“Sorry, Dad, but we need to go.” Roscoe and Paco went to the hole. They pushed Clementine out and Paco hopped through. Roscoe knelt, his father behind him.

“Come on, now! You’re not going to follow some human to kill the snake that took my eye–and say nothing else about it!”

Roscoe went through the hole and looked back through the crack in the wall. “He is our king!” Roscoe smiled and turned to walk away with the others.

“Your king?!” One of the old ladies opened the door furiously. “Baaaah!”

“Stupid goat!” She slammed it and left.

The trio walked down the road as the sun set behind the hedge trees to the west. “This trip should take us over a day. Our kingdom is farther away,” Paco said.

“Do you think he’s right about Farangis having grown bigger?” Roscoe asked.

The pig felt a chill. “I sure hope King Benjamin’s got some powerful weapons.”

They walked until early evening and finally reached home. Sleep came quickly. They needed what peaceful rest was left to them before starting their journey to save the kingdom at the end of their king’s driveway.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Last Goodbyes

BENJAMIN AND HIS MOTHER headed home from the airport.

He knew he should have felt sadder about seeing his dad leave for a whole week, but he couldn’t help it. It amounted to one obstacle out of the way. Now all he had to worry about was his mom. He needed to get her to visit Aunt Louise, but he couldn’t just go up to her and say, “Mom, I’m going on a long journey with a talking dog, pig, and goat to kill a giant snake. You should see Aunt Louise while I’m gone.” No, he needed a plan. As he stared out the car window trying to think, Carol’s cell phone rang.

“Hello?….Aunt Louise! Are you feeling any better?” Benjamin listened closely, hoping a door would open for him. “Uh-huh. Well, I still think you should see a doctor…. Okay, well you get lots of rest…. Alright. Bye.”

“Is she okay?”

She looked worried. “No, she’s not feeling any better but refuses to see a doctor!”

“Well…maybe you should go stay with her.”

She turned in surprise. “You mean leave you home all alone?”

Benjamin tried his best not to arouse her suspicion. “I’m just saying that if you want to be there for her, I’ll be okay by myself. I’ve stayed alone before, ya know.”

He could see her giving his suggestion some thought. “I’ll call Aunt Louise in the morning and see if she’s any better. If she’s not, I’ll bring it up to her and see what she thinks about it.” Fireworks went off in his head as he grinned all over his face. Luckily she didn’t look back at him.