Chapter 53 - The Final Chapter

As soon as the king spoke, two more people walked through the village gate. One was a beautiful woman, and the other was a little girl holding her hand. The girl was toddling around a little off-balance, and the woman often had to tug at her arm to keep her from falling over. Soon Samek cried out, “It’s the queen!” And everyone immediately bowed down once again.

While everyone else took a knee, King Maximilian ran over to his beautiful bride and embraced her. Queen Krystara released her daughter’s hand and hugged the king. The royal couple held one another for a long time. Meanwhile, the little girl teetered over to her big sister Remmaline. Remma quickly came to her feet, grabbed her sister’s arms, and started swinging her around.

Andres glanced over and saw what her sister was doing. Not wanting to break the silence too much, he whispered very loudly, “Remma! Stop it! You’re going to throw her arms out of their sockets!” Remma glanced back at Andrew, pursed her lips, and kept swinging her sister.

King Maximilian then spoke. “Please, everybody, stand! This is a day of celebration! For about a fortnight past, our birthday party for little Julianna was interrupted by the kidnapping of our children. But we are back together at last, and it’s time to finish the party that we started!”

As the king spoke, more people started to file into the village. Skittlechip led the parade, followed by about a dozen of his fellow cooks. After him came some donkeys loaded with food. “Show me to a kitchen!” cried out Skittlechip to no one in particular. Samek, who knew the village well and who also loved food, immediately guided him to a home that could accommodate him in the preparation of a great feast.

Andres ran over to Skittlechip and asked, “This is incredible? How did you ever make it through the Great Swamp? I mean, from what I’ve heard, only Spartacus the horse knows the pathway through! And none of you are riding Spartacus, as far as I can tell.”

“Well, you’re right there,” replied Skittlechip, taking a moment to rub his back. “But you see, from what I understand, the white knights followed your father as they assembled for battle last night. Well, those horses trampled a nice little path for us. So when we arrived, we just followed their trail. And it’s a good thing for you, ‘cause we were powerful hungry. And if we hadn’t found that path, we’d have stopped where we were and made a great feast on the other side of the swamp. And you’d have smelled the whole thing and not eaten a single bite!” Skittlechip smiled, gave Andres a hug, and then said, “Now stop interrupting me, my boy! I’ve got to put my hands to the skillet and get cookin’!”

So that evening the village of Cliffton was treated to a banquet such it had never seen before. Julianna, who was usually in bed by about 7 o’clock, enjoyed the chance to stay up late. Whenever she seemed a little drowsy, Skittlechip would run up to her and stuff a piece of cake in her mouth. “A little sugar should keep her goin’!” he’d declare. And he was right. By the time the evening came to a close, Julianna was toddling around like a drunken woman, spending half her time on her feet and half her time on her rump. And the whole time a great smile was spread across her face.

This celebration brings this story to a close. But before we end, you may want to know what happened to some of the characters.

Gregorex and Annala got married the next day. You see, after the great birthday celebration, everyone was full and no one wanted to go anywhere. They needed to celebrate something, but because Julianna was so tuckered out from the party, they figured it didn’t make sense to drag out her birthday feast. So when everyone was gathered for breakfast the next day, Gregorex seized the occasion to propose to Annala. Annala surprised everyone when she said, “Yes! But only if you marry me this very day!” And so it was. About a year, the couple had a little boy that was named Little Gregorex. He became very good friends with Julianna in the years after that.

Samek settled back into his home, overjoyed to be reunited at last with his wife Susannah. Although he’d enjoyed sharing his home with Gregorex for the past four years, he had to admit that he preferred having Susannah occupying the other bed. This great benefit helped him to overcome the bittersweet emotion of seeing his daughter Annala get married.

Philip disappeared in the midst of the birthday celebration. Despite the warmth that had been shown to him by his mother and sister, and despite Gregorex’ imperfect but sincere attempt to forgive his treachery, Philip just couldn’t seem to cope with the reunion. He left a brief note, apologizing for his evil and thanking everyone for their kindness and promising to make it right some day.

Kaelanna and her father and mother ended up coming back to the castle with Remmaline. Her parents became the most devoted servants that you could ever hope for, and Kaelanna became the most faithful friend that Remmaline could ever hope for. The two girls became inseparable, as we shall see in future adventures.

Mitch eventually recovered from his wounds suffered at the great mound, and he and Jimbo enjoyed a happy reunion. Mitch apologized to the king many times over for the evil that he had done to Remma and to the kingdom. The king forgave him, of course, but asked him to keep the little bag of Remma’s hair clippings. “Let it be a reminder to you that forgiveness always comes at a cost to the forgiver,” the king said. And Mitch kept that little pouch for the rest of his life. Mitch ended up moving out into the woods with his brother Jimbo.

Jimbo was the life of the party in Cliffton, both during the birthday celebration and during the wedding feast. People just couldn’t get enough of the goofy man with the funny accent. Jimbo seemed to revel in the attention, and his accent seemed to get stronger and more pronounced as the party wore on. But after a couple of days, Jimbo abruptly declared, “I can see that me love, me Rachel, the one I adore and dream about, is not to be found here. Alas. I must go back to the woods and resume me search!” And he did, accompanied by his brother Mitch.

Remmaline, in the company of her friend Kaelanna, grew to be a beautiful, humble, and kind princess. Oh, she would occasionally quarrel with her brothers, and there were days when she and Julianna would trouble the boys to no end. But at the end of the day the siblings would all give each other a hug and a kiss goodnight. And so though the days would sometimes start out with grumbling and arguing amongst the siblings, they most always ended peacefully.

Andres and Cable grew to be handsome and stately young princes. At their father’s urging, they didn’t spend too much time dwelling on the topic of “girls.” They stayed busy studying and hunting and horse riding and other such vigorous occupations; they had very little time to think about the fair sex. And that was probably for the best, at least until they grew older.

Thus ends the story--a story of many rescues. It is the story of how Annala resuced Andres, of how Legs rescued Gregorex, of how Pipes rescued Fred, of how Ronaldus rescued Jimbo, of how Jimbo rescued Cable, of how Cable rescued Mitch, of how Gregorex rescued Philip, and of how the king rescued them all. It is a story of how people saved friends, how braver people saved strangers, and how still braver people saved enemies. It is a story of bravery and forgiveness which go hand in hand. And it is a story of how good not only conquers evil--it overcomes evil.