They’d packed all their old VK clothes in backpacks, except the key CJ had found under the special stone unturned. That was still tied around her neck. She had no idea what it was for, but she wanted it to be close at hand, just in case.
“C’mon,” CJ said, pulling on her backpack and heading for the door. She was anxious to get away from that revolting reflection. “We need to figure out how to get—” But the second she stepped outside, she was nearly trampled by a young couple running down the sidewalk.
“Hurry up, darling,” the man called out to his wife, who was a few paces behind him, “or we’ll miss the bus!”
“I am hurrying, darling,” the woman replied with an obnoxiously pretentious accent. “Stop rushing me. We paid good money for this bus tour of the kingdom of Auradon. They’re not going to simply leave without us.”
CJ’s gaze followed them up the street and landed on a large silver tour bus idling in the distance. The words I Can Show You the World…of Auradon were painted on the side, and over the windshield was a sign that read
NEXT STOP: BRIAR’S HOLLOW
“Uh, Freddie,” she called back into the shop. Freddie was still admiring her ensemble in the mirror.
“Wouldn’t I look positively sinful singing on a stage dressed like this?” Then she started to croon a soulful jazz number.
CJ rolled her eyes. “Freddie!”
“What?” Freddie asked, frowning. “Can’t a girl solo for a minute without being interrupted?”
“We don’t have a minute. Quit setting the jib and look!” CJ pointed to the husband and wife, who were just stepping aboard the tour bus. CJ flashed her infamous grin. “I think I found our ride. And it’s leaving now.”
Bus ride for two, please.
And no, we’re not going to pay.
The driver of the tour bus regarded CJ and Freddie with great skepticism.
“I don’t remember you being on this tour,” he said. “Are you sure you’re in the right place?”
They were standing on the sidewalk, staring into the open door of the bus. CJ pushed Freddie aside. She could take it from there. “Now listen up,” she growled. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
The driver frowned in confusion. “What’s the hard way?”
CJ rolled her eyes. “I tie you all up and take the whole bus hostage. Duh!”
Freddie gently pulled CJ by the shoulders until Freddie was standing in front of the bus door. “Sorry about her,” she said quickly in her velvet voice. “She’s”—Freddie wheeled her hands around, trying to come up with a good excuse for CJ’s behavior—“practicing for a play.”
Comprehension dawned on the bus driver’s face and his smile returned. “Ah. I see. So you’re students?”
“Yes!” Freddie replied in her lilting cadence. “Exactly. And we’re studying Auradon geography this semester, so we thought, what better way to learn about this great kingdom than to see it ourselves! So we booked this tour.”
The driver seemed so mesmerized by Freddie that CJ thought he was about to let them board just like that. But then, as though he were coming out from under a spell, he shook his head. “Where are your tickets, then?”
CJ watched Freddie’s smile slide right off her face. “Um…uh…” she stammered.
CJ butted in. “Some VKs stole them!”
The driver gasped as though she had just shown him a hook hand. “VKs?” His voice trembled. “You mean those awful children King Ben let into the kingdom?”
CJ faked disgust. “The very ones. Can you believe the nerve of that guy? Letting those scoundrels into our boring—” Freddie kicked her. “Er, beautiful kingdom?”
The driver shook his head. “I’ll never understand that proclamation. Giving the offspring of our enemies access to our homes, our lands, our children? Even though Mal turned her mother into a lizard, that doesn’t mean evil isn’t still in her blood.”
CJ snorted. “I know, right? And now, because of those monsters, we don’t have our bus tickets. And we were so looking forward to this tour.”
The driver’s eyebrows pinched together in concern. “Oh, bother. Hop aboard. We’re heading to Briar’s Hollow next. Home of the fairies!”
“I can’t wait,” CJ muttered sarcastically.
All the passengers stared at them as they climbed the stairs and made their way to the back of the bus. When they passed the couple CJ had seen on the street, CJ heard the wife whisper to her husband, “What are they wearing?”
The husband responded, “They’re teenagers,” as if that explained everything.
The girls found two empty seats in the last row and both lunged for the window seat at the same time, trying to shove each other out of the way.
“Move!” Freddie whined. “I was here first.”
“You were not!” CJ shot back.
Freddie grunted and managed to wedge her shoulder under CJ to push her back. CJ fell onto the floor with a plunk while Freddie happily climbed into the window seat with a gloating grin.
CJ sighed and surrendered into the aisle seat. There were two middle-aged ladies sitting in the opposite row who gaped at them like they were from another planet.
CJ reached into her backpack, grabbed one of the jelly doughnuts they’d stolen from the Auradon Prep kitchen, and discreetly squirted the red jelly onto the floor of the bus, creating what looked like a pool of blood.
“Oh, no,” she said to the women across from her, faking concern. “I think someone is bleeding!”
The two women glanced at the floor and screamed, desperately looking around to find the source.
CJ sat back in her seat and snickered with satisfaction.
Freddie laughed, too, but then her expression grew serious. “Okay, that was kind of genius. But you really can’t go around acting like that.”
“Acting like what?”
“Like a”—Freddie lowered her voice to a whisper—“VK.”
