Freddie flashed a fake smile. “Good one.”
“So,” Ally went on, “I was just wondering, if you wouldn’t mind, of course, if you would kindly tell me how to get people to come to my fund-raiser.” She stopped and then, as though remembering, quickly added, “Thank you very much.”
The shadow snake converged into a ball of purple light, which bounced over the cards before slowing to a stop. Then the light seemed to be pondering its next move. It hovered tentatively between two cards.
Ally looked anxiously at Freddie. “What’s happening?”
“Shhh. The cards are thinking.”
Both girls stared in awe at the light as it finally made a decision and sank into its chosen card, which pulsated wildly in response.
“Go ahead,” Freddie said, encouraging Ally. “Pick it. See what it says.”
Hesitantly, Ally reached out and plucked the glowing card. She flipped it over on the table so both girls could see.
On the face of the card was a picture of a large stone castle with blue and yellow flags hanging from the turrets.
Ally leapt out of her chair in excitement. “That’s the dorm of Auradon Prep!” Then her thoughts seemed to catch up to her and her excitement melted into confusion. “Wait, how does that help me get people to my party?”
Freddie caught her arm and pulled her back down. “Just wait. Watch.”
“Watch what?” Ally asked, glancing at the card. “I don’t—” But her words were cut off when the picture on the card suddenly came to life. Just as the other one had done in response to Freddie’s question, the image started to move, and soon the girls were no longer looking at the front of the Auradon Prep dormitory. The image traveled through the entrance of the castle and up the curving staircase to the second floor.
“What’s it doing?” Ally asked.
“It’s telling us what to do.”
The moving picture on the card traveled down a long corridor before finally stopping at a door, which Freddie instantly recognized as the entrance to Evie and Mal’s dorm room. She felt her throat constrict at the memory of Mal ignoring her that afternoon at the lockers. Freddie wished she could figure out a way to get Mal on her side again.
“I don’t understand,” Ally said, interrupting Freddie’s thoughts. “Why’d it stop?”
Freddie blinked and focused on the Shadow Card in front of her. The image was frozen on the door to Mal and Evie’s room.
“That’s where you need to go to find what you’re looking for,” Freddie said.
“But why? How am I going to get people to my party by going to Mal and Evie’s room?”
Freddie shrugged. “I guess you’ll find out when you get there.”
“Me?” Ally asked, sounding surprised. “Aren’t you coming with me?”
Freddie gathered up the cards and returned them to her pocket. “Nah. I think my work here is done.”
Ally looked like she was going to cry again. “Oh, but you can’t make me go on my own! You have to come with me. Mal still terrifies me a little, and I don’t think Evie likes me quite much.”
“Uh, I don’t have to do anything.”
Ally stomped her foot. “I won’t let you into the Auradonnas unless you come with me.”
That made Freddie angry. She did not like being threatened. She crossed her arms over her chest. “That was not our deal.”
“That’s right,” Ally said, challenging her. “Our deal was that I will only let you into the group if we raise enough money for the costumes. So it’s in your best interest to help me do that.”
Freddie hated to admit it, but Ally was right. That was what they had shaken on. But hanging out with Ally was certainly not how Freddie imagined spending her evening.
Desperate times call for evil measures.
Hopefully I can count on my fellow VKs.
Fifteen minutes later, Ally and Freddie were standing outside Mal and Evie’s closed dorm room door, taking turns peering through the keyhole.
When it was Freddie’s turn to look, she was relieved to find that Mal wasn’t inside. She was probably off helping Ben prepare for his royal Auradon tour. Freddie was glad she didn’t have to deal with her right then. She had enough things on her plate. She didn’t need to be reminded that Maleficent’s daughter was barely talking to her.
Through the tiny keyhole, Freddie could see that Evie was alone in the dorm room, studying. She was reciting chemistry formulas aloud, like she was trying to commit them to memory.
“What now?” Ally whispered beside Freddie in the hallway.
