Tricked Page 14

  “What just happened?” Maxine asks.

  “Magic,” explains the goose. “Eating a golden egg will transform you—for a little while at least.”

  Jax takes the egg from Maxine. “If that’s true, Stiltskin may believe Peaches is the golden goose. Especially if we make him think Peaches laid this golden egg.”

  “Trick him at his own game,” Kayla agrees. “That could work!”

  As I stare at Peaches, I think of what Red said about her mock magic capes: sometimes you just have to believe something is real to make it true. Maybe I need to start believing in myself. I’m a smart girl. Maybe I can out-trick Rumpelstiltskin. If I can do that, who knows what else I’m capable of?

  “I think you’re right,” I add. “If we have the egg, and Peaches’s magic holds, we might be able to convince Stiltskin this is actually the golden goose.”

  “But what if he can see us and he knows what we’re up to?” Hayley asks worriedly.

  “Child, he can’t see in here,” the goose says. “He may have seen your quest, but what happens in this castle is only mine to view. Since you are honoring the sacredness of this place, I will honor your quest and offer you this golden egg as a reward to do with as you please.”

  “He doesn’t know if the goose is really golden colored, does he?” Ollie asks.

  “Even if he does, we can fix that,” Jocelyn says. She waves her hand over Peaches, and the duck’s feathers turn as golden as the golden goose’s.

  “I think this could work,” I say excitedly.

  “I hope it will for all our sakes,” the goose says. “In return for allowing me to remain here, I will see to it that your path home is a quick and uneventful one. And, Kayla? My regards to your mother. I have a feeling you will be seeing her very soon.”

  Kayla’s eyes well with tears. “Thank you. I hope so.”

  Jax smiles at me. “Let’s go home and take back our school.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Tricky Business

  It takes a day’s time, but before we know it, Red has led us to the edge of school grounds. “This is as far as I can take you,” she says.

  Fairy Tale Reform School stands tall in the near distance. I can tell something is different about the place the minute I lay eyes on the school. It’s not just that the protective bubble shield is down—maybe to let us back in?—but there is a new black wrought-iron gate that wasn’t there when we left, and the grounds are eerily quiet for the middle of the day. The students are not out playing, and the Pegasus stables look locked up tight. It’s like the school has been abandoned.

  “Where are you headed, Red? Back in there?” Ollie nods to the Hollow Woods.

  Red pushes her long hair away from her face and smiles. “Yes. I like those woods a lot more than the village. Taking orders at the shop, being crammed in a tiny house rather than having a whole forest for my home—it’s suffocating.”

  “But people love Red’s Ready for Anything shop,” Kayla says. “You are going to reopen, right?”

  “Of course,” Red says. “I know the village needs that shop now more than ever. Shoppers want to buy into the legend of Little Red Riding Hood because it makes them feel safer, even if at the end of the day, I’m just a girl who fought off a wolf. Just like you all fought off a bandersnatch. But we’re all more than just our conquests, aren’t we? Neither thing can define you if you don’t let it.”

  Maybe I don’t have to follow in Father’s footsteps if I don’t want to.

  The only question is: What do I want?

  The air on my face, the thrill and fear of adventure, the feeling I get when I pull off an impossible feat—those are the feelings I crave. I just have to figure out what path will give me those things. “Thanks,” I tell Red. “I needed someone to say that.”

  She looks at me. “The only person you have to be true to is yourself.” She glances at the bow and arrow on my shoulder. “You can keep that.”

  “I couldn’t,” I say. “You need a spare.”

  “I’ll make a new one,” Red says. “I think this one suits you, and it might come in handy at some point. You surprised me out there.” She looks at each of us. “You all did.” A wolf howls in the distance, and Red slings her bow over her arm. “That’s my cue. Send Wolfington my regards.”

  “We will,” I say, “and thank you. For everything.”

  Red pulls her brown hood over her head and looks at the goose riding in Jax’s pack (we didn’t want Stiltskin to see Maxine with Peaches). “Good luck in there. I hope the golden goose gets you what you want.” With a nod, we watch Red retreat into the shadows. I keep my eye on her ’til she blends into the forest.

