(Zeb Hugsen)

*Author's Note: A new arc begins! This arc is loosely based off the forth book "Dorothy and The Wizard in Oz*

*January 15th, 1906*

*San Francisco*

*Hugsen's Sliding*

*5:00am*

Three months had passed since Dorothy's last adventure as we now see Dorothy sitting on one of the seats in the train while waiting for the train to arrive at her destination and her friend, Betsy Bobbin was with her as well due to the pair spending some time together.

"The train should have arrived at our destination hours ago! I wonder why it was so late.." Dorothy had spoken out to her friend as she looked out of the window with a mixture of impatience yet curiosity in her voice while Betsy nodded her head in agreement.

"You were probably asleep but I've overheard the conductor say that he felt the ground shaking and it spooked the poor man so much that he stopped the train for two hours!" Betsy had explained to her friend as this made Dorothy nod her head in understandment.

"Shaking? Must be an earthquake and I've heard from my Uncle Henry that earthquakes usually happen in California and mostly in this area so I'm not surprised at all" Dorothy had spoken back to her friend in agreement.

"Indeed and we should be arriving at any time and you are going to see your distant cousin, right? Have you met him before or will this be your first time?" Betsy had asked Dorothy once more while waiting for an answer as Dorothy began to answer the question.

"Correct and this will be my first time seeing him so that will be quite interesting considering he's related to Uncle Henry meaning that I'm finally gonna meet his family" Dorothy had responded back with a smile on her face as this made Betsy nod her head in understandment before leaning over with more curiosity as she began to ask a more personal question.

"I've been meaning to ask whatever happened to your parents? I've noticed that you never really talk about them as much and sorry if this seemed personal.." Betsy had asked her friend with a hint of sympathy in her voice while Dorothy gave her a smile of reinsurance as she began to speak once more.

"It's okay, I don't mind and you are my friend so I feel comfortable sharing this with you and to answer your question, I don't really know or remember my parents and all I know is that Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had taken me in when I was a baby but all I can say is that I'm not related to them by blood but I still consider them family" Dorothy had answered back with peace and calmness in her voice as this made Betsy smile.

"I see, well, I'm glad you are happy and that's what matters most, my friend" Betsy had spoken back as both girls shared a warm smile together before it was interrupted with the sounds of the train stopping indicating that the girls had arrived at their destination.

"Hugsen's Sliding!" The conductor had called out from the main compartment as the train fully came to a stop.

"I'll help you carry your things, is that okay with you?" Betsy had offered Dorothy as her friend nodded her head in confirmation which made her smile.

"Of course, you can take my suitcase while I take the cage containing my cat" Dorothy had directed Betsy while pointing at her suitcase as Betsy picked up the suitcase while Dorothy picked up the cage containing the cat as both girls made their way towards the exit of the train.

The shed at Hugson's Siding was bare save for an old wooden bench, and did not look very inviting. As both girls peered through the soft gray light not a house of any sort was visible near the station,

"It seems nobody isn't in the station but I do recall you telling me that your cousin was gonna pick you up, right?" Betsy had spoken out to Dorothy while peering inside of the station as her friend nodded her head in confirmation.

"He was but I wonder if he left since the train did arrive late…" Dorothy had answered back as this was followed by her cat meowing in her cage which prompted the girl to gently hum in order to calm it down.

"Don't worry Eureka, we'll arrive at the Hugson's ranch soon, we just gotta wait for Cousin Zeb…" Dorothy had spoken to her pet cat as she looked over to her right to see a horse and a buggy that was located near some trees.

"Betsy, I think this is our ride and I'm glad Zeb waited for us at the very least…" Dorothy had spoken out to her friend as Betsy had looked over to see the buggy and horse as well.

"I see it! I hope it's your cousin but let's go over there and see.." Betsy had spoken out as she and Dorothy carried their luggage and proceeded to walk towards where the horse and buggy was located.

"Wow, I've never seen a horse in person before, It's huge!" Dorothy had spoken out in awestruck as she looked at the black horse.

The horse was big, tall and bony, with long legs and large knees and feet and his tail was long and scraggly.

"So, is that your cousin, the boy sleeping on that tree?" Betsy had asked Dorothy in a curious tone of voice as she pointed at the young boy sleeping.

"I believe so. He looks like the boy in the photo that my Uncle Henry gave me but I could be wrong" Dorothy had responded back while showing her the photo of her cousin as Betsy observed it with great interest.

"I see, well, we better wake him up so we could head to your folk's ranch in a timely manner" Betsy had spoken back to Dorothy as she was met with her friend shaking her head in denial which surprised her.

"How come?" Betsy simply responded back while waiting for an answer as Dorothy began to speak.

"It's best to let him get his rest and it's still pretty late or rather early in the morning" Dorothy had responded back; however, the young boy had finally risen up from his slumber as he rubbed his eyes in tiredness.

"Oh, you? You must be Dorothy Gale, right? It seems you've brought a friend along as well" The boy had spoken out while stretching as Dorothy nodded her head in confirmation which made the boy smile.

"Yes, you must be Zeb Hugson, it's a pleasure to meet you, cousin" Dorothy had spoken back in a polite tone of voice as she and her cousin had shaken hands together while Betsy watched.

"And my name is Betsy Bobbin, a friend of Dorothy and it's very nice to meet you and I hope we can get along quite well" Betsy had also spoken to Zeb in introduction as she had shaken hands with him.

