Benotripia- The Complete Trilogy Read online

  Astro nodded. “Good idea,” he said. A minute later, Jessicana returned in her human form.

  “They’re at the beach, all right,” she said. “And they are starting to make a tiny raft. According to my judgment, they should be finished in two days.”

  “Good,” Roseabelle said lightly. “But now let’s go inside and open the pouch.” Together the three friends boarded the rope ladder. The sun was beginning to set and they sat at the kitchen table.

  Astro eyed the pouch. “Your honor,” he said. Roseabelle took a deep breath and lifted the green flap. She reached inside and pulled out a withered piece of trutan—a parchment-like substance that Benotripians used for writing. The house was quiet.

  “I-is that it?” Jessicana asked, looking at the trutan.

  “I don’t know,” Astro replied, his voice unbelieving. It appeared blank, but there was something unusual about it.

  “It’s almost dusk, you guys,” Roseabelle said. “So why don’t you go to your homes and get some sleep?”

  Jessicana shivered. “My parents are on vacation on the north side. I don’t want to go to the house alone. Can I spend the night with you?” Jessicana asked with hope.

  Roseabelle nodded.

  “Uh, yeah about that, Roseabelle, as you know my dad is busy with his job and everything, and, well, my mom is on a cruise, so could I stay too?” Astro asked. Astro’s father worked for The Tropical Times and was usually all over Benotripia doing what a reporter does.

  Roseabelle sighed. “I guess so,” she said. Astro let out a whoop.

  “All right, where do I sleep?” Astro and Jessicana asked at the same time. Roseabelle thought for a moment. Her home had six rooms. Downstairs was the kitchen. Upstairs was her room, Danette’s room, the guest room (it had once been Magford’s “working room”), Danette’s study, and the tower room—they called it—which was sort of a mini library.

  “Jessicana, you can stay in the tower room. It has lots of books, so I think you’ll be happy there. Astro, I think the guest room will suit you,” Roseabelle offered.

  Jessicana and Astro bobbed their heads and hurried up the stairs. She turned back to the parchment. She then walked up the stairs and went to her mother’s study.

  She sat down at the large desk. Roseabelle took a small bottle of ink made out of papaya juice. She randomly doodled a raft on the trutan, and then after finding some blankets and pillowcases in the laundry for her friends, she trekked to her room.

  She laid the trutan on her dresser and climbed into bed. She closed her tired eyes, not noticing something expanding from the trutan.

  CHAPTER 5

  Midnight Raft

  ROSEABELLE WOKE UP AND YAWNED. WAS IT TIME FOR training yet? Any minute Danette would call her down for breakfast, urging her not to be late.

  But then Roseabelle remembered. Her mother had been kidnapped! The pouch—the trutan! Roseabelle turned over to her dresser and shrieked. “Astro, Jessicana!” she shouted. “You have got to see this!”

  On her very own dresser sat a long wooden raft. It was made out of tree trunks lashed together with bamboo. Roseabelle swore that if she laid horizontally on the craft, it would take five of her to cover all of it. Jessicana came in, then Astro.

  “How did that get there?” Jessicana sputtered.

  Roseabelle picked up the trutan that she had drawn on last night. There was not a spot of ink to be found.

  “No way,” she murmured. She turned to her friends. “Guys,” she said. “I drew a picture of a raft, and a raft came out of the trutan! This is no ordinary trutan, for sure. It’s an extraordinary gift.”

  “Whoa,” muttered Jessicana.

  “Cool,” Astro said enthusiastically.

  Roseabelle sighed. “I think we should prepare today. Astro, scout from the beach. If those troublesome Darvonians come back or if you see a ship on the horizon, let me know right away.”

  “Got it,” he said.

  “Jessicana, go to your house and bring me two mottels. Loyal ones,” Roseabelle instructed.

  “I’ll be back,” she said.

  “I’ll stay here and pack. More like draw. Anyway, let’s plan to leave tomorrow,” Roseabelle said. Jessicana transformed into a bird and flew out the window. Astro went out the door, climbed down the ladder, and set off for the beach.

  Roseabelle turned back to the trutan. She went up to Danette’s study and drew three large backpacks complete with ice coolers, water bottles, solar hand warmers, Dragocone rays in silk bags, and, for some strange reason, potted plants.

