Chapter 4 "The Castle"

Question to Madeleine: Which job does Madebonne choose?

Answer: Polish the Queen's jewels and ice the wedding cake.

Madebonne started hopping around with excitement. They had just missed their train back to Brooklyn and she needed to get a job as quickly as she could so that they could get back home. She looked down into her pocket at her mom. Did she look a little fishier? Linda the Penguin kept reading jobs from the Help Wanted section of The Daily Castle.

“…braid the royal horses manes, tune the violins, make the wedding tea, fluff the pillows on the royal beds…”

“I’ll do anything. I’ll polish the Queen’s jewels, I’ll ice the wedding cake” shouted Madebonne. “Let’s go!”

Linda folded the paper, agreeing that there were plenty of jobs to choose from. They went back to the ticket counter and asked one of the penguins for directions to the Castle.

“It’s simple,” one of them answered. “Take the elevator over there by the portrait of the Queen. Push the button marked ‘castle’ and it will take you right down to the basement where they are taking job applications.”

“Thank you. We’ll be back soon with our fish rubles” said Madebonne and she and Henry and Linda and her mom the goldfish headed over to the portrait of the Queen.

“Madebonne, you go ahead and call the elevator” said Linda as she waddled her way across the waiting room. “We don’t want to miss any of the good jobs.”

Madebonne and Henry bounded across the room toward the portrait of the Queen. It was a huge portrait and the Queen looked down at them sternly. Madebonne saw that she was covered in jewels. There were at least two rings on each one of her fingers, bracelets wound up her arms from her wrists to her elbows, her neck dripped with golden starfish and diamond moons, and her earrings were the size of apricots. Her hair was piled on her head in endless curls and was encircled by a golden crown with sparkling rubies dancing in the light.

Madebonne took a deep breath. That would be a lot of jewels to polish! Henry gave her a nudge and Madebonne realized that she needed to call the elevator. She looked around but didn’t see an elevator door anywhere near the portrait of the Queen. The wall was perfectly smooth on both sides of the portrait. Madebonne ran back to Linda who had waddled half way across the room.

“I can’t find the elevator” said Madebonne. “I looked everywhere near the portrait of the Queen but it isn’t there.” Linda kept waddling ahead.

“Did you call the elevator?” she asked.

“I just told you that I can’t find the elevator” said Madebonne. “I didn’t see a door or an elevator button or anything.”

“But did you call the elevator?” asked Linda again.

“How can I call the elevator if I can’t find the elevator button?” asked Madebonne. She stopped and gave a big huff of frustration. Linda kept waddling along.

“Just go call the elevator and you’ll see it” said Linda. Madebonne looked at Linda as if she had lost her hearing and then stomped away. How was she supposed to find an elevator that wasn’t there? She grumped her way back to the portrait of the Queen and looked around again. Madebonne ran her hands over the walls but they were completely smooth. No elevator. Maybe it was hidden behind the portrait. Madebonne lifted the corner of the frame and peered behind the painting. Still nothing. She looked behind a chair, she checked the floor but there was no elevator in sight. Madebonne was out of ideas. She stood in front of the portrait of the Queen and stared and stared. The Queen stared back.

“Excuse me your highness,” said Madebonne to the painting, “where is the elevator?” The Queen lifted her hand to her ear. Madebonne jumped. The portrait had moved. The Queen looked at her expectantly and kept her hand held to her ear. Maybe she hadn’t heard what Madebonne had said. Henry circled around with excitement.

Madebonne stepped a little closer and cleared her throat. “Your Highness,” she repeated a little louder, “where is the elevator?” The Queen leaned a little closer. “Maybe she can’t hear very well,” whispered Madebonne to Henry.

“The elevator” she said louder still. “Where is the elevator? ELEVATOR!” she finally yelped. Suddenly the wall disappeared and the elevator doors opened. Madebonne couldn’t believe her eyes. She turned and looked for Linda who was waddling up behind her.