  We’re alone again. I hike the quiver higher on my back and hear the arrows clink. The feel of the bow in my hand gives me a certain calm.

  “Let’s go give Stiltskin his prize,” I say, walking toward the gates.

  I think about blowing the lock off with an arrow. It would look cool, but my aim is still lousy. I’m relieved when the gate opens magically on its own.

  “Uh-oh.” Maxine nods to Peaches. The duck is oblivious to the fact her disguise is fading. For a split second, she looks like her ugly duckling self. Then her goose disguise takes over again. A single golden feather falls to the ground and turns white.

  Kayla swoops it up. “I’ll hold on to that.”

  “We still haven’t figured out how we’re going to get Peaches back after we hand her over,” Maxine says anxiously as we cross the moat. “We can’t leave her with him.”

  “We’ll think of something,” Hayley promises.

  Hansel and Gretel are waiting at the front doors. They’ve got on special gold RS uniforms.

  “What do you rejects want?” Hansel asks.

  Jax turns around, revealing the pack on his back and Peaches, who thankfully does not quack and give herself away. “To give Mr. Stiltskin what he requested.”

  “Unless you think we should leave and keep his precious golden goose for ourselves,” I add.

  Hansel and Gretel look at each other in surprise. They whisper to each other, and Gretel takes off down the hall.

  “Follow me,” Hansel says.

  He brings us straight to Stiltskin’s office and closes the doors behind us. The headmaster is seated on his desk talking quietly with Gretel and a few other RS members. With a pang, I see Anna among the group.

  Rumpelstiltskin stands on the desk when he sees us. “Well? Is it true? Do you have it? Hand it over.”

  The doors behind us burst open, and Blackbeard, Wolfington, and Harlow come racing in. Harlow has brought along Madame Cleo on her mirror.

  “Ye best be standing down, Captain!” Blackbeard says. “Thar be no treaties without us teachers present.”

  “Someone has to make sure these children get a fair deal after the hogwash you made them sign.” Harlow puts a hand on Jocelyn. “You’re all alive and in one piece.”

  “You sound surprised,” Jocelyn says.

  Harlow purses her lips and looks darkly at me. “It was an impossible task and a deal I never would have made myself.”

  “Speaking of the deal, here’s our end of it.” I pull the pack off Jax’s back with Peaches tucked inside. Just hang on for a few more minutes, Peaches, I beg. I place the bag on Stiltskin’s desk, and Peaches walks out of it.

  “Can it be?” Stiltskin slowly circles the duck, then reaches down and plucks a feather. Maxine gasps as Stiltskin holds it up to the light. He slowly smiles. “It’s gold! It’s really gold!”

  “You have your golden goose,” Wolfington says. “Now pay up.”

  “We’ll make this easy and bring Flora to you,” Harlow adds. Purple smoke fills the room. When it clears, Flora’s statue is standing in the middle of his office.

  “Now hold up your end of the deal,” I say.

  “Not until I see if
this goose really does what it’s supposed to.” Stiltskin rubs his hands together. “Goose, give me an egg!” Kayla and I look at each other worriedly. I start to sweat as Peaches just looks at him. Stiltskin stomps his feet. “Egg! I want one! Now!”

  Suddenly Jax and Ollie start to laugh. What are they doing?

  “Don’t laugh at the headmaster,” Hansel barks.

  “I’d think a man who wanted the rarest animal in the kingdom would know how she works,” Jax says. “She can’t lay an egg on command. She only lays one a week.”

  Clever.

  “And you know that how?” Stiltskin asks.

  Jax looks surprised. “It was on the scroll, sir, that is engraved on the wall in the castle we stole the goose from.”

  “Barely made it out of there alive,” Jocelyn adds.

  “We had to risk certain death several times,” Ollie agrees.

  “We fought a wild sea serpent and a bandersnatch,” Hayley tells him.

  “Bandersnatch?” Harlow asks. “There is no such thing.”

  “Tell that to the one we fought,” I say.

  Stiltskin scratches his chin and smirks. “No egg, no deal.”

  My heart is pounding as Maxine presents the last piece of our ruse.

