'Um.. ah...,' the knight mumbles. 'I know Chug. We're old friends.'
'Ah, so,' Stobey said, 'and who are you?'
'Um ah me? Ah, yes. I'm Sir Lumpalot. This is my unicorn Kick-
Pow.'
Kick-Pow nods and paws at the ground. He is pleased to be introduced.
'And where are you from, Sir Lumpalot?' asked Slutter.
Sir Lumpalot looks at Slutter and straightens in his saddle. 'I'm Sir
Lumpalot, and I come from the Land of Lumps, of course,' he says.
'Where else would I be from?'
'And what do you do in the Land of the Lumps?' Stobey asks.
The knight turns fierce eyes to glare at Stobey.
'I am a knight,' he says, 'and I have a very responsible job. I keep order
among all the Bumps, Clumps, Stumps, Grumps, and especially
Chumps, that live in the Land of Lumps. That's why I'm named Sir
Lumpalot.'
'What else do you do?' Stobey asks.
'Well, I also guard the Palace of the King,' Sir Lumpalot drew himself up
proudly and harrumphed his mustache into another curl.
'And where would that be?' Slutter cut into the harrumphing.
'Where? Why, in the Royal Square, that's where.' Another harrumph.
'Tell them how you guard it,' Chug says.
'Well, twice a day I circle the Square.'
Stobey giggles, and so does Slutter. Suzanne and Roger are politely
silent.
'I see. You circle the Square. Well, what do you do if you see someone
who doesn't belong?' Stobey asks.
'Chase them around the nearest corner away from there, of course.'
'Isn't it strange for a grown knight and a unicorn to spend their time
circling a Square?' Roger is polite with his question.
'That's my job,' says Sir Lumpalot.
'Well, if that's your job,' says Slutter, 'what are you doing here?'
'Oh, I got a message that all of you were heading this way,' Sir Lumpalot
replies with a grin so wide it adds two more loops in his mustache and
they curl up so tight that the tips disappear back into the helmet. 'Kick-
Pow and I just thought we'd startle you, just for the fun of it. It worked,
didn't it?'
Sir Lumpalot laughs and pats Kick-Pow's silky smooth neck. Kick-Pow
snorts and paws the ground.
'Hmph. OK, Sir Lumpalot,' says Stobey, 'now that you're here, would
you and Kick-Pow like to join us in our visit to the Midway?'
Sir Lumpalot gives a whoop. Kick-Pow bucks. A short one, so as not
to jolt his rider.
'We sure would.'
'Then let's go!'
Through the gate they all troop.
The Midway is spread out before them. Bright and blinking lights,
twisting and colored streamers, rainbow colored balls, all flashing,
floating and bouncing hither and yon. Slutter dashes to a little stall and
picks up three darts. One at a time, he aims them carefully at a red
balloon on the far wall. He throws the darts. The third dart strikes and
breaks the balloon. A robot pops up from behind the counter and hands
Slutter a tiny toy space ship.
'What's this,' Slutter laughs. 'I don't need a toy spaceship. I have a real
one, all my own.'
He puts the toy spaceship into his pocket for his baby brother, and joins
his friends again. On they go.
They try different games of skill and take rides in models of pilot's seats
on space racers. Time passes quickly.
As they turn a corner out of the gate from one ride, they hear a hollow
booming sound followed immediately by a piercing screech. The
sounds fill the air. Sir Lumpalot, who is in the lead, reins in Kick-Pow
and halts. He raises his hand in warning. Everyone stops where they
are. They stare ahead.
They see nothing but flashing lights, bouncing balls, and waving
ribbons.
The booming gets louder.
'There, over there,' Sir Lumpalot shouts, pointing ahead.
'Where?' Chug-a-lug stares in the direction Sir Lumpalot is pointing.
'The strange sounds are coming from that house,' the knight replies.
They see a dark, gray, gloomy-looking house. It has many windows, all
dark except for one, and that one shows green and blue lights flashing
off and on. The heavy booming sound is coming from inside.
'What's in that house?' Stobey asks.
'I don't know,' says Chug. This time he isn't being sly. He really doesn't
know.
'Do you, Sir Lumpalot?'
'No, I don't.' Sir Lumpalot's voice lowers to a whisper, a loud whisper so
that they can all hear him. 'Neither does anyone else. It's the Strangers
House.'
'Let's explore it,' says Stobey.
'Yes, let's do that now,' Slutter adds.
'Oh, no, not that house.' Chug waves his long arms about.
'Yes,' says Stobey, 'that house.'
'And what's more,' says Slutter, 'right now.'
'Stobey,' Suzanne says, 'You know we do have to be back at our space
liner soon. Do you think we should explore the Stranger's House, too.
Will there be time?'
'We can't disappoint our uncle on Europa,' says Roger. 'We mustn't
delay departure of the space liner.'
'Slutter and I must also leave for our homes soon,' says Stobey. 'Let's do
a fast exploration and then head back to the spaceship parking block.'
Stobey points to Sir Lumpalot, then to Chug-a-lug.
'We'll form a line,' she says. 'Sir Lumpalot, you lead the way. I'll follow.
Suzanne and Roger, you walk behind me, and Slutter, you watch over
our friends from Planet Earth. Chug, you bring up the rear. We must
all stay together.'
A shadow crosses one of the windows. A creaking sound comes from
the house, like that of rusty hinges, followed by still another boom and a
screech. A thin wisp of smoke goes down, I mean 'down' the chimney.
The exploration of the Stranger's House is starting out mysteriously
indeed.