The Rightful Heir (34 page)

“And I don't think she'll be digesting this anytime soon.” Malcolm patted the side.

“It's the perfect plan.” Benjamin leaned in closely. “We know where she drinks every night, and we know she's
always
hungry.” Benjamin's eyes grew huge.
“Boom!”
He fluffed the air with his hands.

Malcolm jumped in excitement. “Oh, Your Majesty, this is going to be so good.”

“I know…I wonder if King Mac will be coming along.”

Malcolm stood with a blank look on his face. “So…
he
is the rightful heir?”

“Oops! Well, yeah…he is. And I don't think Jonah took it very well.”

“Psh!
Who could blame him? That Mac is one big jerk! Jonah should be the one who is king!”

“Malcolm, don't worry. Things will be fine once we kill the snake. The kingdom will approve of Mac when Farangis's mother
is dead. He'll be a hero!” Benjamin smiled.

The raccoon was quiet as he stared at the Trojan Pig. “Yeah…he'll be a
hero.”

“Okay Malcolm. I gotta get to sleep. We'll talk later about when we can kill the snake. I know tomorrow night the kingdom will be crowning Mac the new king. You won't want to miss that!”

“No…no, of course not.” Malcolm stood staring at the Trojan Pig in thought.

“Alright then. Ready to sneak back out?”

“Yes, Sire.” They returned to the main room and Malcolm hopped up on the table.

“Hey, when you leave, do you think you could lift that window back up and shut it?”

“Certainly, Your Majesty.” Malcolm quickly studied the room and the window. Then he crawled through the opening. “Goodnight, King Benjamin. See you tomorrow.”

“Okay, but probably not until night. My family won't be home until after dark. G'night!”

Malcolm grunted as he lifted the window and lightly pushed it in, but not too far. Benjamin waved, turned off the light, and went to bed. Malcolm watched until he disappeared, then ran back to the kingdom.

Benjamin got a good night's sleep, even with the air whistling through the unsecured window…the window that a certain raccoon supposedly closed.

CHAPTER THIRTY

T
HE CAVE WAS QUIET
that morning. Everyone had had a good night's sleep and was just waking up. The wild goats, the raccoons, the many new residents…all stretched and lazed in their spots, all well rested. Except one—a pug with one black foot and a few hairless patches of skin just starting to grow back in on his body. But, to him, the one black foot was enough to award him the title of rightful heir to the kingdom his brother was about to take over.

Jonah had tossed and turned through the night. One time he awoke to find Malcolm next to him, after he got back from Benjamin's, wearing a devious smile. Jonah made a few failed attempts to extract the secret Malcolm had decided to keep from him. “In the morning…
Your Majesty,”
was all he would say.

The light from the first rays of the sun started to shine off the crystal blue sides of the pool. Clementine awoke refreshed, as did Roscoe and his clan of wild goats. “You see, ladies and gentlemen? You see what I had to sleep next to every night?
Whoop!”

“G'morning!” Clementine said with glee.

“G'morning?” Roscoe asked, feigning exhaustion. “Now, let me think… I don't believe ‘G'morning' was one of the words you
shouted
in your sleep. Did any of you guys hear him say ‘G'morning'?
Whoop!”
They shook their heads and laughed.

“Well, it's funny you say that because I certainly heard you
Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!
in your sleep last night.”

Roscoe had no comeback. “Fine, we'll call it even…
Whoop!”

Most
of the animals were now up and around. To the amazement of the original residents, more than half of the food was still left.

Malcolm stretched and yawned himself awake. Jonah had been staring at him for hours, anxiously waiting for him to wake up. “Good morning…now what is this news?!”

The raccoon lazily laughed, enjoying Jonah's eagerness. “Oh, my, I needed that sleep.” He got to his feet and walked past the antsy pug.

“Hey!”

“Good morning,
little
brother,” Mac said smugly. “Will you be attending my coronation tonight?”

“I think I'll be washing my fur,” Jonah said, unimpressed.

Mac looked his brother up and down. “Doesn't look like you have much to worry about. I'm glad I didn't go bald.” He walked off laughing at his own joke.

Malcolm overheard and fought to control his anger.
We'll get him back!

“Malcolm, please tell me what this news is.”

“I will, Jonah. I will. But first I need to have a talk with my boys. Can you please give us a moment of privacy in the tunnel?”

Jonah sighed. “Sure.”

“Come here, guys.” The four other raccoons followed Malcolm. They huddled in the darkness of the tunnel. Malcolm took a deep breath. “Now I gotta tell you boys, that snotty little Mac is really getting on my nerves.”

Zeke snorted. “Yeah, and he's gonna be their
king?!”

The others laughed in the darkness. “You won't see
me
taking orders from him.” “Me neither.” “And I'll tell you who else won't bow down to him…Jonah!” All agreed. “That poor guy takes so much from his brother!” “Yeah.
He
deserves to be their king.”

“Alright,” Malcolm settled them. “I need your help with
something. And it means we'll be going back home tonight.”

The others were happy to hear that news. “What do you need us to do?”

“I went over to the human's house last night and he showed me a weapon that will be used to kill that monster snake.” The raccoons gasped. “Only he intends to have ‘King Mac' involved in the operation.”

“Are you kiddin' me?” Zeke said in disbelief. “That little dog couldn't hurt a cat!”

“I hate cats…” Malcolm muttered, then collected himself. “So what I want us to do is sneak into the boy's house and bring back that weapon into the woods!” His eyes got huge.

“What if we get caught, Malcolm?”

“He told me they'll all be gone until tonight. And I know exactly how to get in. But if for some odd reason they
do
come back and catch us…hey, we're raccoons! This is what we're supposed to do! Am I right or am I right?” They laughed. “We should leave here pretty soon. Why don't you guys go keep watch on the human's house. But make sure you're not seen if they come out. I'll tell Jonah what's going on.”

B
ENJAMIN SLEPT LATE.
Carol had to bang on his bedroom door and tell him they were leaving for church in fifteen minutes. He had no time to get the newspaper. He threw on his clothes and wet down his sandy-blonde bed head. As he tucked in his shirt in the bathroom door mirror, he went over in his mind everything that would happen in his schedule that day.

Okay, first church…then the family reunion…

He poured a handful of water on the back of his head to plaster the few wild hairs that refused to lie down.

I'll get the fireworks from Jon, then Mom and Dad will take me to the Harvest Home Festival where
.… He took a deep breath,
imagining the smell of Jessica's hair.
The Watermelon Queen will hang out with me all night. Was there something else?

He smacked his forehead with his palm.

Duh! Mac is being crowned king tonight!

He pondered giving away his collar. “He is Pugsly's son, but I do kinda wish Jonah was king instead.”

His mom hollered at him and the Biggses drove down the driveway. A light breeze still blew through the window downstairs.

“A
LRIGHT
, M
ALCOLM,
what is this about?” Jonah looked him straight in the eye.

Zeke scampered up to them. “Malcolm! Malcolm! The boy and his family just left!”

Malcolm's eyes darted all around. “Okay, Zeke. Let's go.” Malcolm started to run, then turned back. “Look, I'll be back soon. Don't worry. Everything's going to work out
just
fine. You're going to be a hero!” He winked and disappeared into the tunnel.

“…‘Coons.” Jonah sighed.