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  “Me ship!” Blackbeard cries.

  “Take these, sir.” Ollie produces a strand of radishes from behind Blackbeard’s ear. “They keep the beasties away. One whiff and they’ll fall fast asleep.”

  “Really?” Blackbeard ties the radishes to a bead in his hair.

  “We’ve dealt with them before,” says Ollie. “At first, we thought they were statues around school, but then they came alive and we found out they were working for Alva.”

  And that’s when I remember. Where there are gargoyles, there’s usually Sleeping Beauty’s nightmare in the flesh.

  “Alva?” Blackbeard repeats. “You mean that wench?” He points back to the ship. It’s as if the wicked fairy has appeared out of thin air.

  Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis spent ten years pretending to be another villain while she quietly plotted her revenge on the royals—and now she’s back. Alva walks to the edge of the plank, her long, red dress billowing in the wind. The collar of her matching red cape reaches the gold clips in her black hair. Alva always looks like she’s ready for a ball instead of a brawl. Why villains always wear the same outfits, I’ll never know. Alva waves as if she’s greeting old friends.

  “Miss me, my pets?” Alva cackles in a voice so high-pitched that it makes me want to cover my ears. “I’m back to collect what’s rightfully mine.”

  “Put the school on lockdown,” Flora tells Wolfington and Madame Cleo hurriedly. They don’t argue. “No one comes out ’til it’s safe.” Wolfington takes off at wolf speed, while the Sea Siren dives off a rock and into the waters, her shimmery blue-green tail barely visible below the surface. Flora turns to us. “The rest of you, inside. Now.”

  Kayla appears frozen. “She’s here. She’s back. She’s here.”

  “She won’t touch you. Just get inside.” Flora tries to shepherd us toward the large wooden doors at the back of the castle, while Blackbeard instructs his men where to go. Everyone is shouting; the gargoyles are shrieking; Miri’s alarm system is now blaring. Kayla runs for the doors with Maxine, while Ollie begins hurling radishes in the air.

  Jax pulls me back and whispers in my ear. “Why aren’t the gargoyles flying toward us?” he asks as chaos swirls around us. “If Alva is here to attack the school, wouldn’t her gargoyles have come after us by now? Kind of convenient that they had Blackbeard’s ship to land on, isn’t it?” His violet eyes are thoughtful. “It’s as if she knew he’d be here.”

  The two of us look at each other and without him knowing, I slip my hand into his pocket and take something I may need to borrow. Then I take off at a run.

  “Headmistress Flora!” I shout, trying to get her attention as she talks to Miri at the oak tree. “What if Alva’s gargoyles are a distraction? What if she’s after Harlow?”

  At her sister’s name, Jocelyn appears at my side. I ignore her.

  “Professor Harlow, Gillian, and I don’t have time for theories,” Flora says. “We’re under attack.”

  “But she’s not attacking,” I point out, pulling on Flora’s petticoat so I can show her. We turn in time to see a gargoyle moving the cannon fire toward a wall near the back of the castle. It blows a hole right through the side of the building.

  “What room be that?” Blackbeard asks. “What say ye of casualties?”

  “It’s a storage area for the kitchen,” Flora tells him.

  “But aren’t the dungeons below the kitchen?” I ask and both Jocelyn and Flora look at me. So does Blackbeard. He glances back at the ship.

  “The wench is gone!” He points to where we last saw Alva.

  “She’s trying to break out the Evil Queen!” I tell Flora, yelling over the sound of more cannon fire aimed at the same place. Another hole is blasted at the same spot, this time opening up the ground. A team of gargoyles flies to the area. “Someone has to check on her!” And by someone, I mean me. I race toward the gargoyles.

  “Miss Gillian and Miss Jocelyn, get back here!” Flora yells.

  My eyes are on Harlow’s little sister, who obviously knew I was right. She’s running the same way for a different reason—to help her big sister, I’m sure. We’re both so close to the castle that I know if I don’t do something to slow Jocelyn down, she’ll reach Harlow first.

  I pull Jax’s pocket watch that I pinched out of my pocket. That’s right, I still got it. “Houratiempo!” I shout, remembering the strange word I’ve heard Jax utter before. A light bursts from the watch and sends Jocelyn flying backward. I run toward her, knowing the power of that pocket watch means she can still talk but she can’t move for the next few minutes. I slide into her side and tie her hands with the long, purple gingerroot flower stems Maxine plucked for a rainy day.

