Jhudaberry Soup: Part Three

     The crate she had tripped over had been full of Happiness Neggs, and many had spilled out onto the wooden floor, just out of her reach. Merielfy listened carefully - Jhudora had finished speaking. She sneaked a quick look around the crate she was crouching behind - and her heart skipped a beat in shock.

     She could see the Kacheek walking out of the storeroom, struggling to carry an obviously heavy crate with difficulty, and the tip of a blue Lupe tail was poking out the other end! Skylark was in there! That decided her - she had to act NOW, for surely Jhudora would notice it any second!

     She leaped from behind the crate and grabbed as many Neggs as she could hold, then started to pelt them hard at Jhudora. The faerie whisked around as a negg shot passed her wings, and opened her mouth angrily to chant a spell. Suddenly a negg hit her open mouth and shattered, dribbling lemon coloured juice all over her face. Merielfy wasted no time, and immediately launched herself towards the open trapdoor in the roof while Jhudora gagged and spluttered.

     After she flew through the trapdoor, the Zafara landed on the roof again and threw her last negg back through the trapdoor at the Faerie. But to Merielfy's surprise, Jhudora was still standing in the storeroom, a blissful smile on her face, licking the last drops of the negg juice up with her tongue. However, even as she watched, the Faerie's smile started to fade and her purple eyes narrowed. Hastily, Merielfy scrambled back from the trapdoor, and dragged the round, black lid back into the middle of the Soup Faerie's roof with a clunk.

     Merielfy knew she still wasn't safe, and that Jhudora would come looking for her soon. She accepted the fact that it was very likely the faerie would recognize her again. Even though Merielfy was exhausted, she knew she couldn't stay where she was. She took several deep breaths then wearily flew to a nearby shop, making sure she landed in a place out of sight from the Soup Kitchen before collapsing onto the grass.

***

     Skylark nearly cried out when she felt herself being carried into the air, but hastily clapped a paw to her mouth. The crate first swayed from side to side, than started to jolt around as the Kacheek trotted out of the room. Several times her head bumped painfully against the wooden top of the crate, and her muscles were begging to be released out of their cramped position. The Lupe covered her head protectively with her front paws, so the backs of her paws smacked the crate roof instead, which wasn't much of an improvement. Finally her crate was set down.

     Time to get out, Skylark thought firmly. I'm not staying in here until someone opens the crate. She listened carefully for any noises around her. All she could hear were many neopet voices chattering and grumbling to each other, although the voices didn't sound very near. The blue Lupe pushed up the crate lid tentatively with her aching front paws, and sighed softly in relief as the wooden lid gave way, and fresh air swirled around her.

     A quick glance at her surroundings reassured Skylark that she was alone. I must be in the kitchen, she realized. The room she was in was only slightly bigger than the storeroom had been, but instead of crates, it was full of steaming black cauldrons of soup, and wooden kitchen benches covered with cooking utensils. There was a cream coloured, wooden door at each end of the kitchen.

     Skylark clambered out of the crate thankfully, and closed the wooden lid again. She stretched her limbs, peered over a bubbling cauldron next to her, and almost gagged; the muddy liquid inside smelt worse than rotten omelette.

     Suddenly Skylark heard footsteps behind her again, and she spun around in alarm. It was the Kacheek, who, to her bemusement and relief, walked straight passed her, his button black eyes completely devoid of emotion.

     Skylark jumped out of his way as the little blue Kacheek walked behind the cauldron beside her, and started pushing it towards the nearest door. She prowled after him stealthily, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.

     As soon as she reached the next room, a babble of voices reached her perked up ears.

     She had entered a wooden, semicircular room with four large, black cauldrons of soup simmering in the middle, with a wooden ladle in each. A long line of angry, vocal, fidgeting Neopets stretched from right next to the middle cauldron to beyond the front door of the Soup Kitchen.

     Skylark considered her options. Her stomach was beginning to protest loudly about its emptiness, yet the small Lupe was sure that eating the soup wouldn't be a good idea.

     The words of Jhudora were seared in her memory, "I'll have more than enough slaves once this day is done . . ." An icy chill shuddered through her body at the thought.

     What did Jhudora mean? she wondered. How can anybody make slaves from… well… taking over the Soup Kitchen?

     A sudden hush from the other Neopets in the room brought her back to the situation at hand. Skylark raised her head and glanced around, her golden eyes puzzled, when for the umpteenth time that morning she heard an unwelcome thudding of feet on the wooden floor of the Soup Kitchen.

