Petronella and the Janjilons Read online

  “Did you say anything about Jack, Betty or Adrian?”

  “Who’s Adrian?” Wilfred asked.

  “He’s the boy who lived here with his family before you moved in.”

  “Adrian... ah, yes. Jack and what’s-her-name came here looking for Jack’s school friend. Must have been Adrian they were looking for. I remember giving them a piece of paper with his family’s new address. I think the boy had gone off to some boarding school.”

  “Your memory seems to be coming back, doesn’t it? Go on...” the Judge said.

  “I can’t remember any more, son. Do you mind if I go and have a sit down in my old comfy armchair, I’m getting awfully tired. All this thinking isn’t doing me any good...”

  “Fine, father. You go and rest. I’ll come back and tell you when my swearing-in ceremony will be. Shouldn’t be too long now. My helpers have just about over turned the whole forest. The Golden Shield will soon be mine. It’s only a matter of days, Father. Ah, don’t see me to the door. I’ll let myself out.”

  With that, Judge Ormerod, slammed the door behind him in the certainty that next time he saw his father, he would be the Eighth Duke of Westshire.

  In the meantime, Judge Ormerod had to go and warn the three weird sisters about this Citronella and her side-kick, Darcy. But instead of taking the long way round to The Janjilon Education Centre, he decided to take the short-cut. Yes, he would go via the tunnel under the mushroom at the bottom of his father’s garden. Indeed, his two new enemies might well be still in the tunnel. If so, he would lock them up, make them live on stale bread and putrid water and give them the good hiding they deserved.

  That would teach them to go poking their long noses into other people’s affairs.

  CHAPTER 19

  Petronella was indeed still in the tunnel. She was struggling to see where she was going and used her right hand as a guide by dragging it along the side of the tunnel as a guide, so that she would walk straight. She didn’t know that she could be seen because the yellow spots, that had dropped onto her black clothes from the mushroom, were fluorescent – they shone in the darkness.

  All of a sudden the wall was no longer there – no, that’s not right. It was still there but there was a hole in the wall. A big hole. She turned around to feel the opening with both her hands. There was a kind of shelf at the bottom of it. The hole did not go right down to the ground. She climbed up and sat on the big ledge.

  At this moment, Judge Ormerod went whizzing by. He knew the tunnel like his pockets. He didn’t notice Petronella in the hole.

  Petronella felt around on the shelf until, to her total shock-horror, some kind of animal let out the most highly pitched shriek she had ever heard it her life. The terrible sound had made fall backwards and hit her head.

  “Who’s there?” she asked, not being able to see whatever it was she had in front of her. Was she scared? No. Worse. She was terrified. But what could she do? She had to face it. Where could she run to? The shriek came again. This time piercing right into her bones. “Oh, mummy, mummy, help me, PLEASE,” Petronella cried out.

  Then silence. Whoever was with her in this hole in the wall decided not to make another sound. Petronella had to get up out of there and get on with her journey. What other choice did she have? She scrambled out. Her back was still hurting a bit. But she managed to stagger along a few paces, when... something was blocking her road. She found some courage: “Get out of my way, whoever you are. Just move. I am on a mission to help some young people.”

  Petronella held her hands straight out in front of her and felt something soft. Hairy. Furry. An animal for sure. In a sense, she was happy about that. She certainly trusted animals more than humans.

  The creature ran its paw down Petronella’s arm until it found her hand. Petronella was now hand-in-hand with an animal. It purred, as if to say ‘Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.’ The creature led Petronella along the tunnel. She had to trust it and, anyway, it was going in her direction. The animal seemed to be the size of a child of about seven. It wasn’t that threatening. So Petronella walked along with it. After a while, she saw some light at the end of the tunnel. What a relief! She would soon discover what this creature was exactly.

  As the two neared the end of the tunnel Petronella could see some trees. I must be coming out into the forest, she thought. She looked at her companion. It was indeed some kind of monkey.

