circles, going nowhere, especially with those kids climbing all over me. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I kicked one of the kids off my backside when he started pulling at my tail. I was immediately cut off from the carousel and abandoned here so I could hurt nobody else. Heck, they could've just set me up as a race horse, or a farm horse, or a clothes horse but I don't a nice figure like those gorgeous mares."
"Oh, dear," Dorothy said with pity in her voice. "You poor horse."
"Say that again, I love hearing sympathy from the heroine of Oz."
"Oh. Uh, you poor horse."
"Thank you."
Billina rolled her eyes in annoyance and decided to cut in. "Uh, I hate to interrupt but we're supposed to be going to Emerald City, Dorothy! Remember?"
"Oh! Uh, right, Billina," said Dorothy.
"Emerald City? The Capital?" Woodenhead asked with deep interest. "You guys know somebody there you got connections?"
"Well, my friend the Scarecrow is the King of Oz," replied Dorothy.
Woodenhead's jaw dropped and his eyes glowed with anticipation. "The King!? You know the King!? Oh my gosh! Why didn't you say so? I heard that Scarecrow King is a real popular guy, and not bad with the ladies too! Kings give out the coolest jobs ever! With one stroke of his pen, he can appoint me Royal Steed, head of the Royal Cavalry! Swift promotion, that's what I like! Will you put in a good word for me, Dorothy?"
Dorothy's smile turned into a worried frown. "Well, we just recently escaped a wicked witch named Mombi, and from what I learned Scarecrow is in danger."
"Danger?" Woodenhead gasped. "What danger?"
"I don't know, but we're on our way to rescue him. The Yellow Brick Road is broken, Munchkinland is deserted, and my friends need rescuing."
Woodenhead thought for a moment, then he beamed. "You've come to the right horse, baby! Cause I'm your boy. Who can get you to the Emerald City faster than me? We'll gallop all the way!"
"Oh, thank you." Dorothy smiled gratefully.
Jack tried to get on the horse's back but his legs were so long and gangly, he almost stumbled backwards and then spun around in a circle. The clumsy pumpkin man landed on the horse's back, facing backwards instead of forwards. Woodenhead shook his head in disgust at the pumpkin creature.
"We really need to do something about those legs of yours," grumbled Billina.
Dorothy helped Jack get off the horse and set him facing forwards on Woodenhorse's back. Then Dorothy picked Billina up in her arms, climbed onto Woodenhorse's back, and in front of Jack, who held onto her.
"We're off to the Emerald City!" cheered Dorothy, as Woodenhead began galloping down the grassy lane.
-0o0o0-
However, unbeknownst to the group, Mombi had been spying on them with her cousins' green crystal ball.
"Why do you think I let her go? I knew Langwidere would take care of her the minute she reaches Emerald City!" Mombi snapped at the personage from the doorway.
The personage was the rock minion whose face was on a small boulder just outside Mombi's cottage. "But the Nome King thought you would take care of her, and the chicken."
"It was that pumpkinhead's fault she escaped my clutches! He has betrayed me!" growled Mombi.
"Maybe he was taken by her charms and good looks," chortled the rock minion. "I mean, Dorothy Gale is now an attractive lady, and she could attract any attention with a face like that and a beautiful singing voice…"
Mombi pointed at her tongue and gagged in disgust. "Blech! Stop swooning over Dorothy and start reprimanding me like you were before! Though honestly I think Langwidere would become extremely jealous if he heard talk about Dorothy like that."
"Oh! Right." The rock minion cleared his throat. "As I was saying, the Nome King isn't pleased that you've let Dorothy and the chicken escape!"
"Why would he be worried about that stupid chicken?" Mombi asked.
The rock minion gestured her to come forward which Mombi did, leaning over so he could whisper into her ear. Mombi's eyes grew wide in shock and her mouth agape.
"WHAT!?" The witch gasped. "Well, why didn't you so say before, you rock-faced creep? What'll we do now?"
"You're the one who let her go, so you're the one who's gotta stop her!" The rock minion left after finishing his sentence.
"Okay, how do I stop that little beauty from reaching the Emerald City?" Mombi wondered.
