CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

When Uchenna, Elliot, and Professor Fauna finally climbed the hill leading to Mr. Mendizabal’s house, he was waiting for them in the driveway, covered in grease and motor oil. The Phoenix, Professor Fauna’s plane, stood beside him. It looked even more dented and scratched than it had before, but the propeller was twirling slowly, as if cooling down from a successful test run.

“We did it, Mr. Mendizabal!” Uchenna shouted.

“It is such a relief,” he replied, his smile so broad that his mustache bristled like a toothbrush. “I saw her return to her cave just a few moments ago. And with her whole family! Never did I know she had a mate! And babies! So many wonderful babies!”

He beckoned them inside. But on the threshold, they stopped.

Íñigo Mendizabal stood in the center of the front room, his suit stained with sweat.

Uchenna demanded, “What’s he doing here?”

Mr. Mendizabal walked in and put his hands on his hips. Everyone was gazing at Íñigo.

Mr. Mendizabal spoke to the children and Professor Fauna without taking his eyes off his brother. “Íñigo just told me that he helped the Schmoke brothers kidnap the herensuge.”

“Treachery!” Professor Fauna cried.

Íñigo Mendizabal bowed his head. “It is true. And I have begged my brother for forgiveness. I thought I was sharing with the world the glory of Euskal Herria! The power of our dragon, helping and healing the whole globe!”

“She is not our dragon,” his brother chided him. “She is her own.”

Íñigo nodded and sighed. “That is true. I was wrong. But no mistake was more grave than trusting the Schmoke brothers. I was a fool.”

Mitxel Mendizabal turned to Professor Fauna and the children. “After leaving you at the factory, I returned to fix your airplane—I thought you might need it to escape the Schmokes. As I was finishing the job, Íñigo came running up the mountain, begging me to help him rescue the herensuge. He had no idea you were already in the process of freeing her!” Mitxel laughed, grabbed his brother around the neck, and rubbed his head. “That is the way of the Mendizabal family! He was ready to fight the treacherous villains! When we saw the dragon family flying back to their cave, we leaped in the air and danced with joy!”

Uchenna looked up the mountain toward the herensuge’s cave. “What if the Schmokes come back? They know where to find her now.”

“That is an excellent question,” Mitxel Mendizabal replied. “Luckily, it is a question I have been prepared to answer ever since I began to care for the herensuge. These mountains are full of uncharted caves. Seriously, it is like Swiss cheese in there. I already know of two others, both far from here, that would make ideal lairs for the herensuge. She and her family would be safe, and the Schmokes would not know where to find her.”

“May I ask a scientific question?” Professor Fauna said. “Will she really live with her family? I thought the herensuge, like the Basque people, wanted to be left alone.”

“Ah no!” Íñigo Mendizabal exclaimed. “This is what my brother never understood!”

“I understand everything!” objected Mitxel.

Íñigo laughed. “No, you don’t. Independence, yes! But isolation, no! They are not the same thing! We can live by our own laws—relying on the strength of our own hands—but we can also reach out our hands to the rest of the world. One Euskaldun is strong. But with the strength of our families and neighbors, we will endure forever.”

Mitxel Mendizabal gazed at his brother. “Maybe today, brother, I understand what you mean. For the first time.”

“And I understand that our heritage is too precious to ignore,” said Íñigo. “I shall help you protect this beautiful family of herensuge. And the Mendizabal family, too.” He reached out his hand to his brother. Mitxel grabbed it and pulled him in for a hug.

Professor Fauna turned to the two children.

“I am sorry that I did not tell you of my history with the Schmoke brothers. I have been ashamed of my failure with them. That is why, for so many years, I have worked alone. But today, I witnessed firsthand what can be accomplished with courage, teamwork, and courage!”

“You said courage twice,” Uchenna pointed out.

“I know. And I know that together we are capable of great things, children. It will be very difficult and take much planning and training, but I believe that someday we will be able to undo all of the damage the Schmoke brothers have done to the world and its creatures.

“For this reason, I will do what I have not done in many, many years. Not even the Schmokes were given this honor when they were my students.” The professor reached into his pocket and pulled out two silver rings. They were thick, with flat tops engraved with the silhouette of a unicorn. “Uchenna. Elliot. Please take these rings and wear them as a symbol of our fight against all those who would harm the precious creatures of myth and legend. You are now true and full members of the Unicorn Rescue Society.”

“Coooool,” Uchenna said, trying the ring on her pinkie, then her index finger, then her thumb. Elliot held his up to the light to inspect the delicate engraving of the unicorn.

“Wear them proudly, but keep them safe,” Professor Fauna went on. “For we will use them to identify ourselves to other agents around the world. Inscribed within is our secret motto: Protege Mythica. Defende Fabulosa. ‘Protect the mythical. Defend the imaginary.’”

Uchenna and Elliot practiced saying the words: “PROH-te-geh MIH-tih-kah. Day-FEHN-deh Fah-boo-LOH-sah.”

“Now,” the professor said, “we must return to New Jersey. We will meet again tomorrow after school, in my office, where I will teach you more of the secrets of our society.”

“Good-bye, children,” Íñigo Mendizabal said. “Thank you for what you did.”

Mitxel Mendizabal raised his hand in a salute. “It has been an honor to work with you. Protege Mythica!”

“Defende Fabulosa,” replied Elliot and Uchenna.

Jersey stuck his head out of his backpack and chirped. It sounded a little bit like “Defende Fabulosa.” Or maybe, “I’m hungry. I’m hungry.”

It was hard to tell.