To be honest, Freddie wasn’t sure. She was starting to understand the mysterious Shadow Cards a little better. They didn’t seem to want to tell you exactly what to do to get what you wanted; they just kind of pointed you in the right direction. The rest was up to you.
Like how they didn’t actually tell her to use the Shadow Cards with Ally to get into the Auradonnas; they just showed her the tea shop. And now they weren’t telling Ally why the two of them were standing in the hallway, staring though a keyhole; Freddie just knew that the answer was somewhere inside that room.
Freddie bit her lip and pressed her face harder against the doorknob, scanning the room in search of something that might give them a clue to how they were going to get people to attend the fund-raiser. But nothing seemed terribly obvious.
Freddie sighed and backed away from the door. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Ally whisper-yelled. “How could you not know? You’re the one with the magic cards!”
Freddie panicked at the mention of her cards in that public place. She shot looks over both shoulders. “Shhh! Not so loud! Do you want the entire school to know we’ve been using shadow magic? Do you want Headmistress Fairy Godmother to find out?” Freddie took a deep breath and attempted to reign in her temper. “Besides,” she went on, “I think the person who asks the question is supposed to interpret the answer.”
Ally cocked her head, looking confused. “But how am I supposed to interpret the answer?”
Freddie motioned toward the keyhole. “Just look again.”
Ally sighed. “Well, I suppose it’s fitting. Mum did once travel through a keyhole.”
Freddie had no idea what Ally was talking about. She could never tell if the girl was for real or not. So she just smiled and nodded. “Great. So take a look and see if anything catches your attention.”
Ally bent down and closed one eye so she could peer through the small hole.
“What do you see?” Freddie prompted her.
“I see a dorm room,” Ally said, defeated.
“Look closer,” Freddie said encouragingly.
“I see Evie checking her reflection in her magic mirror. Now she’s talking to the mirror,” Ally reported, her face still glued to the door.
“What is she saying?” Freddie asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t really hear.” Then Ally gasped and pulled away from the door, staring wide-eyed at Freddie. “Do you think she’s asking it a question? Like a magic question? She’s not supposed to do that, you know? She got in trouble for using the mirror to cheat in class.”
Freddie had heard about that. It was before she came to Auradon. Evie had been asking the mirror complex science questions, and the mirror had shown her the answers. Chad Charming eventually turned her in for cheating, and Fairy Godmother made Evie promise not to use the mirror for magic anymore. But Freddie knew for a fact that Evie occasionally broke that promise.
“Have you ever asked it a question?” Ally asked curiously.
Freddie shook her head. “The mirror never worked on the Isle of the Lost.”
“I would ask the mirror how to get people to my fund-raiser.”
“You already asked the Shadow Cards that,” Freddie pointed out.
“Yes,” Ally admitted, “but so far, I’m not overly impressed with the results. I’m starting to think those cards of yours don’t really work.”
“Hey!” Freddie cros
sed her arms in defiance. “They work.”
“Not very well. I mean, we’ve been standing out in this hallway for more than ten minutes and we still don’t know why,” Ally reasoned. “If we had asked Evie’s mirror, we would have had an answer already. That’s powerful magic. People would pay good money for that kind of immediate…” Ally’s voice trailed off.
But Freddie barely noticed. She was still bristling from the insult to her cards. “Well, if you’re so enamored by Evie’s magic mirror, why don’t you just get her to help you?”
“That’s it!” Ally cried. “Evie’s magic mirror!”
Freddie scoffed. “Fine. Do whatever you want. But don’t come asking for my help again.” She started to stalk off down the hallway, but Ally ran to catch up to her and pulled her to a stop. “No! You don’t understand. The cards! Evie’s dorm room! The mirror! Talking caterpillars, it’s brilliant!”
“You’re right,” Freddie grumbled. “I don’t understand.”
“That’s how we’re going to get people to the tea party fund-raiser!” Ally exclaimed. “We’ll host a raffle! People can buy tickets and the winner gets a chance to ask Evie’s magic mirror a question!”
