A Hornbill with a Ladder

Once Minnie had found her way out of the woods, she saw a little white cottage with a red-shingled roof, a white brick chimney, blue window shutters, and a small blue front door. In front of the house was a gate that matched the window shutters and door, which was accompanied by a small white brick wall and a long white fence that surrounded the house.

"I wonder who lives here?" she said, as she walked over to the gate. She stood there as she then heard a familiar voice calling out from above an open window.

"Julie-Anne! Where is that girl? Where did she put them? Julie-Anne! Julie-Anne!"

"The python!" Minnie exclaimed, her face lightening up as she saw Kaa from the window. Just as she opened the gate and headed toward the front porch, Kaa closed the window shutters and opened the front door a moment later.

"No use! Can't wait! I'm terribly late! Oh, me! Oh, my! Oh, me! Oh, my!" he exclaimed, as he darted out of the house, holding a gold trumpet around his neck and wearing a white tunic that had a red heart printed on it and a pale blue court ruff.

"Excuse me, Mr. Python," Minnie said to Kaa, "I've been trying to—"

Kaa turned around and slithered over toward Minnie, though he had thought she was this "Julie-Anne" person he was calling out earlier.

"Why, Julie-Anne! What are you doing out here?" Kaa asked her, frowning at her.

"Julie-Anne?" Minnie repeated, a puzzled expression forming on her face.

"Don’t just stand there, do something! No, no! Go get my necklace! I'm late!" Kaa barked, hopping in front of Minnie and holding up his large pocket watch.

"But late for what?" Minnie asked him, "That's just—"

"My necklace," Kaa shouted, blaring his trumpet vociferously, forcing Minnie to go inside the cottage. "At once! Do you hear?"

"Goodness," Minnie said to herself, as she headed up the blue staircase. "I suppose I should be taking orders from Figaro next."

Once she made her way up the stairs to Kaa‘s bedroom, Minnie started her search for Kaa's missing necklace.

"If I were a python," she said, looking through a white wooden dresser, "where would I keep my necklace?"

When she opened a porcelain vase-like jar that was on the dresser, there were cookies in various shapes and colored frostings, and each of them had messages, such as "TAKE ONE" and "TRY ME". These were the same cookies she saw back when she was struggling to get the key onto the table at only ten inches tall.

"Oh, thank you." Minnie said, as she picked out a pink flower-shaped cookie with the words "EAT ME" written in brown frosting and took a bite of it, "Don’t mind if I do." As she looked through a chest full of clothes while humming, however, Minnie started to grow at an alarming rate, and her head hit the ceiling. The cookie had caused her to grow again—just like last time!

"Oh! Oh, no, no! Not again!" she exclaimed.

Kaa tapped his tail rapidly and looked at his watch with an impatient frown on his face. He jolted in shock and rushed back inside the house, with a fear of being very, very tardy.

"Julie-Anne!" he called out.

Minnie was still growing very rapidly as her arms emerged from the windows, and her right foot was toppling over furniture in Kaa's room, just as Kaa had darted up the staircase to the door of his bedroom.

"Now, you see here, Julie-Anne!" Kaa started to say as he opened the door, only to see Minnie's colossal right foot struggling to get through. "HEEEELLLLP!"

The Indian python gasped in shock and tried to escape, but he was pushed down the stairs by her foot, which had finally found its way through the door, and blared his trumpet again. He then headed for the front door and opened it, only to be pushed through some of his broken possessions by Minnie's now fully huge foot. As he got out from underneath the destruction, the frenzied python cried out in horror as he saw what was happening to his house. Minnie's arms had sprouted out of the windows, and her feet had emerged from the doorways.

"NOOOO! HELP! MONSTER!!" Kaa shouted in a panic, rapidly slithering away from his house and blaring his trumpet again, "Help! Assistance!!"

Minnie was struggling to get up, but it was no use. Kaa's house was too snug for her to break free, and therefore, she was completely stuck like a fly attached to flypaper.

"Oh, dear!" she complained, placing her left hand on the rooftop. Just then, she heard Kaa's voice, as he had come back with someone to help him.

"A monster! A monster, Honest John! In my house, Honest John!"

"Honest John." Minnie repeated in an unamused tone of voice, as she recalled seeing him in the ocean and him ignoring her desperate call for help while rolling her eyes.

Kaa was hopping around Honest John, who was walking with him down the dirt path back to his house.

"Settle down, old chap," Honest John calmly said to Kaa, as he twirled his cane with his right hand. "Can't be as bad as all that, you know."

"My poor house..." Kaa said to Honest John, still worried about his precious home. "Ohhh, my beautiful roof and rafters...all my walls, and—there it is!"

Honest John stopped in front of the house, and his hat flew off his head as his eyes widened in shock, and he almost dropped his cane in the process.

"By Jove!" he exclaimed, raising his eyebrows and his shocked expression changing into a smile, "Jolly well is."

Minnie's giant hands opened the shutters, and she peeked through the open window to see Kaa and Honest John, her eyes blinking with curiosity.

