Dorothys Mystical Adventures in Oz | Page 7

in a matter-of-fact tone.
"What is that supposed to mean?" inquired the Tin Woodman.
"I think it means," answered the Scarecrow, "don't worry about something until it actually
happens."
"Oh! I see," said the Tin Woodman. "In other words, most of our worries never
materialize, so why fret constantly over something that in all probability will never
occur?"
"I think you've got it," said Dorothy.
"I think you've got it," echoed the Scarecrow.
Everyone laughed uproariously. Then the Tin Woodman broke into song....
"Oh ... never worry worry 'til worry worries you, 'cause if you worry worry your worry'll
worry you."
Dorothy and the Scarecrow joined in:
"Oh ... never worry worry 'til worry worries you, 'cause if you worry worry your worry'll
worry you."
Suddenly a dark shadow covered their raft, and a piercing scream filled the air. They all
looked up to see the Wicked Witch of the Deep South on a huge broomstick sweeping
down on them. She had the ugliest, meanest face Dorothy had ever seen. As her eyes met
Dorothy's, she pointed a long bony green finger at her and screamed, "I'll get you, Deary!
You killed my sisters. You'll never leave Oz alive!" Then she screeched with terrible
laughter as she roared away.
Everyone except Dorothy was shaking with fright. Dorothy was shaking too, inside, but
she didn't show it.
"N-n-n-never w-w-worry w-worry 't-t-till worry w-worries y-you," stuttered the Tin
Woodman.
"Now pull yourself together," ordered Dorothy. "She's gone.... I think I see the Dainty
Land of China. We should be there in a few minutes."
*

Chapter 6
:
The Dainty Land of China *
The Tin Woodman did very well steering the raft to the bank of the river. As the Dainty
China Country came into view he became quite excited, but then a little confused. "I
wonder what happened to the wall," he said, half to himself. "But looks like there's a
welcoming party awaiting us."
Dorothy and the Scarecrow stood up at once, almost toppling the Tin Woodman into the
water. Sure enough, quite a large entourage was waiting by the dockside. Several china
soldiers ran down to the raft as the Tin Woodman steered it into the dock.
As everyone disembarked from the raft they heard a big whoosh as the river reversed
course to return to its source. They were immediately informed by the soldiers that the
King and Queen wished to speak to them. The soldiers took Dorothy and her friends by
the arms and escorted them to where the King and Queen were standing.
"You are most unwelcome!" snapped the King.
"Most Unwelcome!" echoed the Queen. "The last time strangers were here they broke
several of our people."
"And we had to pay the menders overtime," said the King.
"Not to mention the expense of the glue," said the Queen.
"And glue's not cheap, you know," said the King.
"Not cheap, you know," said the Queen.
"We're terribly sorry," said Dorothy. "We'll be extremely careful, won't we everyone?"
she said as she looked around at her friends.
"Oh, yes," they all chorused. "Extremely careful."
"I hope so," said the King.
"I hope so," said the Queen.
"It would take us several days to get to the Lion's forest if we had to go around your
country," said the Tin Woodman.
"Very well," said the King. "The sooner you get started the better. It makes me very
nervous to have you here. We had a high protective wall around us until a wicked witch
zapped it off to some other realm out of spite. Now we are getting all kinds of riffraff

wandering through our lands stepping on people willy-nilly. My army will escort you to
the border to make sure you do not break anything, or anyone. If you do, my soldiers will
attack you, for that is what they are trained to do."
"You can rest assured," said Dorothy, "that we will take every precaution."
As Dorothy spoke, she stepped back slightly to curtsy, but the heel of her shoe caught the
Captain of the Guard's horse, causing it to rear up. The Captain dropped his sword with a
clatter on the ground, breaking it into several pieces.
"My sword! My sword!" he cried, looking at it in dismay.
"Call the menders," ordered the King in a very loud voice.
"Call the menders," echoed the Queen in an equally loud voice.
The Captain of the Guard's face was red with anger and embarrassment.
"Attack!" he shouted to his men. "Attack! Before they break us all up!"
The soldiers rushed at the little group, poking at their feet and ankles with their swords
and lances. Of course, this didn't bother the Tin Woodman. In fact, several more swords
were broken as the soldiers jabbed at him. However, they