Chapter 6: Onward and Upward
Together, Malina, Young, and Chabela had walked on throughout the night. As dawn was slowly approaching, the three found themselves at the rim of the mountain that laid before them. They could see San Theodoros from the distance they were in. But it was not the wintertime view they had expected to see. The snow was beginning to melt at a steady pace. "The snow's completely melted," Young said. "It'll be fine," Malina said, composing herself. "Alex can fix this." "Will she?" Young asked. "Just like that?"
"Of course," Malina said. Then, she pointed toward the direction of the path. "So, this way to the Southern Mountain?" Young chuckled and grabbed Malina's wrist. "More like 'that way' to the Southern Mountain," Young said, pointing Malina's finger to the top of the path.
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As the morning light gave way to the day, the three friends ventured to a deeper part of the jungles as they continued on their journey. For hours they walked, until they came to a clearing in the jungle surrounded by tall trees. The terrain looked so much more different than what they had experienced in the rest of the woods. They had come across a serene jungle cove.
Malina was awestruck. "I never knew summer could be so…beautiful," she whispered. Young ran his fingers through the ropey branches of a willow tree. Chabela was too eager to watch the vines dance around. She jumped all around them, entangling herself in the vines. She looked like a shimmering rose bush!
"Yeah, but it's so green!" a voice said from nowhere. "Doesn't it hurt your eyes a bit? My eyes are killing me. You know, how about a little color?" Malina and Young looked at each other. Who could have been talking just now? "Must we grunge the joy out of it all?" the voice said again. "I'm thinking like chartreuse or turquoise. How about yellow? No, not yellow. Yellow and green? Brr…no go." A goofy red and white fire ferret, walking on his hind legs, appeared. He laughed at his yellow and green joke. "Am I right?" he asked Malina.
"AAAAAHH!" Malina yelled, kicking the ferret up high until it landed on Young's arms. "Hi," the ferret said. "You're creepy," Young said, throwing the ferret back to Malina. "No, I don't want it!" Malina said, throwing the ferret again. "Please don't drop me!" the ferret said. "Back at you!" Young exclaimed, throwing the ferret. "Okay, bad start!" the ferret said. "Ew, the body!" Malina said, throwing the ferret to the ground. The ferret stood on his own head!
"Okay, what am I looking at right now?" he said. "Why are you all hanging off the earth like a bat?" "Oh, sorry! Here you go," Malina said, picking up the ferret and placing him back in an upright position. "Thank you!" the ferret said. "You're welcome," Malina replied, though she found it rather strange to be speaking to a talking ferret. "Ah, now I'm perfect!" the ferret said. "Well, almost," Malina said as she reached into the pack and pulled out a dark red kerchief…and accidentally jammed it onto his head! "Oh, sorry! Sorry!" Malina said. "Are you okay?" "Are you kidding me? I am wonderful!" the ferret said. "So cute. It's like a little baby wormy-worm."
Malina pulled down the kerchief until it was neatly round the ferret's neck. "Oh, I love it even more!" the ferret exclaimed. " All right, let's start this all over again. Hi, everyone. I'm Rascal. And I like warm hugs." "Rascal?" Malina asked. Somehow the name seemed familiar. She remembered finding a fire ferret with Alex when they were little, and she had given the ferret the same name. "That's right! Rascal!" Malina whispered.
"And you are…?" Rascal asked. "Oh! Right!" Malina said, snapping back to reality. "I'm Malina." "And who's the funky-looking donkey?" Rascal inquired. "That's Chabela," Malina answered. "Uh-huh. And who's the horse?" Rascal asked again. "That's Chabela," Malina said again as Rascal moved closer to Chabela, who tried to chomp on his kerchief. "Aw, look at her, trying to kiss my nose," Rascal said. "And I like you too!"
"Rascal," Malina asked, "did Alex create you?" "Yea. Why?" Rascal asked. "Do you know where she is?" Malina asked. "Yea. Why?" Rascal repeated. "Do you think you can show us the way?" Malina asked. "Yea. Why?" Rascal said yet again. Meanwhile, Young was fingering Rascal's tail. "Hey, how does this thing work?" Young asked, and he got slapped by Rascal's tail. "Hey, stop it, Chabela! Trying to focus here," Rascal said. "Yea. Why?"
"I'll tell you why," Young added in. "We need Alex to come back to San Theodoros and bring back winter." Rascal was awestruck. "Winter?" he asked. "Oh, I don't know why, but I've always loved the idea of winter, and the snow, and all things cold!" "Really?" Young asked raising an eyebrow. "I'm guessing you don't have much experience with cold temperatures." "Nope," Rascal said. "But sometimes, I like to close my eyes and imagine what it'll be like when winter does come." Rascal imagined what a winter wonderland would be like for him: playing in the snow, skating around ice, all the good stuff in winter.
But as Rascal went on and on about all the things he would love to do in winter, Young looked over to Malina. "I'm gonna tell him," he muttered. It was killing him to hear Rascal talking about the freezing winter—which was a ferret's worst danger ever! "Don't you dare!" Malina scolded back. She didn't want Young to ruin Rascal's dream with the horrible truth.
Rascal took hold of Malina's hand. "So what are we waiting for?" he asked. "Come on! Let's go bring back winter!" "I'm coming!" Malina exclaimed. She and Chabela followed Rascal into the jungles. Young could only shrug. "Somebody's got to tell him," he muttered.
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Back in the kingdom of San Theodoros, things were not going so well. The snow had already melted from the blazing hot sun. People everywhere were wondering when the cold weather would come back. They were suffering from the heat as it grew even more tense than ever. So, in an effort to keep cool, they unloaded the supplies from the ships to be stored and distributed.
"No no, you've got the ice facing the wrong way!" one man said while another was rearranging the ice blocks. No, I was not! It has to face this way!" the man told his friend. While they weren't watching, a little boy grabbed the ice block from them.
"Who here needs an umbrella for shade?" Ian called out as he did his part to tend to the village. "San Theodoros is indebted to you, Your Highness," a woman said as she took an umbrella from him. "Thank you, ma'am," Ian said. Then, he turned to the rest of the villagers. "The castle is open," he announced. "There's soup, ice, and cold refreshers." Handing the umbrellas to one guard, he told him, "Here. Pass these out."
"Prince Ian!" Rastapopoulos shouted from behind. "Do you expect us to sit here and melt in this weather while you give away all of San Theodoros' tradeable goods?" "Calm yourself," Ian said. "Princess Malina has given me her direct orders." "Has it not dawned on you that the princess may be conspiring with a wicked witch to destroy us all?" Rastapopoulos questioned. "Do not question the princess," Ian demanded. "She has left me in charge, and I will not hesitate to protect San Theodoros from treason." "Treason?" Rastapopoulos asked. "No, I…I would never…"
Suddenly, Malina's horse came bounding through the village square. "Whoa, easy there!" Ian said, attempting to calm the horse. "Easy, easy." "Princess Malina's horse!" a guard exclaimed. "What has happened to her? Where is she?" The villagers began to panic with great worry. "Princess Malina's in trouble!" Ian announced. "I need volunteers to come with me and go after her!" A group of men stepped forward and offered to help Ian. Rastapopoulos sent two of his strongest guards to go with Ian as well. "Should you encounter the queen," he said quietly, "be prepared to put an end to this heat wave. Do you understand?" The two men nodded in agreement.
It was not long before Ian finally summoned the men to follow him as they crossed the perilous jungles and made their way toward the Southern Mountains.