Samantha R. Cichella - A New Successor

Wolf and Virginia woke up early the next morning. They finished packing and made a quick breakfast. They were just about ready to leave when suddenly, Virginia thought of something.

“Wolf! I have to run over to Grandma’s house.”

“Why, my sweet little lamb chop? We were just there yesterday.”

“I know, and I think I forgot my purse there. Let me just run over there and as soon as I get back, we can leave. It will only take me a minute. I promise”

“Oh, Okay.” Wolf went over and gave her a kiss before she took off out the door. Well, might as well watch TV then. Wolf went over and lay down on the couch and turned on the television. A few minutes later he fell asleep.

Virginia hurried downstairs and walked as quickly as she could towards the entrance. She wasn’t paying much attention and didn’t even notice the three men come inside. She bumped into one of them and kept walking, yelling “Sorry” behind her back. She flagged down a taxi and hopped inside and quickly told the driver where to go.

Wolf woke up when he heard someone at the door. Figuring it was Virginia; he went over to open it. However, when he got to there, he could tell it wasn’t Virginia. It wasn’t her scent coming from the other side of the door. For some reason, the scent seemed familiar, but he couldn’t remember from where. He barely had the door open before he was hit on top of his head with something hard. The last thing he saw before blacking out on the floor was three men smiling at him.

Virginia arrived back at her apartment less than an hour later. She had found her purse right where she had left it at her grandmother’s house. She stayed and talked for only a minute, before rushing home. As she came to the door to their apartment, she saw that the door was slightly open. A little worried, she walked inside.

“Wolf?” No answer. “Wolf? Wolf!” Virginia ran through the whole apartment looking for him. He was nowhere to be found. Panicking, Virginia ran out to see if he was in the halls. “Wolf?!” Still no answer. Tears started to form in her eyes as she went back inside. On the kitchen table there was a note; “You’re next.”

Virginia grabbed her bag with her clothes and took off out the door. She practically ran to Central Park. She didn’t know what to do. A part of her was hoping that this was just a sick joke and that Wolf was hiding somewhere watching her. But deep down, she knew that he would never do that to her. The only thing she could think of was to go to Wendell’s castle and ask him for help. Virginia didn’t think that anyone here would kidnap Wolf. Why would they choose him? She had so many questions and no answers. Who took Wolf? What did they want with Wolf and herself? She was trying not to cry, but was not doing a good job of it. The note that the kidnapper left was in her hand. Tears falling down her cheeks, she finally got to where the mirror to the kingdoms was. A thought hit her. She knew deep down that the kidnapper had come from the kingdoms, but how did they get here? The traveling mirror should be under heavy guard at the castle. The portal was open, and she wasted no time in going through. Trying to wipe away all of her tears, she stepped through the portal to the Fourth Kingdom. Chapter 5: Back to the Fourth Kingdom

King Wendell and his most trusted friend, Anthony, waited patiently by the magic traveling mirror. They had been waiting here for almost an hour now for Virginia and Wolf to come through. They had gotten word yesterday that they planned on coming to stay with them for a few weeks. Wendell tried not to worry too much about why they were so late. Wolf probably insisted on getting something to eat on the way. Wendell smiled. It had been about two months since they had left here after the coronation. He was excited about finally being able to see his good friends again. Wendell looked over at Anthony. If he thought he had been excited, it was nothing compared to how Anthony was.

Often, Wendell and Tony would have a long talk about anything that was on their minds. It was amazing how far they had come. Three months ago, at the beginning of their adventure, Wendell couldn’t stand Tony. But the two of them had grown to be very good friends. Wendell couldn’t have been more pleased. It really helped to have someone to talk to after a long day of listening to all of the petitions or complaints from all of his subjects. When they talked, Wendell always learned something new from Tony. He knew about how Virginia and Tony had relied on each other for all of those years. So he understood how hard it was for Tony to go this long without seeing his little girl. No matter how many times Wendell told him that Virginia was not his little girl anymore, he never listened.

Anthony had told Wendell about the comment Wolf had made before stepping trough the mirror. Apparently, Wolf had called Tony “Grandpa” before leaving to New York. Wendell had just smiled and said “I told you so.” Tony wasn’t sure if he believed what Wolf said. Or else, he just doesn’t want to believe him.