  Roseabelle decided to get a snack. She poured herself some water and ate a banana. She then went to her room and pulled on jeans and a green T-shirt.

  When she went back to her mother’s study, the backpacks were already starting to form. She looked out the window and saw Jessicana running to the house, followed by two gentle-looking mottels. One mottel was brown with black specks in its feathers while the other one had white and black stripes.

  The two mottels flew through the window while Jessicana raced to the ladder and entered through the door. “Got them?” Roseabelle asked.

  Jessicana nodded, breathless.

  “I hope Astro’s holding up with those Darvonians,” Roseabelle said.

  “Me too.”

  “Follow me,” Roseabelle invited. She showed Jessicana the trutan. The top half of the backpacks were protruding from it. “Jessicana, after they’re fully formed, could you strap them onto the raft?” Roseabelle asked.

  “I could do that,” Jessicana said. They waited for about an hour, spending it by reading about Darvonia in the tower room, something Jessicana thoroughly enjoyed.

  She has always been the smart one, Roseabelle thought.

  Afterward, Roseabelle went to check on the backpacks. “They’re ready,” she announced to Jessicana.

  The parrot girl found straps on the raft and clasped them around the backpacks. Meanwhile, Roseabelle drew a pile of blankets and other supplies. Well, we do have to be prepared, Roseabelle thought.

  As Roseabelle picked up her book from the tower room, she read, “The government of Darvonia is uncertain. Kinetle is the leader. Her husband, as far as we can tell, is either dead or lost. She has seven children: two twins about twenty-five, a twenty-year-old son, a seventeen-year-old daughter, a fourteen-year-old son, an eleven-year-old son, and a young daughter of age four. It is rumored that one of these children is an IB.”

  “An IB?” Roseabelle said out loud. This was not good news. She recalled someone following her from school. Could that person be a spy for Darvonia?

  When the supplies were done, Roseabelle carried them to Jessicana. The blonde girl placed them in the packs. Roseabelle took a few books from the tower room and put them in the backpacks. She drew oars on the trutan and waited.

  Jessicana came to her. “You can go to bed, Roseabelle. I’ll send a message to Astro,” she said. Sleep sounded refreshing, so Roseabelle went up to her room and collapsed onto the bed.

  CHAPTER 6

  Sea Voyage

  ROSEABELLE, WAKE UP! IT’S TIME. THE DARVONIANS are leaving. I packed clothes and food and the trutan. Let’s go!”

  Roseabelle opened her eyes. Jessicana was standing above her dressed in a slender blue wrap dress and a gray jacket. “I’m coming,” Roseabelle sleepily muttered.

  She stood and, when Jessicana left the room, dressed in a peach shirt with sleeves that went down to her elbows, light orange leggings, and pale sandals.

  Roseabelle took two small bottles of cherry ink from her dresser in case they ran out. She wanted to make certain the trutan was accessible.

  Roseabelle slipped a small sparkling ruby pendant into her pocket for good luck.

  When she went downstairs, Jessicana was at the front door in parrot form. “Follow,” she squawked.

  Jessicana flew to the beach and Roseabelle ran after her. Astro was standing at the beach, the raft next to him. The two mottels were sitting beside him. “Hurry,” he said
. “We’re losing them.”

  He pointed to the sea where a small raft was holding up three figures. Jessicana turned back into a girl and they scrambled onto the raft. The mottels fluttered and landed on the watercraft.

  “I’ll paddle,” Jessicana offered.

  “Me too,” Roseabelle said.

  Each girl took an oar and started to row. It was tiring and Roseabelle’s muscles were sore, but still she pushed on.

  “I’ll take Jessicana’s place,” Astro said. He took hold of an oar. They made sure that they didn’t lose sight of the Darvonians. They pushed on and on.

  Jessicana switched places, and Roseabelle, relieved, let go. At noon Roseabelle pulled out a canteen of coconut juice. She handed some to Astro and Jessicana, then drank some herself. It began to get extremely windy.

  “Roseabelle,” Jessicana said. “Could you make a sail? The trutan is in my backpack.” Roseabelle pulled it out and took some cherry ink from her pack. She drew a pole with a sail attached.

