After following a nondescript dirt path and walking through the thick forest brush for ten minutes, the Wizard finally entered a small clearing where dozens of Winkies had gathered. Most had their backs turned to him and were praying.
"In the name of Gloma…please give us good fortune unto this day." The large group stood and then conversed with each other. Some turned and gasped when they saw the Wizard standing near the entrance of their enclave. "Who is he", one of them asked. Most in the crowd did not know who he was and became startled by his presence.
"Have no fear, my brethren!" It was then when Ugu emerged from the crowd and reassured the antsy few. He then began to approach the Wizard and smiled. "He is a friend…"
"I am glad you can make it", Ugu said as he started to shake his hand.
"What is this place", the Wizard asked his eyes looked in every which direction. "This is where we've been meeting for a very long time", Bella's father said. "It is at the perfect location because what you may not be aware of is that we are near the Haunted Forest…"
The Wizard's face turned quizzical. "The Haunted Forest? Isn't that in Munchkin Country?" He remembered venturing into a dark and spooky forest when he was sent by Evanora to find and steal Glinda's wand. But that was with Finley and China Girl.
But Ugu corrected him. "No, no, no, no, no, that was the Dark Forest. Two separate and distinct areas of Oz. The Dark Forest has scary creatures, but they are mostly comprised of sentient carnivorous plants and other floral creatures. The Haunted Forest is different. But have no fear, where we are is completely safe day and night. However, as you walk deeper into the forest and the trees start to lose their leaves, it gets much scarier, for the Haunted Forest has supernatural creatures. But we are here because the Haunted Forest is a magical place and one of its magical abilities is that it disrupts the witches' abilities to scry on others. They have a hard time viewing the Haunted Forest through their crystal ball because the forest disrupts their magic. The Haunted Forest is itself a sentient being. You also must be aware of the Kalidah's too..."
"Kalidah's?"
"Yes, the Kalidah's. They are vicious predators who have bodies like bears, heads like tigers and claws long and sharp enough to tear a man in two. They primarily reside in the Haunted Forest and have made it their home in Oz since time immemorial. Here, they don't bother us, but if you walk merely another ten or twenty minutes north, then you may very well run into them. They come out at night, for they are creatures of the night. If you ever enter this forest again, stay on the path heading east, for that will take you back to the Emerald City. But if you take the path heading north, it will take you through the Kalidah den and if you happen to survive that and venture deeper still, you will enter the supernatural part of the Haunted Forest.
The Wizard nodded his head as he saw both paths. "I will keep that in mind", he said.
Bella's father than placed both of his hands happily on the Wizard's shoulders and smiled. "Ahh, I am so glad you could make it out today. I am so happy you have decided to come…"
"AND SO AM I!"
A sharp and booming feminine voice roared behind them. The Wizard turned around and saw a contingency of Winkie Guards dash into the small clearing as they brandished their halberds.
As the Winkie Guards surrounded the group, Theodora then emerged from behind her guards with Finley on her shoulder. She smiled exuberantly as she entered the clearing. "Finally, at long last", she said with much triumph and glee in her voice. "The Winkie Resistance…"
"What's going on, Theodora", Finley asked. "You said you were going to show me a surprise…" She then shook her shoulders as the monkey flapped quietly to the ground. "Ohh, you will see", she said in a sweet tone as she flashed him a small smile. As she gazed excitedly around her and began to hop in a carefree manner towards Ugu, she then approached the Wizard who was on her left. As she did so, she placed her hand gently on his chin. "For I couldn't have found this place without my precious Wizard to guide me", she said in a singsong voice.
"No", he said devastatingly when he realized that he had been set up.
"Ohhh yes", she said happily and with much delight. "My Wizard…" She continued to pet and stroke his chin. "My precious, Wizard. I knew you would be useful to me…"
"You're with her", Ugu asked the Wizard incredulously.
"No", the Wizard said in utter disbelief. "No... No!…I…I…"
"Oh, Wizard", the witch said in an almost childlike voice. "I knew Bella would tell you about where the resistance was hiding. I know everything that goes on in my castle. Everything." She then used the same hand that was stroking his chin and grabbed his cheeks forcefully with her fingers. "I knew you would speak with her behind my back and without my permission!"
