| “No more hero stuff for the day. Okay?” Ozzy said when they arrived back. “There is more to it than just wanting to be a hero.” Anna said. “You are unaware but Splash must do a good deed every day. It is as important to him as eating is to us. So you see I was in essence, making sure he would be at his strongest when we enter the belly of the beast. For lack of better words.” “Belly of the beast might be an understatement.” Buzzy chimed in. “I would say beasts, plural, would be more accurate.” “Well one thing for sure is we are too close to the Dark Queen’s mountain now to do anything that will give us away. If there is any flying to be done from here on in, it will have to be either Buzzy, Dan, or myself. Anna acts as the old lady and Splash you are the donkey she is leading. We are on the way to the castle so the old lady can do some cleaning while we three stand by to provide any feathers needed for dusting. Stick to the story.” Ozzy ordered as they came into view of the checkpoint that everyone must visit before being allowed to continue up the mountain path. There were several large snow geese checking the travelers seeking to go up the mountain. A large sign said no further entrance until after search: stop here. Anna stepped forward, still disguised as an old woman. She led an old, dirty donkey and they were not searched. Instead they were ushered along to hurry up and get out of the way for others. Not a word was said by Ozzy. Even Buzzy was allowed to slip past with minimal trouble. Ony Dan remained to get past the search checkpoint. He almost made it too. If only he could have kept his ears as shut as he was intent on keeping his mouth. Sadly as he went past one of the big snow geese he heard one of them make a snyde remark, “Duck. Stinkin’ duck. Stinkin’ mud-lovin’, bug-eatin’, duck.” “I’ll have you know sir I am a Dam Duck! Not a mud duck. Not a wood duck. I sir, am a Dam Duck and that means that unlike a bunch of moron geese that fly this way and then that way, all the time flying right past the spot where the water is: that I sir, know exactly where the water is; and that i never, ever, fly around like a bunch of idiots trying to find something that is right under my beak!” Dan paused long enough to draw another breath for another round of “Dam Duck”. When he was suddenly quite surprised by his travel mate, Ozzy, who slipped up behind him and knocked him over the head. next page |  Dan, Splash and Anna |