The Oz Series
Chapter 12
Part of the Dorothy's Journey to the Wizard and Back to Kansas arc.
What happens
The soldier with the green whiskers leads Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion through the Emerald City to the Guardian of the Gates, who unlocks their green spectacles, returns them to his great box, and opens the gate. Dorothy asks which road leads to the Wicked Witch of the West; the Guardian answers there is no road because no one wishes to go there, but the Witch will find them herself once she knows they are in the country of the Winkies and will make them her slaves. When the Scarecrow states they mean to destroy her, the Guardian, noting no one has ever destroyed her before, directs them to keep to the West where the sun sets. The travelers depart across fields of soft grass with daisies and buttercups; Dorothy notices her silk dress and the ribbon around Toto's neck, formerly green, have turned pure white now that they have left the city.
The ground becomes rougher and hillier as they advance into the untilled country of the West, which has no farms, houses, or trees. In the afternoon heat Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion tire and sleep on the grass while the Woodman and Scarecrow keep watch. The Wicked Witch of the West, who has one eye as powerful as a telescope, sees the sleeping travelers from her castle door and, angered to find them in her country, blows a silver whistle that hangs around her neck.
A pack of forty great wolves with long legs and sharp teeth answers the whistle. The Witch orders their leader to tear the strangers to pieces rather than enslave them, since none is fit to work. The wolves rush toward the party, but the Tin Woodman, wide awake with his sharp axe, meets them one by one and chops off each wolf's head; all forty wolves die in a heap before him. The Scarecrow praises the good fight, and when Dorothy wakes the next morning the Woodman explains what happened.
The Witch, seeing her wolves dead through her one far-seeing eye, grows angrier and blows the whistle twice, summoning a great flock of wild crows enough to darken the sky. She orders the King Crow to fly to the strangers, peck out their eyes, and tear them to pieces. The Scarecrow has the others lie down beside him and stands with arms outstretched; the crows are frightened as birds always are by scarecrows, but the King Crow flies at him and is caught by the head, its neck twisted until it dies. The Scarecrow twists the necks of all forty crows until they lie dead beside him.
Enraged again, the Witch blows the whistle three times and summons a swarm of black bees, ordering them to sting the strangers to death. On the Scarecrow's plan, the Woodman scatters the Scarecrow's straw over Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion to hide them, leaving only the Tin Woodman exposed. The bees break off all their stings against his tin without hurting him, and since bees cannot live with broken stings they die in heaps like fine coal. Dorothy and the Lion restuff the Scarecrow.
The Witch then sends a dozen of her Winkie slaves armed with sharp spears to destroy the strangers, but the Lion's great roar frightens the cowardly Winkies into fleeing. The Witch beats them with a strap and sits down to plan, unable to understand why her attacks have failed. She recalls the Golden Cap in her cupboard, set with diamonds and rubies, whose charm allows its owner to summon the Winged Monkeys three times to obey any order; no person may command them more than three times.
The Witch has already used the charm twice: once to make the Winkies her slaves and rule their country, and once to drive the Great Oz out of the Land of the West, the Winged Monkeys helping both times. With only one use remaining and her other powers exhausted, she places the Golden Cap on her head and performs the charm, standing on her left foot to say "Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke," on her right foot to say "Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo," and on both feet to cry "Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik." The sky darkens and a crowd of winged monkeys appears with their leader, who announces this is the third and last summons.
The Witch commands the Winged Monkeys to destroy all the strangers except the Lion, whom she wants harnessed like a horse. The Monkeys carry the Tin Woodman over sharp rocks and drop him, leaving him battered and dented, unable to move or groan. They pull all the straw from the Scarecrow and throw his clothes bundle into the top branches of a tall tree. They bind the Lion with rope and carry him to the castle, placing him in a high-fenced iron yard. The leader flies to Dorothy but sees the mark of the Good Witch's kiss on her forehead and refuses to harm her, explaining she is protected by the Power of Good, which is greater than the Power of Evil. The Monkeys carry Dorothy gently to the castle doorstep and tell the Witch their power over her band is ended.
The Wicked Witch is worried by the mark on Dorothy's forehead and trembles at the sight of the Silver Shoes, knowing their powerful charm, but seeing how simple the girl's soul is and that she does not know the shoes' power, she decides to make Dorothy her slave. She sets Dorothy to cleaning pots, sweeping, and feeding the fire in the kitchen. The Witch tries to harness the Lion, but his fierce roar drives her back; she then threatens to starve him unless he submits, coming daily to ask if he is ready to be harnessed, and he refuses each time. Secretly Dorothy carries the Lion food from the cupboard every night, and they plan escape, but the castle is guarded by the yellow Winkies.
The Witch, unable to strike Dorothy because of the forehead mark though the girl does not know this, once strikes Toto, who bites her leg; she does not bleed because her blood dried up years before. Coveting the Silver Shoes for their power, the Witch, afraid of the dark and dreading water, sets an invisible iron bar on the kitchen floor. Dorothy trips over it, and one Silver Shoe comes off, which the Witch snatches and puts on her own foot, gaining half the shoes' charm. When Dorothy demands its return and calls her wicked, the Witch refuses and laughs. Enraged, Dorothy dashes a bucket of water over the Witch, who screams and begins to melt away like brown sugar, revealing that water is her undoing. Dorothy throws a second bucket of water over the melted mass, sweeps it out the door, recovers the silver shoe, cleans it, puts it on, and runs to tell the Lion the Wicked Witch of the West has come to an end.
Who is in play
- Dorothy
- Cowardly Lion
- Tin Woodman
- Scarecrow
- Dorothy's Traveling Party
- Golden Cap
- Winged Monkeys
- Witch of the North
- Aunt Em
- City of Emeralds
- Kansas
- Oz
- Silver Shoes
- Toto
- Guardian of the Gates
- the soldier with the green whiskers