  “Well, we do have one.” Maxine pulls the large golden egg out of her bag, and Stiltskin practically falls off his desk. His grayish tongue hangs out of his mouth as he reaches greedily for the egg. The RS squad leans in to get a closer look. “The golden goose laid this egg on our journey back to school.”

  He snatches it from her without a thank-you and rolls the heavy egg in his hands. He rubs it, bangs it on the table, and holds it up to the jar of magic beans I almost forgot about. “We have it! The gold is ours! All ours!” Stiltskin laughs crazily.

  Maybe we’ve gotten in over our heads.

  Wolfington clears his throat, and I look at him. He motions to the desk where Peaches is beginning to transform again. Thankfully everyone is so busy looking at the egg that they don’t notice. We’re running out of time.

  “So we have a deal?” I press.

  Stiltskin looks at me, then at the goose and the egg again. His smile is devilish in the low office light. “Deal.” Our contract appears in his hands, and he tears it in two.

  “Yes!” Ollie can’t help but cheer.

  I breathe a sigh of relief as Stiltskin pulls his wand out of his pocket and points it at the window. In the distance, I can see the trees that hold Kayla’s family glow, then shimmer. As the trees fade away, three figures appear on the ground.

  “Mother!” Kayla cries and looks at us with tears in her eyes. “I have to go to them.”

  “Go, child!” Madame Cleo tells her, and Kayla flies out of the office.

  “Now Flora,” Harlow insists, and Stiltskin waves his wand. The statue shimmers, then glows red, then silver before melting and revealing the Wicked Stepmother.

  “…not take them!” Flora says, coming out of the statue in mid-fight with Stiltskin. Her hand falls, and she looks at us in bewilderment. “What is going on?” She looks around. “Where am I? Is this my old office? What did you do to my office?”

  “Speaking of, I believe part of the deal was that you leave Fairy Tale Reform School and break your contract with Flora,” Harlow reminds him.

  Stiltskin looks hungrily at the egg again and motions to Hansel and Anna to grab Peaches. As Anna scoops the duck up in her arms, I see Maxine begin to panic. I try to reassure her with my eyes that it will be okay. Anna watches us curiously.

  “I want to get out of here before they arrive to try to steal the goose,” he says.

  They? That must be the they the goose was referring to.

  Stiltskin waves his wand again, and a new contract appears. He holds it up to the light. “Our contract is null and void too.” My friends and I can’t help but cheer.

  Harlow opens the door. “I believe you were leaving. Take your muffins with you.”

  “Aye!” Blackbeard says. “They don’t agree with me.” He lets out a foul burp.

  Stiltskin waves the scent away. “Alas, that means your protection of this school is gone as well.” I hear a rumbling and a pop from somewhere outside the walls. “Pity. You need protection now more than ever.”

  “What are you talking about, you little troll?” Harlow snaps.

  Stiltskin gives a high-pitched laugh. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Stiltskin Squad, let’s leave while it’s still safe.”

  Anna follows the others to the door.

  I try to block her exit. My heart is beating out of my chest. “Please don’t go,” I say hoarsely.

  Anna gently pushes me aside. “I’m going, Gilly, and nothing you say will change my mind. Please don’t make a scene.”

  I want to make her see she’s making a mistake, but I know I can’t. Wolfington was right. Anna has to find her own way. “Please be careful,” I say.

  “Gilly,” Maxine whispers.

  Anna smiles ever so slightly and clutches Peaches tightly. “I will. Good-bye, Gilly.”

  “Anna, we must leave,” Stiltskin says. “Wait. What is happening to my goose?”

  Peaches is convulsing in Anna’s arms. Her shakes are so violent Anna’s forced to put the duck down. I watch in horror as the goose’s disguise starts to fade in front of Stiltskin.

  “No!” Stiltskin jumps off his desk and races toward the goose, just in time to see it turn back in to an ugly duckling. Maxine rushes in and picks Peaches up. “No! No! No!” Stiltskin stomps up and down like my little brothers Han and Hamish do when they’re mad. His face is wrinkled like a prune and bright red. He glares at me. “You tricked me! You tricked Rumpelstiltskin!”