Mirror, mirror in my hand,
Hope this party goes as planned.
It took some convincing over dinner, but Evie finally agreed to allow one raffle prizewinner to ask her magic mirror a question.
“Well, it is for a good cause,” Evie said, smiling at Ally and Freddie. “And good is the new bad, right?”
“Exactly!” Ally said, and disappeared to her dorm room to send out a new ZapChat about the party.
By breakfast the next morning, kids were already talking about the fund-raiser and what question they were going to ask the mirror when they won the raffle. The RSVPs were pouring in by the minute, and Jordan even decided to feature the fund-raiser on her Web show.
“This is going to be wondrous!” Ally exclaimed as she put the finishing touches on the cake she was frosting that afternoon.
The fund-raiser was scheduled to start in less than ten minutes, and the crew—Mal, Evie, Jordan, Freddie, Lonnie, and Audrey—had come to help her finish setting up.
Everyone in the group had been assigned a task around the teahouse. Lonnie was setting up her DJ equipment in the corner; Audrey was tying satin ribbons around the flower vases; Mal and Evie were transferring iced cookies onto platters; and Freddie was lighting little tea candles in the center of each table.
“Is everything ready?” Ally asked.
“Ready,” everyone responded in unison.
Freddie returned her pack of matches to the pocket of her dress. That matchbook was one of her favorite possessions. She’d taken it from the Bass Notes and Beignets jazz club she’d visited in the bayou with CJ. She liked keeping the matchbook on her because it reminded her of her dream to become a jazz singer. And every time she looked at it, she felt the dream grow stronger.
“Uh, quick question,” Evie said, holding up a cookie Ally had decorated. “Why does this cookie say ‘please take nourishment from me’?”
“Oh!” Ally replied with excitement. “Mum says the cookies in Wonderland say ‘eat me’ on them, but I thought that was a tad bit rude. So I made them more polite.”
Evie cocked her head to the side to study the cookie.
“Don’t even try to figure it out,” Freddie whispered. “The girl lives in la-la land.”
“Now, Dino,” Ally was saying sternly to the cat, who had just appeared from the kitchen, “I want you to be a good, polite kitty today. Don’t eat off anyone’s plate. Don’t sip anyone’s tea, even if it’s chamomile, your favorite. Don’t insult anyone. And remember to put all your rubbish in the bin.”
“See what I mean?” Freddie whispered to Evie. “She thinks the cat can understand her.”
“Well, of course he can understand me.” Ally had clearly heard the last part. “I’m speaking proper English, aren’t I?”
The cat let out a meow and leapt onto the cake table, immediately sticking out his tongue to try to lick the frosting. “No!” Ally cried, shooing him away. “Naughty kitty! Very rude kitty!”
Freddie shot Evie an “I told you so” look. Evie just giggled and placed the cookie in question back on the plate.
The guests, including the rest of the members of the Auradonnas, started to arrive a few minutes later, and by five p.m. the tea shop was packed and the party was in full swing. People were eating cake, drinking tea, dancing to Lonnie’s Wonderland-themed music, and buying so many raffle tickets they sold out and Ally had to make more.
Halfway through the party, Freddie grabbed a “please take nourishment from me” cookie and sidled up next to Ally, who was standing in the far corner of the shop, surveying the party.
“So, pretty good, huh?” Freddie asked. “The cards really came through for you, didn’t they?”
But then Freddie noticed that Ally didn’t look very happy. She looked more worried. “Yes, but do you think there might be too many people?”
“It’s a fund-raiser,” Freddie reminded her. “There can never be too many people at a fund-raiser. Just look at all the money you’ve made for the new costumes.”
“I suppose,” Ally said, still sounding hesitant. “But people do look a little squished.”
Freddie peered into the crowd. She had to admit that Ally had a point. It was getting a little stuffy in there. There were so many bodies crammed inside the tea shop she could barely see the black-and-white checkered rug on the floor anymore. And people were still streaming through the door. In fact, every time someone new entered, the giant mass of bodies seemed to migrate toward Ally and Freddie.
