The two walk a few feet away and practice blowing bubbles.
“Now, tell me how you got thrown back in here—and why you did it.” She looks skeptical. Smart girl.
I came here for you, I want to say. “Jax and I crashed the royal ball.” I lean in close and whisper in her ear. “But don’t worry. You’re safe now. I’m here, and I’m going to get you out.”
I watch her face go from disappointed to ogre-sized angry. “I don’t need you to rescue me. I’m fine! You just couldn’t stand that I was in FTRS without you, could you?”
My jaw drops. I thought she’d be happy I was going to bust her out of here. “Anna, I…”
She steps away. “You need to get to class before the bell. All of you. Go.”
I start to laugh. “You’re giving me orders now?”
“Yep.” Anna points to her uniform collar. My face drops when I see the gold RS stitched onto it. “I can take care of myself just fine.”
What has gotten into her? I grab her hand. “Anna, this isn’t a game. He’s dangerous. You have to stay away from him.”
“You’re the one who should stay away,” Anna says quietly. “Stay out of trouble, Gilly. He’s not a big fan of yours.” Her expression is hard to read. “And at the moment, neither am I.” She heads off with Hansel and Gretel.
I just stand there dumbfounded. What is going on here?
Ollie walks up next to me and shakes his head. “Looks like someone ate a muffin.”
CHAPTER 8
Fairy Yours
I don’t have time to figure out what’s up with Anna because seconds later I hear a pop! and an arched wooden door appears in front of us. There are deep scratches and bite marks in the door and a broken gold nameplate below the small stained glass window that says “Magical Fairy Pets with Professor Flora.”
“Don’t worry about Anna,” Maxine tells me. “I bet she just didn’t have breakfast yet.” She pushes open the door, and I hear an elephant. “Let’s go in! This class will take your mind off everything.”
Jax and I cautiously step over the threshold. It sounds like we’ve entered Enchantasia Zoo. There is a chorus of neighs, baas, squeaks, tweets, and other animal sounds. Ollie steps in after us, and a bird poops on his shoulder.
“Ollie, don’t disturb Porter’s falcon,” says Flora. “He’s agitated already, and I have a class to run.” The former Wicked Stepmother looks exactly as I remembered her—salt-and-pepper gray hair, piercing eyes, and her signature long, bland green petticoat dress. With a wave of a wand—something I’ve never seen her use before—the mess on Ollie’s shoulder disappears. “Take a seat in the front row,” Flora says. She doesn’t ask us what we’re doing back here or say that it’s nice to see us. “And don’t wave your hands around too much in front of the cages. Sasha doesn’t like sudden movements.” We hear a loud roar.
“I hope Sasha’s not looking for an owner,” Jax whispers.
“Me too.” I sit in the front row and turn my body sideways to look around. Anna isn’t in here. Neither is anyone with an RS badge, which may explain why things feel more relaxed. Kids are talking near cages filled with animals. Some kids’ birds fly haphazardly around the room, poking their beaks at the closed windows, while the mermaids’ pets are already inside their tanks. One girl holds a sea horse, and I see another trying to swim away from an anglerfish.
Maxine waits ’til no one is watching, then lets Peaches walk out of her oversize backpack. Jocelyn’s cat, Miss Matched, sees the duck and hisses. There are shelves full of books and jars labeled “Food” that have various critters in them and containers labeled things like “Only for Unicorns,” “Lion Sleeping Pills,” and “In Case of Class Emergency.” A lesson plan is written in tight, neat script on the magical chalkboard.
1. Bond with your fairy pet! The more you get to know each other, the more it will learn to listen to your commands.*
*Please exercise caution. If your fairy pet roars, hisses, bares its teeth, or shoots magic, see Professor Flora immediately.
2. Feed your fairy pet appropriately and at least three times a day, remembering to give it plenty of water.*
*Remember that what goes in must come out…and you are responsible for your pet’s cleanup.
3. Help your fairy pet reveal its magical skills through training. The book Fairy Yours: Unlocking Your Magical Pet’s Talents is quite helpful!*
*If you find your pet trying to mind control you, please seek help ASAP.
