Rescue From the Mountain Side

Hortense sat quietly in the corner of the kitchen on a stool watching Aunt Esmerelda at her work. Aunt Esmerelda was unhappy, and the more she tried to do her work the more she complained, and every once in a while she took a long look at Hortense, as if accusing her of her trouble. The trouble was that Aunt Esmerelda was trying to make cole slaw and she couldn’t find her grater to shred the cabbage. So she was trying to cut it up with the large butcher knife.

“I ’clare,” Aunt Esmerelda grumbled half to herself, but just loud enough so she knew Hortense would hear, “this yere house is sho’ nuff voodood. First of all this ornery cat gets himself into some mighty peculiar fixes, inside the sofa and chimney and such likes, then the grater begins to get all full of knife holes and now I cain’t even find it at all.” Hortense squirmed uneasily and wished somebody could help Aunt Esmerelda get a new grater. But she couldn’t tell the cook where the grater was, or how it got there, or poor old Aunt Esmerelda might leave and never come back, frightened as she was of spooks and similar things. But she didn’t want a new grater, either, for fear it might also help the cat free the old grater, for then there would be three of them to contend with. So she said nothing but just kicked her feet a bit and stared at the floor.

Just then Mary came in, and she and Aunt Esmerelda began to talk.

Mary said, “You know, the firedogs are missing and Grandmother is very unhappy about it, because she can’t have a fire-place fire on these chilly evenings. And when I went in the parlor to dust today, the sofa is gone, too. None of these things ever happened before Hortense came. I can imagine she might have taken the firedogs, though I can’t imagine why. But she is too little to move that big divan.”

By now Hortense felt very uneasy, knowing that both the cook and the maid were suspicious of her activities. She was wishing desperately that she wouldn’t have to look at them, when luckily Grandfather came into the kitchen on his way to the barn and asked her if she would like to go look at the horses with him. So she gladly left the kitchen.

On their way to the barn she finally said, “Grandfather, is Grandmother awfully unhappy about the firedogs?” At this her Grandfather appeared surprised, but finally admitted to her that Grandmother surely did miss her fireplace fire in the evenings when she had tea.

“Well,” said Hortense, “I’ve been trying to think of a plan to rescue the firedogs and the alligator sofa, but I need your help.”

Grandfather took a long look at her, and Hortense was a little frightened that maybe she shouldn’t have asked him at all. Finally he said, “I don’t know how much help I could be. These magic things only happen to you because you are young and believe they can happen. But I am old, and need my sleep at night. However, maybe I could get Fergus to help you.”

At the barn they found Fergus grooming Tom and Jerry. Uncle Jonas was there too, so until he left nothing more could be said about it, for he would have been frightened even worse than Mary or Aunt Esmerelda if he knew what was going on around the farm since Hortense’s arrival. After an hour or so Grandfather sent Uncle Jonas to town for some harness straps and he and Hortense were free to talk to Fergus.

“Well, Hortense,” began Grandfather, “why don’t you tell Fergus about your adventures?”

Fergus looked strangely at the girl, but said nothing. Hortense hardly knew where to start, but finally began at the first and told him the whole story, just as she had Grandfather. When she finished Grandfather said, “Hortense says she has a plan for rescuing the firedogs and alligator sofa from the little people, but she needs some help. I wondered if you could help her, Fergus?”

Fergus thought this over for some time. Then he began to talk slowly, as if thinking aloud, and as if no one were hearing him at all. “It would be nice,” he began, “if I didn’t have to be grooming these horses so much. But if I were to go up there on the mountain side what could I tell Mary? I couldn’t tell her the real story, because she’d never believe it. She might even get Aunt Esmerelda and Uncle Jonas all excited and there’s no telling what would happen then. On the other hand I wouldn’t want to tell her something that isn’t true, either. But I sure would like to get this household back to normal again.”

“Let me make a suggestion,” offered Grandfather. “Why not tell her that I think somebody is bothering the horses at night and I want you to stay in the barn and guard them. If she is frightened to stay at your house alone all night I’m sure Grandmother would come stay with her for one night.”

“That is so,” said Fergus. “It is true that someone has been bothering the horses. Now I want to know what Hortense’s plan is before I finally decide whether to risk my neck for those firedogs and that sofa.”

