Read Castle Kidnapped for Free Online Page B
Authors: John Dechancie
whether the family had gone on vacation. But that would have looked awfully strange."
Sheila nodded. âProbably."
âWhy don't we just up and look for Gene?â Snowclaw asked.
âWhere do we start?â Sheila said. âOn Earth?"
âWhy not?â the white-furred beast said as he munched his usual breakfastâbeeswax candles dipped in Thousand Island dressing. âThat's where he was last seen. You just take me there. I'll find him."
âTalk about looking strange,â Linda said, laughing.
Snowclaw chuckled. âYeah, I guess it would look pretty weird for me to go stomping around your world."
âEveryone would think you were Bigfoot,â Sheila said. âYou'd wind up on TV. Or in a zoo, or something."
âI don't know what either of those things is, but I probably wouldn't like âem."
âNo, you wouldn't."
âI think Snowy's right, though,â Linda said. âEarth would be the logical place to start."
M. DuQuesne had been listening. âLinda, you've been in the castle too long. Imagine thinking in terms of a whole world being a likely place to start looking for someone."
âSounds silly, doesn't it?â Linda said. âBut we have to start somewhere."
âI just can't believe that something happened to him back home,â Sheila said. âIt doesn't make sense. No one there knows about the castle."
âExcept Incarnadine's brother Trent,â Linda said.
âMaybe he knows something about Gene,â Snowclaw said.
Sheila shook her head skeptically. âI doubt it."
âWe could ask him."
âBoy, I'd hate to be putting snoopy questions to a prince. He might think we suspected him."
Linda said, âPrince Trent seems like a nice guy, but I sensed some kind of tension between him and Lord Incarnadine."
Sheila nodded. âThey were rivals for the throne once."
âMaybe they still are."
âBut why would Trent want to do away with Gene?"
âMaybe he wants to do away with all of us, all the powerful Guest magicians. We're Incarnadine's servants now."
âVassals,â Sheila corrected.
âVassals. Any pretender to the throne would want to neutralize his rival's powerful allies."
âWait a minute. Aren't you overestimating our strength and importance just a little bit?"
âNo, I don't think so. Didn't Incarnadine himself say that we two were the most powerful castle magicians he'd ever seen, besides members of the royal family?"
âYeah,â Sheila said, âI guess he did say that. I just can't see myself in the role of mover and shaker."
âWell, we did our part to save the castle a year ago. Help stop a whole invasion."
âIncarnadine stopped it. And his brother Deems died fighting the invaders off."
Linda nodded. âOkay, maybe I'm getting egotistical. I was just trying to imagine what the heck might be going on."
âMaybe nothing's going on,â Sheila said. âGene will walk in here in a few days and we'll all feel pretty stupid.â She looked away for a moment, then said, âI've been wondering. Why would we be the most powerful magicians? Some of the servants are hundreds of years oldâat least some of them say they are. Why aren't they all super sorcerers? I mean, it's the castle that gives you magic powers, and they've lived their whole lives here."
âThere are powerful magicians among the servants,â DuQuesne said. âFor instance, Jamin is very adept. He supervises the maintenance of various spells around the castle, like the language-translation spell that keeps this place from turning into Babel."
âThen why does Incarnadine need us?â Sheila asked.
DuQuesne shrugged. âI'm sure I don't know, but he must have his reasons."
âWell, all that's neither here nor there,â Linda said. âGene is three days late now, and I say we try to find him."
Sheila signed. âObviously we'll need some magic. I can't begin
Sheila nodded. âProbably."
âWhy don't we just up and look for Gene?â Snowclaw asked.
âWhere do we start?â Sheila said. âOn Earth?"
âWhy not?â the white-furred beast said as he munched his usual breakfastâbeeswax candles dipped in Thousand Island dressing. âThat's where he was last seen. You just take me there. I'll find him."
âTalk about looking strange,â Linda said, laughing.
Snowclaw chuckled. âYeah, I guess it would look pretty weird for me to go stomping around your world."
âEveryone would think you were Bigfoot,â Sheila said. âYou'd wind up on TV. Or in a zoo, or something."
âI don't know what either of those things is, but I probably wouldn't like âem."
âNo, you wouldn't."
âI think Snowy's right, though,â Linda said. âEarth would be the logical place to start."
M. DuQuesne had been listening. âLinda, you've been in the castle too long. Imagine thinking in terms of a whole world being a likely place to start looking for someone."
âSounds silly, doesn't it?â Linda said. âBut we have to start somewhere."
âI just can't believe that something happened to him back home,â Sheila said. âIt doesn't make sense. No one there knows about the castle."
âExcept Incarnadine's brother Trent,â Linda said.
âMaybe he knows something about Gene,â Snowclaw said.
Sheila shook her head skeptically. âI doubt it."
âWe could ask him."
âBoy, I'd hate to be putting snoopy questions to a prince. He might think we suspected him."
Linda said, âPrince Trent seems like a nice guy, but I sensed some kind of tension between him and Lord Incarnadine."
Sheila nodded. âThey were rivals for the throne once."
âMaybe they still are."
âBut why would Trent want to do away with Gene?"
âMaybe he wants to do away with all of us, all the powerful Guest magicians. We're Incarnadine's servants now."
âVassals,â Sheila corrected.
âVassals. Any pretender to the throne would want to neutralize his rival's powerful allies."
âWait a minute. Aren't you overestimating our strength and importance just a little bit?"
âNo, I don't think so. Didn't Incarnadine himself say that we two were the most powerful castle magicians he'd ever seen, besides members of the royal family?"
âYeah,â Sheila said, âI guess he did say that. I just can't see myself in the role of mover and shaker."
âWell, we did our part to save the castle a year ago. Help stop a whole invasion."
âIncarnadine stopped it. And his brother Deems died fighting the invaders off."
Linda nodded. âOkay, maybe I'm getting egotistical. I was just trying to imagine what the heck might be going on."
âMaybe nothing's going on,â Sheila said. âGene will walk in here in a few days and we'll all feel pretty stupid.â She looked away for a moment, then said, âI've been wondering. Why would we be the most powerful magicians? Some of the servants are hundreds of years oldâat least some of them say they are. Why aren't they all super sorcerers? I mean, it's the castle that gives you magic powers, and they've lived their whole lives here."
âThere are powerful magicians among the servants,â DuQuesne said. âFor instance, Jamin is very adept. He supervises the maintenance of various spells around the castle, like the language-translation spell that keeps this place from turning into Babel."
âThen why does Incarnadine need us?â Sheila asked.
DuQuesne shrugged. âI'm sure I don't know, but he must have his reasons."
âWell, all that's neither here nor there,â Linda said. âGene is three days late now, and I say we try to find him."
Sheila signed. âObviously we'll need some magic. I can't begin
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