Charmed Page 5

  Jocelyn and I turn away from each other as the class cheers us on. I walk three paces and wait ’til I hear Blackbeard give the command. As I do, Ollie bolts for the door and leaves without telling our professor.

  “Duel!” Blackbeard commands.

  I don’t turn at first. I glance Jocelyn’s way out of the corner of my eye with my head down (a great thief technique) so that she can’t see me looking. I wait a second, hoping Jocelyn charges and I can jump out of her way, but she’s gone. Where’d she go?

  Boom!

  Jocelyn appears in front of me with glowing eyes. Within seconds, my body flies backward, smacking into a pixie and knocking her into Maxine’s hands.

  “Fight clean!” Blackbeard bellows as my classmates boo.

  “I knew you couldn’t fence,” Jocelyn says icily and flicks that annoying cape of hers as she makes her way over to where I lie. She raises her sword to strike me.

  “And you think you can? You’re just using magic,” I say, stalling for time until I can figure out my move. Jocelyn’s sword comes down over her head to pierce my arm and I roll out of the way. Everyone cheers as I jump up and raise my own sword.

  “Look at you and your cheering section,” Jocelyn mocks.

  “Jealous?” I ask, slicing a hole in a star on her cape.

  “Never!” she says. “Being popular doesn’t make you better. And at least I don’t have purple hair.”

  The two of us clink swords across the ship-classroom toward Blackbeard, who watches quietly. Clink! Rattle! Clink! I swipe one way, then the other, and then our swords connect above our heads. I may not be on the fencing team, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t practiced. Jocelyn doesn’t realize I have three little brothers who spend most of their waking hours pretending to be pirates.

  I’m closing in on Jocelyn, inching her toward the side of the ship, when I see her whisper an incantation. I’m knocked on my back again. This time, I’m not going quietly.

  I’ve got tricks too. I may be on the ground, but Jocelyn’s cape is so large that I can grab a handful of it and yank. Jocelyn goes flying. “I always knew your cape was trouble.”

  “I’ll give you trouble.” Jocelyn starts swirling her right wrist like she’s stirring hot cocoa with a spoon. A purple haze begins to spin up from the floor. I may not have magic at my fingertips, but I’m smarter than she is. I spot the sail line hanging next to me, grab one end, and cut the other from its attached sandbag. The rope sends me flying above the classroom into the rafters above, and I pull myself up onto a wooden beam.

  Jocelyn attempts to follow me, but as she’s on her way up, I cut her line, sending her falling down to the floor again. Yes! As the kids cheer, I grab another rope and begin to shimmy down when—Aaah! Jocelyn’s cut my line.

  I’m falling, falling, falling. I hear people screaming, and the ground flying up to meet me, but I can do nothing to stop myself. I put my hands in front of my face to brace myself and feel my body snap like a rubber band. When I open one eye, I realize I’ve stopped inches from the ground and am floating there. I look over and see Jocelyn in the middle of a spell meant for me. Her conjuring has kept me from smacking into the floor.

  “Looks like you owe me, Cobbler.” Jocelyn taunts and any chance of me thanking her goes out the window. “Good!” She drops me the few inches to the floor. “I guess I really do control you now.”

  Jocelyn has gone too far. I spring up and race at her with my sword raised high. Her eyes widen and she steps back, preparing for us to clink blades. Clink! Clink! Clink! We go back and forth, around and around, faster this time. The crowd is cheering again and chanting my name. Gilly! Gilly! Gilly! I love the sound of them saying it while Jocelyn strains to keep up with me. She looks nervous. She should be! I can’t disappoint my fans—I have to win this duel.

  So I cheat.

  While Jocelyn’s sword is raised, I use my free hand to grab her hair and yank.

  “Ouch!” She turns around and pulls my purple locks of hair. Both of us drop our swords and pounce, rolling to the ground and doing what we started to do the other day—fighting the good, old-fashioned way. I mean, the other old-fashioned way. With name-calling and hair-pulling.

  “Liar!” I cry.

  “Thief!” Jocelyn bellows.

  “Wicked!” I taunt.

  “Cobbler!” Jocelyn sputters. “Poor man’s daughter!”