“Did you see that?” said Madebonne.

“I told you to call the elevator” said Linda. “Easy as pie.” And she waddled through the doors.

“Let’s go.” Madebonne and her mom the goldfish and Henry got on and pushed the button marked ‘castle’ and they were on their way.

The elevator dropped so fast that Madebonne’s hair flew up into the air and then just as suddenly it stopped. The doors opened and before their eyes they saw the castle basement.

There was hustling and bustling in every direction. The wedding preparations were in full swing. All kinds of things were being carried past them: trays of food, baskets full of flowers, heaps of fabric, carts of shoes, musical instruments, and everything in a rush, rush, rush. They stepped off the elevator and pinned themselves against the wall so that they wouldn’t get swept away in the crowd.

“Excuse me,” said Linda trying to catch someone’s attention. “Excuse me, do you know where the job line is? Hello! Excuse me!” But everyone kept rushing past without a moment to stop to give them directions. Madebonne looked around wide eyed. Suddenly she spotted the frog from Section Green hopping by.

“Hey frog!” Madebonne shouted through the crowd. The frog stopped hopping and looked around.

“Hello there tadpole,” answered the frog. “What brings you to the castle?”

“We tried to take the Penguin Express back to Brooklyn but only penguins ride for free and we didn’t have any fish rubles to pay so we came to the castle to look for jobs so we can make enough money to buy some tickets” blurted Madebonne.

“Bummer” said the frog. “Well, see you later.” And with that he started to hop away.

“Wait!” said Madebonne chasing after him. “Could you tell us where the job line is?” The frog stopped hopping.

“It’s over there,” he said pointing a webby toe straight ahead. “But the line is three hours long.” Madebonne looked crestfallen.

“Three hours! I can’t wait that long.” Madebonne sat down with a plop on the floor. This was getting to be a very long adventure and she hadn’t even had lunch yet. Her stomach growled.

“Since you’re a tadpole I’ll give you a tip. They need help in the kitchen and the pastry chef is my uncle. The frog family is in charge of desserts” he said proudly puffing out his chest. “I’ll take you over there.”

So off they went in search of the kitchen with the frog. The hallway was waxed to a high sheen so Linda was able to slide along on her belly while the frog hopped and Madebonne skipped and Henry jumped along. They went down corridors and up stairs and around corners and suddenly Madebonne began to smell the most delicious smells. The frog pushed open two shiny metal swinging doors and hopped into the biggest kitchen that Madebonne had ever seen. Her stomach let out another loud growl. A woman stopped dead in her tracks in front of them. She was very tall and dressed head to toe in white with a white apron and a huge white puffy hat on her head.

“I hear hungry people,” she said looking around.

“Hello Chef” said the frog. “These are new workers for Uncle Pinetop in the pastry shop.”

“Oh, no,” said the Chef. “They look hungry. Take them straight to the royal tasting table. I have seven courses about to come out of the ovens and they need to be tasted before the royal wedding feast. What are the new tasters names?”

“I’m Madebonne and this is my cat Henry and my mom’s friend Linda,” said Madebonne.

“Frog, show the new tasters over to the tasting table. We have work to do,” said the Chef.

“Sure thing Chef,” said the frog. They headed over to the royal tasting table on the far side of the kitchen where twenty royal tasters were groaning in pain.

‘What’s the matter with them?” asked Madebonne with a twinge of alarm.

“They have been tasting the Chef’s food since breakfast” said the frog. “The new tasters were supposed to arrive before lunch but there was an emergency and they had to be sent to other jobs.”

“What kind of emergency?” asked Linda.

“Not sure. I think someone lost the royal baby or something,” said the frog. “Well, gotta hop. See ya, tadpole.”

“Bye frog,” said Madebonne as he hopped away. Madebonne, Henry and Linda took a seat at the table as some of the tasters were wheeled away to the recovery room. The Chef came over with the first course steaming in a huge pot. She set the pot on the table and ladled soup into their bowls then rushed off to get the second course. Madebonne took her mom out of her pocket and dropped her into her glass of water, then she took her butterfly phone out of her pocket and called her Fairy Godmother to let her know that they had missed the Penguin Express to Brooklyn.

“Oh dear,” said The Fairy Godmother. “I’ll have to adjust this spell. I was hoping you’d be home by lunch.”

“I’m not sure when we’ll be home,” said Madebonne. “We had to get jobs at the castle as Royal Tasters to pay for our train tickets. Who knows how long this will take.”

“How is your mom acting?” asked The Fairy Godmother.

“She’s still doing laps,” said Madebonne peering at her mom through the glass.

“That’s a good sign,” said The Fairy Godmother. “See if she will eat any of the food you are tasting.” Madebonne dipped her spoon into her soup and held it over her water glass. Her mom swam to the top and drank from the spoon.

“She likes the soup,” said Madebonne. The Fairy Godmother sighed with relief.

“Great. Now I have to get back to this spell.”

Madebonne said good-bye and her butterfly phone fluttered back into her pocket. She picked up her spoon and dug into her soup. It was the most delicious soup she had ever eaten and tasted just like Halloween. Her stomach purred happily. Before she had finished half of her bowl, the Chef was back with spaghetti tornadoes, followed by trout lollipops and rice a la King. They tried steaming pot bellied crab crackers, chicken teapot crumpets, avocado and juniper berry seaweed rolls, sugar snap beef cakes, cock-a-doodle doughnuts, turkey flap jackets and chocolate volcanoes. Just when they thought they couldn’t eat another bite the new group of royal tasters arrived.

“Thank you Madebonne” said the Chef. “You are a very good eater. Please come back and try my food anytime.” She handed Madebonne, Henry and Linda the Penguin each a slip of paper marked:

Royal Taster - please pay in full ………….3 Fish Rubles

Linda tucked the slips under her flipper. “That’s nine fish rubles altogether” she said.

“That’s it?” squawked Madebonne. “We still have to earn eighteen fish rubles before we can buy our train tickets. We’ll never catch the next train.” She picked up the water glass and slumped her way down to Uncle Pinetop’s pastry kitchen in search of another job.

When they got to the top of the stairs that lead down to the ovens, Madebonne inhaled and her lungs filled with a sugary sweetness that made her nose flutter with delight. From the top of the stairs they could see all the way down to the pastry kitchen. There was so much activity going on that it looked like an ant farm. They headed down and were met at the bottom by Chef Pinetop.

“You must be the tadpole my nephew told me about” said Pinetop.

“Oh geez, not this again” grumbled Madebonne.

“Speak up tadpole,” said Pinetop a little crisply. “Are you here for a job or not? I have a lot of baking to do before the wedding.”

“Yes, sir,” piped up Madebonne. “I’d really like to ice the wedding cake.”

“No, no, no. Icing the wedding cake is skilled labor. But I do need crankers on the ice cream machine, the cake pans need buttering and I have one spot left taking the pits out of the cherries.”

“What pays the most?” asked Madebonne. Chef Pinetop puffed out his chest indignantly.

“Ice cream crankers sounds like the job for us” said Linda quickly. “I am good with anything frozen and Madebonne and Henry help make the ice cream every Thursday night at home.”

“Perfect” said Chef Pinetop and he lead Madebonne, Henry and Linda towards the ice cream station. As they crossed through the pastry kitchen, they passed a courtyard filled with scaffolding. Madebonne stopped to take a look. She poked her head out the door and saw to her amazement that the scaffolding was surrounding the wedding cake which rose forty feet into the air. The icing looked like fluffy snow drifts and on the side of each tier, yellow and green flowers were being painted by hand. It was the most beautiful cake that Madebonne had ever seen.

“As you can see,” said Chef Pinetop, gesturing towards the wedding cake, “only the top three tiers need icing. We are waiting for the royal acrobats to arrive to finish up. They are very skilled at working in high places.”

“I can work in high places,” said Madebonne excitedly. “My dad is an acrobat and he taught me how to stretch” And before Chef Pinetop could say a word, Madebonne stretched all the way to the top of the cake balancing the glass of water with her mom the goldfish on top of her head. Chef Pinetop was very impressed. He had never seen a girl stretch forty feet in the air. Madebonne snapped back down to the ground and Chef Pinetop handed her a bucket full of icing and an icing roller.

“My, my, my, tadpole” said Chef Pinetop. “I had no idea that you were certified in skilled labor. Grab this bucket of icing. The Royal Acrobats will be along shortly. I’ll take Linda and Henry over to the ice cream station and then check back in on you in a little while.”

Madebonne couldn’t believe her luck. She kissed her friends good-bye and stretched to the top of the Princess’s wedding cake. From the top of the cake she could see for miles in every direction. She set down her mom the goldfish, her bucket of icing and let out a sigh of happiness. She would make eighteen fish rubles in no time and they would be on their way back to Brooklyn.

Question to Madeleine: Where is the Royal Baby hiding?

Chapter 3 "The Penguin"

Question to Madeleine: Who is the funny voice?

Answer: Linda

Madebonne was standing in the dream tent talking to her dreams and her mom had turned into a goldfish and was swimming in her pajama pocket. Things were definitely getting weird on this Adventure. She heard a funny voice behind her. It sounded familiar but she couldn’t place it. Madebonne turned around and saw a penguin with a purple knit hat standing quietly staring at her. Where had that penguin come from? They stared at each other, then stared some more. The penguin shifted from one foot to the other. Finally the penguin couldn’t take it anymore.

“Are we just going to stand here or do you want to catch the train to Brooklyn?” It was the same funny voice.

“Who are you?” asked Madebonne.

“I’m Linda” replied the penguin.

“My mom has a friend named Linda” said Madebonne and her mom, the goldfish, swished her tail in agreement.

“I know” said the penguin. “That’s me.”

“You’re not my mom’s friend Linda” said Madebonne. This penguin was crazy. “Linda is tall and she has brown hair and she wears shoes.”

“Sure, that’s what I look like in Brooklyn. But on this side of the drain I’m a penguin. Look at my hat. It’s just like the one that I knit for you.”

Madebonne looked at the penguin’s hat. It did look just like the one that Linda had knit her for her birthday. But she still wasn’t convinced.

“Just because we have the same hat doesn’t mean that you’re Linda,” said Madebonne.

“True,” said the penguin. “Ask me a question that only Linda could answer.”

Madebonne thought about this. Linda had known her since she was born so she knew a lot of things about her. Madebonne decided to ask her a trick question.

“What’s my name?” she asked.

“Which one?” asked the penguin. “Your real name? Or your nickname?” This penguin was good.

“My nickname” said Madebonne.

“Which one?” the penguin asked again. “Kiddo, Pumpkin Pie, Saucy, Orange Head, The Bubble or Madebonne?”

Madebonne couldn’t believe her ears. The penguin even knew her adventuring name.

“How do you know my adventuring name?” she asked. “I just picked it this morning.”

“Your Fairy Godmother told me. I stopped by the apartment to see your mom and I heard that you were off on a big adventure. So I told your Fairy Godmother that I would pop in and make sure that you could find way back home.”

Madebonne was almost convinced but she had to ask one more question. “What year was I born?” she asked.

“The Year of the Dragon. You were born fiery red and you roared and roared. Your dad fed you ice cubes and patted your belly to cool down the fire in your lungs. You were the most beautiful dragon baby in the whole hospital.”

“I was not a dragon baby” said Madebonne.

“Think about it” said the penguin. “Sometimes you roar and stamp your feet, your face turns red and you flail your arms around like you are trying to fly. Everyone who is born in the Year of the Dragon is part dragon on the inside.”

“What year were you born?” asked Madebonne.

“Isn’t it obvious? The Year of the Penguin” said the penguin. Madebonne agreed. That was pretty obvious.

“So shall we head to the train?” asked the penguin.

“I think I’ll just go back through the rainbow and up the drain,” said Madebonne. “But thanks anyway.”

“You can’t go back up the drain,” said the Penguin. “The suction is too powerful. That’s why water goes down the drain, not up the drain.”

“Hold on a second,” said Madebonne. She walked a few feet away and looked down into her pocket.

“Mom is this really Linda?” Madebonne asked. Her mom looked back up at her with one bulging eye and blew some bubbles. How was Madebonne supposed to make a decision like this on her own? She was only a little kid and she didn’t speak fish. Madebonne turned to her cat.

“What do you think Henry?” asked Madebonne. Henry walked over to the penguin, rubbed his head on her flippers and lay down on her feet. Henry wasn’t too friendly with strangers so Madebonne decided that this must really be Linda.

“O.K. Linda, let’s go to the train,” she said. Madebonne went over to the fountain and said good-bye to the ballerinas and made sure that there was enough water in her pocket for her mom. Then they set out to catch the train back to Brooklyn.

“It’s this way,” said Linda, pointing with her flipper. They walked towards a small orange shack while the ballerinas twirled and waved good-bye.

Even though the shack wasn’t very far away it was slow going. Penguins don’t walk very fast. They waddle. They were going so slowly that Henry lay down in a patch of sun and took a nap. Madebonne decided that it would be more interesting if she walked like Linda. So she squeezed her legs together, pointed her toes out and shifted back and forth on her feet. They waddled and waddled and waddled along until they finally reached the orange shack. Madebonne looked around. They were at the top of a very steep hill covered in snow. She didn’t see any train tracks anywhere.

“Is this where the train stops?” asked Madebonne.

“No,” said Linda. “The train stops over there.” She pointed down the hill. Madebonne looked and looked but she couldn’t see the train station. Linda grabbed a pair of binoculars that were hanging on a nail on the side of the shack and handed them to Madebonne.

“These might help” she said and pointed again. Madebonne looked through the binoculars and sure enough she saw an igloo beside some train tracks. Next to the igloo was a sign reading “Penguin Express. All stops. Next train leaves in 5 minutes.” Madebonne looked at Linda in alarm. Five minutes! They would never make it if Linda had to waddle all the way there.

“How will we make it there in five minutes?” asked Madebonne.

“No problem” said Linda. “I may walk slowly but I slide on my belly faster than any penguin at The North Pole.”

“Oh” said Madebonne, surprised. “What about Henry and me?”

“You’ll have to go the old fashioned way on a sled” said Linda. She opened the shack and it was filled with sleds of every shape and size. Madebonne looked and looked but she knew that she didn’t have a lot of time so she grabbed a sled covered in purple feathers. In the back was a little house with a green cushion where Henry could curl up for the ride.

Madebonne and Linda went outside and set the sled at the top of the hill. Madebonne ran back and picked up Henry who was still having a nap in a patch of sun and carefully set him on the cushion and closed the roof. Madebonne got in front, put on her swimming goggles and grabbed the reins. Linda gave the sled a little push and Madebonne and Henry went flying down the hill. They were going so fast that Madebonne’s cheeks were rippling in the wind like waves. She looked back at Henry. She could see through the windows that he was still sleeping peacefully in his little house at the back of the sled. Madebonne turned back around to pay attention to where she was going and all of a sudden Linda came whizzing up next to her, sliding gracefully on her belly.

“Is everything O.K.?” asked Linda.

“This is great!” said Madebonne. She loved going fast on her sled. “But will we make it to the train on time?”

“I think so” said Linda. “When we hit the next bump, push the button with the wings on it. That will save us a little time.” Madebonne looked down and sure enough, there was an orange button with wings drawn on it. But before she had a chance to ask Linda what the button was for, they hit the bump. Madebonne pressed the button and wings unfolded from each side of the sled. They soared through the air. She looked down and saw Linda speeding along on her belly heading right for the igloo. Just when it looked like she was going to crash she tilted her head up and with a hop, landed right on her feet. Madebonne’s sled flapped its wings and on a gentle current of air, stopped at the front of the train.

They didn’t have a second to lose. Madebonne hopped out of the sled and opened the roof of the house in the back. Henry lifted his head, gave himself a nice stretch and stood up.

“Come on Henry. We have to get on this train,” said Madebonne. Henry leapt out of the sled and they bounded up the stairs of the train. It was beautiful inside. The seats were made out of carved ice and in the center, a fountain gushed hot apple cider. A penguin in a conductor’s hat came waddling over to them.

“Welcome to the Penguin Express,” he said cheerfully. “Where are you headed?”

“We’re going to Brooklyn” said Madebonne. The Conductor pulled out a little machine shaped like a fish and pushed some buttons.

“O.K. one cat, one fish and one kid half price. Is the fish passenger or food?” asked the Conductor.

“Passenger,” said Madebonne alarmed. “She’s my mom.”

“Too bad. She looks tasty,” said the Conductor. “That’ll be twenty six all together.”

Linda was outraged. “I’ve never had to pay on the Penguin Express” she said indignantly.

“That’s because you’re a penguin,” said the conductor. “Penguins ride for free.”

“But I don’t have twenty-six dollars,” said Madebonne in a tiny voice. She was tired after all this adventuring and just wanted to get back home to Brooklyn.

“Dollars!” squawked the Conductor. “What would I do with dollars? I want twenty six fish rubles.”

Madebonne looked at Linda. “What’s a fish ruble?” she asked.

“It’s a little gold coin shaped like a fish” said Linda. “I’m afraid that I didn’t bring my wallet with me. Did you bring any money?”

Madebonne shook her head. A long, low whistle blew. The penguins on the train took their seats and the Conductor started to shoo them towards the exit.

“I’m sorry but if you can’t pay for the tickets you’ll have to get off the train. We’re about to leave” said the Conductor. Madebonne’s eyes began to fill with tears.

“I have to get back to Brooklyn as fast as I can,” said Madebonne to the Conductor. “The longer my mom stays a fish, the harder it will be for my Fairy Godmother to turn her back into my mom.”

“Well, you can always eat her for dinner,” said the Conductor smacking his lips. Madebonne was horrified and hopped off the train as fast as she could.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to get some jobs” said Linda hopping off the train after her. The Conductor leaned out the door as the train pulled away.

“I hear they are hiring over at the Castle,” he said. “The Princess is getting married and they need help preparing for the wedding.” The train picked up speed and was soon out of sight. Madebonne, her mom, Linda and Henry walked into the igloo. Seven penguins stood behind the counter making train tickets and counting fish rubles. They walked up to the counter.

“Hello,” said one of the penguins. “How may we help you?”

“We need to make some money to pay for three non-penguin train tickets to Brooklyn,” said Linda. “The conductor on the train suggested we might find some jobs at the castle.”

“True, true” said the penguin. “It’s been frightfully busy over there since the wedding was announced. Check the Help Wanted section of the Daily Castle. Someone left a copy over there on the bench.” Linda waddled over and picked up the paper. She flipped to the Help Wanted section. There were hundreds of jobs listed. Linda read them out loud to Madebonne and Henry.

“Wash the King’s socks, comb the Prince’s dogs, find the royal baby and feed him lunch, sweep the ballroom, polish the Queen’s jewels, pick the flowers for the banquet table, give the Princess a pedicure, ice the wedding cake….”

And she went on and on.

Question to Madeleine: Which job does Madebonne choose?