“Well,” Hortense began, “I thought if Andy and I were to go back to the little people by making ourselves small, then after we have had time to free the firedogs and alligator sofa, we’ll wait there and you come get us by saying the magic words to Tom and Jerry. Then we can all ride the horses home.”

“That sounds sensible,” answered Fergus, “but how do you think you can free alligator sofa and Coal and Ember? And also what if Jeremiah should trap you in the tunnel?”

“Maybe I could keep the cat locked in the basement,” suggested Grandfather. “That way I can help, too.”

Hortense was much relieved to see that Grandfather and Fergus were willing to help her, and she surely felt much more secure with Jeremiah safely out of the way. As for getting Coal and Ember and alligator sofa, she thought the queen of the little people would help her if she explained how much it was troubling her Grandmother, and in fact upsetting the entire household.

So it was agreed. Just to be safe, Hortense planned to take Malay Kris along, since he had proved himself such a good fighter in other close scrapes. Now if only there would be the fifty-two cookies needed, thirteen apiece for Fergus, Malay Kris, Andy and herself.

When Hortense went back to the kitchen Aunt Esmerelda was dozing in the corner, her apron thrown up over her head. Hortense quietly sneaked over to the cookie jar and peeked in. The jar was full to the brim, so Hortense began busily putting cookies into her apron and dress pockets, counting carefully. Just as she was about done counting them out she felt a strange tickling on her leg. This so startled her that she knocked the lid to the cookie jar to the floor with a crash, and she saw Jeremiah disappear around the corner. The sudden noise woke Aunt Esmerelda, and the old cook opened her eyes wide when she saw Hortense with cookies bulging from every pocket.

“So tha’s where all my cookies done go!” exclaimed the cook. “That yere girl is done takin’ ’em by the dozen. Whoffo you wants all those cookies, girl? Doan you-all know you might git sick a-eatin’ so much?”

Hortense had to do some very fast thinking, now, for she knew she didn’t dare scare poor old Aunt Esmerelda by telling her the cookies were magic. So she said, “Please, Aunt Esmerelda, don’t be angry. Your cookies are just so good I could eat them all day without getting sick. I was getting few more than usual just now because I was going to share them with some friends of mine. I really wouldn’t try to eat these all by myself.”

“Hermpf,” snorted Aunt Esmerelda. “I suppose yo’ friends include dat good for nuttin’ Andy, whose all da time botherin’ Uncle Jonas hawses. But dats all right, chile; ef you likes my cookies, you jus hep yoself to dem. Dat’s what day is fo.”

That evening, after supper when they were all having a cup of tea in the parlor Grandmother took a long look at Hortense, but said nothing. Grandfather took a few puffs on his pipe and Jeremiah walked in.

“That cat has just been in too much mischief lately,” declared Grandfather. “I believe I’ll try locking him the basement tonight and see if he will stay out of trouble.” At this Jeremiah arched his back and started for the door, but Grandfather jumped up quickly and caught him.

“Don’t blame the cat,” Grandmother admonished. “After all you know very well there have been strange goings on which the cat certainly couldn’t account for like the disappearance of the sofa.”

“Nevertheless, he’s been in his share of trouble, what with jumping down the chimney and all,” retorted Grandfather. “We’ll try it for a night or two this way, anyway.” So against the plaintive cries of the cat, the cellar door was locked securely after he was put downstairs.

Later, when everyone had retired, Hortense could hear Grandfather and Grandmother talking in their bedroom, but try as she could she couldn’t catch a word they were saying, and she wondered if he might have told Grandmother about the plan to go to the little people again. However, after some time the conversation ceased and when all was quiet Hortense quietly slipped downstairs and told Malay Kris of the plan. He jumped down from the wall quickly.

“There’s nothing I’d like better than a battle,” he said. “Now that Grater is out of the way maybe I can get a taste of that cat. He’d be a nice juicy bite I fancy.”

The two of them slipped out to the barn where they met Fergus and Andy.