  Found near the edge of the Hollow Woods, the rare electric-blue flower with the purple stems has the power to freeze people temporarily and also to bind them from using magic when the stem is wrapped around their wrists. Ever since Alva threatened me, Maxine has insisted that I have gingerroot in my pocket at all times. It came in handy today.

  “Gilly, let go!” Jocelyn screams. Since I only tied the roots around her wrists, her lungs still work.

  “You’re not escaping with Harlow,” I say. “You—”

  BOOM! Pieces of the castle wall explode in the air, sending rocks and debris raining down on us. I can’t hear anything but ringing. My right leg is pinned under a piece of wall. Jocelyn is stuck under a fallen wooden door. When the smoke clears, I see two figures approaching. One slaps a long, hand-written scroll that glows on a crumbling wall before walking my way. A sinister smile plays on the woman’s ruby-red lips.

  “Gillian Cobbler,” Alva purrs. “Always trying to be the hero. For that you’ll pay dearly.” I see her lift her hand.

  “No!” Harlow shouts. “Leave the brats! We must go!” Harlow pulls Alva away.

  “Harlow, listen!” Jocelyn screams, but the Evil Queen doesn’t stop.

  For a brief moment, the two of us lock eyes. Then Harlow and Alva disappear in a cloud of smoke.

  Happily Ever After Scrolls

  Brought to you by FairyWeb—magically appearing on scrolls throughout Enchantasia for the past ten years!

  BREAKING NEWS:

  Alva at FTRS! Breaks Evil Queen Out of Dungeon! Releases Villainous Call to Arms!

  by Beatrice Beez

  Yesterday afternoon, Enchantasia’s most-wanted villain appeared on Fairy Tale Reform School grounds where she broke the Evil Queen out of captivity and the two escaped under the noses of FTRS teachers. To make matters worse, HEAS has learned that Alva left a villainous manifesto at the school. The call to arms supposedly promises greater riches than the 10,000 gold pieces the Dwarf Police Squad is offering as a reward for Alva’s capture and encourages students to join Alva and Harlow in taking over Enchantasia and destroying the royal court of Princesses Ella, Snow White, Rapunzel, and our Sleeping Beauty, Rose.

  Miri the FTRS spokesmirror would not allow HEAS to see the manifesto, which is being examined by the Dwarf Police Squad. “Our teachers will not indulge Alva’s deluded request by sharing it with the public,” says Miri. “Headmistress Flora has addressed the students about Alva’s message and used the scroll to reinforce the school motto—being bad brings about no good. We will not lose our students to villainy. Our goal remains the same: to help our students reform and follow the straight and narrow path.”

  Parents of students at FTRS are still understandably concerned. What did Alva’s message actually say, and could it sway their children to join the dark side? “How long can we allow our children to remain in FTRS’s care when these former villains obviously can’t keep them safe?” asks Millicent Gertrude, the mother of Ronald Gertrude, who is in FTRS for six months for the illegal trading of Pegasi. “Constant break-ins, castle explosions, calls to villainy—what is going on there? I want visitation day moved up so I can see for myself if my Porridge Bottom is safe.”

  “We take our school’s security very seriously,” says Miri. “At this time, we are
looking at our schedule to see whether visitation day can be moved up. But parents should know all the students in our care are safe.” For now FTRS plans to host its semiannual parent visitation in a few weeks. Many villagers are excited to meet Princess Rose, who has taken on a consulting gig with the school to shepherd their famed Royal Ladies-in-Waiting Club. “I love the idea of helping the next generation of girls put their best glass slipper forward,” said Rose when reached for comment.

  Keep checking HEAS for updates on the search for the wicked fairy and the Evil Queen and their villainous manifesto!

  CHAPTER 3

  Cordially Invited

  We’re not supposed to be here.

  This area of the castle was forbidden before Alva’s gargoyles blew a hole in it and destroyed the kitchen storage closet. (When you go to school with hungry ogres, locking up food is essential.) But today the bombed-out wall of the castle is cordoned off by glowing Dwarf Police Squad caution tape.