"Try trapping them in a field of giant sunflowers?" suggested the crow.
"Maybe. But good can giant sunflowers do?" Then, a terrible idea flew into the witch's brain. She smiled smugly, thinking how hideously wonderful her idea was.
The witch picked up the broomstick and placed a crystal orb on the top, making it glow a sickly green color. Once again, the broomstick was being used as a weapon of mass destruction. Going to her crystal ball, Mombi waved her scepter over the crystal ball, muttering a chant while conducting a spell.
"Tear down the walls and plant sunflowers, in their place let wicked people grow, taller than ourselves and fill the sky, with a yellow golden burn, that evil's light is what's to come."
-0o0o0-
"WHOA!" Dorothy shouted so suddenly.
Woodenhorse screeched to a halt. He gave a stop with such a jerk that Jack's pumpkin head whacked Dorothy on the head. "Why do you want me to stop? What's wrong?"
"Look! Up ahead!" Dorothy pointed to the far distance.
Everyone took one look and saw a field of sunflowers growing in the path right in front of them.
"What are those?" asked Jack.
"They're sunflowers," answered Dorothy. "But they just appeared out of nowhere. You see how fast they grow?"
"Flowers don't grow rapidly," stated Woodenhorse. "Unless it was done by magic."
"Look! More sunflowers are growing right behind us!" exclaimed Billina.
Sure enough, many more sunflowers appeared. The giant flowers grew so quickly as they surrounded the small group, entrapping them in a circle.
"Wow! Look at them go!" cried Woodenhorse. "They're gigantic!"
Dorothy then thought about what Woodenhead had said earlier and a look of fear read upon her expression. "Oh, I think those flowers were sent here to get us!"
"But no one knows we're here," said Woodenhead.
"This is no coincidence, Woodenhorse. No flower can grow this fast unless magic is involved," announced Dorothy. "Although the flowers in the Kansas garden don't grow this big or this fast, but I think this is Mombi's doing."
"Oh! I think your right, Dorothy!" Jack cried, frightened. "We better get out of here before we're trapped here forever!"
"Quiet!" snapped Woodenhorse. "Look! Look at the flowers!"
Then, the sunflowers began to turn a dark black color, its petals drying up and the faces changing into a sickly green. The now rather creepy sunflowers began to lean down towards them. Strange faces took shape in the faces of the flowers. Each sunflower had an evil, demonic, and threatening face.
"Yikes! Now they're growing faces! And I don't like 'em!" Jack trembled with fear.
As the sunflowers towered over them and leaned even closer to them, Dorothy recognized one of the faces in the sunflowers and it gave her a terrible shock.
"I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!"
It was the face of the Wicked Witch of the West. Dorothy screamed and clutched Billina very tightly in her arms, causing the hen to squirm to struggle to get out of the girl's bone crushing hug.
"You will suffer my wrath for destroying me and for stealing my slippers!"
There was another voice Dorothy didn't recognize. But when she looked at the face of the sunflower that owned the voice, she could see it had the face of another wicked witch, but at the mention of slippers, Dorothy figured that this must be the face of the Wicked Witch of the East, and she looked just as ugly as her sister and her cousin.
"In a twister, you fell from the sky! And in a twister, you shall die!"
That voice Dorothy knew too well belonged to the Jester. She saw his face on another sunflower, giving her that same evil smirk he used to give her years ago.
"I told you I'd know where you'd be hiding! Now you can't go anywhere now that I have you in my grasp!"
The last face everyone saw was the face of Mombi, on the lead sunflower that was the closest to them. Mombi began to laugh, an evil wicked laugh. She was soon joined by the laughter of the Wicked Witches and the Jester, all laughing manically, directly at Dorothy.
Their laughter ran through her brain and poor Dorothy couldn't take it anymore. She covered her ears, not wishing to hear any more jeering, but the taunts seemed louder than ever. Tears cascaded in her eyes to gaze upon the cruel faces of her enemies. Suddenly, she let out an ear-piercing scream, with a mixture of agony and fear.
