Out of the Wild

  The fairy deflated. “Oh.”

  From the kitchen, the cow protested: “MOOO!”

  Gina smiled brightly. “Actually, we were about to have lunch.”

  Julie couldn’t imagine eating now. Her insides felt like they were churning. “We can’t,” she said. “We have to get home and make sure that the Wild hasn’t grown too much.”

  Dad bowed to the other prince. “I will, of course, cede leadership to you. Sleeping Beauty is your princess. You must be the one to wake her.”

  Sleeping Beauty’s prince shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “Uh, I can’t. You have to understand: outside the Wild, we don’t need our story to change before we can change. Rose and I . . . we knew after the first century that we were turning into two different people. Now Rose has her big lawyer career. And me . . . well, there’s someone else.”

  Rosy cheeks glowing even rosier, the fairy beamed at Sleeping Beauty’s prince. One guess who the “someone else” is, Julie thought. She couldn’t help smiling. They looked so cute and happy, like an ordinary couple . . . Ordinary. Julie gawked, her smile fading as she realized: unlike Bobbi, this fairy didn’t have wings. She used to have wings. Somehow, she must have removed them.

  “Unfathomable,” Dad said.

  Wow, to give up wings . . .

  Jack slung his arm up around Gina’s shoulders. “We’ve found our own happily-ever-afters,” he said. They were a couple too, Julie suddenly realized. Gina must have noticed how nice his laugh was. It was very nice, but Julie couldn’t help wondering, did Gina ever miss her giant height? Did the fairy ever miss her wings? They’d given up a lot for their happily-ever-afters.

  Dad shook his head as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing. “This is your reason for forsaking Sleeping Beauty?”

  And what was Dad’s reason for forsaking his Rapunzel? Only hours after Dad had returned to his true love, he’d run off after a different princess! Julie paused. She didn’t like thinking that about Dad. Maybe he thought he was doing the right thing. Or maybe he just hadn’t thought before he acted, like when he’d picked up the glass slipper. Her eyes slid back to the TV. It had switched from Times Square, thank goodness. The screen now read, Breaking News: Trenton, New Jersey.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” the other prince said. “But I can’t get involved. That story was a nightmare for me too. Do you have any idea what it’s like to kiss someone who’s been asleep for a hundred years? Do you know how much dust can accumulate on someone in that length of time? Not to mention spiderwebs.”

  “Sleeping Beauty is in peril,” Dad said, “and you refuse because you are squeamish?” Squeamish for a reason, Julie thought. Kissing spiderwebs was seriously disgusting.

  “Rose is not in danger,” Gina said. “Bobbi has no reason to kidnap her. They were always cordial. If we simply ask Bobbi what she’s planning—”

  Dad interrupted. “We can ask her nothing if we cannot find her. We do not even know in what direction she went.”

  Julie saw the TV zoom in on a tangle of familiar brown brambles. Thorns, the reporters said, had mysteriously sprouted at a gas station in New Jersey. “South,” Julie exclaimed. “She went south!” She pointed to the TV.

  “A magic portal,” Dad breathed. “Marvelous!”

  “See, that’s proof that it’s not a real kidnapping,” Jack said, nodding at the TV screen. “No one would kidnap someone so easy to find.” Good point, Julie thought. “I’m still thinking the whole thing—the pumpkin spell, the apple coach, the kidnapping—is a practical joke,” Jack insisted.

  “Ooh, very possible,” the fairy said. “Bobbi thinks she’s a whole lot funnier than she is.” Her prince nodded in agreement.

  “Clearly, there has to be some misunderstanding, and we’ll find out what it is,” Gina said soothingly. She patted Dad’s shoulder again. “As you can see, though, there’s no need for you to chase after Sleeping Beauty. We can find her whenever we want simply by looking for thorns. You can go home, spend some time with Zel, and get used to our world.”

  Dad glared at them. “Your ‘world’ has muddied your thinking. It is quite simple: she is in danger now, so she must be rescued at once.”

  “He’s still a hero,” the other prince said a little wistfully.

  The fairy hugged his waist. “So are you, sweet pea.”

  Sleeping Beauty’s prince was right. Dad was still a hero. And he didn’t know how to stop being a hero and start being a father and husband. He should never have chased Sleeping Beauty, and he should never have picked up that glass slipper. Yes, someone did have to ask Bobbi for an explanation, but that someone shouldn’t be Dad. The other fairy-tale characters could track her down easily enough. He needed to get back to his family and learn how to avoid landing on the evening news.

  At least Julie could count on Jack and his friends to talk Dad out of his crazy quest. After giving up so much to lead ordinary lives out of the Wild, they wouldn’t want Dad to expose them.

  “So be it,” Dad said. “I know where to search now. I will complete my quest alone.” Swinging his duffel bag over his shoulder, he strode toward the balcony’s sliding door—and bumped directly into the glass.

  “Wait!” Julie said.

  “Open sesame!” he commanded the door. It didn’t move. He reached forward and slid it open. Wind rushed inside, as well as the street sounds of cars and voices from eleven stories down.

  “No, no, no!” Julie chased after him as he stepped onto the balcony. At that moment, the cow emerged from the kitchen right in Julie’s path. Julie smacked into her broad neck.

  Julie pushed past the cow and raced out onto the balcony as Dad climbed up the railing, mounted the broomstick, and leapt off the balcony. “Dad!” she screamed. She ran to the railing. “Come back! Don’t leave me! Dad!”

  He receded into the sky.

  Chapter Six

  The Fairy’s Gift

  Julie flung herself back inside the apartment. They had to catch him! If they were quick enough, they could still avert disaster. “Can any of you fly?” she demanded.

  Jack, the giantess, the prince, the wingless fairy, and the cow all stared at her.

  “Moo,” the cow said.

  “Anyone have anything that can fly? Broomstick? Magic carpet? Hot air balloon? Dragon, griffin . . . anyone, anything?” Why weren’t they moving? Each second, Dad was flying farther and farther away. What if he hit a plane? What if he crashed into a building? What if he got lost and . . .

  “He hasn’t changed a bit,” Sleeping Beauty’s prince said, his voice full of admiration. “Rapunzel used to be able to rein him in, but no one else could.” Julie caught her breath. Of course he hadn’t changed! He’d been in the Wild for the last five hundred years. How could he have changed?

  “Ten bucks says he shows up here with Sleeping Beauty tomorrow morning,” Jack said. The cow mooed in agreement.

  Grabbing her coat, Julie glared at them. How could her dad leave her here with these people? How could he leave her behind at all? Was he so unused to having a daughter that he’d forgotten about her entirely? “We can’t wait until tomorrow morning! Don’t you get it? He doesn’t know anything about modern life. He doesn’t know how to blend in!”

  “He’ll manage,” Gina said. “I managed.” Her voice was stiff. Jack squeezed her hand, and the former giantess shivered as if shaking off a bad memory.

  Yes, yes, Julie was sure it had been very traumatic, but that wasn’t the problem now. She wanted to scream at them. Why didn’t they get it? “You left the Wild five hundred years before TVs or phones or the Internet. So a peasant saw you, so what? What if someone spots Dad, calls CNN, and he ends up flying a broomstick on the evening news? What if someone interviews him when he lands?” Julie was shaking as she shouted. She’d never talked to grown-ups this way before. Jaws slack, they stared at her, but she plunged on. She had to make them understand. “He doesn’t know how to keep our secret. He doesn’t understand why we’re secret. And even if he
did, he doesn’t know enough to avoid police or reporters. It won’t matter if you don’t have wings or aren’t a hundred feet tall once Dad starts talking. You won’t be safe in your classy cow-themed apartment anymore.”

  For an instant, there was silence. Julie felt her face flush tomato red. Had she gone too far?

  “I’m sorry, Gina,” Jack said, releasing her hand, “but the kid is right.” Yes! Kid? “We can’t let him wander around by himself out there.”

  “Moo,” the cow agreed.

  Julie exhaled and felt her knees wobble. Good. Very, very good. They were going to go after Dad. She sagged against the wall as the grown-ups began to discuss logistics. “I can enchant the carpet to fly,” the fairy said. She pointed at the cow-patterned rug.

  Gina shook her head. “We’d be seen,” she said. “We should drive. He’s chasing the coach, so he’ll be following roads anyway.”

  “So, who has wheels?” Jack asked.