But then she gently used her hand to caress his cheek as she continued to smile at him and speak in a singsong voice. "But that's what I like about you. You are so very…" A small scowl then spread across her face as she finished her sentence. "Predictable…"
She then removed her hand from the Wizard's cheek as she then turned and then stared intensely at Ugu. Her smile immediately disappeared from her face as she flashed him a hateful glare from under her red hat. "Now! You!" The witch's tone was shrill and her voice loud and booming as she pointed at him accusatorily. "You've been a problem since the very beginning! Ohhhh you'll see what I am going to do with you now! When I'm done with you, you'll wish you were dead and maybe some of your friends behind you will be!" Theodora curled her hands like an eagle's paw as she spoke at him angrily and ferociously.
But Ugu was not intimidated by her. "You are not going to threaten us, you Wicked Witch!" The crowd roared behind him as he courageously took several steps closer to the witch in defiance. "We want our children back!"
As this happened, the Wizard became exceedingly nervous. Please don't mention my name. Please don't mention my name. Please don't mention my name…
"…And the Wizard is going to help us do this!" The crowd roared again as the Wizard rubbed his eyes anxiously and nervously with his hand.
"You", the witch snarled at Ugu angrily as she stepped within an inch of his face. "You are NEVER going to have your children back! You are NEVER going to see them again, either! I'm going to take them all for myself! They are now going to be working for me every day and every night now until they drop dead from exhaustion! And maybe I will starve them in the process too! We'll see how long they last that way! And this is what you and your group get for defying me!"
The Wizard sighed and took a step closer as the witch screamed angrily at Bella's father. "Theodora", he softly said.
This made her swiftly and angrily turn around. "You be quiet, Wizard", she barked at him. "This is my land! I don't interfere with yours! Now you better do what's good for you and step aside!" She glared at him as he held his hands up and slowly took a step back.
"The Wizard is going to be involved whether you like it or not", Ugu said angrily to her. He then looked at the Wizard. "I don't know whose side you are on, but I am sure you didn't know that she has her guards mercilessly beat those who don't give her enough food, even if it's half of what they have. It's never enough for her! She still orders the guards to beat them! Including the sick and the old! This is what the Winkies must face on Inspection Day. And she comes to families in the middle of the night with her henchmen to take their children away to work in her castle as slaves!"
The Wizard then looked at her with hurt in his eyes and disappointment in his voice. "Is this true?"
"Wizard! Who are you going to believe! Me or some Winkie!" She waved him off as she turned away from him in disgust.
"Is this true", he asked with renewed anger in his voice. His tone then became soft spoken. "Is it?"
When she crossed her arms across her chest, he lost his patience with her. "Theodora! Answer the question! Do you order your guards to beat people who don't bring enough food to the castle? Do you kidnap children to work for you in the middle of the night? Yes or no!"
She continued to uncomfortably stare in between the Wizard and Ugu for several moments before she finally turned her gaze back to the Wizard. "If those beatings happen, I didn't order it, okay! And I am sure the guards had reasons to do it, anyhow!" This made him arch his back and groan.
Seeing the Wizard's reaction, Ugu pressed his point. "It doesn't matter if you personally order it or not! You command these minions! They are your responsibility! And what about our children you have kidnapped! There are young children who slave at your castle!"
"I don't have to answer your questions", Theodora roared at him defiantly. "I can take ANY child I want and there's NOTHING you can do to stop me!"
"Theodora, why do you have children working at your castle?"
"Because…because…I need their small hands! I need the labor!" She then started to stammer nervously. "But—but, that's beside the point, Wizard! Why are you on their side!"
But before he could respond to say he was on no one's side, Ugu interjected. "Of course, the Wizard is our side because he is a force of good!" The crowd roared with him in support.
As he continued to screech at her, the witch placed both of her hands on her face. "Stop it!"
"And you are a force of wickedness! A wicked witch!"
As Theodora continued to hold her hands over her face, she then started to imagine that the Winkie crowd was laughing at her. "Stop it! Stop laughing at me!"
As the crowd cheered, Theodora began to laugh as her hands continued to cover her face. This laugh then quickly turned into a loud and piercing cackle. This caused some Winkies to cup their hands over their mouth in fear, while others began to pray.
"Look at her", Ugu bellowed. "She's a monster!"
"She's a freak", another Winkie in the crowd taunted her.