“There are people here that I’ve never even seen before,” Ally said as a group of giggling girls pushed up against them. Ally quickly stepped onto the silk chaise longue next to her to avoid getting trampled.
“Yeah,” Freddie said, joining her atop the chair. “I heard people have been driving in from halfway across the kingdom.”
From that higher vantage point, Freddie had a much better view of the room. It was pretty crazy in there. There wasn’t an inch of available space. People were pressed against the walls and crammed into corners. Even the kitchen was full.
“Maybe we should stop letting people in,” Ally suggested.
“Are you kidding?” Freddie replied. “We can’t do that! You asked the cards how to get people to your party, and now there are people at your party!”
“Yes, but—”
“And the more people you have,” Freddie reminded her, “the more money you’re going to make from the raffle and the better costumes you’re going to be able to buy for the finale.”
Ally pursed her lips, looking conflicted. “Well, perhaps we should at least move all the furniture into the back. Just to make some more room.”
Freddie nodded. “Good idea.”
With the help of Mal and Evie, the girls were able to push all the couches, lounges, chairs, and tables through the crowd and into the back room, which was empty apart from a bunch of plumbing pipes and cleaning equipment. It was a tight squeeze, and they had to stack the furniture and shove it against the wall, but they were able to make it all fit.
“Ah,” Ally said, letting out a breath when she saw how much more room there was. “Loads better.”
A few hours later, after they’d sold more than three hundred raffle tickets, the winner was chosen. It was a girl who’d come all the way from South Riding and had heard about the party from Jordan’s Web show.
She chose to ask the mirror which boy she should invite to an upcoming dance at her school. The mirror revealed a handsome brunette with dimples. It was clearly the right choice, because the girl squealed in delight when she saw his face in the glass.
After the last cookie had been consumed and the last cup of tea had been drunk, slowly the tea shop started to empty out until just Ally and Freddie were left.
Ally let out a contented sigh as she finished counting
the money in the cash box. “Wow. I can’t believe how much we raised! We’re going to be able to buy the best costumes ever!” She glanced at Freddie, who was licking frosting off her cake fork. “Thank you for helping me, Freddie. You’re a good friend.”
Friend?
Freddie bristled at the word and nearly choked on her frosting. She peered suspiciously around the tea shop to make sure there were no lingering guests to have heard Ally say that. She refused to get a reputation around there for being friends with AKs.
Freddie swallowed. “I didn’t do anything. Thank the cards.”
Ally shook her head. “But you were the one who read the cards. And you were the one who came with me to Evie’s room and helped me convince her to let us use her mirror as a raffle prize. You did a lot!”
Freddie didn’t want to remind Ally that she had done those things so she could get into the Auradonnas. She didn’t think that would go over very well. So she just mumbled, “Yeah, well, that’s what friends are for.” Then she cleared her throat and casually added, “So, then, I guess I’ll see you at Auradonnas practice in a few days?”
Dino emerged from under the dessert table and let out a soft meow. Ally smiled and bent down to scoop him into her arms. “Yup. See you at practice!”
Freddie grinned wildly as she headed for the door of the tea shop. She was feeling pretty proud of herself. She’d done exactly what the cards had told her to do: she’d come to the tea shop; she’d granted Ally a favor; and now she was going to get exactly what she wanted.
She was going to be a member of the Auradonnas!
But just before she reached the exit, she suddenly remembered something and spun back around. “One more thing,” she said with a serious tone. “You can’t tell anyone that we used the cards, okay?”
Ally was already off in her own world again, snuggling the cat and whispering nonsense into his ear. “Hmmm?” she asked, barely looking up.
Freddie walked over to Ally and snapped her fingers in front of Ally’s face.
“Pay attention. This is important. Unless you want to get us both kicked out of Auradon Prep, you can’t tell a single soul about the Shadow Cards.”