  Please. Like yellow tape is going to keep a bunch of reform-school students from reading a villain’s manifesto.

  The large, yellowed scroll hangs on a crumbling piece of wall by magic rather than a nail. That explains why the Dwarf Police Squad’s Pete and Olaf made ineffective, and comical, attempts to remove the scroll. Alva obviously bewitched her credo so that it can’t come down. Despite our teachers’ lecture yesterday afternoon about Alva and what a danger she is to not only FTRS, but Enchantasia, every kid I know still wants to hear what she has to say…including me.

  I inch closer to the wall to read Alva’s warning. I’m not usually so nervous, but I guess I have a lot more to lose these days. In my brother Felix’s last Pegasus Post, he told me that thanks to Father making glass slippers again, my siblings are all eating three meals a day. They also have new clothes and warm blankets for their joint bed. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. And yet, I’m still sneaking over to read the manifesto. We crowd around the glowing, golden scroll to read the large, loopy, red scrolled handwriting.

  Students of Fairy Tale Reform School

  You’ve been warned: Enchantasia will be no more!

  Soon the Evil Queen and I will rule this kingdom! Whose side will you be on when that day comes?

  If you’re in FTRS, then you know how to be wicked, and being wicked is smart in this day and age.

  Interested? Just make your intentions known, children, and we’ll hear your pleas. We’ll be back to claim you before you know it, and I promise that measly reward of 10,000 gold pieces for my capture is nothing compared to the fortune you’ll get with me.

  Alva

  “You have to admit, posting a call to evil at Fairy Tale Reform School is brilliant,” I say as we jostle for position around the scroll. It’s hard when students are pushing and conjuring small spells to move others out of the way. “If you need to build a wicked army, what better place to find one than here?”

  “No wonder Flora seemed so wound up.” Jax plants his legs wide to keep from being knocked down and losing his place in front of the scroll. “She was so busy getting ready for the school lecture on evil that she barely reprimanded you and Jocelyn about taking off after Alva.”

  I elbow the ogre behind me for kneeing me in the back. “Maybe, but that didn’t stop her from repeating her classic line, ‘I’d hate for you to add more time to your sentence here at FTRS.’ And instead of detention with Madame Cleo, she said something about Jocelyn and I having to duel in Blackbeard’s class today. She can’t mean a real duel, can she?”

  “Yes!” Jax nudges me, probably by accident since we’re being pushed around. “Flora might be the only one around here not impressed by your new hero title.”

  “Hero?” I sputter. I’ve never heard Jax use that word about me before. Sure, Happily Ever After Scrolls and unnamed sources keep calling me one, but never my friends. Wouldn’t anyone do what I did to stay alive and help their school? I’d hope so, but if being a hero is what keeps my family well fed, then I’m not going to argue. “Anyone would do what we did.”

  Jax frowns as his finger traces Alva’s loopy letter A. “Not everyone would stick their necks out for a royal,” he teases, and I make a face. Jax is the only royal I like, and he knows it. “Too bad we didn’t catch Alva though. She’s not going to stop until she controls Enchantasia.”

  I stare at the manifesto again. “What do you think she means by ‘make your intentions known and we’ll hear your plea’?”

  Jax pushes his floppy curls out of his eyes. “I don’t know.” He pulls me away from the scroll, and kids quickly press into the empty spot. “What if she means the mole and that mole is at Fairy Tale Reform School?”

  The whole reason Jax is undercover at FTRS is to find the mole that is trying to tear apart the royal court. His dad thought Jax would have luck getting the scoop at a school where the kids know every dirty trick in Evildoing for Dummies. So far though, we’ve had no luck. This mole, whoever he may be, is still feeding villains info on the princesses and now seems close enough to get into our school. I feel a shiver race through me.

  “What if the mole is helping Alva because he or she hates the royal court and wants power?” I wonder. A group of pixies fly by our heads and I pause. They whisper and point when they see me. “The kids in here could help Alva a lot. They’re likely to be the next big-time villains if they don’t reform. And a lot of them have magic!”