  But even more surprising, it had, tucked under its smelly armpit, a huge metal thing. There was no doubt about it. This was the Golden Shield! And here it was under an animal’s arm. Would this monkey-like animal be the Eighth Duke of Westshire?

  But Petronella’s attention was drawn to something more urgent. From just inside the tunnel she could hear shouts. Some man calling out “Citronella! Citronella! Wait. I’d like to speak to you. Wait!”

  While Petronella’s head was turned, the animal ran off. It was probably frightened by the shouts and was hiding behind a tree.

  “Monkey!” she called out. “Monkey, where are you? Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.”

  By now, Judge Ormerod had caught up with Petronella.

  “Citronella. Rather, Madam Citronella. I hope I did not frighten you. I come in peace. I want to be your friend,” he said, lying through his teeth, as usual, and holding out his hand for her to shake. She shook it. But she was in no doubt that this was the dreaded Judge Ormerod she’d heard about. Yes, that was him. Sweet talking. Dressed in black from top to toe, with long black hair and dangling earrings.

  “Judge Ormerod,” she said. “Nice to meet you.” This time it was Petronella’s turn to lie.

  “So you know me, do you?” he said.

  “I’ve heard of you. And you are exactly as they described you. I also know other things about you, apart from the way you look.”

  “And what would that be?” he asked.

  “That you are a vicious man. That you would not let anyone stand between you and what you want. And you desperately want to be Duke of Westshire,” she said.

  “What you say is correct. I want to be Duke of Westshire and when I finally get to that position, owed to me, I will rule Westshire with an iron rod. The people will be my minions and nearly everything they earn will have to be handed over to me in taxes. I will not be like the late Duke of Westshire. He was too good and these nasty little people took advantage of him.”

  “He was very much loved by his people,” Petronella said.

  “Loved! What are you talking about woman? Who cares about love? It is power I crave.”

  “You will never find the Golden Shield. Never,” she said.

  “Why not? What do you know about the Golden Shield. Tell me everything, you hag. You know something about it. I’m sure you do,” he said.

  He looked at her a while and thought that she was every bit as ugly as the weird sisters. He would need to lock her up. She was trouble. He would take her to the house not far away. They were already standing in the Janjilon Gardens. Such a pity she had not been turned into a Janjilon like those disgusting young people. Full of themselves and disobedient at that.

  Petronella was quite frightened of this man. He was twice her size and a hundred times more evil that she was. Where was Percy when he was needed? And where were the kids she was looking for? She thought back to her beloved husband, Edmundus. She missed him. Would he be looking for her?

  “Could you come with me to the house? I would like to offer you dinner. My house is just over there,” he said, pointing into the distance, while smiling one of his sly smiles.

  “No, thank you,” Petronella said. “I will not be your guest. Where is your house, anyway? I cannot see it. You live in the village. Everyone knows that.”

  “Ah! This is my holiday home. I have many a delightful time here. I can assure you,” he said.

  “But, where are we?” she asked.

  In that moment there was a rustle in the trees. The wind had worked itself up into a strong breeze. And from behind some tr
ee-trunks, three of the ugliest women she’d ever seen appeared. Well, she knew that she herself was no oil painting, but this was unbelievable.

  “Who are you?” Petronella asked them.

  “Of all the cheek!” Gesuelda said. “You come here to our Education Centre and you want to know who WE are? Who are YOU? Pray answer!”

  Gesuelda watched Petronella carefully. A woman nearly as ugly as themselves was not to be trusted. She must be wicked like them, she thought.

  Having remembered that Judge Ormerod had referred to her as Citronella, Petronella thought she would go along with that.

  “My name’s Citronella,” Petronella said.

  “Citronella!” the three weird sisters and Judge Ormerod laughed and laughed.

  The Janjilon, that Petronella had met in the tunnel, was hiding behind a tree and was also tickled pink about the name. The Janjilon had already buried the Golden Shield in the soil under its feet, just in case someone saw it. The creature wanted to help Petronella. No way was this Janjilon going to let Judge Ormerod treat Petronella badly like he did the youngsters imprisoned in The Janjilon Education Centre. Petronella had to escape. Somehow.

