Battle of Wiggletown

Finding Ringo

In the Queen of Hearts' courtyard, the friends saw the white/red roses.

They saw Ringo playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts.

"Ringo. You're okay" said Meg.

"Shh. If the Queen sees you, she'll make her guards chop your heads off" said Ringo.

"Why are you playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts?" said Charles Wallace.

"To make sure she doesn't say the words "off with his head". Get me outta here" said Ringo

"Where does the Queen keep her gem?" said Meg.

"In her palace. In the servants' quarter" said Ringo.

"Okay. Meg, Charles, Jeff  and I will find the gem. Calvin, Anthony, join Ringo in case he needs witnesses" said Greg.

"Murray and I will charm the Queen of Hearts so she doesn't know we're up to something." Sam said.

"But, Sam, how are we gonna spin this? The Queen might know everything" said Murray.

"I dunno, but I hope something good comes out of it" Sam said.

The two approached the Queen of Hearts.

"And who might you be?" she said.

"Well, let me see, my dear. This one certainly isn't a heart. But do you suppose she's a spear?" said the King of Hearts.

"Why. This one's a little girl" said the Queen of Hearts.

"Yes. I'm very very pleased to meet you, Your Majesty" Sam said curtseying.

"What a nice little girl" said the Queen of Hearts.

"And this one is definitely not a heart. But he looks like a diamond" said the King of Hearts.

"I see the pretty girl has a friend with her." said the Queen of Hearts.

"Yes, Your Majesty" said Murray awkwardly.

"Such a handsome young man. I always was a fan of red" said the Queen of Hearts.

"Thanks... Your Majesty" said Murray bowing.

"Now, what can I do for you?" said the Queen of Hearts.

"We were just wondering..." Sam began.

"Curtsey while you're wondering. It saves time" said the Queen.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We were only wondering why your roses are half red, half white?" Sam said.

"Oh it was the fault of my dimwitted ace two and three of clubs. They planted white roses and painted them red" said the Queen.

"How silly" said Murray.

"Very silly indeed, handsome" said the Queen.

"Sam. I think she likes me" whispered Murray.

"The parade her like you would me. I think she wants that" Sam whispered back.

"Oh, Sam, I dunno. She's literally a villain" said Murray.

"Come on, Murray. She likes you" Sam said.

Murray strutted near the Queen who looked at him flirtatiously. 

"You think I'm handsome? Well, Your Majesty, I'm glad to be in the presence of a queen as beautiful as you" Murray stuttered.

"Oh, thank you, kind sir" said the Queen of Hearts taking Murray's hand.

Murray had never felt so nervous while flirting with a woman.

Calvin and Anthony were watching Ringo try so hard to play the game.

The Queen approached the struggling Ringo and looked him straight in the face.

"I warn you, young Ringo. If I lose my temper, you lose your head! Understand?" the Queen of Hearts scolded.

"Why did Your Majesty just yell at poor Ringo?" said Murray.

"Well, Murray is it? If someone disobeys me or makes me mad, the penalty is losing their head" explained the Queen.

Murray could feel butterflies in his tummy as the Queen spoke of something so drastic.

"I sure as heck hope the other four find that gem soon. I think we're getting in too deep" said Calvin.

"Yeah..." Anthony said.

Wow. They're off to a crazy start, but at least they found Ringo.

I'm not so sure Murray likes parading the Queen of Hearts. 

And things seem to be getting a whole lot harder.

Let's see if the others found the gem in the next chapter, shall we?

Peace and love,

Sammy