Chapter 12. The Search for the Wicked Witch

The soldier with green whiskers guided them through the Emerald City. They finally reached the Gate Guardian's room. He unlocked their glasses and returned them to a large box. Then, he politely opened the gate for Dorothy and her friends.

"Which road leads to the Wicked Witch of the West?" Dorothy asked.

"There is no road," the Guardian responded. "Nobody ever wants to travel that way."

"So, how can we find her?" the girl inquired.

"That will be simple," the man replied. "When she knows you're in the country of the Winkies, she'll find you. She'll turn you all into her slaves."

"Perhaps not," the Scarecrow retorted, "We plan to destroy her."

"That changes things," the Guardian admitted. "No one has ever defeated her before. I assumed she'd enslave you like she did with others. Be cautious: she's evil and ferocious. She might not let you destroy her. Go West, towards the setting sun. You will definitely find her."

They thanked the Guardian and said goodbye. Then, they began their journey toward the West, across fields of soft grass. The fields were spotted with daisies and buttercups.

Dorothy was wearing a pretty silk dress from the palace. To her surprise, she noticed it had turned from green to white. Toto's neck ribbon had also faded from green to white, matching Dorothy's dress.

They left the Emerald City far behind them. The terrain grew rougher and hillier as they went further. This country of the West had no farms or houses, and the ground was untouched and not used for farming.

In the afternoon, the sun blazed hot in their faces. There were no trees to provide shade. By evening, Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion were exhausted. They lay on the grass and fell asleep. The Woodman and the Scarecrow kept watch.

The Wicked Witch of the West had only one eye. But it was as powerful as a telescope, allowing her to see everywhere. Sitting at her castle door, she spotted Dorothy asleep with her friends around her. They were pretty far away. Still, the Witch was angered to find them in her territory. She blew a silver whistle that she wore around her neck.

In response, a pack of large wolves came running from all directions. They had long legs, fierce eyes, and sharp teeth.

"Go to those people and rip them apart," commanded the Witch.

"Aren't you going to enslave them?" asked the leader of the wolves.

"No," she replied. "One is made of tin and one of straw. Another is a girl, and one is a Lion. None of them can work. So, tear them into tiny pieces."

"Very well," replied the wolf, and he sprinted away, followed by the rest.

Fortunately, the Scarecrow and the Woodman were alert and heard the wolves approaching.

"This is my fight," declared the Woodman. "Stand behind me, and I'll confront them."

He grabbed his axe, which was very sharp. When the leading wolf attacked, the Tin Woodman swung his axe. He separated the wolf's head from its body, killing it instantly. As soon as he lifted his axe again, another wolf approached. This wolf, too, fell to the sharp blade of the Tin Woodman's axe. Forty wolves attacked, and forty times a wolf was killed. In the end, all forty lay lifeless in a pile before the Woodman.

Then he put his axe down and sat next to the Scarecrow. The Scarecrow commented, "That was a good fight, friend."

They waited until Dorothy woke up the next day. The sight of the pile of shaggy wolves frightened the little girl. However, the Tin Woodman explained what had happened. Grateful for their protection, Dorothy thanked him. After having breakfast, they resumed their journey.

The same morning, the Wicked Witch stood at her castle door. Her far-seeing eye spotted the dead wolves and the continuing journey of the strangers. This sight enraged her further. She blew her silver whistle twice.

A large flock of wild crows immediately flew towards her, darkening the sky.

She ordered the King Crow, "Fly to the strangers immediately. Peck their eyes out and tear them apart."

The wild crows flew en masse towards Dorothy and her friends. The little girl got scared when she saw them approaching.

"This is my fight," the Scarecrow said. "Lie beside me, and you'll be safe."

All of them lay on the ground except the Scarecrow. He stood tall and spread his arms. Seeing him scared the crows, as scarecrows always do. They didn't dare to get any closer. However, the King Crow defiantly said:

"It's just a stuffed man. I'll peck his eyes out."

The King Crow attacked the Scarecrow. He grabbed it by the head and twisted its neck, killing it. Another crow followed, and it met the same fate. Forty crows attacked, and forty times the Scarecrow twisted a neck. Eventually, all the crows lay dead beside him. He called to his companions to rise, and they continued their journey.

The Wicked Witch was enraged when she saw all her crows defeated. She blew her silver whistle three times.

In response, a loud buzzing filled the air, and a swarm of black bees flew towards her.

"Go to the strangers and sting them to death!" she ordered. The bees turned and flew quickly towards Dorothy and her friends. However, the Woodman spotted them coming, and the Scarecrow had a plan.

"Take out my straw and scatter it over the girl, the dog, and the Lion," he said to the Woodman. "The bees won't be able to sting them." The Woodman did as he was told. Dorothy was lying next to the Lion and holding Toto in her arms. They were entirely covered by the straw.

