Certain Powers: The Misadventures

-o0O0o-

The Wizard – Part 1

Sarah blinked in the bright light, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she sat up. Merlin lifted his head and whined. She ruffled his fur as she stretched. "What is it, boy?"

She yelped as something sharp poked her thigh. Opening her eyes, her hand drifted down to pluck at the hay bale they were laying on. Her eyes grew wide as they panned over the landscape – yellow brick road, a wooden fence, a golden corn field under a blue sunny sky. "Merlin…I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…."

"Dorothy! Dorothy!" Sarah squinted at the figure leaping toward them through the field. She rose as it approached, Merlin moving to stand in front of her, shuffling his feet nervously. He barked once, letting it trail off into a whine as the figure reached the fence, tripping once over its booted feet. Her suspicions were confirmed when he climbed awkwardly over the fence, his knees giving out under him before righting himself once more.

Merlin barked again, the scarecrow coming to an abrupt halt, crouching with his arm raised in a defensive posture. When Merlin didn't come any closer, he slowly rose to his full height. Sarah guessed that he cleared six feet easily. He peered closely at her as he scratched his head. "You're not Dorothy…"

"Um….no. I'm Sarah." She grabbed Merlin's collar, holding him close when he began barking in earnest. "Sorry. This is Merlin. He's not usually so on edge. It's just, you know, you're a scarecrow."

"One of a kind this side of the Emerald City! That I know of, anyways." He hooked his thumbs under the straps of his overalls, beaming at her. "S.C. Pickens is the name. Corn's the game."

Sarah returned his smile. "I didn't know you had a name, at least I don't remember one in the story."

"Chose it myself. Couldn't very well run my own business without a name now, could I?" He leaned in closer. "There's stories about me? Well, gollee!" He kicked his foot, the motion sending him spinning. He just managed to keep upright and nearly lost his hat. "Imagine that! Stories about me!"

"Yeah, there's a few, I think, but I've only read the first. Well, that and the movie."

"What's a movie?"

Sarah quirked her lips, not sure how to explain it. "It's like moving pictures…but not all that important, really."

He nodded his head like he understood. "Not from around here, are you? Those are some funny looking clothes you've got on..."

Merlin plopped down on the road with a small whine and Sarah released his collar. She pulled at the skirt of her dress revealing the jeans underneath. "Well, I wasn't exactly planning on going anywhere." She scrunched her toes inside her loafers. At least she had comfortable shoes.

"How did you get here, anyways?"

Sarah looked off into the distance, emerald sparking over the rolling hills. "I don't know. I was asleep in my room one minute, and when I woke up, I was here. This must be some kind of dream—"

"Ouch!" She rubbed her upper arm where he had pinched her, turning accusing eyes on the scarecrow. "What'd you do that for?"

"You can't feel pain in dreams, you know. During the rapid eye movement stage of sleep, your body goes into a state of paralysis. Can't hurt yourself that way. Smart, isn't it?" He nodded toward her arm. "Must not be a dream, then."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. "Maybe or maybe not."

"Think it's a spell?" He scratched his head. "Don't see how, though. Dorothy killed the Wicked Witch of the East when she landed in Munchkinland and she melted the Wicked Witch of the West."

"I don't know. All I know is I've got to get home. Karen's going to kill me."

"Who's Karen?"

"A wicked stepmother."

"S'pose she cast the spell?"

"Oh, no." Sarah shook her head. "She'd keep me shackled at home if she could, not send me to another world where she couldn't boss me around and force me to babysit."

"Hmm…well, there's only one thing to do, the way I see it."

"Which is?"

"If you want to get home," he pulled up straighter and nodded, "you've got to see the Wizard!"

She raised a brow. "The Wizard of Oz? I thought he left."

"Nope. Didn't make it but halfway to the southern swamplands before his balloon crashed and he was right back in the Emerald City a few days later. Been there ever since."

"Oh."

"Come on." He looped his arm through hers, pulling her along beside him. "I'll take you there. Need to see the wizard myself."

Sarah pulled back as they reached the edge of the field. "Wait. Aren't we supposed to follow the yellow brick road?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am. Just need to get a few things first. Gotta be prepared, you know." He helped her over the fence, gripping her hand and pulling her along behind him as they marched up to a large lavish house, Merlin pattering along beside her.

They entered through a small wooden door in the back that led into a large kitchen. It reminded her of something out of one of Karen's magazines, like Cottage Living, or one of those. A small woman she assumed was a munchkin was gathering up towels in her apron. Sarah's greeting was met with silence as the munchkin woman ducked her head and scurried from the room.