  But that was not to be. Gismonda grabbed Petronella by an arm, “Grab her other arm, Gasmina, you pudding,” Gismonda ordered. An arm each – they dragged her along the pathway to the house, while Gesuelda looked on and laughed. She was laughing so hard that she had to cradle her wobbly belly because it hurt so much.

  Then Judge Ormerod gave orders: “Take the hag to the house. Lock her up!” he ordered. “In the red room.”

  But suddenly a Janjilon pounced down from out of a tree. And straight after that another four of these creatures leapt out too. All five of them were screeching, they pounced onto Judge Ormerod’s shoulders and onto the backs of the three weird sisters digging their long nails deeply into their skins and scratching at their faces.

  Judge Ormerod and the sisters started howling because of the pain. Gismonda was shouting: “You’ll pay for this you hateful little animals.” Gasmina thought she’d repeat that before she got told off: “You’ll pay for this, you’ll pay for this.” While Gesuelda, showing her back teeth bellowed: “You will all be tortured!”

  At that moment, lots of Janjilons were running to the scene on the tips of their toes to see what was going on. Some had twigs in their paws with which they tied the weird sisters’ and the Judge’s hands behind their backs. Others were tying up their feet.

  The Janjilons took them to a tree each and securely fastened them to their own tree by the neck, waist and ankles. The weird sisters were making a terrible fuss – still telling the Janjilons they would pay for this. Gasmina had a tear in her left eye.

  Judge Ormerod was calmer. When there was a moment’s peace, he simply said: “Janjilons, you think you’re clever, don’t you? You will never survive without us. Janjilons have a very short life. Thirteen months at the most. Even if you managed to escape. What would you do? What human will take animals like you seriously? Do you really think that something that is little more than a monkey can rule the land?”

  To Petronella’s relief, she saw Percy coming towards her, down the winding pathway. She smiled at him with joy.

  “I trust the Janjilons,” Percy called out to Judge Ormerod at the top of his voice. “I have spent some time with them. Enough time to realise that these poor creatures are actually young people from Westshire that you have imprisoned here and have turned into animals with the help of those evil women.” Percy pointed to the weird sisters one by one. A tear appeared in Gasmina’s other eye.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Gesuelda grinned. “We are so proud of what we have done. We could turn these evil little creatures into human beings again. But we will never do that, will we sisters?” She looked at Gasmina.

  “Never,” Gasmina shouted, not looking altogether sure.

  “Never, ever,” Gismonda echoed, with determination.

  “There you have it. Do you think we are frightened of you sorry little creatures? You and you,” Judge Ormerod said, looking first at Petronella and then at Percy. “If you have the lives of these disgusting animals at heart, you will do as I say. First of all, untie me this very minute.”

  Percy moved towards Judge Ormerod to do as he was told. He had to untie this nasty man otherwise the Janjilons would suffer.

  “NO,” Petronella shouted out to Percy. STOP. STOP THIS SECOND!”

  Percy went no further. He turned to hear what Petronella had to say.

  “I’ll make a deal with you, Judge Ormerod. And with you three,” she said turning towards the three weird sisters.

  “Will you change these Janjilons back into human beings, if I deliver the Golden Shield to you?”

  Judge Ormerod’s greedy eyes shone with glee. “The GOLDEN SHIELD?” he asked.

  “Yes, exactly. The Golden Shield. You heard me correctly,” Petronella said. “I know where it is. Someone has found it and I think I can get it for you.”

  “Who’s found it? Where is it?” he asked.

  “All in good time,” Petronella said.

  “No, I will not fall into that trap. First you give me the Golden Shield and then I will give the weird sisters orders to turn these animals back to humans.”

  The Janjilon who had found the Golden Shield stepped forward. It held the Golden Shield straight up high above its head in defiance as if to say ‘I have it and I am keeping it!’

  The three sisters couldn’t believe their eyes. They were agog. This was the Janjilon who had ‘drowned’ in the lake. That horrid little girl. This was Janjilon Betty.