The bees came and found only the Woodman to sting. But their stings broke against his tin body, leaving him unharmed. And since bees can't survive without their stings, they die. The bees scattered around the Woodman, resembling small heaps of fine coal.

Then Dorothy and the Lion got up. The girl helped the Tin Woodman repack the straw into the Scarecrow. He was as good as new, and they resumed their journey.

Seeing her bees reduced to small heaps like fine coal, the Wicked Witch got very angry. She stomped her foot, tore at her hair, and gnashed her teeth. Then she called a dozen of her Winkie slaves. She gave them sharp spears and ordered them to destroy the strangers.

The Winkies were not brave people, but they followed her orders. They marched towards Dorothy and her friends. However, the Lion roared and charged at them, sending the frightened Winkies fleeing back to the castle.

At the castle, the Wicked Witch beat them with a strap and sent them back to work. She sat down to consider her next move. She couldn't understand why her plans to destroy the strangers had failed. But she was a potent and wicked witch. Soon, she decided what to do next.

In her cupboard, there was a Golden Cap. It had a ring of diamonds and rubies around it. The Cap had a charm. Its owner could call Winged Monkeys three times. They would obey any command given. However, no one could control these strange beings more than three times.

The Wicked Witch had already used the Cap's charm twice. The first time was when she made the Winkies her slaves and became their ruler. The Winged Monkeys helped her. The second time was when she battled the Great Oz and expelled him from the land of the West. The Winged Monkeys assisted her in this, too.

She could only use the Golden Cap once more. That's why she didn't want to use it until all other options were exhausted. But now, her wolves, crows, and bees were gone. Her slaves had been scared off by the Cowardly Lion. She realized there was only one way left to destroy Dorothy and her friends.

The Wicked Witch fetched the Golden Cap from her cupboard and put it on her head. Then, standing on her left foot, she slowly said,

"Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!"

Next, she stood on her right foot and said,

"Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!"

Finally, she stood on both feet and shouted loudly,

"Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!"

The charm started to take effect. The sky darkened, and a low rumble echoed through the air. There was a flurry of many wings, much chattering, and laughter, and then the sun emerged from the dark sky. The Wicked Witch was surrounded by monkeys, each with huge, powerful wings.

One monkey, bigger than the rest, appeared to be the leader. He flew close to the Witch and said, "You have called us for the third and final time. What do you command?"

"Destroy all the strangers in my land, but bring me the Lion," said the Wicked Witch. "I plan to make him work like a horse."

"Your commands will be obeyed," the leader responded. Then, with much chattering and noise, the Winged Monkeys flew towards Dorothy and her friends.

Some monkeys grabbed the Tin Woodman and carried him through the air. They dropped him onto sharp rocks, where he landed hard, unable to move or groan.

Other monkeys seized the Scarecrow, pulled out all his straw, bundled his clothes, and tossed them into the top branches of a tall tree.

The remaining monkeys captured the Lion, binding him tightly with sturdy ropes. They then carried him to the Witch's castle and locked him in a small yard with a tall iron fence so he couldn't get away.

But they didn't harm Dorothy at all. She stood there, holding Toto in her arms, watching the unfortunate fate of her friends and dreading that her turn would be next. The leader of the Winged Monkeys flew towards her. His long, hairy arms were reaching out, and his face was contorted in a terrifying grin. But he noticed the mark of the Good Witch's kiss on her forehead, and he halted abruptly, gesturing to the others not to touch her.

"We cannot harm this little girl," he told the other monkeys. "She is protected by the Power of Good, and that is stronger than the Power of Evil. All we can do is deliver her to the castle of the Wicked Witch."

So, carefully and gently, they lifted Dorothy and swiftly carried her through the air to the Wicked Witch's castle. There, they placed her on the front doorstep. The leader then addressed the Witch:

"We have obeyed you to the best of our ability. The Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow have been destroyed, and the Lion is tied up in your courtyard. We dare not harm the girl nor the dog she carries. Your power over us is over, and you will never see us again."

Then, all the Winged Monkeys flew into the air, making a lot of noise and laughter, quickly disappearing from sight.

The Wicked Witch felt surprised and worried seeing the mark on Dorothy's forehead. She knew that she and the Winged Monkeys couldn't harm the girl. Looking at Dorothy's feet, she saw the Silver Shoes. This sight made her tremble with fear. She was aware of the powerful charm linked to the shoes.

At first, she thought about running away from Dorothy. Then, she looked into the child's eyes. She saw how innocent Dorothy was and realized something. The little girl didn't know about the wonderful power of the Silver Shoes.

The Wicked Witch laughed and thought, "I can still make her my slave. She doesn't know how to use her power."