  As they argued about transportation, Gina patted Julie on the shoulder. “We’ll have everything sorted out soon,” she said. “Why don’t you grab a bite to eat before we hit the road? Or use the bathroom?” Julie began to protest, but Gina cut her off. “Don’t worry, sweetie. We’ll find him. All we need to do is follow the thorns, remember?”

  Fine. But if they didn’t leave in two minutes, she’d . . . She wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Something. Julie ducked into the closet-sized bathroom. The shower curtain had a picture of a pasture, of course, and the toilet sported a black-and-white cow-pattern seat. She listened to the fairy-tale characters argue and tried not to worry. Every minute it took to bring Dad back was another minute until someone checked on the Wild. Was it still small enough to cut back? Had it eaten her entire house? Was Boots okay? Was Gillian?

  Julie heard the doorbell buzz. Not more people! How many friends had Gina invited? She’d better make sure the new additions didn’t slow them down. Pulling her coat on, she put her hand on the doorknob as a muffled voice said, “Police.”

  She froze.

  Oh, no.

  She heard footsteps, a door creak, and a cut-off “moo”—they were hiding the cow. “Stay there,” she heard Jack say in a quiet voice. He was right outside the bathroom door. Julie backed away from the door and bumped up against the toilet.

  “Gentlemen!” Gina said brightly. “How can we help you?”

  “We had a report of an . . . incident on your balcony.”

  Julie didn’t breathe. An incident on the balcony. Dad. They’d seen Dad.

  “No incident here, sorry,” Gina said. “Balcony is totally fine. Maybe you want the apartment upstairs?” Julie heard a thump. Maybe Gina had tried to shut the door, and the policeman had stopped it? Or maybe the cow had fallen over.

  “Our informant specifically cited this apartment.” Informant? What informant? Julie thought of the cabdriver, the hundreds of people in Times Square, the pedestrians on the sidewalk below . . . It could have been anyone. The number of people who had seen Dad act like a fairy-tale character was frightening. “A man was seen jumping from your apartment balcony.”

  “Oh my goodness,” Gina cried, her voice ringing with sincerity. “Someone jumped from a balcony? Was he hurt? It’s eleven stories! How could anyone—”

  “Please don’t play games with me, ma’am,” the policeman interrupted. “This man flew from your balcony on a broomstick.”

  Julie heard laughter. It sounded real. She wondered how many times they’d faced situations like this before. How often did they have to pretend that something extraordinary hadn’t just happened? “A broomstick?” Jack sputtered. “Wait—I know. The guys at the office sent you. You’re not really cops.”

  Though her heart was thudding against her rib cage, Julie smiled. Wow, they were good. Maybe they would make it through this. Maybe the policemen would leave without investigating any further.

  “We have a warrant to search your apartment,” a second voice said.

  Oh, no. Out in the apartment, the laughter died. Julie backed up against the shower curtain. She had to hide. Where? Behind the shower curtain? In the tub?

  “Search for what?” she heard Jack say. “You think we have magic beans in the medicine cabinet or something?”

  Magic beans. Medicine cabinet. Jack was giving her a message—she couldn’t let anyone find the beans! Julie sprang out of the shower and opened the medicine cabinet. Tylenol. Deodorant. NyQuil. She rooted through the shelf. Beans, beans . . .

  “Sir! There’s a cow in the closet!”

  She heard a shrill “Moo!”

  “Don’t hurt her!” Jack cried.

  Scuffled footsteps. “I’m placing all of you under arrest—”

  “So we violated our lease,” Gina said. “We’re allowed to have a pet. She’s just a little over the poundage limit. You can’t arrest us for that!”

  Hands shaking, Julie kept searching through the cabinet. If the police found an actual fairy-tale item here, Jack and Gina would never be able to talk their way out of this . . . Julie spotted a small unmarked medicine bottle filled with lima-bean-sized beans. Yes! As she pulled it out, she knocked other pill bottles off the shelf. They fell and clattered in the sink. She froze.

  “Who’s in the bathroom?”

  Her heart thumped wildly. Oh, no, no, no. Footsteps, and then the doorknob rattled. “Open up!” the voice said. “We know you’re in there!”

  What should she do? What could she do? She shoved the pill bottle into her coat pocket. “Just a minute!” she said. Think, Julie, think! She lunged for the toilet and flushed. You couldn’t get arrested for having to pee, right?

  “She’s just a kid,” Jack said. “You don’t need to arrest her.”