4. Fairy pets should not spend the night in your dorm room! They must be returned before bedtime.*
*Fairy pets are still animals. FTRS cannot be held responsible for any mauling, maiming, or other injury that occurs as a result of rule breaking. Stay safe. Put your pet in its cage.
5. Fairy pets are not meant to be used to break school rules or to steal, break, borrow, or destroy another student or teacher’s property.*
*Don’t let them convince you to do these things either. (See footnote under Rule 3.)
6. Fairy pets are not your slaves. They are your companions.*
*If you find yourself questioning whether you have become your pet’s slave, FTRS offers deprogramming services!
I glance at Flora sadly. I can’t believe she’s been reduced to teaching this class. I feel like I should say something to her. I walk over to her desk, where she’s sorting papers.
“Headmistress…I mean, Professor,” I say awkwardly, but Flora doesn’t look up. “I just wanted to say that FTRS doesn’t feel the same without you in charge.”
Flora looks up. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have gotten yourself resentenced.”
Fiddlesticks. She’s not happy. I get it. I lean forward so that I can be heard over the elephant in the room. “I am here to help you. Maybe we could get rid of You-Know-Who together.” I nod knowingly, and Flora frowns.
“Whatever gave you the idea that I needed a child’s help?” Flora says coolly, and my jaw drops. “Especially a child who is so poor at undergoing a transformation that she can’t stay good for more than a month? If I needed a hero to save me, Miss Cobbler, you would not be the one I would call. Take a seat, please.”
My cheeks are burning as I walk back to my chair. I’m mortified. Stiltskin was right. Flora thought I had a hero complex! I guess I was wrong to think we got along.
“Everyone, please take your pets to your desks and we will begin,” Flora says.
People shuffle to their seats holding large cats, a guinea pig, a real pig, and an ostrich, along with a baby elephant and a wolf cub that is licking his lips as he stares at the rabbit on the desk in front of him.
“I hope everyone has had a successful week caring for their fairy pets,” Flora begins. “I’ve long believed this program should be part of the curriculum at FTRS, and I’m pleased Mr. Stiltskin agrees with me.”
“You mean he hasn’t taken it away from you yet,” says a girl in the back row, and we all turn around.
The girl is taller than most of the students in here, and she has pale-yellow eyes and almost-white hair and skin. She mists her face with a spray bottle even though it’s not hot in here. Weird.
“Miss Hayley Holliway, let’s keep comments about our headmaster to yourself,” Flora says stiffly, and I see her glance my way.
“Why?” Hayley asks, clearly enjoying herself. “Does it up my chances of not being asked to be in the Stiltskin Squad?” A few people laugh.
I like this girl.
“Miss Holliway, another outburst and you’ll receive detention,” Flora says. “We have much to cover today. I’d like to hear how you’ve been bonding with your pets and—”
“Mine bit a cafeteria aide,” says a girl holding a raven. “How do I feed Horus?”
A goblin raises his shaky hand. “I’m afraid to take Sasha out of her cage because she looks like she wants to eat me,” he says as he stands next to a cage wit
h a small tiger.
“Mine peed all over Professor Harlow’s office. She was not happy.”
“Miffy eats my lunch and hers! Every day!”
“Professor Flora?” Maxine waves her hand wildly. “The other pets aren’t being nice to Peaches so I think she’d be better off staying in Gilly’s and my room.”
“Let her!” agrees a sprite. The pet cage she’s holding is so tiny that I can’t even see what she has in there. “That duck ate three water bowls, a lamp, and a cabinet of magical pet treats this morning! If she stays in this class, she’ll eat every pet in here—and maybe me.” Peaches burps, and Maxine clutches her tightly.
Flora looks at the ceiling. “And I thought the royal court was hard to deal with,” I could swear I hear her say.
A door to the classroom appears out of nowhere. It flies open, startling the birds, which quickly take flight. One escapes out the door.
“Mother!” Azalea rushes into the room in a bright-yellow ball gown, her hair half in curlers. “Dahlia won’t let me use her fairy hair wand, and mine keeps glitching after only three curls of my hair!” She doesn’t let Flora interrupt. “How am I supposed to finish my hair and put on my tiara for Rapunzel’s arrival?”