Her screaming startled Woodenhorse so much that he neighed in fright, reared back in doing so like all horses do when panicked, and then bolted right through the field of creepy sunflowers, just as the flowers were on the verge of wrapping them around their very long, steam-like bodies like snakes. The flowers were knocked or pushed down forcibly. The flowers gave a cry of shock and pain as Woodenhorse stepped or shoved through them with almost incredible speed. At the end of the field of dead flowers, Woodenhorse burst out of the field, still galloping so fast. The sunflowers vanished the second Woodenhorse and his riders escaped.
Jack clung tight to Dorothy's waist as she clung tight to both Billina and to Woodenhorse's mane. Dorothy hadn't opened her eyes or paid attention to what was in front of them as her mind kept torturing her from her experience with those evil sunflowers.
A river lay just ahead of them and Jack called out for Woodenhorse to stop, but it was too late. Woodenhorse found himself galloping on the water's surface. It didn't last long as Woodenhorse started to sink beneath the water's surface.
Even under the sea, Woodenhorse could still gallop like crazy and not pay attention to everything around him. Jack's pumpkin head spun around, and Billina flapped her wings and clucked ecstatically. Dorothy now opened her eyes and started to freak out; screaming for Woodenhorse to stop, but her voice made bubbling watery sounds so Woodenhorse couldn't hear her.
However, because wood was light on water, Woodenhorse floated right up to the top of the water's surface. Woodenhorse stopped moving and stayed completely still in the water. Dorothy breathed heavy gasps for air, leaning against Woodenhorse's neck.
"Oh, Woodenhorse. Did you have to take us out for a swim when we're not in the mood?" Dorothy gasped, a bit of agitation in her tone.
"I'm sorry, kid, but it was your screaming that started it," replied Woodenhorse.
"This is the second time I get wet," grumbled Billina. "I nearly soiled myself when we crashed into the river!"
"Help! Save me! Dorothy! Help me!"
Everyone looked back and noticed Jack's pumpkin head bobbling in the water, yet his body was still on the wooden horse's back. Dorothy dove into the water and swam over to Jack's pumpkin head, and grabbed it. Woodenhorse swam for shore on the other side of the river, with Billina riding on his back. Dorothy swam to shore until her feet made contact with solid ground. She gently screwed the pumpkin head back firmly on the sharp wooden spike that was Jack's neck.
"Oh, thank you, Dorothy," Jack sighed, gratefully. Then he glared at the wooden horse. "You're a menace, Woodenhorse! Don't you know water isn't good for pumpkins!?"
"It wasn't my fault that Dorothy screamed in my ear! Besides, water is liable to spoil pumpkins, then you would be of no use to us at all so we won't to listen to your worrying!" Woodenhorse retorted, angrily.
"Would you two just shut up!?" Billina shouted loudly. "We've gotta get going before Mombi sends something else at us!"
"Billina is right," declared Dorothy. "The Wicked Witch and the Jester sent plenty of traps at me to keep me from reaching my goal, and Mombi will likely keep this up if we fight less and continue on with our travels more." She lowered her head in shame. "But Woodenhorse is right. I'm sorry I got you all into this mess. It was so horrible to see the faces of those I destroyed, except for Mombi, it's like they came back from the dead to take their revenge on me."
Jack, Woodenhorse, and Billina grew quiet. They looked at each other, and then they looked back at Dorothy, giving her little smiles.
"Ah, don't worry about it, kid." Woodenhorse chuckled. "I've been in worse scrapes than this."
"I was scared too when I thought we'd never escape those awful flowers," Jack said, sympathetically.
"Just warn us the next time you scream," said Billina.
Dorothy smiled and gave a little hearty chuckle. "C'mon, let's go to Emerald City."
Getting onto Woodenhorse's back, the group started back on their journey to the Emerald City.
-0o0o0-
"ARGH! Darn that stupid horse!" Mombi growled, furiously. "I almost had 'em if it hadn't been for him! Although, it was kind of funny to see them fall into the river."
"So what are you gonna do now?" asked the crow. "They're very close to Emerald City."
Mombi gave it some thought for a moment, and then she grinned. "Let them go. Langwidere and the Wheelers will take care of them."