"Now then, what to bring?" S.C. grabbed a knapsack dangling from a coat rack and began filling it with odds and ends: a towel, a blanket, a pot, a few utensils, a container of tea, a small box that contained a set of porcelain teacups and saucers, and a small jar of honey. He filled a large container with water and attached it to the bag with a strap.

Sarah slid into a chair at the large wooden table in the center of the kitchen. "Who was that woman?"

"The munchkin that just left? She's just one of the house maids." He rifled through some bags on the counter, pulling out a loaf of bread and holding it up triumphantly. "Corn bread!" He pulled out a few more food items, rattling off their names and he stuffed each one in the knapsack, "Popped corn, creamed corn, corn chips…"

"Do you have a lot of munchkins working for you?"

He looked up from securing the sack with a quizzical tilt of his head. "They all work for me. You see, when I took over the corn fields 'round these parts, I gave each family a plot of land to work and in return they get a share of food and a house to live in. Read about it in a book." He beamed proudly at her, hooking his thumbs under his suspenders.

Sarah narrowed her eyes, thinking. "Isn't that like serfdom or indentured servitude or something? Don't they have anything that's theirs?"

"Give 'em everything they need. What could munchkins want with anything else? All that kind of stuff is just a distraction. Keeps 'em from working like they should. Couldn't have worked it out better if I'd thought of it myself."

"Who are you to say what they need? That's horrible!"

He tapped a finger at his temple. "No, that's smart." He leaned toward her, studying her closely. "You're not very bright, are you?" He guffawed, straightening as he slung the pack over his shoulder. "Good thing you have me coming along to help you out!"

Sarah wasn't so sure about that.

After taking S.C.'s advice to pee before they left, they were tramping through the corn field, making their way back to the yellow brick road. S.C. paused to look up into the branches of a solitary tree near the fence line. "Well, would you look at that – an owl!"

Sarah stopped beside him, looking up at the bird perched on a low branch. She had a flash of recognition. It reminded her of the owl she always saw in the park by her house. But that was silly, wasn't it? Barn owls all looked pretty much the same.

S.C. rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Think I could train him up?"

"Excuse me?"

"Like the crows. Don't have to worry about crows anymore since they all work for me, keeping an eye on the munchkins. Reckon it'd be a handy thing to have an owl around. If I could only catch him…"

In response, the owl puffed up his feathers and then swooped down from the branch, disappearing among the corn stalks before reemerging and flying low, the scarecrow having to duck to avoid his attack. The owl landed on a fence post, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't think he likes that idea," Sarah said.

"No, I think—" S.C.'s words trailed off as he began to twitch. The twitch grew into a full-fledged seizure, his arms and legs flailing every which way. "Get it off! Get it off!"

Sarah's eyes widened, at a loss for what to do. "What is it? What's the matter?"

With a final shake of his leg, a small mouse plopped out on top of his boot, a piece of straw in its mouth. Merlin planted his front legs and chin on the ground and barked happily at the small animal, his rump high in the air and his tail wagging. The mouse scurried away, pausing only once to touch noses with the large sheepdog and then disappeared into the rows of corn.

S.C. was pulling himself together, stuffing straw back into place and gathering up his hat and knapsack. "I don't much like mice," he said as he fixed his hat on his head. "Owl's eat mice, you know. They're night predators, and silent at that. Might be a good idea to have one around to keep the mice from stealing my stuffin' when I'm asleep."

Sarah glanced from the owl back to S.C., not feeling overly sympathetic. "I'm not sure that one is willing to be tamed."

S.C. looked warily at the owl. "S'pose you're right. Not very friendly, is he?" Having righted himself, he climbed over the fence, helping Sarah over. They stood there looking at each other, Sarah waiting for a cue on what to do next. When none came, she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I guess we're off to see the wizard…"

"The Wonderful Wizard of OZ!" His smile was a little more crazy than she'd like.

"Right…" Sarah kept him in her peripheral vision as she turned to begin walking down the road, Merlin growling when he moved to stand beside her. The scarecrow fell into step a few paces behind her, whistling a familiar tune.

Oz wasn't turning out to be at all like she expected.

-o0O0o-

Author's note:

And so it begins – Sarah's first misadventure in Oz. As I mentioned in the prologue, I have absolutely no allegiance to cannon in any of these other worlds, so anything goes. Literally whatever pops in my head while writing.

I know this is very different from what I usually write, and I'm not spending a whole lot of time polishing it, but I needed something completely different from the romance/angst to give myself a distraction when my muse is threatening to strike. So, if you're actually reading this, you'll have to indulge me this little sanity saving story so I can refresh and focus on my proper Laby fics. ;) Rest assured, Jareth will be around.

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