BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!! The deafening explosion rocked the barn and countryside. Pieces of the snake’s head flew everywhere and the rest of his monstrous body squirmed in agony. His heavy coils pounded the floor madly. The confused snakes inside the room slithered out as fast they could and fled to the woods.

“King Benjamin!” Roscoe yelled as the lifeless boy was dropped to the dirt.

“Oh no! Oh no!” Clementine ran up to his king, unconscious on the ground.

“Sire! Sire! Oh please, please be alive!”

Benjamin coughed faintly and his eyelids twitched. The snake’s body struck his head, causing him to leap up in panic.

Clementine let out a sigh of relief. “It’s okay, Sire. He’s dead.”

“Just…still moving,” Roscoe added.

Benjamin looked at them. “Where’s Paco?”

His friends began to cry. Benjamin’s heart nearly stopped.

Clementine tried to get the words out of his mouth. “It…was the greatest act of bravery I’ve ever seen.”

“Paco…the Brave,” Roscoe sobbed.

The three friends held each other close.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The Journey Home

BENJAMIN FOUND HIS BACKPACK. Clementine and Roscoe sat on the ground outside the barn, exhausted with grief. It suddenly occurred to the boy that they were missing another member of their team. “What about Malcolm? Did he come back?”

The goat nodded. “He and his brother fled from the snakes into the woods. I don’t expect we’ll be seeing him again.”

The boy saw the pig wincing in pain. “Clementine, you got bit! Are you okay?”

“It stings, but I’ll be okay. At least he wasn’t poisonous.”

“You’ll probably have a scar on your back from now on,” the goat said with sympathy. “Chicks dig scars.” But Roscoe couldn’t muster a smile.

Benjamin looked at Roscoe and noticed one of his horns was half-broken. “Roscoe, you broke a horn!”

“It was his broken horn that saved me, Sire.” The pig gave a gracious smile to his goat friend.

Faint thunder echoed. The tiny yellow and red lights on a plane flashed across the sky. Benjamin thought about his dad and felt an overwhelming urge to be home. He glanced at the almost-full moon as it neared the top of the starry sky. “Guys…I have to be home by sunrise.”

“We’re so far away!” Clementine said in despair.

“I know, but I gotta try. If I’m not back when my mom gets home, I don’t know what she’ll do.” He closed his eyes, his mind numb. “I don’t know much right now.”

Roscoe frowned. “With all due respect, Your Majesty, can things get any worse?”

Benjamin silently agreed. “I guess I just miss home. I feel hopeless in this place.”

Roscoe nudged his knee. “Because of you and Paco, our kingdom still has hope.”

The boy wiped away a tear. “Okay, guys. Are you ready?”