  “Yes, they did, and you can do nothing about it,” Flora says, finding her voice again. “Be gone. You’re no longer welcome here!” Wolfington looks menacing, even in human form. Harlow forms a purple fireball, and Blackbeard brandishes his sword. Madame Cleo’s hair is a fiery red on the small mirror. We stand with our teachers.

  Our message is clear: you can’t mess with Fairy Tale Reform School.

  Stiltskin lets out a scream of anger so loud that he looks like he might explode. He grabs the magic beans on his fireplace mantel before Jax can reach them. Rumpelstiltskin waves his wand at the fireplace. The stone pot inside it comes flying out, and Jax, Ollie, and I duck as it flies toward Stiltskin. I watch as the pot morphs into a giant cooking pan with a handle as long as a flying carpet. He jumps on, and the others in his squad follow. Hansel and Gretel climb on and hold their hands out to Anna.

  Anna looks from me to Stiltskin. Even seeing what she’s just seen, her choice is clear. She doesn’t reach for me. She reaches for Gretel. They pull her onto the cookware.

  “I’ll get you for this!” Stiltskin shouts. “You haven’t seen the last of Rumpelstiltskin!”

  With a final scream of anger, Stiltskin, his squad, and the pan zoom out of the room. We race into the hallway and watch them fly down the hall and burst out the castle doors.

  Anna is gone, and I’m not sure she’ll ever be back.

  Happily Ever After Scrolls

  Brought to you by FairyWeb—Enchantasia’s Number-One News Source!

  Rumpelstiltskin Kicked Out of Fairy Tale Reform School!

  by Coco Collette

  In a remarkable twist of events, Happily Ever After Scrolls has learned that Rumpelstiltskin has been banished from Fairy Tale Reform School after he was tricked into breaking the deal that gave him control of the school in the first place.

  “I am pleased to announce Headmistress Flora is once again in control of the school she founded, and Rumpelstiltskin is on the run,” said Princess Ella in a statement she made with her former wicked stepmother and stepsisters by her side.

  “I thought giving Mr. Stiltskin the reins to FTRS was a way to give FTRS gre
ater protection, but I was wrong,” Flora said. “I should have discussed it with the royal court and my staff, who would have told me I was making a grave mistake. Thankfully, justice has prevailed and Fairy Tale Reform School is safe once more.”

  “We’re so thankful to have our mother back!” said Azalea and Dahlia. “And we’re thankful to the Fairy Tale Reform School students who risked their lives to help get her job back.”

  While Flora refused to comment on details, sources say a band of students led by Prince Jaxon; the Evil Queen’s sister, Jocelyn; and Gillian Cobbler, the shoemaker’s daughter, set off to complete a quest that would end Rumpelstiltskin’s reign. They apparently succeeded.

  “All students who were sentenced to Fairy Tale Reform School on their first or second offense under Rumpelstiltskin will be released immediately,” said school spokesmirror Miri. “However, those who wish to stay and work on their transformations from wicked to good are more than welcome.”

  The Dwarf Police Squad and Chief Pete have their work cut out for them. Not only will they be hunting down Rumpelstiltskin for his illegal dealings with FTRS, but they will also be searching for the students who chose to follow Mr. Stiltskin. “His Stiltskin Squad is very loyal to him,” explained Pete. “We’re determined to help these students see the error of their ways and to bring them back home.” One of those students is Gillian’s younger sister Anna.

  Newly reinstated Headmistress Flora is personally overseeing those efforts. “I believe in our school mission wholeheartedly and want to see every citizen of Enchantasia reach their full potential—including Rumpelstiltskin. If I can be reformed, anyone can. I won’t stop until goodness reigns in our kingdom. And I won’t sleep ’til every Fairy Tale Reform School student is back under my watch or at home with their families.”

  In related news, the Dwarf Police Squad is urging villagers not to panic over a crop of beanstalks that appeared in the countryside and also on the grounds of Fairy Tale Reform School right after Rumpelstiltskin’s disappearance. The DPS insists that rumors suggesting the stalks grew from magic beans are completely unfounded, but they have promised to investigate further. Enchantasia old-timers need no reminder of the great giant invasion that almost destroyed the kingdom and the magic beans that gave the giants entry. When asked for comment, Pete laughed. “There are no magic beans in Enchantasia. Villagers need to stop worrying!”