  “We’ll hear your plea.” Jax repeats a line from the scroll. “The mole must be at FTRS. How else could Alva reach the students or know Blackbeard was coming, giving her time to break out Harlow?” We step over crumbling bricks to exit the kitchen storage room and walk onto the lawn outside the school. Jax’s brow is wrinkled in concentration. “This doesn’t add up. Wouldn’t Flora have worried about Harlow as soon as she saw Alva? Instead, she ignored you when you tried to warn her.”

  Warning bells go off in my head. I’ve thought the worst of our school headmistress before. Once a villain, always part villain, I’ve heard Wolfington say. Could it be true? Could Flora have helped Harlow break out? Why? And if she did, how do we stop Flora and this mole from striking again?

  A shadow crosses over Jax’s face and we both look up. A group of magic carpets flies by with student drivers. The carpets are an array of bright purples, blues, pinks, and brilliant oranges, with tassels hanging so low that one brushes my head. The patterns are as varied as the colors. In your first magic carpet class, you actually get to design your own carpet: color, pattern, aerodynamics, and special effects. A shower of glitter rains down on Jax and me like snow.

  “Miss Hobby, we are not glittering the castle today!” Monsieur Lavine scolds. “It’s not a holiday! Helmut, we fly behind one other, not one on top of the other.” Our teacher looks down and spots us. He removes his silver turban and tosses it to Jax. “A little late to class, are we, Mr. Jax? Meet us at the Pegasi stables, and as punishment, you must wear my turban for the rest of the day.” His classmates laugh as Jax places the large, oversized silver hat on his head. The jewels hanging off it make it hard for him to see.

  “Great,” Jax grumbles, and the jewels in front of his eyes sway. “As if Ollie wasn’t already giving me grief about being a royal, now I’m a royal wearing noble headgear. I’ve got to go. Talk later?”

  He looks so glum that I resist the urge to poke fun at his royalness. The ground shakes and I look up. Maxine is bounding toward me.

  “Hey! Why was Jax in a turban?” she asks breathlessly. “No matter. Did you guys read the manifesto? Scary, huh? Alva’s trying to take over our school!” She clutches one of the dozens of pearl necklaces stretched around her thick neck. “My scroll sent me another message about it this morning.”

  I sigh. “Maxine, mini magical scrolls don’t send messages. You must just—”

  Maxine thrusts her scroll into my face. “Look! At the bottom. That’s not Happily Ever After Scrolls’s writing. It says ‘She’ll be back. She’s gaining numbers. Watch that those around you d
on’t fall for her thunder.’” Her one eye rolls quickly in its socket.

  “I…” I stare closer. The handwriting is different and the writing glows blue, while the rest of the HEAS message is in black. But it can’t be. Not to be rude, but why would someone use Maxine to stop Alva? “Let me know if this happens again, okay?”

  Maxine nods. “There’s more. Mama sent a Pegasus Post this morning, and she said if the break-ins continue, she might talk to Headmistress Flora about pulling me out of school.” Her large hand clasps mine. “Is it weird that I don’t want to go home yet?” she whispers. “I kind of like it here. I finally have friends.”

  I smile. A group of Pegasi neigh as they fly by us with more student riders. Out on the lawn, I see a bunch of kids in full armor starting dragon training against a mechanical dragon that shoots real fire. I miss my family, but there are things at Fairy Tale Reform School that I’d never get to do in the real world. I squeeze Maxine’s large hand. “I know what you mean. Don’t worry about it right now. Let’s get to class.” We step back inside the crumbling kitchen storage room just as the closest mirror begins to glow orange, purple, then turquoise green.

  “This area of the castle is off-limits!” Miri announces, and her decree is followed by groans. “Students seen in this area in the next two minutes will spend the next three days in detention with Madame Cleo or Blackbeard. I should warn you that he’s teaching duels.” Kids disperse immediately, and Maxine and I jump into a new hallway appearing to our left. Kayla is waiting.

  “Hey,” she says when she sees us. “Why weren’t you in our room this morning?” I watch her wings pop in and out over and over, which only happens when she’s nervous. “You didn’t want to have breakfast together?”

  Kayla and I are roomies, but ever since I found out she was secretly working with Alva—whether she was blackmailed into doing it or not—things have been, shall we say, a bit off between us. “I had to meet with Flora about Jocelyn,” I say, which is only partly a lie. I met with Flora, but I had cinnamon rolls for breakfast with Jax first.