The Champion - What Fools These Mortals Be

Part 2

"To Trace the Forests Wild"

by Kevin

By the time Casey woke up, the library was closed for the day. Not that it made any difference – no one was going to come looking for him in a locked room in the back of the library anyway. Nor could he call for help, with Mr. Goodfellow’s thick handkerchief filling his mouth.

Being helpless had one advantage – it gave him plenty of time to think. It was easy to see now that the “librarian” Mr. Goodfellow was really Robin Goodfellow – better known as Puck. He was probably the most famous of all the trickster spirits, and now he was running loose in this world. Casey knew that he had to find a way to get free and go after him.

He looked around the room but could not see anything he could use to cut his ropes or loosen his gag. Then he noticed a book on the very top shelf. It was an ornate volume, with metal clasps. He began to rock back and forth, working his way toward the bookshelf. He kicked at the bookshelf three or four times before the book came tumbling down, nearly walloping him in the head. He rolled out of the way just in time.
Casey twisted his body around so that he was facing the old book. Hooking his gag on the metal clasps, he pulled it loose. As soon as his mouth was free, he spoke the magic word. “Elysium!”

As Kid Champion, he easily snapped the ropes binding his hands and feet, then pushed the door open. Cloaking himself with an invisibility spell, he raced across the campus to find Tommy.

When he reached their dorm room, Kid Champion found his friend tied to a chair, with candles still wedged between his toes. Although he sympathized, Kid Champion couldn’t help smirking as he saw Tommy’s predicament. Tommy whimpered into the sock gag, relieved to see help arrive.

“I guess I wasn’t the only one who got Puck’d,” Kid Champion said. He removed the candles and loosened the ropes.  Once Tommy was untied, Casey told him about his encounter with Puck. Then Tommy explained how the trickster had gotten the better of him. As he finished the story, Tommy narrowed his eyes in suspicion and stepped backward.

“How do I know you’re really yourself this time?” he asked.

Kid Champion laughed. “First of all, dork, if I were Puck, I wouldn’t have untied you,” he said. “I could have just left you there with wax between your toes. And second, if I  were Puck I wouldn’t know that your middle name is Marian and that you cried the first night you spent away from home.”

“Keep it down,” Tommy said. “Somebody might hear you. And I was not crying. I had allergies.”

“Whatever you say, Marian. We need to figure out Puck’s next move, before he hurts someone.”

“He said something as he left,” Tommy replied. “Something about leading some people through bogs and bushes.”

“Was it ‘through bog, through bush, through brake, through brier’?” Kid Champion asked.

“Yes, that’s it. How did you know that?”

“It’s Shakespeare, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s how Puck describes one of his favorite tricks – leading travelers into the woods, where they get hopelessly lost,” Casey said. “It sounds like the real Puck likes to have the same sort of fun.”

“Mr. Flynn was supposed to take his botany class on a nature hike today,” Tommy said. “They could be in trouble.”

“I’ll head out to the woods,” Kid Champion said. “You go over to Mr. Flynn’s classroom and see if they’re back yet.”

When Tommy got to Mr. Flynn’s classroom, he found it deserted. He turned to leave but stopped when he heard thumping coming from the supply cabinet. As he got closer, he could hear muffled cries for help coming from inside. Unfortunately the cabinet was locked. Tommy whispered his magic word, transforming himself into the Champion. After taking care of the lock, he said Elysium again. The Champion vanished, and Tommy Tyler opened the cabinet door to find Mr. Flynn, tied and gagged with elastic bandages.

The young teacher was yelling uselessly into the bandage covering his mouth. Tommy pulled it loose, and Mr. Flynn spat out what appeared to be a tennis ball. “What happened, Mr. Flynn?” Tommy asked.

“I don’t understand it,” Mr. Flynn said. “My girlfriend came by at lunchtime to bring me homemade soup. That was strange all by itself, because she hates to cook. After I ate it, I started getting really drowsy, so she suggested I lie down on the floor. The next thing I know, I’m tied up and gagged in the supply cabinet.”

“I think you were the victim of an elaborate practical joke, Mr. Flynn,” Tommy said. “And I’m pretty sure that wasn’t your girlfriend.”

Out in the woods, Kid Champion was looking for signs of the missing students. From the air, he thought he spotted movement. He landed for a closer look. He could not see any of them, but a familiar figure emerged from the shadows. It was Horatius, the keeper of the gateways between Elysium and the mortal realm.

“Greetings, young one,” Horatius said. “I am sorry I was not able to come sooner to help. Puck is a difficult and elusive adversary, as I’m sure you’ve found.”

“We’ll get him,” Kid Champion said. “He managed to catch Tommy and me off guard before, but I think we’re on to his tricks now.”

“No doubt,” Horatius said. “But I have something here that might help you.” He withdrew a tattered scroll from his satchel and handed it to the hero. “This is a spell that will make you immune to Puck’s magic,” Horatius said. “You will be able to see through his disguises. Simply read it aloud, without stopping.”

Kid Champion took the scroll and began reading the strange words in rapid succession. Near the bottom of the scroll came the words “Tam fatua sum ut loqui elysium--’” As soon as he uttered the magic word, a flash of bright blue light surrounded him, transforming him back into Casey. At the same moment, the wizard Horatius began to change shape as well, turning back into Puck. Casey realized he had been tricked and opened his mouth to shout his magic word again, but Puck clamped a firm hand over his mouth.

“Oh, but you are a gullible sort,” Puck said, laughing. “I wasn’t sure you would fall for that, but I am so glad that you did.” Conjuring a wide strip of cloth, Puck secured it tightly over Casey’s mouth. He tied the boy’s hands behind him as well. Casey tried to make a break for it, but wild vines wrapped themselves around his ankles, sending him crashing to the ground. More vines twisted around Casey's body and over his mouth, rooting him to the spot and preventing him from making the slightest sound.

“You’ll never escape me in the forest,” Puck said. “This is my domain. And I’m going to make sure you stay here forever.”

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