  My blood is ready to boil over. “Why couldn’t you have just disappeared along with your sister?” I shout. “I know! Because she didn’t want you! She left you behind on purpose!” Jocelyn stops fighting.

  I see Jocelyn’s pained reaction just as we disappear under a sail that’s been dropped onto us. The sail pulls us close, rolling us up. Within seconds, we’re both mummified.

  “Time!” Blackbeard yells through the wrapping.

  The world around us is eerily quiet. We’re lying on top of each other, and the only sound I hear is Jocelyn’s and my breath going in and out. I hesitate, feeling slightly guilty, but I’m still unsure of what I want to say. “Jocelyn, I…”

  She snaps her fingers and we unravel, me rolling into a wall.

  “It seems ye be tied!” Blackbeard says.

  My classmates are cheering, but Maxine looks horrified.

  “It’s not a tie.” Jocelyn staggers toward me, straightening out her crooked robe. “The hero won. At least that’s what everyone here is going to say.” She looks straight at me. “Just remember—the bigger the hero is, the harder they fall.” Her eyes flash purple. “And I can’t wait to be here when you go splat.” Then in the purple haze I’ve become accustomed to, Jocelyn snaps her fingers and disappears.

  Pegasus Postal Service

  Flying Letters Since The Troll War!

  FROM: Gillian Cobbler (Fairy Tale Reform School*)

  *Letter checked for suspicious content

  TO: Anna Cobbler (2 Boot Way)

  Anna Banana,

  You are even harder to reach than the royals! This is the fourth post I’ve sent this month. Every one gets returned to sender. Did you move to a new boot and not tell me?

  If you haven’t moved, and you really are my sister, Anna Cobbler of 2 Boot Way, then hear me out. I’m sorry, okay? I stayed here to protect you. I want you, Felix, Trixie, Han, and Hamish to be safe. I want Father’s boot business to continue to do well. I want Mother to have time off to read a book or put her feet up on the sofa. (Not that she ever will. She hates shoes on furniture!)

  Felix wrote and said getting Father’s glass-slipper gig back has helped a ton with money and meals. I’m glad! If me being a hero helps our family, then I’m happy I’m stuck at FTRS. I’d do anything for you. I hope you know that.

  My roommate says visitation day is going to get moved up. I really hope you’ll consider coming with Father and Mother to see me. I miss you more than you know.

  Love, Gilly Bean

  Happily Ever After Scrolls

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

  Meet the Teacher: Our Very Own Princess Rose Is Working at FTRS!

  by Coco Collette

  Name: Princess Rose, a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty, who escaped Alva’s slumbering curse

  Dual Occupations!

  The Princess: “I love my kingdom and having the chance to mingle with my people, but one wishes to be seen as more than just a crown.”

  The Club Advisor: Running the distinguished Royal Ladies-in-Waiting. The RLWs have served at kingdom dinners, decorated carriages for public rides, and have been known to go glass-slipper shopping for their princesses. “With proper training, every girl can be charming enough to find the princess within.”

  Hobbies: Dancing (she won the royal dance-off five years in a row), singing (she leads the royal a cappella group), and…hunting? “I find it keeps me focused.”

  Strengths: While the other princesses handle politics, crime, and public policy, Rose is a princess of the public. “I know what
my kingdom needs because I spend so much time among the people. That’s why I am so impressed with Gillian Cobbler. This hero rose from humble beginnings. She is more of a lady than most women I know.”

  Weaknesses: Spinning wheels, of course, and all flowers, except roses, naturally. (As villagers will recall, the thorny gingerroot was found surrounding the room where the princess took her hundred-year slumber. That’s enough to turn anyone off flowers!)

  Check back for more coverage on FTRS’s newest teacher, Princess Rose!

  CHAPTER 5

  The Conquering Hero

  “Gilly! Gilly! Gilly!”

  My classmates carry me out of Blackbeard’s room on their shoulders. People are chanting my name and applauding at such an ear-deafening decibel that it feels like I’ve defeated Alva herself. So this is what it’s like to be a hero! I see why the princesses like it—not that I like the princesses now or anything. I just don’t get why villains like being evil so much. Being popular is so much better!

