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Shaggy Man of Oz (version 2)

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<h2>CHAPTER 14 The Valley of Love</h2> That night there was a great feast in the Grand Dining Room of the castle. Tom was the guest of honor, sitting at the head of the table between King Ticket and Queen Curtain. Twink, feeling very proud of her brother, sat at the Queen's right with the Shaggy Man and Twiffle at her side. In addition to the Lords and Ladies of the castle, all the people who had formerly been actors and actresses were seated about the table. There were speeches, merrymaking and much laughter while everyone enjoyed course after course of the delicious food served. King Ticket and Queen Curtain talked together during the feast, seeming to discuss something on which they finally appeared to reach a decision. King Ticket arose and, banging with a silver fork against a drinking goblet, obtained the attention and silence of the merrymakers. "My dear friends," began the King, beaming on his audience, "good Queen Curtain and I have been discussing a proposal which we are sure will meet with your approval. You are well aware that although we did not know it, we, the people of the Valley of Romance, have been living in a bondage that was even greater than that which we cast over the poor unfortunates who wandered into the castle. For we lived without knowing the meaning of true romance and love. We found our only pleasure in artificial romance as we saw it on the stage. We had no love for each other—no romance among ourselves. "Now all that is changed. Not only do we now appreciate and know the true meaning of real love—but the people whom we enslaved are freed and happy once more. "We have one person to thank for this—Tom, who, with the Love Magnet, brought us our present joy and happiness. Queen Curtain and I propose that we yield our thrones and that Tom become the new King of the Valley of Romance." <hr class="chap" /> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus65.jpg" width-obs="650" height-obs="338" alt=""/></div> <hr class="chap" /> The applause was tremendous. Apparently everyone in the Grand Dining Room favored King Ticket's startling plan. But Tom leaped to his feet and exclaimed: "Your Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen—Thank you for this great honor, but I cannot be your King. Maybe I'll never get the chance to be a king again. But the important thing for Twink and me is to find our way home. The Shaggy Man has promised that Ozma of Oz will send us home if we can only reach Oz. That is the thing we want most. Anyway, I have no right to be your King—I don't know anything about the job, and you should really be grateful to the Love Magnet for making you happy—not me. Now that you folks know the meaning of real love, I'm sure King Ticket will make you a fine King and Queen Curtain will be a real Queen." Again the applause resounded. At last King Ticket rose again, expressing his regret that Tom could not remain with them to be their King. King Ticket promised that he would do his best to be a kind and loving monarch. His first move, he said, would be to grant complete freedom to the people who had wandered to the castle and had become slaves on the Stage of False Romance. These people, he said, might return to their own homes, or they might, if they wished, remain to dwell as Lords and Ladies in the Castle of Romance. Since they would have no further use for the theater, King Ticket promised to have the seats removed and the theater remodeled into a real Temple of Learning, where each of his subjects might learn some craft or art that would be useful or pleasing to his fellows. Here they would meet each day and study and work at their arts and crafts, enjoying companionship and the satisfaction of real accomplishment and creation. "If you do manage to get to the Land of Oz," King Ticket said to the Shaggy Man, "I wonder if you would ask Professor Wogglebug if he would like to come to our Temple of Learning as a visiting Professor? I am sure there are many things he could teach us that would be both interesting and useful." Shaggy promised to extend the invitation to the learned Wogglebug, who was head of the Royal College of Oz. In spite of all the excitement, Twink and Tom were nodding by the time the feasting and speech-making were ended. Everyone bade them a happy goodnight and Lady Cue conducted them once more to their rooms. The Love Magnet had wrought its change on Lady Cue, too. Gone was her former befuddled state in which she was not at all sure of anything or anyone. Now she was a charming, gracious lady with the manners of a cordial and perfect hostess. Shaggy and the children were fast asleep almost as soon as their heads touched the soft pillows. Twiffle passed the night looking at the pictures in the books on the living room shelves. By the middle of the following morning they were ready to begin their adventures again. They found that King Ticket, Queen Curtain, the Lords and Ladies, and the former actors and actresses, many of whom had decided to make their homes in the Valley of Romance, were gathered in the courtyard to bid them farewell. King Ticket gave them general directions for traveling to reach the Deadly Desert. That was the nearest he could come to directing them to the Land of Oz. Just as they were about to leave, Lady Cue arrived breathlessly on the scene. She was so excited that she nearly lapsed into her old bewildered state. <hr class="chap" /> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus66.jpg" width-obs="253" height-obs="350" alt=""/></div> <hr class="chap" /> "I—I—I have been so busy all morning cooking this for you that I was afraid I would miss you." Lady Cue looked anxiously at Shaggy and his friends, as though she couldn't believe they were still there. As she spoke, she handed Shaggy a large lunch basket filled with deliciously prepared good things to eat. Shaggy, Twink, Tom, and even Twiffle—who didn't eat—thanked Lady Cue warmly for her thoughtfulness. They were glad she had not changed entirely, for they had grown fond of her. As they turned away from her and started once again on their journey, Lady Cue was staring after them and dabbing at her eyes with a dish-cloth. Waving goodbye, the little band of adventurers followed the stream to the south as it wound through the green and peaceful Valley of Romance. When they were almost out of sight of the Castle of Romance, Twink looked back and saw the delicately fashioned spires shimmering in the sun. "Now," the girl said, "it is truly as beautiful a castle as it looks." <hr class="chap" /> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus67.jpg" width-obs="525" height-obs="350" alt=""/></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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