Babes In WENNLand, Part 3

When Lisa finally adjusted her eyes, the last place she expected to be was a beautiful, bright green meadow. It was like the beginning of the Wizard of Oz movie. One minute, they were standing in a dark radio station. The next, they were surrounded by emerald-green grass and a robin's egg-blue sky that were so brilliant, they made Technicolor movies seem pale. When she looked behind her, she saw that the door to Studio B was carved into a huge tree bursting with pink and yellow flowers.

“Where are we?” Alan asked, just as shocked as his older sister.

Grandpa waved his had. “Oh, this is part of the Green Country Meadows that surround the southern end of Toyland. Sheep graze here, and young people like yourself go for walks and have picnics.”

That was when they saw someone hurrying towards them. She was a tall woman with long, thick red hair that fell in ringlets around her shoulders. She wore a frilly orange-striped skirt and a white blouse with a low-cut ruffled collar and a brown velvet bodice tied with ribbons. A straw bonnet was tied around her chin with a yellow ribbon and trimmed with daisies. She held a long crook, like a really long candy cane, only it had trailing orange ribbons on the end.

“Toymaker!” The young woman hurried to him. Her odd New York accent sounded very familiar, and frankly a bit out of place in the country. “You've got to help me find 'em. They ran out on me again.”

Grandpa Tom chuckled. “Maple Bo Peep, this is the third time this month you've lost your sheep and don't know where to find them. I tell you the same thing every time. Leave them alone, and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them.”

“But it's been almost the whole day, and I still don't know where they are.” Maple twisted a lacy hankie in her hand. “Mr. Barnaby told me that if I lose the sheep one more time, he'll fire me and turn me out into the street!”

Their grandfather patted the young woman on the shoulder. “There there, Maple. They have to be around here somewhere.”

Maple smiled at the two children. “Who are your friends here?”

Grandpa nodded at them. “Oh, this is Lisa and Alan, two very good friends of mine. They're visiting from Pittsburgh.”

“Yes,” Lisa added quickly, “but only until our mother comes for us.”

“Pittsburgh, huh?” Maple shrugged. “Never heard of it. Must be one of those fancy cities across the sea.”

Lisa took Alan's hand and followed Maple and their grandfather down the hill. To her right, she could see a beach and sparkling water. To her left was a high brown wall covered in flowering vines and ivy that looked like they were made from icing. Two enormous candy canes held up a shimmering rock candy gate. Roofs made from sugar wafers and the metal whistles of a factory rose over the houses.

Towering above it all, beyond a forest so dark it nearly seemed black, was a series of dusty-looking mountains, with a gleaming black castle glowering down on the valley. Lisa thought she saw colorful little carriages just beyond the forest, near the mountains. Two people gathered water from a well on a grassy green hill near-by.

“Is that Toyland?” Alan asked as they made their way across the meadow, looking for any signs of fleecy animals.

“That's Toyland Town,” Maple explained. “That's where most of the citizens of Toyland live and work. The Fantasia Sea is behind you. The Gypsy Camp is near the Parched Mountains.”

Alan peered into a green bush...and ducked away when a bee buzzed after him. “What about the forest?” he asked as he hurried over to Lisa. “It looks spooky.”

“And that castle up there?” Lisa pointed towards the Parched Mountains. “It looks like Dr. Frankenstein's house.” She shivered at the thought. She never was very fond of scary stuff.

Maple frowned. “That's the Forest of No Return. You can never go there. That's where the trolls live. They're big and dumb, but they're also very strong and very, very mean. They'll hurt anything if they're in a bad enough mood.” She peered behind a tree, still looking for her sheep. “The castle belongs to Pruitt Barnaby. I heard he keeps watch over everything that goes on in Toyland from the highest tower and has a basement filled with nasty things that'll torture you and turn you into toads.”

Lisa wrinkled her nose. “Eeew!”

Alan just grinned. “Neat! I'd love to be a toad. I'd be a great swimmer!”