  The lines started to get bolder, and Roseabelle said, “I’ll row for you, Astro. Watch the trutan.”

  She took hold of an oar and pushed. She thought about her powers. There was one power that wasn’t as unusual as her others. She could transform into a dolphin. It might really come in handy. She had a feeling this was going to be a long trip and doubted that it would be windy the entire time.

  She kept pushing and pulling, pushing and pulling.

  Soon Astro took Jessicana’s place. The sky turned to dusk. She was grateful when Jessicana took her load.

  It was windier than ever, so she checked on the sail. It was ready! She hoisted it up, and Astro and Jessicana stopped rowing. The raft picked up speed.

  Roseabelle pulled out three mangos from a backpack and handed two to Jessicana and Astro. She ate one herself then dug out some water from her pack and passed it around. They decided that one should keep watch during the night and make sure that they were in range of the Darvonians.

  They pulled out two blankets. Jessicana would keep first watch. Roseabelle sat back against her blanket and quickly fell asleep.

  “ROSEABELLE, YOU HAVE LAST WATCH,” ASTRO WHISPERED. Roseabelle’s eyes opened. She gave her blanket to Astro and went to the front of the raft. The raft was losing speed; the wind was dying down. She took down the sail and then checked in her backpack for rope. There it was. She tied it around her waist, then attached one end of the rope to one side of the raft and the other end to the other side.

  Roseabelle took a deep breath and jumped into the water. She pictured a dolphin in her mind, and when she glanced down at her body, it was smooth and slippery. She flicked her tail, and Roseabelle and the raft sped on. Roseabelle swam on and on as fast as she could.

  As dawn approached, Astro and Jessicana began to stir. She heard a deep sleepy voice: “Where’s Roseabelle?”

  This time another voice, “Here, silly—” The voice cut off. “Where is she? Astro, this isn’t a joke!”

  “Hey, I asked you first.”

  “Astro, this isn’t funny. Are you hiding her?”

  “Sure I’m hiding her. Whatever! How could I hide her on this open raft?”

  “Do you think she went overboard?”

  “Hey, why is the sail down?”

  “Who cares about the sail?”

  “Why are we going so fast?”

  “I don’t know, I—”

  Just then Roseabelle let out a squeal. Both Astro and Jessicana looked down at the dolphin.

  “Roseabelle?” Jessicana asked. Roseabelle thought hard of her human form and then changed. She grinned up at Jessicana, the rope still clinging to her waist.

  “That’s me.” Roseabelle laughed.

  “Seriously, what were you trying to do? Scare us?” Jessicana scolded.

  “No, the wind was dying down, so I transformed to speed us up,” Roseabelle said.

  Astro laughed. “You never told us you could turn into a dolphin.” He chuckled. “This is totally great!”

  “Well,” Jessicana admitted. “It is pretty fortunate. Good thinking!”

  Roseabelle grinned. “Well, we had better not lose those Darvonians,” she cried out. Roseabelle dived back into the ocean and thought of how good the water felt on her. Without even realizing it, Roseabelle transformed and began to swim forward.

  Roseabelle swam for a while, but when the Darvonians stopped, Jessicana told Roseabelle to have lunch. Astro and Jessicana would row. Roseabelle transformed and pulled herself out of the water. Jessicana found a long cloth that served as a towel and handed it to Roseabelle, who dried herself off.

  Roseabelle discovered a few oranges, and she ate them hungrily. She thought that they should have enough food and water for another couple of days. Soon they would have to break out the trutan. Roseabelle untied the rope and stuck it in her pack. She pulled a blanket from the raft, curled up, and caught a few hours of sleep.

  CHAPTER 7

  Scythterrian

  ASTRO ROWED ON WITH JESSICANA BY HIS SIDE. THEY were keeping up a good pace, but the Darvonians were starting to disappear into a thick fog ahead of them. It wasn’t any ordinary fog either. There was something mystical—something mysterious—about it.

  “Wake Roseabelle up,” Jessicana urged. Astro reluctantly put his oar on the raft and shook Roseabelle gently. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

  “Oar duty?” Roseabelle asked sleepily.