  CHAPTER 20

  Percy spoke. “Petronella, you need to know that I have spent some time with the Janjilons and, although it was not easy for me to understand them, I have been able to piece together what has happened here. They are called Janjilons after The Janjilon Education Centre set up by this evil Judge Ormerod,” Percy pointed to him. Then he turned to the weird sisters and pointing to them, one by one, he went on: “and these terrible three sisters are his helpers. They have used cruelty and magic to achieve their wicked aims.”

  “Who are these Janjilons?” Petronella asked.

  Gesuelda had managed to loosen the twigs around her wrists and, pretending to be tired, she lowered herself down to untie her feet when Petronella and Percy were not looking. Having seen this the Janjilons were making an awful racket while jumping up and down. A couple turned somersaults.

  As quick as lightning, Gesuelda freed herself and ran at full speed towards Petronella as she shouted:

  “Traitors, you will pay for this. This is treason. Judge Ormerod is the rightful owner of the Golden Shield. Give it to him. He is the new Duke of Westshire... Petronella, I will pull your eyes out.”

  Percy threw himself on Petronella and pulled her backwards out of Gesuelda’s reach. Meanwhile Judge Ormerod was trying to free himself, feeling strong now that one of the weird sisters was free.

  Janjilon Betty gave a high-pitched shriek, penetrating into everybody’s ears. At that sound, the Janjilons all stood up as straight as they could. And together, they shrieked the shriek that meant: ‘Go for it!’

  They surrounded Gesuelda in a circle. Wherever she looked she saw Janjilons gnashing their teeth and pointing their long, sharp paw nails in her direction. If they pounced on her together, she would be finished.

  “Don’t harm me,” Gesuelda pleaded with the Janjilons. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  The Janjilons gnashed their teeth even faster and moved a step towards her, making the circle they stood in smaller. Then another step in.

  Janjilon Betty gave a shriek that meant: “Down, boys. Stay where you are.”

  The Janjilons obeyed. Things quietened down.

  “Now, where were we?” Percy said. “Ah! Yes. To answer your question, Petronella, these poor creatures are the children you are looking for. Some were captured and brought here. Others were tricked into coming here with promises to their parents of a better edu
cation and future for their children.”

  “But how did they become like this?” Petronella asked.

  “Magic, that’s how. These three weird sisters have special powers. They invented a liquid potion that can turn children into Janjilons. Once they are transformed, they are at the mercy of Judge Ormerod. He has been using them to look for the Golden Shield.”

  “Thirteen months of life, they have,” Gesuelda butted in. “That’s all, and then they’ll be dead,” she laughed.

  “Quiet, you despicable creature,” Petronella said to her. “Betty WILL be Duchess of Westshire. She found the Golden Shield.”

  Gesuelda laughed even louder: “How can a Janjilon be a duchess? Have you ever seen such a thing? Give the Shield to Duke Ormerod and be off with all of you. Just leave,” she cried out.

  The circle of Janjilons took yet another step closer towards her. In this case, there is no such thing as too close. Gesuelda was frightened so shouted out: “Sorry, sorry, sor...”

  “Quiet,” Petronella said to her. “Save your breath, you wicked creature.” Petronella then looked to Percy and said: “We have to find a way to turn these Janjilons back into children.”

  Janjilon Betty was jumping up and down and waving her arms about because she was so excited!

  “We don’t have a clue how to do that, Petronella. Betty will have to give the Golden Shield to Judge Ormerod in exchange for his promise that he will order the sisters to change the Janjilons back into humans. They are right. How can an animal be a duchess? That is stupid,” Percy said.

  Janjilon Betty started stamping her hind paws fiercely, as if to say ‘No, no, no.’

  “Betty you can’t be duchess in that state. Nobody would take you seriously. You can’t even talk. How can you rule like that? We have to give in to Judge Ormerod,” Percy said.

  Janjilon Betty stamped her hind paws even harder in reply. She wasn’t having it. Petronella agreed with her and said: