Free Shadows of the Emerald City by Jw Schnarr Page A

stubbornly remained in his chest.
    “ We can work with that,” she said, turning her back to him and heading for the door.
    He followed her out of the warehouse, thinking of what the magician had told him about purpose so long ago. And as he trailed behind the witch through the streets of Emerald City, he was very aware of the faint beating inside of his chest. He counted each one, knowing that they would be his last.
     
    She had rescued him from the pile of bodies and told him that she needed a place in the woods cleared. She had plans on building a new cabin out there where she could marry a man and raise their children.
    This had turned out to be a lie. As she lay him down on a mat in her cottage and placed several emeralds on his chest, she explained it all to him. There was a slight hesitation within him as she told her story but he fought it off. If what she said was true about the Tin Men that had helped with the construction of the Yellow Brick Road, then there was nothing to think about. He might even be able to put those missing one hundred and sixty years behind him.
    “ Our time is incredibly short,” she told him. “This spell should only take about an hour to work. Once your heart as been removed, I believe you will need about another hour or so to rest. Once that is done, I need you to go out onto the Yellow Brick Road and stand by the entrance to the woods. Pretend that you have rusted—like you have been there for a long time.”
    “ Why?”
    All of the emeralds were aligned as she needed them and, ignoring him, she took a moment to close her eyes and meditate. In the corner of the room, three monkeys sat in a corner watching her. They had wings on their backs and something about the way they looked at him made Nick think of bats.
    “ Earlier today, something happened in Munchkinland,” the witch finally said. “I believe it was the Great Funnel Wind that did it. A house just dropped out of the sky, you see. Any other day, I’d say it was just some sort of tomfoolery put on by the Wizard to strike fear into the Munchkins.
    “ But the house landed on my sister. It killed her dead as anything and I got no explanation. Some little bitch came out of the house, totally unscathed, and said it was an accident. She played dumb…like she had no idea.”
    “ Who is she?”
    “ No clue. She says she’s from a place called Kansas. I’ve never heard of it and I’ve been a great many places, mind you. Those ungrateful Munchkins…you’d think some great God had dropped from the sky. They were praising her and dancing and singing. Meanwhile, my sister lay squashed under that damned house.”
    “ What do you need me to do?”
    The witch sighed. “I’d better wait to tell you after your heart is gone. I don’t know how it will react.”
    Nick nodded.
    “ What I will tell you is that the stupid little girl is awfully desperate to get back to this Kansas place. The Munchkins have her following the Yellow Brick Road, thinking that the Wizard can help.”
    Nick had a good idea of what she was going to have him do. And while it did make his heart tremble, it simply reminded him of how badly he wanted it out of his body.
    “ Are you ready?” the witch asked him.
    “ Yes.”
    She spread her hands out and began muttering something under her breath. Nick watched as a fine mist of reds and oranges rose from his chest and gathered around the emeralds that she had placed there.
    Moments later, Nick’s heart thumped a single time and then settled in his chest. When it left his body, he smiled lightly. As he lay there and waited for further instructions, he was sure that he could hear its pounding echoing in his head.
     
     
    If the stupid little dog hadn’t have perked its ears up in its sleep, Nick would have never sensed the other presence in the night. He turned slowly, wondering if the Scarecrow had awakened. But the figure that stood behind him was slender and draped in a robe as dark as the night