The Oz Series
Chapter 34
Part of the The Marvelous Land of Oz: Tip's Rebellion and the Return of Ozma arc.
What happens
Soaked and dripping, Tip shouts in the Saw-Horse's ear to keep still, and the horse floats calmly, its wooden body buoyant as a raft. When Tip calls it a fool, the horse asks the word's meaning; Tip admits it is a term of reproach used in anger, and the horse retorts that it may return the insult since it did not make the river. Tip acknowledges himself in the wrong. Checking on his companions, he finds Jack silent and the Scarecrow weak, complaining of how wet the water is. Bound too tightly by the cord to turn his head, Tip orders the Saw-Horse to paddle toward shore, and they slowly reach a low bank where the creature scrambles onto dry land.
Tip cuts the cords with his knife. The Scarecrow falls to the ground with a mushy sound; Jack's wooden body still sits upright but his pumpkin head is gone, leaving only the sharpened neck-stick. The Scarecrow's straw has shaken down into his legs and lower body, making him plump below and empty above, and his damp limp head sags forward under the sewn-on crown, crushing his painted face into wrinkles resembling a Japanese pug dog. Anxious about Jack, whose pumpkin head is essential to his existence, Tip seizes a long pole, spots the golden pumpkin bobbing far out on the water, waits until it floats nearer, draws it ashore, wipes it dry with his handkerchief, and replaces it on Jack's neck.
Jack revives worrying whether water spoils pumpkins. Tip then attends to the Scarecrow, removing his straw to dry in the sun and hanging the wet clothing over the Saw-Horse. He reassures Jack that water does not spoil pumpkins unless boiling, and that if Jack's head is uncracked he is in good condition; Jack confirms his head is not cracked. Once the straw dries crisp, Tip restuffs the Scarecrow into symmetrical shape and smooths his face to its usual charming expression. The grateful monarch notes the advantage of being a Scarecrow with friends near to repair damages, and reassures the anxious Jack that hot sunshine will not crack pumpkins and that his only fear is old age, at which point they will part company.
They remount the Saw-Horse, Tip holding the post, Jack clinging to Tip, and the Scarecrow embracing Jack, and travel slowly since there is no pursuit. Jack's polite question about the horse being hoarse angers the Saw-Horse, which declares it will have nothing more to do with the Pumpkinhead who loses his head too easily. As they ride, the Scarecrow recalls past times on that grassy knoll where he once saved Dorothy from the Stinging Bees of the Wicked Witch of the West, where Nick Chopper (the Tin Woodman) destroyed the Wicked Witch's Grey Wolves, and where the Winged Monkeys captured them and flew away with Dorothy; the Winged Monkeys are now slaves of Glinda the Good, who owns the Golden Cap commanding their services. At twilight and nightfall they dismount; the tired, hungry Tip needs sleep though the Scarecrow, Jack, and Saw-Horse do not sleep. After Jack and the Saw-Horse quarrel briefly over cowardice, the Scarecrow urges consideration for the mortal boy, and Tip sleeps using the Scarecrow's stuffed form as a pillow.
Who is in play
- Dorothy
- Tin Woodman
- Tip
- Glinda
- Jack Pumpkinhead
- Saw-Horse
- Scarecrow
- Golden Cap
- Winged Monkeys
- wolves
- Wicked Witch of the West
- Stinging Bees