Lisa finally saw a man on the horizon. “Maple?” It was a small fellow with a gentle, laid-back grin. He was dressed like a character from an Errol Flynn movie, all flowing white shirts and leather vests and loose leggings. Only his shirt was rumpled, his vest wasn't tied, and he had a sort of lazy, good-natured look about him. His English accent sounded kind of familiar. He was followed by a line of fluffy white, gray, and black sheep, all of them looking a bit embarrassed. “I found these naughty rovers of yours getting a drink by the stream. You really need to keep a better eye on them.”

“Oh, you bad girls, you!” Maple leaned over one of the sheep and hugged them. “You should hang your heads, you silly sheep! I don't know what Mr. Barnaby would have said if you were really lost.”

“Can we help you keep an eye on them?” Alan asked. He petted one of the sheep. She bleated at him, nuzzling his hand.

A tiny lamb jumped on Lisa with her wobbly legs. She was so cute, Lisa didn't even mind that she was getting her velvet dress dirty. “I like this one. She's so sweet!”

“That's Woolie. She's the baby of the family.” Maple picked up the lamb. Woolie licked her cheek playfully. “I'd love it if you'd all help me get these guys back to town, before Barnaby knows they're gone.”

Grandpa Tom nodded. “I need to get back to town myself. I have to talk to Scott Piper about the new toy designs.”

Maple laughed as she gently nudged the sheep along with her shepherd's crook. “That's our Scotty. Always coming up with big new ideas. Ever since he took over running the Toyland Toy Factory, that's all he's talked about.” She smirked. “Well, that and courting Little Betty Blue. He somehow manages to be there every time she loses those holiday shoes of hers and put them back on.”

“I know these poems!” Alan exclaimed. “Little Betty Blue, who lost her holiday shoe.” He turned to Maple. “And you're Little Bo Peep.”

Lisa frowned at the Englishman. “What about you, sir?”

The Englishman shook the girl's hand. “They call me Little Gil Tucker. I travel from town to town, singing for my supper. I'm in Toyland for the big Christmas Festival tomorrow.”

“Christmas Festival?” Alan looked excited. “That sounds like fun!”

“Oh, it is!” Their grandfather beamed. “The Christmas Festival is the biggest even of the year. That's when Santa arrives to officially begin the holiday and pick up all the toys for the children. We work with him and his elves at the North Pole, making sure that every child always gets what they want on whichever holiday they get presents on.”

“Really?” Alan's eyes were as big as saucers. “The real Santa?”

“Of course!” Grandpa's eyes twinkled. “If you stay for the Festival, you may even get to meet him.”

“Oh, that's all right, Grandpa,” Lisa said quickly. She didn't want to admit that she wasn't even sure Santa existed. “We really need to find someone who can get us back to the radio station. Our mother will be picking us up soon.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourselves.”

They were about to make their way through the gate when they heard yelling and the sound of something rolling down the hill. Lisa turned around just in time to see the two people who were getting water from the well on the hill fall down it. They ran towards them, the woman wailing and trying to throw her bucket at the taller man. They both wore blue and black. Her lace-trimmed blue silk dress was sopping wet. Water dripped off her fancy ruffled bonnet. The reddish-brown ringlets that peeped out of them drooped over her shoulders. He was tall, with tousled brown curls and a handsome, narrow face. His outfit was similar to Gil's, but in blue and black, and far-better made. He moaned as he held his head.

“Jack, you idiot! Look at what you've done!” The woman waved the bucket in his face. “All we needed to do was fetch a pail of water. You just had to fall down and make me come tumbling after!”

Jack just moaned louder. “Jill, darling, can you keep it down? I think I've broken my crown!”

Maple crossed her arms. “Again? Isn't this the third time this week you two have lost that pail going down the hill?”

Lisa's face brightened. “Oh, I know this one. 'Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.'”

“Are you all right, Jack my boy?” Grandpa asked. “That was a nasty spill you took.”

“I'll be fine, once we get home,” Jack admitted as he rubbed his head. “I just need some vinegar and brown paper.”

They were about to cross through the gate when a stern-looking soldier in a red uniform with a tall black hat and lots of shiny gold buttons blocked them with a candy cane. “State your names and business here.”

“Oh, for heaven's sake!” exclaimed Mr. Eldridge. “We don't have time to deal with this! I have toys to make, and these children need to get home eventually.”

The soldier leaned over, squinting. “Oh, Toymaker, sir! Is that really you?”