"Well, do your thing, Honest John!" Kaa exclaimed, pushing Honest John through the open gate and hiding behind it.

Honest John approached the gigantic Minnie and examined her carefully, before replying as he tapped her shoe with his cane: "Yes, indeed. An extraordinary situation, but..."

"But-but-but-but what?!" Kaa exclaimed, finally coming out from behind the gate.

Honest John blew his nose on his light blue handkerchief and put it away before placing a hand on Minnie's foot and crossed his right leg over his left.

"But I have a very simple solution!" he said, delighting the giant Minnie.

"Thank goodness!" Minnie said in response to Honest John's announcement.

"W-W-W-What is it?" stuttered Kaa.

"Simply pull it out the chimney."

"Yes! G-G-Go on, go on! Pull it out!" Kaa exclaimed, rapidly slithering over and trying to push Honest John, who was simply immovable.

"Who, me?" Honest John questioned him, "Don’t be ridiculous! What we need is a...Er...Hmmm..."

A whistling noise was heard once Honest John started thinking, and he turned to see a hornbill with blue feathers, a white belly, and a red and orange beak, wearing a black jacket, a forest green turtleneck shirt, and a black English cap. He was also holding a broom in his right wing and a long ladder in his left as he was walking by Kaa's house.

"A hornbill with a ladder!" Honest John exclaimed.

"Hmmm? Oh, Zazu!" Kaa called out to the hornbill, grabbing his attention, "Zazu!"

Zazu lifted his cap up as a part of greeting the two, but he then felt himself being pulled through the gate by Kaa.

"We need a larnbill with a hodder...A hodder..." the snake said to the hornbill, "Can you help us?"

"At your service, governor!" Zazu replied kindly to the snake, saluting to him. He suddenly dropped his broom when he felt Honest John's hand on his shoulder.

“Zazu, my lad," Honest John said to him. "Have you ever been down a chimney?"

"Why, governor," Zazu said. "I've been down more chimneys!"

"Excellent, excellent!" Honest John said with a smile, "You just pop down the chimney and haul that monster out of there."

Minnie was confused by Honest John's choice to have Zazu pull her out of the chimney, for she was simply too big to fit right through it. *Why would they have a small hornbill pull me out of such a tiny chimney?* she wondered, *I don’t think this will help me out at all...*

"Right-o, governor!" Zazu said, climbing past by Minnie. Just then, he moved back down to see Minnie through the window and cried out in alarm, "Monster?!"

He let out a frightened scream and scurried down the ladder, only to be pulled on the tail by Kaa and Honest John. The two were trying to calm him down and get him back up the ladder so he would do his job, but Zazu was too frightened by the horrific vision of the gigantic Minnie to do so. Zazu scurried back down the ladder again, only to be carried up by Honest John.

"Settle down now. That's better," Honest John said to the frightened hornbill in an enthusiastic voice. "Zazu, lad. You're passing up a golden opportunity."

"I am?" Zazu repeated, a smile of delight lightening up on his face.

"You can be famous," Honest John added, as he was still taking Zazu up the ladder. That added the fuel to Zazu's budding excitement.

"I can?"

"Of course!" Honest John chirped. Once they reached to the top of the roof, Honest John placed Zazu into the chimney.

"There's a brave lad! In you go now," he continued to say to Zazu. "Nothing to it, ol' boy. Simply tie your tail around the monster's neck and drag it out."

"Bu-But-But, governor!" Zazu started to reply, only to be shoved down the chimney by Honest John.

"Good luck, Zazu."

Just as Zazu was completely pushed down the chimney, smoke came out from the fireplace, shrouded the room, flew up in the air, and tickled Minnie's nose. She felt her head lifting itself up. The poor, giant female black mouse was about to sneeze!

"Ah...ah...ah...ah...ah..."

Honest John wobbled on the roof once he felt Minnie's head bouncing him around, and he jumped onto the ladder as fast as he could.

"Ah...ah...ah...ah...ahh...ah...ah...ah...ah...ah..."

Kaa took refuge behind Minnie's giant foot as the smoke emerged from the open window.

Suddenly, Minnie sneezed loudly.

"Ah-ah-ah...AH-AH-AHH-CHOO!"

Zazu swiftly flew out of the chimney and into the sky like a rocket launching into outer space. It was quite a surprise to Kaa and Honest John as they watched him flying into the clouds above them and disappearing out of the view.

“Well, there goes Zazu!" said Honest John, as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Poor Zazu!" Minnie said as her eyes gazed from the open window, and her hand was in front of the window.

Now that Zazu was no use for the monstrous problem, Honest John had something else in mind. So he took out a match and used it to light up a pipe that had been in his mouth the whole time he was present. "Uhh...perhaps we should try a more energetic remedy!"

"Yes!" Kaa replied to Honest John, pointing to his pocket watch, "Anything! Anything, but hurry!"

"I propose that we, uh..."

"Yes! Go on! Yes!"

