Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers by Lee Edward Födi

moment.”
    “Give what a moment?” Pugglemud demanded. He stirred uncomfortably, for it seemed that his seat—the pot—was suddenly becoming warm. In fact, it was becoming more than warm; the whole pot began to turn red and hiss with steam.
    “Yikes!” Pugglemud cried. He leapt to his feet, and now, all could see that his trousers were on fire. “Put me out! Put me out!” he screeched, slapping at the flames shooting out from his bottom.
    Jinx was more than happy to oblige him. With a dirty skillet that was lying on the ground, she scooped up some marsh water and doused the Dwarf.
    “There you go,” she said as Pugglemud glared down at his smoldering bottom. “Convinced yet?”
    “Think yer funny, don’t you folks?” Pugglemud said irritably. “You just wrecked my best pair o’ trousers.”
    “Gee, I’d hate to see his worst pair,” Oki whispered to Kendra.
    Uncle Griffinskitch waved his staff again, and Pugglemud’s trousers were magically repaired. Indeed, Kendra thought they now looked in better condition than before the demonstration. “Now,” Uncle Griffinskitch said to Pugglemud. “Let’s discuss an arrangement to get out of this swamp.”
    Pugglemud rubbed his bushy red beard and for the longest time didn’t say a word. Uncle Griffinskitch and the rest stood there uncomfortably until at last the Dwarf spoke: “Well, I got my own magic stuff. Still, I ain’t no wizard. And they say there’s fierce beasts guarding all that gold fer them giants. Are ya sure yer not after my gold?”
    “Absolutely not,” Uncle Griffinskitch said.
    “All right then,” the greasy Dwarf said. “But if ya cross me, there’ll be trouble.”
    “You can trust us,” Uncle Griffinskitch promised.
    “Then we have a deal,” Pugglemud said, sticking out his hand to shake with the wizard. “I’ll help you get outta the swamp, and you’ll help me get to all that gold. Tee hee! Now let’s sit down and eat somethin’ before we get on our way.”
    With that, the ragged Dwarf bent over his campfire and gave his dinner pot a cheerful stir. Whatever he was cooking smelled horrible, and Kendra couldn’t help but to wriggle her nose in disgust.
    “The thing is,” Kendra heard Captain Jinx whisper to Uncle Griffinskitch, “can we trust him?”



SOMETIMES, A LITTLE HOPE can go a long way. Just knowing that the marshlands would soon be behind them lifted the hearts of the company. They happily ate their meal, and afterwards, Pugglemud packed his camp. (Though Kendra noticed that he more or less just crammed everything into one large knapsack.)
    “So, how do we get out of here?” Captain Jinx asked the Dwarf.
    “Eh? Oh, that’s not so tough,” Pugglemud said, pulling out a small silver cylinder. It looked rather like a flashlight, but when he flicked the switch, it didn’t cast light, but instead a perfect window through the fog. For the first time in days, they could suddenly see into the distance.
    “My word!” Professor Bumblebean exclaimed. “What an incredible device!”
    “Like I said, I have some of my own magic,” Pugglemud said.
    Kendra and the others fell in line behind the Dwarf and set on their way. Their pace was now quick and sure, and only a few hours later, they left behind the marshlands and reentered a world of light and sunshine.
    “Myself, I don’t like no sun,” Pugglemud said, squinting. “We Dwarves are used to bein’ underground huntin’ fer gold and such. That swamp suited me jus’ fine. But the castle of Krodos ain’t in that marsh, so we gotta leave it behind.”
    “The mountains are closer than ever,” Jinx said, pointing to the cold blue peaks that towered before them. “We still have a few hours of light left. I bet we can reach them before nightfall.”
    “A good plan,” Professor Bumblebean agreed. “Let’s put as much distance as possible between us and that swamp.”
    Kendra was glad to feel the warmth of the sun on her head again. The dampness and gloom had