     She looked around for somewhere to hide, too late realizing she was standing right in front of the doorway she had entered through. She backed away from the door, waiting for the inevitable.

          Merielfy fanned herself with her white, feathery wings as she waited in the baking sun at the very end of the queue at the Soup Kitchen. Shading her eyes with a raised paw, the Christmas Zafara noticed that the front of the line was hardly shuffling forward at all.

     I should move to Terror Mountain, she thought absently as she swatted a fly away with her arrow-shaped, golden tipped tail.

     She wondered if there was some way she could skip the queue and get into the Soup Kitchen quickly. After all, I have to rescue Skylark, she reminded herself guiltily.

     Her eyes lit up with enthusiasm as she plotted different ways to slip into the building unnoticed. Finally, she walked casually over to where a green Uni was waiting near the front of the queue, stamping her hooves on the grass a little impatiently.

     Merielfy stopped next to the Uni, pretending to stare at her in horror.

     "What are you looking at?" the Uni asked suspiciously.

     "Sorry - did you know you have a bug on your mane?"

     "A BUG? Where?" replied the Uni anxiously, shuddering.

     "Just there," said Merielfy, pointing a paw seriously, and while the Uni craned her head back to see, the Zafara pinched part of her mane, saying, "There, I've got it, its gone now."

     "Thank you so much," the Uni sighed gratefully. "I'm called Breezy."

     "I'm Merielfy," the Zafara said with a friendly smile, then looked around her ruefully.

     "Great, I didn't realize the line was so long for the Soup Kitchen. Well, I better go to the end of the queue, see you!"

     "Wait!" Breeze said, fluttering her green wings awkwardly. "It's okay, you can stand in front of me! If you like," she added hastily.

     "Thanks!" answered Merielfy, her deep blue eyes shining triumphantly as she squeezed in front of the pale green Uni.

          A minute or so later, Merielfy, followed by Breezy, stepped into the front room of the Soup Kitchen. To her surprise, all the Neopets in front of her had become almost silent, and the Zafara stood on tiptoes to see what was going on.

     The Soup Faerie had just walked into the room. Wait, that can't be the Soup Faerie! Merielfy realized. It must be Jhudora… but she's changed her hair, and her wings are yellow, not purple. Still the same Barbat shape, though, she noticed grimly.

     Jhudora disguised walked towards the four cauldrons, smiling a little thinly.

     "Well, who's first?" the faerie rasped in an overly high-pitched voice - obviously Jhudora's idea of how the Soup Faerie spoke.

     "I'll be first," piped up a familiar voice enthusiastically. Skylark's voice! Merielfy realized with a shock. Oh no, Skylark's not going to try the soup, is she? I bet there's something awful in it! I have to help, she thought nervously. But if Jhudora recognizes me . . .

     "Hang on - this soup smells a bit off," Skylark said uncertainly. "Maybe if you tried it first, J-ah-Soup Faerie?"

     Merielfy had a grim idea that things were about to get nasty. The neopet in front of her was a red Kiko. "Hey," she whispered to him. "Look at the Faerie's wings! They're shaped just like Jhudora's And her voice - it's not usually like that. What if it's Jhudora in a disguise, not the Soup Faerie at all?"

     The Kiko glanced back irritably. "Are you crazy? She looks like the Soup Faerie to me, thanks," he grunted.

     "It's Jhudora," Merielfy insisted, starting to realize that she must sound insane.

     Meanwhile, Jhudora/Soup Faerie was saying to Skylark in a high pitched, angry voice, "How dare you! You, you… ah… my soup is never off!"

     "It smells like it. Anyway, why won't you try some first?" Skylark said sweetly, her heart beating fast. "Please go ahead."

     "I wouldn't want to deprive the pets here, would I?" she purred. "Have some… no? KACHEEK! Take this intrud- …this, this Lupe away. Now."

     "Just listen to her! It's Jhudora!" Merielfy insisted frantically, further down in the queue.

     "I think she's right," said an unexpected voice behind the Zafara. Merielfy glanced back - it was the pale green Uni.

     "Weeeell…." said the red Kiko doubtfully.

     "C'mon," Merielfy commanded to the Kiko, as the blue Kacheek sprinted towards Skylark. "We've got to go to the storeroom, NOW, and get every Happiness negg you can carry. Breezy, please go and fetch the nearest policeman in sight."

     "Now I know you're crazy," the Kiko muttered, but he hurried after the Christmas Zafara as she slipped out of the queue and sprinted straight towards the kitchen and storeroom.

To be continued...