  “Come out, kid,” the man said.

  Trying to make her voice sound even younger, she said, “Am I in trouble?” She didn’t have to fake her voice shaking. It shook on its own.

  “You’re scaring her,” the fairy said. “She didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not like she’s in there riding around on a flying carpet.”

  “Hey, what was that?” one man said.

  “What?” the other said.

  “I saw sparkles . . .”

  Julie felt a tug under her feet. She looked down. Sparkles swarmed over her sneakers. The bath mat writhed underneath her. Suddenly, it shot up. Julie fell off it backward as it spurted out from under her.

  The fairy had enchanted the bath mat!

  Quickly, Julie threw open the bathroom window, stepped onto the toilet seat, and grabbed the flying bath mat. She swung herself on. Behind her, the lock popped out on the bathroom door. Flattening onto her stomach, Julie zoomed out the window as the bathroom door burst open.

  Chapter Seven

  Zel

  Zel heard buzzing. She opened her eyes to find her face pressed against an orange shag rug. What was she doing—

  Bobbi’s wand! She’d been enchanted!

  She tried to leap to her feet. Several hands grabbed her arm. “Steady! Steady! You’ve been a pumpkin. Take it slow.” Zel focused in on the speaker: one of Snow White’s seven dwarves. He helped her stand.

  Zel frowned at him. “You were asleep,” she said groggily. She looked around. All seven dwarves were now awake, and the thorn brambles had withered to a mat of scattered leaves. She shook her head, feeling as if she was clearing away a fog. Why were the dwarves awake? Why had the thorns died? “Did someone wake Sleeping Beauty?”

  “She was either awakened or moved,” Gothel said behind her. “The thorns would fade in either case.”

  Where was Prince? And where was Julie? Zel looked around, and her heart squeezed. She didn’t see Julie. Where was she? “Julie? Julie!” Zel took a step toward the door. Her head spun, and the buzzing sound switched to frantic beeping.

  One of Snow’s seven slapped an alarm clock, and the beeping stopped. “We tricked the spell,” he explained. “We changed the clock to midnight and set the alarm—when the clock ‘struck’ twelve, you woke.??
?

  “Clever,” Gothel said admiringly.

  Walk, Zel commanded her legs. Walk! She hobbled to the door. “Julie!” She turned back to Snow’s seven. “Where did she go? Is she okay?”

  The dwarves hesitated and looked at each other. “There were only two pumpkins when we woke,” one of them said.

  Zel felt cold. Only two . . . She clutched the side of the door. “Julie!” She turned back to her mother and the dwarves. “Maybe she was turned into something else. Help me look,” she commanded.

  Gothel yanked sheets off the bed and overturned pillows. “When I find that fairy godmother,” she said, “I am turning her into a cockroach.”

  “If she so much as touched one hair on Julie’s head, I’ll help you,” Zel said, fighting to keep the fear out of her voice. Julie had to be okay. She had to be. Maybe they had gone for help. Maybe she and Prince had gone home. Hurrying to the motel room phone, Zel wiped her sweating palms on her pants and dialed the house.

  One ring. Two. Three. Four . . . The answering machine should be picking up. Why wasn’t it picking up? Julie, Julie, Julie, please be all right! Why wasn’t Boots answering? Prince had cut through the thorns to reach Sleeping Beauty. Was that enough of a fairy-tale moment to cause the Wild to grow? Had the Wild covered enough of the house to cut off the phone?

  “I’ll turn her into a cockroach and drop her into the sewer,” Gothel promised.

  Oh, God, what if Julie had gone home and the Wild had grown while she was there? Legs still shaking, Zel ran for her car. “Search here!” she called over her shoulder.

  “Take my broomstick!” Gothel called. “I’ll get it!”

  “It’s daylight!” Zel objected. “People will see!” But Gothel didn’t listen to her. She darted into the motel lobby to fetch her broom as Zel unlocked her car.

  As Zel shoved the key into the ignition, Gothel burst back outside. “My broomstick is gone! That fairy godmother”—she said the name like an insult—“stole it!”

  Bobbi wouldn’t have stolen her broomstick. What did a fairy godmother need with a witch’s broomstick? She had wings. Plus she could instantly zap herself from place to place. She didn’t need any kind of help in the transportation department.