“Ohh, where could they be? They should be here by now.” Tony whined.

“Antony, would you please calm down. I’m sure they are on their way and just stopped for a bite to eat first.”

“I suppose...but I’m going to give them a piece of my mind when they do get here.”

Wendell just smiled. Just then, there was a bright flash, and Virginia stepped through the traveling mirror.

“Virginia!” Tony and Wendell cried at the same time. They were about to rush over to greet her, when they noticed that she was crying.

“Dad!” Virginia rushed over to her father. They embraced each other for a minute before Tony pulled away.

“Honey, what’s wrong? Where’s Wolf?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Tony tried to keep his voice under control. He could tell Virginia was upset about something. Tony quietly vowed to himself that if Wolf did anything to Virginia, then Tony would hunt him down. “Did he do anything to you?”

“NO! No, Dad, it’s not like that.” Virginia then told Tony and Wendell about how she had left the apartment to run over to her grandmother's house, and when she got back, Wolf was no where to be found and then there was the note that she had found on the table. Virginia sobbed as she finished the story. Tony hugged his daughter close to him.

Wendell had sat quietly through out the whole time, silently contemplating what could have happened. Wendell had not known Wolf all that long, but he had grown close to him. He remembered how he was not too fond of the half wolf when they had started their adventure three months ago. Wendell winced as he remembered his comment as they were leaving Little Lamb Village. He had told Wolf that he was sorry that he had saved his life and that he rather wished he had been burned. Wendell now regretted ever thinking badly of him. Wolf had saved all of their lives at the coronation, he didn’t have to, but he did. Wendell also knew that Wolf would never pull such a prank and pretend to be kidnapped; he cared too much for Virginia. That was why Wendell was so worried right now; he knew that someone really had kidnapped Wolf. He had to help his new friend. But how? Another thing nagged at Wendell. If Virginia were to be believed, no one from the Tenth Kingdom would kidnap Wolf. So that meant that someone from one of the Nine Kingdoms did. However, there was only one way to get to New York from the kingdoms, and it was in Wendell’s possession. No one should have been able to get through the traveling mirror; Wendell had two guards posted at the door to the mirror room. There was never a time when the door wasn’t guarded. So that left only a few options. One, the guards had something to do with the kidnapping. Wither it be that they were bribed or it was the guards that kidnapped Wolf. Two, the guards could have been put under a spell or something so that they would let the kidnappers through and not protest. There was also something else to consider. If someone had broken into the mirror room to use the traveling mirror, why didn’t they just take the mirror with them when they left? That way, they wouldn’t have to come all the way back to the castle to get Virginia. She would come to them. Did this mean that either the kidnappers were not all that smart, or they wanted Virginia to come and get help? Wendell quickly discarded the later. Who would be daft enough to want Virginia to have the help of King Wendell who had an entire army at his control? No, they must be dealing with amateur kidnappers. But that didn’t mean that they shouldn’t take this seriously. Just because they were stupid, doesn’t mean they weren’t dangerous. Look at the trolls for instance.

Trolls! Wendell had completely forgotten. Relish’s three kids were due at his castle for a meeting in less than an hour. They had the impression that Virginia had killed their father. They were threatening to start a war with the Fourth Kingdom. They wanted Virginia handed over so that they could deal with her. Wendell shuddered at the thought. Everyone knew what kind of things happened to troll prisoners. They were tortured brutally and then put to death. Wendell had completely forbidden it, and had called a meeting with the Burly the new troll king to try and explain what had really happened. He wondered how he was going to get it through their thick skulls that it was really the Evil Queen that had murdered their father. Oh, well. He could figure that out later.

“Antony, Virginia, we should go to my study right now. I have a meeting with the troll king and his siblings in under an hour. Until they arrive here, we can discuss what plan of action we will take regarding Wolf in my office. Virginia, I assure you, I will do anything and everything in my power to help get Wolf back. He has become a good friend of mine and I will make sure that I find who ever did this to him.” Wendell said all of this without a trace of doubt in his voice.

“Oh, thank you Wendell! It means a lot to me that you care so much about him.” Virginia came over and hugged Wendell at this. “I know you mean what you said too. I only hope that we get to him in time...” She started crying at this thought.

Wendell hugged Virginia and tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry. We’ll find him. Now, let’s head to my office.”