  “No,” Jessicana said. “But you have to have a look at this.”

  “Hold on a minute,” Roseabelle said. She peered ahead. “Strange,” she muttered. She reached inside her backpack and pulled out a thick scroll titled The Known Secrets of Darvonia. She unrolled it to the table of contents and scanned the page. “There it is!” Roseabelle exclaimed.

  She traced her finger on “Travails of Darvonia.” She then unrolled to the chapter. She read, “Only spies for Benotripia know this important information.” It listed a bunch of coordinates and directions that, to Roseabelle, were meaningless. Roseabelle continued: “On the way there stands a thick fog. You have to go straight through it. Do not try to avoid it, for such could get you lost. It is there for a reason.” Roseabelle and Astro looked at Jessicana.

  “Go straight through,” they chimed together.

  “I would if one of you would row with me,” Jessicana said.

  Roseabelle took the oar and rowed as hard as she could. A current was tilting them sideways. She and Jessicana struggled against it, but it was too strong.

  “Help us, Astro,” the girls cried out as the raft nearly capsized. Astro fastened his grip to Roseabelle’s oar. Together they pushed and pushed, but it was no use. The current was taking them away altogether.

  “Here,” Roseabelle said. “Stay here.” She took the rope from her pack and tied it around her waist. Then without another word, she plunged into the icy cold water. Astro and Jessicana looked around wildly, and they pushed and pulled with the oars. They were both thinking the same thing. “Hurry, Roseabelle!”

  Roseabelle pictured the smooth texture of a dolphin. When she looked at her hands, they were no longer hands. Flippers had taken their place. She propelled her tail forward and only forward. She tried to balance herself out, shifting right then left. It was working! The raft was floating forward slowly but surely. With the current it was hard work. Roseabelle gracefully swished her tail back and forth.

  When they got past the current, she sighed with relief. She pictured her human form, and in a minute she could no longer hold her breath underwater very long. She rose to the surface and put her hands on the raft.

  She boosted herself onboard and then removed the rope. As soon as she got on, her friends cheered and almost upset the raft by jumping up and down. Now that they had entered the fog, they could hardly see anything. The white mist curled around their feet as Jessicana and Astro rowed through.

  Roseabelle was busy reading the chapter “Travails of Darvonia.” She read quietly, “Once past the mist, you will enter B
lackwater Sea (which is actually an ocean). These waters are the most dangerous you will ever enter. Sea monsters lurk beneath the murky waves, seeking their next meal, and carnivorous fish bite into water-born crafts, causing them to sink.”

  Roseabelle shuddered. She put the scroll away and was about to tell her friends when their craft broke through the fog. Roseabelle’s heart sank. They were in Blackwater Sea.

  It was the scariest thing Roseabelle had ever seen. The black waters churned and bounced up and down. Waste and garbage littered the surface, and she heard Jessicana yelp.

  Roseabelle thought about doing just that. She saw the Darvonians up ahead sailing smoothly along. Then the Darvonians’ craft stopped. Since the sun was beginning to set, Roseabelle decided to stop too.

  “Let’s get some sleep,” she advised. She curled up on her blanket. Astro took watch. Within a few minutes, Roseabelle was temporarily dead to the world.

  VIOLENT ROCKING OF THE RAFT WOKE ROSEABELLE UP. SHE looked around. No one was on watch! Jessicana and Astro were both snoring away. Roseabelle peered in the distance. Not a craft in sight. The Darvonians! Where were they? She shook her friends awake.

  “Wake up,” she hissed. They sat up. “Who fell asleep during their watch? The Darvonians are gone.”

  Astro turned bright red. “Er, sorry,” he said.

  “Sorry?” Jessicana bellowed. “Sorry? Is that all you can say? We’ve lost the Darvonians and the tiniest, slimmest chance of finding Roseabelle’s mom. It’s all your fault, and all you can say is sorry? Come on!”

  “Roseabelle, Jessicana, I’m really sorry,” he said.

  Roseabelle sighed. Astro looked distraught. “It’s okay, Astro,” she said.

  She tugged on her oar and started to row. Astro took the other one. They moved in silence, secretly debating which direction they should head. Suddenly Jessicana sat up straight.