“Now,” said Hortense, dividing up the cookies, “Andy and Kris and I will go on the back to the attic and eat our cookies, then go through the tunnel to the place of the little people on the mountain side. The moon is just beginning to rise, so when it is directly overhead, Fergus can eat his cookies and fly to meet us with Tom and Jerry. That should give us time enough to rescue Coal and Ember and alligator sofa.”

On arriving at the attic and dropping down into the secret room, they sat down and ate their cookies, then climbed on down the ladder to the secret passage to the tunnel. When they came to the door and opened it, imagine their surprise to find Grater untied and standing directly in their path. Before they could retreat, they heard soft padded feet and on turning around found Jeremiah staring intently at them, his eyes a brilliant green.

“Well, well, well,” purred the cat. “This time it looks like our turn,” and quick as a flash Jeremiah caught Hortense with one paw and Andy with the other, while Grater jumped on Malay Kris and they tied all three of them with the cords which had been holding Grater.

“You forgot,” said Jeremiah, “that the trap door from the chute outside was open, so I got here ahead of you and untied Grater. Then we just decided to wait for you, figuring you’d be along.”

Meanwhile Grater began to run his prickly sides on Malay Kris so he was no longer a sharp knife, just a dull old one. All the time Kris tried to wriggle free of his ties, but could not.

“Enough of this,” said Jeremiah, “let’s get rid of these pests once and for all. But first I believe I’ll have the charm.” So saying, he took the monkey charm from Hortense, who could do nothing to stop him. Then the cat and the grater marched their captives through the tunnel to their house.

“Before, when we put them in the cookie jar, they escaped,” said Jeremiah.

“Why not lock them in the clock case,” suggested Grater.

“Splendid idea,” agreed Jeremiah, so they unlocked the door and pushed them all inside, carefully locking them in and Grater put the key in his pocket.

“Now,” said Jeremiah, “let’s go out on the mountain side and maybe we can catch a couple of those little people and really have a fine supper.”

After they left Hortense began to cry softly. “Whatever will happen to us now,” she sobbed, and sat down on one of the pendulum weights of the clock.

“If you don’t get off my weights I’m afraid I’ll have to stop,” spoke up the clock. “And if time stands still then you certainly will never go anywhere.”

“Oh, excuse me,” said Hortense. “I quite forgot where we were.” Then a sudden thought came to her. “Can you help us?” she asked.

“I’m afraid not,” said the clock. “You see, time can’t be on anybody’s side, but must be on all sides.”

“If you are on all sides, then you must be on our side,” reasoned Hortense. “Anyway, do you know any way we can get out of your inside?”

While Hortense and the clock were thus talking, Malay Kris was rubbing his ropes against one of the weights, and finally succeeded in freeing himself. Then he quickly jumped up and untied Hortense and Andy, and then tried his point in the keyhole. By luck when the grater dulled his edges, he made them exactly fit the notches in the keyhole. “Now,” he called, “if you can turn me over I believe I can turn the lock.”

With Hortense standing on Andy’s shoulders she could just reach Malay Kris, and with all her effort she turned the knife, the lock opened and the door swung out. Quickly the three friends left the cat’s house and started through the garden toward the mountain side where the little people were.

As they came close to where the guards were, Andy sneezed. One of the guards saw them and raised the alarm and all the guards came running. Malay Kris tried defending them, but his edge was so dull that he could make no dent on their armor at all. So, once again, they were subdued, tied up, and brought before the king and queen.

“So,” cried the king, “we have you again. This time we’ll put you away for good. But first search them. I don’t want them to have any secrets hidden in their pockets.” So the guards went through their pockets and found the pieces of cookie.

“They have no secret weapons, your honor,” said the guards. “The only thing we found are these pieces of cookies.”

“Bring me the cookies,” ordered the king. “They should be a nice dessert for me.” So saying he bit off a piece of one, and finding it very delicious, passed the others around to the rest of his guards. Hortense tried to stop him from eating any more, but as soon as she started to talk, he roared, “Silence from the prisoners! You will speak only if asked to.” Then he distributed the remainder of the cookies among his guards until they were all eaten up. After having finished such a good dessert, he leaned back in this throne and, addressing himself to the three, said, “Have you any final words to say before I sentence you? Since you escaped once before, this time I intend to throw you in the dungeon beneath the mountain. No one has ever escaped from it.”

