Sir Egbert 'Fuffy Pants' Rotter could not sleep. Just as he was drifting off, one of the dogs barked. He got up and went to the window. The dog stopped barking. He went back to bed. But moments later, the dog barked again. He got up and shook his fist out of the window.

"Silence! Stop that hullabaloo, you dratted dog!"

Sir Rotter tried sleeping on his back, but the light from the moon kept him awake. He pulled his sleeping cap over his eyes. It hurt his ears. He tried sleeping on his tummy, but now his neck hurt. The real problem was his tummy was too full of burritos. Eating so many made him 'fuffy.' No one dared to say that Sir Rotter was, well, stinky. But just about everyone knew he was.

Sir Rotter sat up in his huge four-poster bed. It was a cold night. If he wasn't going to sleep, he thought he might as well have another burrito.

"Servants! Servants!" cried Sir Rotter "Bring me the finest burritos in the castle! Bring me the very best grilled cheese sandwich! I want the crispiest chips and the strongest apple cider!"

There came no answer. Although the servants were in bed nearby, no one wanted to attend to Sir Rotter after he'd been eating so many burritos. They didn't secretly call him Fuffy Pants for nothing. And he had awful table manners.

"Servants! You lazy lumps of lard! Fetch me more burritos, now!"

"You'd better go," said Plonk, the bigger servant. "He might even come in here if you don't."

"Why do I have to go?" said Bobble, who was tucked up and comfy in his little bed with his stuffed alligator.

"Because it's your turn," said Plonk.

"Let's pretend we're asleep," said Bobble.

But it was too late: footsteps outside. Quick as a flash, they hid under their beds. The door burst open. There was no mistaking the smell of Sir Rotter.

"Where are you, you pudding-headed lazybones!" he yelled.

This made Bobble almost burst into tears. But under his bed he kept quiet and cuddled his fuzzy alligator. Sir Rotter turned on his heel and left.

He stamped down the spiral steps, across the Great Hall, and down, down, down into the castle kitchen to the big black burrito pantry. He opened the large creaking doors. It was empty. Was he dreaming? He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He banged his head against the door. Ouch! No, this was not a dream.

"Blasted burrito burglars!" he cried.

He dashed up the staircase, back across the Great Hall, out along the battlements to the bell tower. He swung on the bell rope with all his might. Bong! Bong! Bong!

In the tower, the guards woke up and 
blundered downstairs. Renzy seized the moment. He lowered himself through the trapdoor into the guard room. He tiptoed down the long winding stone steps. People rushed past him on the landing. They were so sleepy they kept bumping into each other. No one paid attention to Renzy. Except for the guards, all the other people in the castle were in their pajamas.

Renzy peeked through the doorway at the foot of the stairs. Then someone pushed him from behind. He fell forward into the crowd pushing its way into the Great Hall.

Sir Rotter stood up on the highest table. He was cross. He was very cross. His purple face looked like a dried prune. His nose twitched. His eyebrows went up and down. His ears waggled, and steam shot out. For a few moments he said nothing. His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. He stamped his foot.

"There are no more burritos in the kitchen!" he shouted at the frightened crowd. "I will not rest. No! You will not rest until my larder is again full up with burritos. Now go!"

No one moved. This was because they didn't know what he meant. And everyone was afraid to ask the angry knight. Sir Rotter barked, "Get on with it! Get going!"

A young boy finally broke the silence.

"Go where, Sir Knight, sir?"

"To get burritos, of course! You nincompoop!"

This hurt the boy's feelings. He didn't like to be called a nincompoop. But he was a brave boy and didn't say anything.

"And where shall we buy them?" asked the brave boy.

"Buy them! Buy them! I demand burritos! You are all to search the land. Take any burritos you can find. Bring them to me. Now go!" he boomed.

Everyone rushed out of the Great Hall. Everyone, that is, except the boy.

"But isn't that wrong, Sir Knight, sir?"

"What!" screamed Sir Rotter.

"Isn't it wrong to take burritos that are not yours, Sir Knight, sir?"

Sir Rotter leered at him. "What's your name, boy?"

"My name is Renzy."

"Listen to me, Renzy. I am Sir Rotter. No one challenges me. Do you hear? NO ONE CHALLENGES ME! You impudent young rascal! You will pay. You will go to my dank, dark, stinking dungeon. You will have only Brussels sprouts to eat. You will take two naps a day. No! You will take three naps a day on the cold stone floor- with no blanket. You shall be tied to the tickling chair and be tickled until you BEG FOR MERCY-and worse! Guards! Guards! To the dungeon with him!"

But the guards had gone. Everyone else had gone in search of burritos. Renzy didn't waste a moment. He ran. He was down the steps and across the courtyard in a flash.

"Stop him!" yelled Sir Rotter from an upstairs window.

"Pull up the drawbridge," commanded the gate captain. But Renzy was half way across when it started to rise. He made a flying leap, and landed with a splat in the soft mud on the other side of the moat.

"Find the boy!" yelled Sir Rotter.

But Renzy ran into the nearby forest. No one from the Black Castle would go there after dark because they had heard the stories of savage monsters, strange plants with claws and trees that hop about dangerously. But Renzy did not know of these stories. He was glad to have escaped Sir Rotter's guards. Only now he realized he was all alone in the dark wood. He shivered.

It was very quiet. It was so dark that at first he couldn't see anything. Eventually, his eyes began to get used to the darkness and he could make out the shapes of the thick tree trunks. He was in a clearing. Gigantic roots lay across the forest floor. If he wasn't mistaken, he could see a dim orange light ahead.

Snap! A creeper wrapped around his leg. It catapulted him upward. He dangled upside down from a branch of a bandit tree. A moment later he heard a wolf howl. And then another one, and then another.

They were coming.