"I see, you are quite a pretty gal, Dorothy has good taste in choosing her friends! That sure runs in the family!" Zeb had spoken out to Betsy while chuckling to himself as this comment surprised Dorothy.

"We're not related but my folks always taught me to pick my friends wisely and I have plenty of friends to prove it as well" Dorothy had spoken back to her cousin as this made Zeb smile.

"And I'm glad to hear that! And speaking of being related, my Uncle, Bill Hugson, married your Uncle Henry's wife's sister so we must be second cousins or something like that if we was blood related" Zeb had spoken back while loading the girl's luggage into the back of the buggy while Dorothy and Betsy climbed on the buggy and proceeded to sit down as Dorothy began to respond to his statement.

"Somewhat and I didn't even know Aunt Em had a sister until a few weeks ago but do you usually work for your uncle or do you live with him" Dorothy had asked her cousin in a curious tone of voice as she had saw Zeb hopping on the carriage as he was getting ready to make the horse move.

"I live with him and also work for him on his ranch and he pays me six dollars a month on my board!" Zeb had responded back while chuckling to himself as this made both girls let out a sigh of wonder.

"Six dollars?! That's so much money! You could buy plenty of food with that kind of money!" Betsy had spoken out in surprise while Dorothy nodded her head in agreement.

"My friend is right, you must be a hard worker, right? Considering that your Uncle Bill pays you that much" Dorothy had chimed into the conversation while Zeb nodded his head in agreement.

"Indeed, I'm a splendid worker and I can even work as I sleep as well, talk about great or what?" Zeb had responded back as he finally picked up the reins and proceeded to shake them; however, the horse remained still much to Zeb's dismay.

"Gid-dap!" Zeb had called out to the horse in a commanding yet polite tone of voice in hopes of the horse moving; however, it remained still which confused the boy.

"Maybe try to untie him then he'll go" Dorothy had spoken to her cousin while pointing at the rope which the horse was tied to which made Zeb blush with embarrassment.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I was too groggy to notice but thanks for the heads up" Zeb had spoken back to his cousin while getting down from the horse so he could untie him and once he did that, he had placed the rope in the back of the carriage and hopped back on his usual spot.

"Zeb, right? Is that your name? That's a pretty common name in places like these" Betsy had asked Zeb in a curious tone of voice as she was met with Zeb nodding his head in confirmation.

"Correct, My full name is Zebediah but you and Cousin Dorothy can just call me Zeb for short and did you guys come back from Australia?" Zeb had answered back to Betsy as he used the reins on his horse and with that, the horse had finally started to move down the sandy road which was visible in the dim light.

"Zebediah? What a good name and Dorothy and her Uncle Henry recently came back from Australia after staying there for a few weeks but I only came to San Francisco to visit my friend and that's about it" Betsy had answered back as this made Zeb smile as he began to speak once more.

"That's wonderful and I'm glad that Cousin Dorothy had fun with Uncle Henry" Zeb had spoken back to Betsy once more while Dorothy listened to their conversation as she began to speak.

"It's only for two days or so but we should be heading back home by the end of the week but I hope we can be of good company to you and your folks" Dorothy had chimed into the conversation while Zeb smiled and gave his cousin reassurance.

"Don't worry about it! I'm sure you and Betsy would make the folks back at the ranch very pleased" Zeb had responded back at Dorothy as the horse that was taking them to their destination had continued to walk across the plains and there was silence.

The silence seemed deafening as some birds were flying in a flock in a certain direction while Eureka was meowing in sadness and suddenly, an earthquake happened as the ground shook heavily for a few seconds before coming to a halt.

"Goodness gracious! An earthquake!" Dorothy had uttered out in shock while holding on to the iron rail of her seat as she looked over to see Zeb and Betsy looking shocked while Eureka was hissing.

"That was an awful earthquake! I felt like I would have died!" Zeb had spoken out while catching his breath while Betsy nodded her head in agreement.

"I'm so used to tornadoes back at Kansas so I can't imagine getting used to earthquakes once in a blue moon, it's maddening!" Betsy had spoken out as well while also catching her breath.

"Califorina had plenty of quakes once in a while so I'm used to it" Zeb had spoken out to Betsy while gently petting his horse whose name was Jim.

There was silence once more as Zeb attempted to use his reins to make Jim move; however, the horse wouldn't budge and after some protest, Jim slowly began to move.

"Odd, Jim usually moves when he's told…I bet he's still scared by that quake which I can't blame him for.." Zeb had spoken out once more in confusion as Jim continued to walk across the plains.

Nobody spoke due to the earthquake and there was a sense of danger in the air as the winds grew a bit louder and stronger but still manageable for Jim to carry the carriage; however, the sky grew darker once more and suddenly, another earthquake happened which caused the ground that everyone was standing over to collapse.

"E-Everyone hold on for dear life!" Zeb cried out to his cousin and Betsy in fear while holding on to the rail as tightly as he could while hearing Jim's frightful neighs and Eureka's hisses as well as everyone along with the carriage descended further underground.

"Oh my goodness! What in the world is going on! This can't be real! This can't be real!" Betsy had cried out in denial and fear as the horrible sensation of falling made her pass out on site while Dorothy and Zeb remained conscious.

"Goodness gracious, I guess It's time for another strange adventure but where exactly could we land…" Dorothy had thought to herself as she and the others continued to fall further and further into the blackness which had engulfed them.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" Zeb cried out in fear as he began to close his eyes, expecting every moment to be his last..