Where in Oz are we now?
We remember from last week that we left Dorothy and her friends, and Princess Ozma and her crew, all tying to rescue the rightful Queen of Ev and her ten children. The Queen and her children were being held captive by the Nome King. Dorothy and Ozma were successful. And all returned to Ev where a huge celebration was held. The Queen told her rescuers they were welcome to stay in her land as honored guests. But Ozma said she needed to return to Oz to rule over her people. And Dorothy wanted to get back to her Uncle Henry in Australia and help nurse him back to health. So Ozma used her newly acquired magic belt and transported Dorothy to Uncle Henry's side.
And so ended Book 3 of 14, Ozma of Oz.
Now we find ourselves in Book 4, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.
Uncle Henry's health and disposition improved greatly when Dorothy returned to him. He decided he was well enough to return to his ranch in Kansas. He and Dorothy had a pleasant voyage back to America, and he went straight back to Kansas while Dorothy stayed a short while, visiting family in California. Her visit over, Dorothy and her pet cat, Eureka, and her cousin Zeb, were riding in a buggy pulled by an old horse named Jim. Then a big earthquake came.
Dorothy and her friends were swallowed up by a big crack in the ground. They fell, and fell, and finally landed in a glass city. Many of the buildings there, all made of glass, were damaged by rocks which rained down as a result of the earthquake above. A second “rock rain” followed shortly, caused by another quake above. And with this second, another buggy came down. A little man stepped out of this buggy and Dorothy happily recognized him as her old friend, the Wizard of Oz.
The Mangaboos, the vegetable people of the glass city, were not all happy with these new arrivals and chased them out of their land. They escaped into a big cave in the side of a mountain and wandered through other strange lands and had many adventures including fighting off an attack by Invisible Bears, and escaping from vicious wooden Gargoyles who captured them. Now they find themselves in a huge cave nervously surrounded by hungry young dragons who are waiting for their mother to return with food for them. They're hoping for an elephant, or maybe an ox...
And the adventure continues.
posted by Roscoe