  “Thanks, everyone,” I say as the trolls put me down. They’re still cheering. Are Maxine and Ollie seeing this? Where’d they go? “I have to get to my next class.” Groan. “But I’ll see you all at lunch.” They cheer some more, and I smile. This is great! A hallway shifts in front of me, and I dash toward it. I land with a thud in a new hall where Jax, Kayla, Ollie, and Maxine have congregated. I roll to a stop on Maxine’s big toe.

  “Ouch!” She hops up and down, making the lanterns above us sway.

  “Sorry!” I stand up and brush myself off. They’re all looking at me like I’m a stranger. “Where’d you guys go? Did you see me beat Jocelyn? It was amazing! She totally crumbled.” Their faces are blank. “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s been an attack on Royal Manor,” Kayla explains. “Alva sent her gargoyles to tear things up.”

  “I tried to tell you in class, but you were being carried off on someone’s shoulders,” Maxine says.

  “Is everyone okay?” I brush off my stockings, which now have a hole in them. That’s the third pair I’ve ruined this month.

  “The royal court is fine,” Jax says. “Alva somehow knew the guards were away on a training mission while Rapunzel was hosting a tea with the ogre tribes to broker peace. The gargoyles swooped in and scared the ogres off before any progress was made. You know how much they fear beasties.”

  “Oh, I know,” says Maxine, who shudders. “I still have nightmares about the gargoyles’ breath.”

  “How’d you find out so fast?” I ask.

  “Father sent me a message with this.” Jax pulls a quill out of his pocket. It’s one of the magic quills that self-writes a message when you touch the point of the quill to parchment. When you write back with it, the ink disappears so the note can’t be confiscated. It’s brilliant. I had no idea it could work sending a message as far away as the royal castle. If that’s the case, maybe I can get one to Anna.

  “Rapunzel got knocked out when she tried to fight the gargoyles off,” Jax says. “When she awoke, she found a scroll in her hands with a message.” Jax writes something, and Alva’s loopy handwriting appears, having been copied by Jax’s father. The words give me chills:

  You can run, but you can’t hide. Nowhere is safe. My ranks are rising, and my power is growing. You’ve been warned.

  “Wow, that villain has a vendetta all right.” Ollie shakes his head. “I guess when your evil scheme to curse a princess to sleep fails, you go to the next best plan—take over the whole kingdom.”

  “Thank goodness Rapunzel is okay.” Maxine’s love of princesses is legendary.

  “My sister is fine, thankfully, but she and Father are really worried,” Jax says. “If Alva learns about more peace talks and keeps sending her gargoyles, it could ruin future negotiations. The princesses are this close to a treaty. If Alva stops the peace talks, it could mean war.”

  “No!” Maxine cries. “We ogres have come so far for our freedom. We’re finally allowed in the village and at this school. I couldn’t even go to FTRS when it first opened. We can’t let Alva destroy that.”

  I put a hand on her shoulder. “We have to find that mole.” I think of the RLWs again. I’m still not sure one of those silly princess wannabes is desperate enough to work with Alva, but it’s the only lead I have. I can figure this out on my own.

  “There’s more.” Jax looks gloomy. “Headmistress Flora was at Royal Manor this morning to meet with the royal court to discuss protection for FTRS. She’s worried about Alva’s manifesto and what it could do to the students at our school. The princesses were sympathetic, but…” Jax hesitates. “They refused to offer protection. Everything that has happened at FTRS makes us too risky to help. We’re on our own.”

  “How could the princesses say that?” I ask angrily. “We’re kids and members of this kingdom. They’re just going to let our school keep getting attacked?”

  Jax’s smile is grim. “You sound like Flora. Rapunzel said she stormed out right before the other princesses took leave and the gargoyles attacked.”

  “That’s just like royals to think about themselves,” I grumble.

  Jax throws his hands up. “You are so anti-royal.”

  “I am not anti-royal!” I say. “I’m friends with you, aren’t I?”

  “You did refuse Princess Rose’s invite to join the RLWs,” Maxine chimes in.

  “Seriously?” Kayla’s jaw drops. “That’s the most prestigious group in school.”

  “If they’d let boys in, I’d totally join,” Ollie adds, pulling three balls out of his pocket so he can juggle. “Looks like a great way to impress the ladies.”

