The Oz Series
Chapter 69
Part of the Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz: The Underground World arc.
What happens
Dorothy passes several happy weeks in the Land of Oz as Ozma's guest, forming new acquaintances and renewing old ones. One day, sitting in Ozma's private room, she notices a picture on the wall that constantly changes appearance, showing meadows, forests, lakes, and villages. Ozma explains it is a magic invention that displays any part of the world or any living person she wishes to see. Dorothy uses it to view the Kansas farm and sees Aunt Em washing dishes and looking well, the hired men in the harvest fields, corn and wheat in prime condition, her dog Toto asleep on the porch, and old Speckles running with a brood of twelve new chickens. Reassured about home, Dorothy then asks to see Uncle Henry, and the picture shifts to Sydney, Australia, showing Uncle Henry seated in an easy chair smoking his briar pipe, looking sad and lonely with white hair and a thin, wasted face.
Alarmed that Uncle Henry is not recovering because he worries about her, Dorothy insists she must go to him at once and proposes visiting Glinda the Good for help. Ozma agrees, harnesses the Sawhorse to a green and pink phaeton, and the two girls ride to the sorceress. Glinda listens attentively to Dorothy's story. Dorothy suggests using the magic belt to command it to take her to Uncle Henry, but Glinda explains the belt has magical powers only while in a fairy country such as Oz or Ev; if Dorothy wished herself to Australia, the wish would be fulfilled because it was made in fairyland, but the belt itself would be lost forever upon arrival, just as her silver shoes were lost when she left Oz before. Dorothy therefore decides to give the magic belt to Ozma, who can use it in her own country to wish Dorothy transported to Uncle Henry without losing the belt, a plan Glinda calls wise.
Riding back to the Emerald City, they arrange that every Saturday morning Ozma will look at Dorothy in the magic picture, and if Dorothy makes a certain signal, Ozma will use the Nome King's magic belt to wish her instantly returned to Oz. Dorothy bids goodbye to her friends: Tiktok wishes to go to Australia but is left in Ozma's care because his machinery would not work in a civilized country, and Billina refuses to leave Oz, preferring its finely flavored bugs and ants and declaring Dorothy foolish to return to the humdrum world. Dorothy insists Uncle Henry needs her, and everyone except Billina agrees she should go. Her friends gather to bid a sorrowful farewell; after handshaking and kissing Ozma, Dorothy hands over the magic belt and instructs Ozma to wish her with Uncle Henry when she waves her handkerchief. Standing on a big emerald in the courtyard, Dorothy waves her handkerchief and is instantly transported to Australia, where she assures Uncle Henry she was not drowned and has come to nurse him, and he, cuddling her close, says he is better already.
Who is in play
- Dorothy
- Cowardly Lion
- Ozma
- Tin Woodman
- Billina
- Glinda
- Saw-Horse
- Scarecrow
- Tiktok
- magic picture
- Aunt Em
- City of Emeralds
- Kansas
- Land of Oz
- Silver Shoes
- Toto