The Indigo King - James A. Owen [82]
John followed Arthur to the crest of the hill, where Archimedes was grappling with an extremely agitated Uncas.
“Stupid bird!” Uncas exclaimed. “What are you, a cannibobble?”
“I’m a mathematician, if you must know,” the owl replied, still keeping a grip on the badger with one claw.
“Let him go, Archie,” Chaz said as he and the others caught up to John.
The bird immediately loosed the badger, who snorted at it, then patted down his fur. “I come on a rescue mission, and nearly get et by a cannibobble,” Uncas muttered. “No respect.”
“We respect you, Uncas,” Jack said, sweeping up the badger in a tight hug. “I’m thrilled to see you.”
“Scowler Jack! Scowler John! Mister Chaz!” Uncas shouted. “I finally found you! I knew I would!”
The little fellow was so happy, and they were so relieved, that none of them noted that it was actually the owl who’d brought him to them. “What happened?” asked John. “We went back to the proper spot, but the portal was gone. It had only been a few minutes.”
“That’d be my fault, Scowler John,” Uncas said, looking as embarrassed and forlorn as they’d ever seen him. “Mine, an’ mine only.”
Jack knelt down and took the little fellow by the shoulder. “It’s all right, Uncas. Mistakes happen. What did you do?”
“I, uh, I tripped over the cord, and accidentally unplugged the projector.”
“Okay,” said Jack, suppressing a grin. “Then why didn’t you just plug it back in?”
“I tried!” Uncas wailed. “But I got all tangled up in it, and then I pulled over the whole thing, and it breaked! I mean, broked.… Um, I cracked it, is what I mean t’ say!”
“So how did you get here?” asked John.
“We fixed it up—Reynard is a work an’ a wonder with lenses—and plugged it back in. But by then you were gone.”
“How long did it take you to repair it, Uncas?” asked Jack.
Uncas closed one eye and estimated. “About an hour.”
Jack’s shoulders slumped. “Then we’re still in trouble,” he said, shading his eyes and looking at the afternoon sun. “It’s been twenty-four hours already, plus the hour it was down. The slide will have burned out by now.”
“We thought of that!” Uncas said, preening. “Fred and I looked all over for you around that old oak, until just an hour ago. Then we stopped it before we ran out of time.”
“Is Reynard simply going to turn it back on so we can return?” asked Jack.
Uncas looked crestfallen. “That would have been a good idea,” he admitted.
“But he would have no way of knowing Uncas found us,” Chaz said, “and the slide would still burn out.”
“He’s right, Uncas,” John said, still confused, “how do we get back?”
“Easy,” Uncas said, bursting with the ingenuity of his plan. “We brung it with us—the entire Lanterna Magica.”
They had Arthur ask Archimedes to return to Grandfather Oak, to look for a second badger and a small machine, and to return, as carefully as possible, with them both.
The bird flew off, and inside of an hour returned with the projector in his claws and Fred riding on his back.
“Please don’t drop the time machine,” said Jack.
“Or the badger,” added John.
“I meant to say that,” said Jack.
Archimedes spiraled slowly down and lowered the Lanterna Magica to the grass, and Fred leaped off his back and hugged Uncas.
“Did you see, Father?” Fred exclaimed. “I flew! In the air!”
Uncas hugged his son back and glared at the bird. “I had the same trip, under less pleasant circumstances.”
John and Jack stared at the projector. The badgers had indeed managed to bring it through.
“It was Reynard who figured it out,” Fred explained. “He used an extra lens to keep the projection large as we pulled the machine closer to the screens. Then, when it was almost inside, we pulled it through, and the portal closed behind it.”
“It almost didn’t work at all,” said Uncas. “The cord in the back was barely long enough to let us pull the projector through before it came out of the socket.”
“That’s actually my next question,” Jack said, already knowing—and dreading—the answer. “We’re at