Mr. Eldridge looked himself over. “If it isn't, it must be someone doing a pretty good imitation of me.”

The soldier finally clicked his heels together and saluted him. “Mr. Toymaker, sir! Sorry, sir, but I didn't recognize you outside of the Toy Factory.”

“Oh, that's all right. I probably wouldn't recognize me on the street, either.” He took the children's hands again as they went through the gate. “Now, stay with me, and don't go wandering off. Toyland Town is big and very busy.”

Lisa couldn't help it. She stopped suddenly the moment they got through the gate. Alan ran into her. “Ow! Sis, what was that about?”

“Alan, it's beautiful!” And it was. Toyland was the most beautiful town she'd ever seen. The roads were made of rock candy, like the gate. The buildings were mostly made of gingerbread and icing, with the occasional thatched roof cottage. Candy canes with toffee signs marked roads and shops. She could see a school with a roof that looked like two slates. An owl wearing a graduate cap and gown rang a bell calling children to class. The biggest Christmas tree Lisa ever saw stood majestically in the center of the circle. Everything was decorated with ropes of ivy, holly, and greenery.

“Wow!” Alan exclaimed as they followed Maple, Gil, and Mr. Eldridge down the road. “This is so neat! Look at everyone! They look like they were in The Adventures of Robin Hood!”

Indeed, everyone in town was dressed like Maple, Gil, Jack, and Jill, in leggings and tunics and fancy dresses with skirts with many petticoats and ruffled collars. A little man with a thin mustache who wore a stained white apron pushed a cart filled with pies. A short fellow wearing a nightcap and night shirt ran through town, calling the hour.

They first stopped by a huge theater made from dry old pieces of gingerbread. The icing was crumbling around the edges. “Gathering water for Toyland businesses is only our side job,” Jill explained. “We're trying to earn enough money to buy this theater from Pruitt Barnaby.”

Jack nodded, rubbing the back of his head again. “We're actors. We're going to restore the theater and rent it out to the town when we're not performing ourselves.”

Jill sighed. “We play the finest of the classics. I was told I made a wonderful Juliet. They said I put a lot of life into my dying.”

Lisa couldn't help giggling at the line. Even Jack was grinning. “Yes,” Jill began, “we'll need to clean ourselves up a bit and get back up that hill. The water won't fetch itself.”

Maple nodded. “And we have to get these rascals,” she patted Woolie, “into their pen, before they run off on me again.”

They lead the sheep to a pen next-door to one of the thatched-roof cottages. Maple opened the rock candy gate and let the sheep in. Woolie jumped out of her arms and over to her parents, bleating happily. Maple stroked the little black lamb's head. “There's a good girl. Now you stay in your pen and don't go wandering off. I can't afford to lose you again.”

Gil grinned. “Are you going to the Christmas Festival tomorrow night?”

Mr. Eldridge nodded, giving them his big sweet grin. “I wouldn't miss it. You know that's our most important night of the year. It's when Santa comes and picks up our toys to deliver to children all over the world.”

“I thought the elves did that?” Alan asked.

“Oh, Santa's rather limited up there at the North Pole,” Grandpa explained. “The elves do make some toys, but with so many children in the world today, they can't do everything themselves. That's where we come in. The Toyland Toy Factory provides the other half of Santa's order. We make the larger toys, like bikes and wagons and train sets and those new dolls made of celluloid.”

“I'll bet the train set I got from Santa last year came from here!” Alan said with a grin.

“Mother bought it for you from Gimbels',” Lisa corrected him. “It's a Lionel set.”

“Who do you think works with the toy companies and sends them ideas?” Mr. Eldridge took their hands. “I think I'd better get you two up to the Factory. Scott and I are going to be meeting with Mr. Barnaby soon.” The old man made a face. “He wants to shut the Factory down. It's one of the only businesses in town he doesn't own. It's owned by Mother Gloria Goose, who is in charge of the town.”

“Why would he want to shut down the Toy Factory if it helps Santa?” Lisa wanted to know.

“I don't know,” the elderly toymaker admitted, “but it can't be good.” Mr. Eldridge brought them right up to another set of gates. These were guarded by two huge toy soldiers and seemed to be made from candy canes. This time, the soldiers let them through with no fuss.