"Stop it already", the Wizard yelled at the Winkies. "Can't you see that you are making things worse? Can't you see that you are hurting her!"
"That's the point", Bella's father spat at him.
After beginning to cackle, the witch spoke uncomfortably between her uncontrollable fits of laughter. "Stop. Laughing. At. Me!"
"No one is laughing at you", the Wizard sympathetically said.
"Oh, we are going to do more than laugh at you", Ugu responded. "Now!"
Suddenly, a group of Winkies in the crowd grabbed pitchforks and other weapons that were concealed on the ground by leaves and started running towards the witch to attack her.
As he saw this, the Wizard now fully believed that he was set up and used by both sides. Theodora knew that the Winkie resistance was going to meet, but she did not know where they were hiding and was using the Wizard to ascertain their whereabouts. And Ugu knew that the witch would follow the Wizard into the clearing and that this would be a perfect time to attack Theodora and to try and kill her.
"Stop", the Wizard yelled. "Ugu! Stop! I understand where you are coming from, but you are making things worse!"
But no one listened. As several Winkies started running towards her, the witch broke her fits of cackling laughter and clenched her teeth in anger. The fight descended into chaos. As some of the Winkies with pitchforks tried to attack the witch, she began to effortlessly push them away. Not even seconds into the battle did the Wizard realize that the Winkies grossly underestimated the witch. In attacking her, they were at a gross disadvantage and their "ambush" was a useless endeavor. The witch was far more powerful than they were.
The Wizard began to approach the witch from behind as his voice became more forceful. "Theodora! Stop! Everyone stop!" His words went unheeded. The Winkie Guards could clearly see how one-sided this "fight" was as they continued to stand in one big circle around the small clearing and didn't even bother to intervene. Some of them even chuckled at the futility of it all, comparing this "fight" to a bunch of fruit flies trying to attack a human.
"Keep attacking", one Winkie said. When he said this, Theodora once again descended into fits of cackling laughter. As they ran towards her, others grunted when they continued to try and stab the witch, but she continued to fend off their attacks and pushed them forcefully away. Some were pushed so hard that they ended up dangling from branches on nearby trees. The Wizard sensed that if this fight continued that the witch was going to get someone killed.
"THEODORA! STOP THIS!", the Wizard screamed as he ran up to her.
"AHHHHHHHH" she bellowed as her free hand made a fist and swung it forcefully at whoever was approaching her from behind.
Immediately after this happened, the Winkies stopped attacking her. The Winkie Guards stopped snickering amongst themselves. Everyone went silent.
At first, the witch snarled and clenched her teeth in a fit of rage when she blindly swung her fist. But when the Wizard took a step back from the force of the impact and fell onto both of his knees, her jaw dropped as her lips and teeth parted when she realized what she had done.
Because things happened so fast, the Wizard initially felt no pain. But the shock of being hit wore off rapidly as he felt a sharp throbbing sensation in his nose. As he slowly placed his hand over his face, the pain became severe as blood began to gush out of his nose and onto his entire hand.
The Wizard began to whimper "ow" as he removed his hand from his bloodied face. When he did so, various Winkies from the crowd gasped. Some held their hands over their mouth. Since almost everyone in Oz was always so well behaved, they never saw someone become as injured as he did. For the Winkies, this was an incredibly graphic sight to behold.
As the Wizard looked at her, Theodora's face contorted as she gently shook her head and her lower lip quivered. "Is this what you wanted", he asked with tears in his eyes and much pain in his voice. "Is this who you wanted to be?" He then immediately stood up and started to run out of the clearing and back into the forest.
"Wizard, come back", she screamed as he continued to run. She clenched her fists as she tightly shut her eyes and had a pained expression on her face. "THEY MADE ME DO IT!"
She then placed both of her hands on her face. "Finley…", her voice began to crack as she was on the brink of tears. "I need your help!" Her voice then became pleading. "Please!"
But after witnessing what just happened, Finley did not know what to do. He could not turn back time or erase what he saw. He had no magical powers. As the monkey gazed somberly at the ground, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Moments earlier, Theodora had told him the joyful news that the Wizard was going to stay. It now became clear to Finley that the witch realized she really messed up and was now petrified he was going to change his mind and leave.
All he could do was speak with the Wizard and make sure that he was okay. He could try and convince him to stay. But he didn't know which decision the Wizard would ultimately make.