"I propose that we...YOW!!!" Honest John cried, as he had felt the flame of the lit match burn his fingers.

"By Jove, that's it!" exclaimed the gentleman fox, "We'll burn the house down!"

"Yes!" Kaa replied, chuckling and nodding in response to his suggestion, "Burn the house—WHAT?!" But his eyes widened in shock because he knew that would mean he would lose his house to the burning flames if they would choose to go with it.

"Oh, no!" Minnie said, also alarmed by Honest John's new plan.

Honest John started gathering any of Kaa's valuables that would be used as firewood as he started to sing a joyous tune of his. The first item he picked out was a chair, much to the poor snake's worries.

Honest John: (spoken, laughing) Ho, ho, ho!
(singing) *Oh, we'll smoke the blighter out*
*We'll put the beast to rout*
*Some kindling, just a stick or two*
*This bit of rubbish ought to do*

Honest John picked up a pale pink-colored grandfather clock with disinclined help from Kaa. The clock was tossed into the wall and smashed into thousands of pieces, shocking Kaa. "Oh, dear!" he said fearfully, as Honest John gathered more items with a pink wheelbarrow that belonged to the snake.

Honest John: *We'll smoke the blighter out*
*We'll smoke the monster out*

Minnie was watching the entire scene with her bright black eyes as Kaa scurried over toward Honest John.

"No, no, no! Not my beautiful birdhouse!" he exclaimed, but it was already too late for the anxious snake to stop him. Honest John had already taken a white birdhouse and split it in half, scaring a small group of bluebirds away. He then tossed it into the pile of the destroyed furniture as Kaa bonked his head onto the broken gate.

Honest John: *Oh, we'll roast the blighter's toes*
*We'll toast the bounder's nose*
*Just fetch that gate*
*We'll make it clear that monsters aren't welcome here*

"Oh, me, oh, my!" Kaa said with a nervous look on his face, as he carried the gate over to the pile and placed it there. Then Honest John placed a hand out in front of him, indicating that he needed something from him.

"Match," he said to him.

"Match?" Kaa repeated, as he handed a matchstick to Honest John. Then Honest John used Kaa to light up the match and placed it on the stack of roof shingles and the obliterated furniture.

Honest John: *Without a single doubt*
*We'll smoke the monster out*

Then Kaa sang along, as well.

Kaa: *We'll smoke the monster out*

"Nooo! No! My poor house and furniture!" he exclaimed, as his worries had only heightened due to Honest John's recent action.

White smoke started to rise up from the pile of the furniture, making Minnie feel sorry for the poor snake.

"Oh, dear! This is serious," she said. "I simply must—"

Minnie suddenly let out a short gasp of shock, and her eyes focused on a small garden of carrots located on the left side of the house.

"A garden!" she gasped, as she reached her gigantic hand for a carrot, not noticing Kaa slithering over to the carrot and grabbing hold of it.

"Perhaps if I eat something, it would make me grow small." Minnie strained.

It was a brief struggle, but soon, Minnie lifted the carrot and Kaa from the garden and up toward her face. Kaa was struggling to break free from her grip as he swung around in a panic.

"NO!!! Let go! HELP!!!" he cried fearfully, thinking that he would be eaten by her.

"I'm sorry, but I must eat something." Minnie said to Kaa.

"Not me, you...you...you barbarian!" Kaa shouted, aiming the carrot at Minnie as if it were a sword. Minnie took a big bite of the carrot and the tip fell off, surprising Kaa. He fell off, free from the female's grip.

"Ahh! Monster!" Kaa yelled.

Minnie was shrinking at a very rapid pace, thanks to the carrot she found in Kaa's garden. Honest John was still blowing the smoke in an attempt to make a fire, whereas Kaa was scurrying away from Minnie and tripped over her shrinking foot.

Minnie had shrunken down to the size of a small figure again, just like when she drank the bottle of the multi-flavored liquid.

"Ahh! I’m late!" Kaa exclaimed, as he had taken yet another look at his pocket watch. "Oh, dear! I'm here! I should be there! I'm late! I'm late!"

"I say, do you have a match?" Honest John asked Kaa. However, he was given a rapid handshake by the snake instead.

"Must go! Goodbye! Hello! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" Kaa exclaimed, as he then hurried off on the dirt path and disappeared once again.

Minnie had made her way from underneath the front door, yet she still had to go after Kaa.

"Wait! Please wait!" she exclaimed, running over to the front porch and jumping up and down.

"Ahh, young lady," Honest John said to the miniature female black mouse. "Do you have a match?"

"I'm sorry, but...Mr. Snake!" was all Minnie had to say to Honest John before hurrying off.

Honest John shook his head and raised an eyebrow as his hands were placed on his hips. "No cooperation," he said of Minnie and Kaa. "No cooperation at all. Well, can't have monsters about. Very well have to carry on by myself."

Then Honest John took the broken legs of Kaa's furniture and used them to make a fire, and he blew some smoke once a small flame formed inside the hole of the broken piece.