“And now that he’s gone, things may change forever,” Benjamin said sadly.

“Only we can decide that, Sire. You are our king now, and you will lead us against this tyrant who’s threatened us for far too long.”

“He’s attacked before?”

“He’s killed animals outside the kingdom. That’s nothing new. But some of our own say they’ve gone to the pastures, even this forest, and were attacked by his spies.”

“What does he look like?”

“Well, from what Roscoe’s dad told us–”

“You mean Stinky?” the boy’s lips puffed out, holding in a laugh.

Paco smiled. “From what Stinky told us, he’s a huge grayish-white snake.”

“An albino?”

“Exactly. Which would explain why he wants to attack our kingdom at night. He must be pretty sensitive to daylight.”

“How big do you supposed he is?”

“Probably quite big, Sire. While none of us has actually ever seen Farangis, we believe he’s been looking for the entrance to our kingdom for a long time. It makes him angry to know he doesn’t rule over us . . . to know that there is a kingdom of many not under his regime. The wild creatures submit to him when they have to. They’re not truly free like we are. When I say our kingdom has never been attacked, that’s still true, Sire.”

“And now he thinks he’s found your kingdom?”

“I don’t know, but he must be getting close or he wouldn’t be planning this attack. Assassinating King Pugsly was an act of war. We must find him tomorrow, before it’s too late.” He rolled over and closed his eyes. “We need to sleep, Sire…big day tomorrow.”

“Good night, Paco.” Benjamin lay on his back and nudged his head into the backpack. Paco quickly fell asleep but Benjamin kept thinking. Who was Pugsly’s dad? Where is his son? His eyelids grew heavy.

Clementine rolled onto his other side. “I’m not fat, dumb goat, mmhrmm,” he said in his sleep. Benjamin smiled. “No, you stink! Mrrhhmm buh buh. You…goat…buh.”

Benjamin sighed. Roscoe was right. I can’t sleep with that in my ear all night! He had an idea. He held up his wrist and pulled the collar off. The pig was no longer talking! He heard only a soft hum. Much better. With a satisfied smile he lay the collar behind the backpack and fell asleep as the fire’s remaining flames retired to glowing coals.

The four eyes that had been watching from behind the trees knew it was their chance to act.

• • • • •

“REMEMBER, YOU IDIOT–no cawing! Got it?” the small crow said.

Bardo rolled his eyes. “We’ve been over this a thousand times, Clack. Caw!” He looked guilty. “Sorry!” Clack smacked his head with a wing.

“Looks like there’s some good stuff in that human’s bag.”

“Uh huh!”