Where in Oz are we now?
You'll remember when we left them last Wednesday, Dorothy, her cousin Zeb, and the Wizard were in a cave surrounded by hungry young dragons. They managed to escape into another cave through a crack in the rock wall, but this second cave appeared to be a dead end. Dorothy told her companions not to worry, she was confident her friend, Princess Ozma, would rescue them with her magic belt.
Ozma, you see, had a magic picture framed and hanging on her wall. That picture would reveal whoever the Princess wanted to see, and wherever they were. She promised Dorothy that she'd check on her every day at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and if Dorothy needed help, she'd use her magic belt and bring her straight back to Oz.
So at 4 o'clock, Zeb and the Wizard saw Dorothy, holding her little kitten, blink suddenly out of sight. In just a few minutes they too, along with Jim, the old cab-horse, and their buggy were standing with Dorothy in front of Princess Ozma in the great hall of her palace. Rescued.
After a night of rest, and a day of much festivity, Ozma told the new arrivals they were welcome to stay in the Emerald City as her honored guests. The Wizard happily moved back into his old apartment behind the great throne which had remained unoccupied since he left. Zeb thanked the Princess for her rescue and her kind offer but explained that he and his horse were needed back at the family ranch in California. And Dorothy said that she really should go back to Kansas to see her Aunt and Uncle. But she promised to come back and visit her friend soon.
And so we've come to the end of Book 4, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.
Next Wednesday we'll look at Book 5, The Road to Oz..
And the adventure continues.
posted by Roscoe