“I hope so,” Elliot said. “Or else everyone will call him Tubs Armless instead. Ha! Now tell me about the Brownies. Did you talk to them?”
Mr. Willimaker nodded. It hadn’t gone well at first. It had started with him poofing to the center of Burrowsville and announcing that the Brownies were in danger. The Brownies only laughed at him and asked if it was another field mouse invasion.
Then Mr. Willimaker did something so extreme, so out of his usual character that all the Brownies had to listen: he loosened his bow tie.
He loosened his bow tie to make it easier to jump up and down, which messed up his neatly combed hair. Then he yelled, “Burrowsville needs you! Your king needs you! You will listen to me because for once in our lives the Brownies are going to fight back!”
Now, as he faced Elliot, Mr. Willimaker couldn’t help but smile with pride. He bowed low and said, “I did it, Your Highness. The Brownies are coming.”
“I knew you could do it.” Elliot turned to Fudd. “I’m glad you’re here too.”
Fudd looked at Elliot, then at the house. Then back at Elliot. Of course, Fudd had known that the Goblins were going to blow up Elliot’s house. He didn’t realize Elliot would survive the explosion, though.
Fudd’s eyes got so wide they almost popped out of his head. “This is crazy! Couldn’t they even blow up your house correctly?”
“What?” Elliot and Mr. Willimaker both asked.
Fudd paused and then said, “I meant, the Goblins must’ve been crazy to blow up your house. I assume you have a plan for revenge. Perhaps to throw that lemon pie you’re holding at them.”
Elliot set the pie down and shook his head. “Revenge never makes things better. I just want to stop this war.” He turned to Mr. Willimaker. “Get all the Brownies to dig a big circle in the clearing in the forest. Leave an island in the center.” Mr. Willimaker bowed and scampered off.
“What’s the island for?” Fudd asked.
“I’m going to lure all the Goblins to that island.” Elliot pointed to a clump of trees at the edge of the woods. “I’ll hide alone beside those trees. When the Goblins arrive, I’ll trap them.”
Fudd nodded. “Very clever. What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to go to the Goblins. Tell them they can surrender now and stop this war against me and the Brownies. If they don’t, then I’ll stop them myself.”
A sly smile crossed Fudd’s face. “You’ll stop them? Waiting all alone beside those trees?”
“That’s right.”
“Really? Just sitting there? Like you’ve got nothing better to do than wait for a bunch of angry Goblins?”
Elliot shrugged. “I don’t have anything better to do.” He really didn’t.
Fudd gave his most evil laugh. He had put a lot of practice into his laugh, so for an evil Brownie, it was very impressive.
“What was that?” Elliot asked.
Fudd coughed. “Er, I meant to laugh like this.” Then he gave a little giggle. “What about that one?”
“Your other laugh was better. Use that one with the Goblins and they’re sure to give up.” Elliot picked up the lemon pie. “By the way, do you want to have this?”
“Your pie?”
“Sure. It’s not payment for helping me, because I know Brownies don’t like that. So it’s a gift. Not from a king to an advisor. Just friend to friend.”
Fudd took the pie and sniffed it deeply. “Are you sure? This whole pie for me?”
“It’s all yours,” Elliot said. “Lemons give me the sniffles anyway.”
A tear welled up in Fudd’s eye. He thought way back to his childhood, to the girl who had laughed when he had asked for a turn on the swing, even after he said “please.” He’d never had a real friend since that day. Now there was someone who did want to be Fudd’s friend, and of all the bad luck, it just happened to be someone Fudd was trying to kill. “Look at that. Your pie is giving me the sniffles too.” He pushed it toward Elliot. “I can’t accept this. You should give it to Mr. Willimaker. He’s been a much better friend to you than I have.”
“But you’re one of the Brownies, which makes you my friend too.” Elliot looked back to the woods, then said to Fudd, “You’d better hurry to go talk to the Goblins. I’m almost ready for them here.”
“Thank you, King Elliot. I want you to know that if the Goblins ever do succeed in killing you, I’ll always feel a little bad about that.” With his arms around the pie, Fudd bowed and poofed himself away.