  “I have no desire to be a wannabe royal.” I sniff. “I don’t need their approval. All I care about is finding this mole.”

  “Gilly’s right,” Kayla agrees. “We have to find out who is secretly aiding Alva. She won’t stop ’til she’s ruling Enchantasia, and she wants the students of FTRS to help her get there.” Her face scrunches up. “I have an idea, but you might not like it. There’s only one person out there who can help us find that mole fast.” She inhales. “Rumpelstiltskin.”

  Ollie misses one of the balls he’s juggling and all three fly out of his hands, bouncing off the floor, the walls, and Maxine’s head.

  “No price is worth paying for his help,” Jax reminds her.

  I glance at Kayla. After what Rumpelstiltskin did to her family, I try to avoid saying his name at all costs. Say it three times, and rumor has it, he’ll appear. We don’t need any more problems. “There has to be another way to find out who the mole is.” We’re all quiet.

  “What about my mini magical scroll?” Maxine exclaims. “Someone is leaving me messages on it. It has to be someone who works at HEAS.”

  Jax and I look at each other. “She has gotten several notes. We should check it out,” says Jax.

  I sigh. I’m still not convinced those messages are for Maxine, but what other lead do we have?

  “I can prove my messages are real! What if we showed up at HEAS’s offices in the village?” Maxine asks. “If they see me outside, they might be willing to talk.”

  “Sure,” Ollie says. “We can just pop out of the castle and go to HEAS. Maybe we can even pick up fresh flowers and caramel cakes while we’re there.”

  Jax scratches his chin. “I think Maxine is onto something.”

  She beams.

  “Did you eat too much gingerbread?” Kayla laughs. “Last time you tried to break out, you set off every alarm in the castle and had Wolfington on you in seconds. You can’t bust out of a reform school.”

  “You used to disappear all the time,” I remind her.

  “But I never left school grounds,” Kayla says, giving us a glimpse into a world I’ve wondered about. “Gottie—excuse me, Alva—would leave me notes near the Hollow Woods. I’ve never broke out. It’s like asking for a longer sentence in this joint.”

  A sly smile spreads across Jax’s face. “So maybe we don’t break out. We walk out.”
<
br />   Pegasus Postal Service

  Flying Letters Since The Troll War!

  FROM: Anna Cobbler (2 Boot Way)

  TO: Gillian Cobbler (Fairy Tale Reform School*)

  *Letter checked for suspicious content

  POST RETURNED TO SENDER. RECIPIENT REFUSED DELIVERY. AGAIN.

  CHAPTER 6

  Delinquents on a Roll

  I wake up to the glow of our magical chalkboard scroll lighting up our room like fireflies. I squint to read the lettering that appears and know immediately the time has come to make our move.

  All classes canceled today due to plumbing problems in the cafeteria. A buffet will be set up in the gymnasium today for all meals. Take time to study and enjoy the lovely weather!

  —Headmistress Flora, FTRS

  I throw back Kayla’s pink covers to wake her. She stops snoring and blinks at me. “Flora canceled class. That’s our sign! Ollie is probably already at the meeting point. Go! Go! Go!”

  Five minutes later, I’m wearing the clothes I arrived at FTRS in and Kayla is unhappy about wearing some of my other peasant threads. We move quietly through three moving hallways without being spotted, but Kayla keeps stopping to braid her hair. (“My hair should look good if my outfit doesn’t!”)

  “Come on!” I huff as a new hallway opens up a few feet away. How this girl used to sneak around to meet Alva, I’ll never know. “Before we’re—”

  “Oh, hello, Gillian Cobbler!”

  Kayla and I spin around. Princess Rose is even more beautiful up close. She looks fresh as a rose at 7:00 a.m. in a lilac gown and a tiara. Her blond hair is pulled up in a bun that has a matching bow, and her satin skirt swishes as she walks toward us and shakes my hand with a delicate touch. “It’s so lovely to finally meet you.” I notice the RLW packet in her hands. “Where are you off to so early and dressed so…humbly?”

  “I told you our clothes looked sad,” Kayla whispers in my ear.

  “We’re headed to the gym to exercise. Like my father always said, ‘A day started late is a day wasted.’”