Flora sighs. “Class, I will be back in ten minutes. While I’m gone, Gilly, Jax, and Ollie, please let a pet pick you as an owner. If you’re smart, you’ll tell them a little something about yourself so you get a good match.”
“Me first!” Ollie jumps in front of the cages. “‘I’m a pirate who is always up for an adventure. Any takers?” A cage on the top shelf begins to glow, and the bars disappear. A green parrot swoops down and lands on Ollie’s shoulder.
“Squawk! Mine!” the parrot announces, and the class cheers.
Wow, that was easy.
“Jolly good!” Ollie feeds the parrot a treat from a jar on his desk. “Every pirate needs a parrot. How do you like the name Pete after my pirate captain, Pete the Cheat?”
“Squawk! Pete! Pete! Pete!” says the parrot.
“I’ll get this over with next,” says Jax, standing up. “Hi. I’m Jax or Jaxon, and I’m a member of the royal family who has—” A cage on the middle shelf begins to shake and bounce, and then the bars disappear. A small Chihuahua barks like mad, then jumps into Jax’s hands. It’s a small, white dog with a blingy, gold collar. It stands on its hind legs and begins to pirouette. “He’s like a circus dog!”
Ollie got a parrot, the perfect pirate companion. Jax got an adorable dog. Maybe this pet-matching thing is for real. I step forward.
“I’m Gilly.” I eye a cute, fluffy white kitten in a cage. “Let’s see. What can I tell you about me?” I try to rack my brain for something brilliant. “I’m really friendly.”
Ollie snorts. “You mean you’re really bossy.”
“And you are allergic to anything pink and girly,” Kayla adds. “Even if you have a purple streak in your hair.”
Miss Matched purrs in Jocelyn’s lap.
“Don’t forget to mention your hero issues,” Jocelyn says.
“Stop telling them bad stuff about me,” I snap. “That’s my job.”
“I thought your job was making shoes,” Jocelyn says.
I glare at her. “My father makes shoes. Not me.”
I hear a faint bell, but none of the cages are glowing, no bars are evaporating, and no pets are appearing. Where is my pet?
I hear a shriek. Some girls jump up on their chairs while a boy climbs a bookcase. Then I spot a small, brown mouse running across the floor. It stops and sits on my shoe.
“I got a mouse?” I cry. Jocelyn laughs. “I want a do-over!”
The mouse squeaks madly. Maybe it’s unhappy it got me as well.
“Once you’re paired, you’re paired,” Hayley says. She scoops up the mouse, and the other kids move away as she holds the critter out to me. “Now you two should bond.”
“You want me to bond with a mouse?” I say slowly. I’ve always been squeamish about rodents. They hang out in alleys and in garbage pails. They’re not pets.
“Yes.” Hayley pets the mouse’s back. He (or she?) seems to like it. She holds him out to me again, and I hesitantly let the mouse crawl into the palm of my hand.
“He’s cute!” Maxine says encouragingly. Peaches sniffs him, then turns her beak away. Even Peaches doesn’t want any part of him. “What will you name him?”
“No clue.” The mouse feels strange sitting in my hand. He’s got a tail and beady eyes and…he’s a mouse! “I think that’s enough bonding.” I quickly put him down on the table, and he squeaks again. Hayley picks him up and feeds him a small treat.
“Mice are sweet,” Hayley says. “We had a lot of them around where I grew up.” She takes a bottle out of her pocket and mists her face with water.
“Where was that?” Jax asks.
Hayley momentarily looks panicked. “By Gardener’s Lake. My parents are fisherman so we spent a lot of time swimming near the docks. I mean, on them.”
“That’s where my family was from!” Kayla says excitedly. “Have you been to Fairy Hollow? Do you know a fairy named Angelina? That’s my mom!”
Hayley seems uncomfortable. “No, Fairy Hollow was hard to get to.”
Kayla looks puzzled. “It was right by the lake.”
Hayley shakes her head. “Right! Maybe. I can’t remember. Sorry. I’m exhausted. My unicorn likes to be fed at 5:00 a.m.” She motions to a large window. Outside, I see a corral with a unicorn and a few horses.
“You got a unicorn? Why’d I get a lousy mouse?” My mouse scurries over to my hand and nips me. “Oww! You little garbage dweller!” The mouse squeaks angrily.