Hortense and Andy were so frightened they couldn’t say a word. But the queen came to their rescue. “Your honor,” she said, “it is true that these strangers escaped once before. However, I can’t see that they mean us any harm. Perhaps they could even be of some help to us if we kept them here.”

“Ha!” cried the king. “Much help they’d be. They may even be spies from another land.”

“From another land we are,” spoke up Malay Kris. “And we do have some special news for you, if you care to know.”

“How is that?” roared the king.

“First,” said Malay Kris, “free Coal and Ember and Alligator sofa. We came here in order to free them.”

“So they are your friends,” said the King. “Well, you can have that alligator. His appetite is much too big for us. But the firedogs are serving the queen in her bedroom and she would have to free them if anyone does. In the meantime I’ll think this over. Guards! Take them away!”

So the guards led Hortense, Andy, and Malay Kris away to a large open field where Alligator sofa lay sound asleep. A great number of guards were placed all around so there was no chance of escape.

“How will we ever get back home now,” Hortense said softly to Andy. “The king ate all the rest of the cookies so we can’t ever grow to our normal size again.”

But Andy was looking up in the yellow sky. The dark blue moon had risen high overhead and the shadows of the dark red trees stood out like more sentries guarding the prisoners. As Andy watched he knew there wasn’t a minute to spare, for soon Fergus would be coming on Tom and Jerry and if the little people were frightened back into the mountain and they were put in the dungeon beneath the mountain, that might be the end of the story. So he started up to one of the guards to demand to be taken to the king again. Before he had done two steps, however, Alligator sofa roused from his nap and said, “Did I hear someone say they wanted some cookies? I’m full of them. Just open my side a bit there, Malay Kris, and help yourself.”

Kris quickly opened the sofa and all his cookies fell out on the ground. They quickly filled their pockets, just as the king came up to them.

“How is this? More cookies?” asked the king, surprised.

The queen had heard about the good cookies and came around, too, Coal and Ember on a leash. Just then they heard a soft pad-padding and creaky sounds as the cat and the grater suddenly appeared. At the same moment, the moon began to darken as the outline of Tom and Jerry appeared closer and closer.

“Run for your lives,” screamed the king, and all the little people ran pell mell for the opening above the rock on the side of the mountain. Hortense, Andy and Malay Kris all took a bite of cookie and suddenly grew to their full size. Hortense seized Jeremiah and got her charm off his neck, but not before she got scratched deeply on the arm. Andy and Malay Kris dived for Grater, and he jumped backwards, right into the mouth of Alligator sofa.

When Fergus landed with Tom and Jerry, he also took the last bite of cookie and looked around. By this time the little people were all gone and Jeremiah had likewise disappeared. The moon was getting low in the sky, and so he gathered all the friends together.

“Soon it will be daylight,” he said. “Until then, I think we’d better all stay together here, rather than risk getting lost trying to get down the mountain at night.” So Hortense and Andy curled up on the sofa, Coal and Ember lay down beside Tom and Jerry, and Fergus sat up with Malay Kris to keep guard.

When the first red streaks of sunshine began to appear, all the magic had gone with the night. Coal, Ember and Malay Kris again became cold pieces of brass and steel, and the sofa looked just like any other piece of furniture. Fergus shook Andy and Hortense, and when they were awake he explained that they needed to get home by breakfast and it was a long climb down the mountain. So they tied the sofa on Tom’s back, and Fergus helped Hortense and Andy on Jerry’s broad back. He stuck Malay Kris in a loop of his belt, and picked up the firedogs. Slowly, this strange procession wound its way down the steep mountain, across the brook, and up through the apple orchard toward the big house. By the time they arrived at the barn, Grandfather was there to greet them.

“We’re all back home, alive and well,” he said. “I think we had better keep it this way.” With a twinkle in his eye he continued. “There is a letter for Hortense in the morning mail. It says her folks are home from Australia, so she’s to get on the train this afternoon and we’ll not see her again until Christmas.”

So this ends the strange adventure of Hortense and the cat in Grandfather’s house. Nobody ever sat on the sofa again, however, for it felt lumpy.