She harshly said to Dorothy, "Come with me. You must do everything I tell you. If not, I will destroy you like the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow."

Dorothy followed her through many beautiful rooms in her castle. They reached the kitchen, where the Witch ordered Dorothy to clean. She was told to clean pots, sweep the floor, and keep the fire going.

Dorothy began her work humbly. She decided to work as hard as she could. She was glad the Wicked Witch didn't plan to kill her.

With Dorothy busy, the Witch thought about the Cowardly Lion. She wanted to harness him like a horse to pull her chariot. However, as she opened the gate, the Lion roared and charged at her fiercely. The Witch got scared, ran out, and shut the gate again.

The Witch told the Lion through the gate bars, "If I can't harness you, I can starve you. You won't eat anything until you obey me."

After that, the Witch didn't feed the imprisoned Lion anymore.

Every day at noon, she would ask, "Are you ready to be harnessed?" The Lion would reply, "No. If you enter, I'll bite you."

The Lion didn't obey the Witch because Dorothy fed him from the cupboard at night. After eating, he would rest on his straw bed. Dorothy would lie beside him, resting her head on his soft, shaggy mane. They would talk about their troubles and try to plan an escape.

However, they couldn't find a way out of the castle. It was constantly guarded by the yellow Winkies. These Winkies were the Witch's slaves and were too frightened to disobey her.

During the day, Dorothy had to work hard. The Witch often threatened to beat her with the old umbrella she always carried. The Witch, however, couldn't dare to hit Dorothy due to the mark on her forehead. Dorothy was unaware of this and was constantly scared for herself and Toto.

The Witch once struck Toto with her umbrella. In response, the brave little dog bit her leg. Despite the bite, the Witch didn't bleed. Her wicked nature had dried up her blood many years ago.

Dorothy's life became very sad as she realized returning to Kansas and Aunt Em would be extremely difficult. She would sometimes cry bitterly for hours. Toto would sit at her feet, looking at her face and whining to show his sympathy.

Toto didn't really care whether they were in Kansas or the Land of Oz as long as Dorothy was with him. However, he knew the little girl was unhappy, which made him unhappy too.

The Wicked Witch really wanted to get her hands on Dorothy's Silver Shoes. Her bees, crows, and wolves were dead, and the power of the Golden Cap was used up. However, the Silver Shoes could give her more power than everything she had lost. She carefully observed Dorothy, hoping to steal the shoes. But Dorothy, proud of her shoes, only took them off at night or when bathing.

The Witch was too afraid of the dark to enter Dorothy's room at night to take the shoes. She feared water more than darkness, so she never approached during Dorothy's bath. In fact, the Witch never touched water or let it touch her.

The wicked creature was extremely clever. She came up with a trick to get what she wanted. She put an iron bar in the middle of the kitchen. Then, using her magic, she made it invisible to human eyes. So when Dorothy walked across the floor, she tripped over the bar. She couldn't see it and fell, completely stretched out on the floor. Dorothy wasn't much hurt from her fall. However, during her fall, one of the Silver Shoes came off. Before Dorothy could get it, the Witch grabbed it quickly. She put it on her own thin foot.

The wicked woman was very happy with the success of her trick. As long as she had one shoe, Dorothy had half of their magic power. The girl couldn't use it against her, even if she knew how.

Dorothy noticed she had lost one of her pretty shoes and became angry. She demanded the Witch, "Give me back my shoe!"

The Witch replied defiantly, "I will not. Now it's my shoe, not yours."

"You are a wicked creature!" Dorothy exclaimed. "You have no right to take my shoe!"

"I'll keep it anyway," said the Witch, laughing at her. "And someday, I'll get the other one, too."

Dorothy became so angry that she picked up a nearby bucket of water. She dashed it over the Witch, soaking her completely.

Immediately, the wicked woman screamed in fear. Then, to Dorothy's amazement, the Witch started to shrink and crumble.

"Look what you've done!" she yelled. "In a minute, I'll melt away!"

"I'm really sorry," said Dorothy, terrified to see the Witch melting like sugar.

"Didn't you know water would end me?" the Witch asked in despair.

"Of course not," replied Dorothy. "How would I know?"

"I'll be fully melted in a few minutes," said the Witch. "You'll have the castle all to yourself. I was wicked, but I didn't think a little girl could end me. Watch out - here I go!"

With her last words, the Witch fell into a brown, shapeless, melted mass. She spread across the clean kitchen floor. Seeing the Witch had fully melted, Dorothy fetched another bucket of water. She poured it over the melted mess, then swept it out the door.

All that was left of the Witch was the silver shoe. Dorothy picked it up, cleaned it, dried, and put it back on her foot.

Now, finally free, she ran to the courtyard. She went to tell the Lion that the Wicked Witch of the West was gone. They were no longer captives in this strange land.