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 did hurt Dorothy. It felt like someone was sticking needles in her feet and ankles.

The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman attempted to defend Dorothy by waving their hands in the faces of the soldiers.

"Run for it!" shouted the Tin Woodman.

The three ran as fast as their legs would allow and soon outdistanced the soldiers. Fortunately, they had run across a flat area devoid of houses and people. Otherwise they could have caused great damage.

As they ran, they noticed the ground getting steeper and more slippery. Large china boulders were scattered everywhere. To make matters worse, a mist suddenly descended, making it difficult to see more than a few feet in front of them.

The terrain rose sharply as they felt their way around some large rocks. The Tin Woodman slipped and fell several times, but, of course, didn't hurt himself. However, the going was getting rough, and Dorothy was getting tired.

The voices of the soldiers could now be heard in the distance, but through the mist Dorothy caught a glimpse of a little path winding its way up the mountain.

"Quick! Over this way," she said to her companions. The three managed to make their way over to the path.

The mountain path was a bit slippery, but not too steep. It was certainly a lot easier going.

When they finally reached the top of the mountain, the mist had cleared. Apparently, the soldiers had decided against following them, for they could be clearly seen setting up camp at the base, thereby ensuring that Dorothy and her friends did not attempt to return the way they had come.

The view from the top of the mountain was quite beautiful. The china homes and farms was spread out in a colorful panorama below. The only barren part was the segment of land they had traversed to make their escape.

"It's a shame everything is so easily breakable here," said the Tin Woodman. "I can't blame the china people for not wanting visitors."

"I don't know why the Captain of the Guard was so angry," said the Scarecrow. "Dorothy didn't try to make him drop his sword."

"I think he was so embarrassed," said Dorothy, "that he was just trying to save face in front of his men."

Dorothy was about to sit down to rest, but the light began to fade rather quickly. "Perhaps we should be on our way," said the girl.

"No question about it," said the Tin Woodman.

"Absolutely!" said the Scarecrow.

As they started down the other side of the mountain, the path became extremely slippery and steep. Suddenly the Tin Woodman started to slide very fast. He called out to Dorothy: "Help! Dorothy! I can't stop!"

At that moment, the Scarecrow slipped and sat down with a thump. Then Dorothy did the same. She and the Scarecrow sped down the mountain path so fast they caught up with the Tin Woodman. The impact caused him to fall backwards into Scarecrow's lap.

"Wheee..." They all yelled as they whizzed around the hairpin bends.

"What fun!" cried Dorothy.

As they neared the bottom, their descent slowed. They came to a stop in front of a big sign:

*YOU ARE NOW LEAVING*

* DAINTY CHINA COUNTRY.*

* THANK YOU FOR VISITING*

* (But thank you more for leaving)*

* !!!PLEASE DON'T HURRY BACK!!!*

"What a funny sign," said Dorothy. "But it's plain to see that they get very nervous when non-china people are in their midst. I suppose they'd be quite happy to be left entirely alone."

"I can't say I blame them," said the Tin Woodman. "If I were a small delicate person made of china, I wouldn't want big clumsy people around.

"Thank goodness you're a big clunk!" said the Scarecrow. Dorothy laughed as the Tin Woodman chased the Scarecrow around the sign. As he did so, Dorothy's eye caught what appeared to be another sign a little further on. She walked up to it and read the following:

YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE DOMAIN

OF THE GIRREPHALUMPS.

PLEASE KNOCK TWICE TO INDICATE

YOUR REQUEST FOR OUR SERVICES.

*