“Mice don’t actually love garbage—that’s rats,” Hayley says. “Your little guy will love tight spaces. A boot. Some table scraps. He’ll even sleep on your pillow.”
“Absolutely not,” I say. The mouse starts to squeak again.
“What a temper!” Hayley says with a chuckle.
“Me?” I ask.
Hayley looks surprised. “No, your mouse.”
“So what are you in for, Hayley?” Kayla asks.
Hayley shrugs. Some kids don’t like to reveal what they’ve done to get thrown in. “Nothing worth sentencing. I didn’t know it was a crime to watch him on the docks.”
Rumpelstiltskin. We crowd around Hayley who mists herself over and over.
“What did you see?” I ask breathlessly.
“Nothing!” Hayley starts to get upset. “He had a bunch of kids from school loading boxes on and off a boat, and I was watching. All his shipments have been coming out of the Gardener’s Lake docks since he started here. When he saw me, he threw a fit and had the Dwarf Police Squad take me away. I didn’t even get to say good-bye to my family.”
A tear trickles down her cheek, then evaporates into thin air. Odd.
“What was in the boxes?” Jocelyn asks. “Did you see inside one?”
Hayley looks away. “Look, I don’t want any trouble. I am going to do my time and get back to my family before they have to leave. If they do, I’ll never find them.”
She isn’t making sense. She must be nervous. “You can trust us,” I tell her. The annoying mouse squeaks at Hayley in agreement. I think. “What did you see? Please.”
Hayley spritzes herself again. “I didn’t understand why he was so mad. All he had in the box was hay.”
Maxine giggles. “Boxes of hay? How much can our Pegasi eat?”
Jocelyn nudges her. “You fool. He doesn’t care about the Pegasi!”
“Then what does he need hay for?” Maxine asks.
Kayla’s face is grim. “He uses it for spinning hay into gold.”
“I saw one of the Stiltskin Squad members carrying a wad of gold thread in his back pocket,” I tell Jax. “Do you think they’re helping him spin it?”
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“Maybe,” Jax guesses. “I thought the royal court confiscated all his spinning wheels when he moved into the kingdom again. He must have hidden some.”
“Why does he need more gold?” Ollie asks. “He already controls the school.”
“I don’t know,” I say. “But we are going to have to find out.”
CHAPTER 9
Sisters in Arms
“Pitiful. Just pitiful.”
Professor Harlow—who some still like to call the Evil Queen—paces back and forth in front of our fencing team looking particularly menacing in a black-and-dark-blue fencing suit with a paisley silk cape. “We have our first fencing meet against Shining Timbers Academy next week, and most of you can barely master a good jab, let alone win a duel. I don’t even want to be associated with this group!”
“Does that mean you’re going to let Blackbeard take over the club?” I ask hopefully. This is the first time I’ve seen Harlow since I’ve been back. She clearly hasn’t missed me.
“Miss Cobbler, if I had my way, you wouldn’t even have been allowed to try out for the team—repeat FTRS offenders should not be rewarded, in my opinion—but he wanted me to keep an eye on you.” Harlow rolls her eyes. “Watch yourself, or you may find your next dueling partner is me, and I won’t go easy on you.” She whips her cape around herself and whirls away.
“For fairy’s sake, do you have to tick my sister off every time you see her?” Jocelyn asks. “She was so mad she had to let you on the team that she burned dinner last night.”
“What else is new?” I turn to face one of the fencing dummies. “Guess I better practice if I have to face Her Evilness next.” I jab the dummy in the shoulder.
Joining the fencing team was something I didn’t get to do the first time around at FTRS, so I’m excited to try it—even if Stiltskin is keeping an eye on me. I may not know how to beat him or how to get through to Anna, but fencing is something I know I’m good at. It’s time to get to work. What to do first…
The dungeon where we practice is brimming with target dummies wearing fencing gear, and swords of varying lengths line the walls. Some might find the dimly lit room intimidating, but I think it sets the stage for an epic battle. I pull down my helmet and imagine facing an opponent. Suddenly, I feel my sword get knocked out of my hand. A second slash hits me in the arm, and I wince. Even though our swords are bewitched so they can’t cut, they still hurt.