“But I am a VK,” CJ said, a bit too loudly. The women glanced at her, and CJ snapped at them with her teeth, causing them both to cower. “And so are you,” she told Freddie. Then, under her breath, she added, “Although I shouldn’t have to remind you of that.”
“We need to try to blend in. How do you expect to find a fairy to help you if you keep acting like a brute?”
“Easy,” CJ said breezily. “Take them hostage and force them to do it. That’s what my dad always did.”
“Uh-huh,” Freddie said, crossing her arms. “And where is he now?”
CJ considered that for a moment, her body slouching in defeat. “Fine. Tell me what I need to do.”
“You need to start acting like an AK.”
CJ gagged. “And how do I do that?”
“Well, let’s see. They make up a lot of words.”
CJ perked up. “Like ‘polite’?”
“No, that’s a real word.”
“‘Compassionate’?”
Freddie sighed. “Also a real word.”
CJ twisted her mouth in thought. “‘Warmhearted’!” she said with sudden excitement. “That has got to be a fake word. I mean, it’s such a contradiction. Hearts aren’t warm.” She snort-laughed.
Freddie closed her eyes as though trying to hold on to her last strands of patience. “I mean like ‘fabulosity’! And ‘selfie-rific’! And ‘thrappy’!”
CJ frowned. “‘Thrappy’?”
“It’s a combination of thrilled and happy,” Freddie explained. “You know, like extra happy.”
“Yeah, I’m not saying that.”
“Also,” Freddie went on, “you have to try to be nicer to people. Tone down the angsty pirate thing. Compliment people. Be civil.”
“That’s another made-up one, right? ‘Civil’? Let me guess. It’s a combination of evil and—”
Freddie shook her head. “I know it stinks, but just try it. Compliment that woman next to you. Say something nice about her.”
CJ rolled her eyes. This was pointless. She really didn’
t understand how it was going to help her get her ship.
Reluctantly, she turned to the woman next to her and looked her up and down, searching for something she could compliment.
“Hey,” CJ said, gesturing to the woman’s face, “you’ve got really great nose hair. Nice and long. Have you ever thought about beading it?” She tugged on one of her beaded strands of golden-brown hair. “Like mine, see?”
The woman looked horrified, immediately touching her nose.
CJ nodded. “You’re welcome.” Then she turned her attention back to Freddie, who was slowly shaking her head.
CJ threw her hands in the air. “What?”
Ahoy, Briar’s Hollow!
How long do we have to stay here?
The village of Briar’s Hollow looked exactly the way CJ had expected it to look: sickeningly cheerful.
In the center was a cobblestone street with several small shops selling everything from bread to dresses to costume fairy wings. Tourists milled about among the townsfolk—all fairies—who were dressed in traditional “Good Fairy” garb, with layered dresses, capes, and pointy hats in a variety of colors.
On the outskirts of town were rows upon rows of cottage-style houses, each with a thatched roof, a single brick chimney, a stone path leading to the front door, and a wooden mill churning water over a small stream.
“Audrey said woodcutters’ cottages became all the rage after it was discovered that Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather were hiding Briar Rose in one,” Freddie explained as the bus pulled to a stop and the passengers started to disembark. “They’ve been springing up ever since. Exact replicas.”
“More like cookie cutters’ cottages,” CJ mumbled.
“Okay,” Freddie said once they had stepped off the bus. “We need to find a fairy who’s gullible enough to help us.”
“Or,” CJ said thoughtfully, “we do it my way.”
“We’re not kidnapping anyone. It didn’t work with Tiger Lily and it won’t work here.”
CJ crossed her arms. “Fine, what do you suggest?”
Freddie glanced around the bustling street, full of shops, and her eyes lit up suddenly. “There!” she said, pointing to one of the storefronts.
CJ read the sign over the small wooden door.
NOT YOUR FAIRY GODMOTHER’S BEAUTY PARLOR
“A salon?” CJ asked in disbelief.
“We’ll tell her we’re from Auradon Prep and that we’re here on a school assignment.”
“But why a salon?” CJ asked.
Freddie flashed one of her wicked grins. “You’ll see.”
She grabbed CJ’s hand and led her across the road to the shop. A small chime jingled when they pushed the door open and stepped inside. The salon was quaint and homey, with wood floors and a low ceiling. There was a long rectangular mirror hanging on the wall, and four salon chairs faced it. Two middle-aged fairies sat with their heads under dryers while an older fairy with large round glasses was getting her wet hair combed out by a beautician.
“I think I’ve decided to dye my hair pink,” the fairy with glasses told the stylist. “Or maybe blue. No, definitely pink. Or blue. Hmmm. What do you think, dear?”
The beautician looked up when Freddie and CJ walked in. “Why don’t you think on it?” she told the woman. “I’ll be right back.”
The beautician, who was also a fairy, approached Freddie and CJ with a beaming smile. CJ noticed she was dressed head to toe in orange, but she appeared to have taken the traditional Good Fairy look and…well, updated it a bit. She’d shortened the hem on her dress and added a colorful paint-splattered belt and orange leather boots. She’d also ditched the pointy hat in favor of a much more modern orange ball cap, which read TEAM PHILLIP.
“Well, hello there, dearies. What can I do for you?”
Freddie shoved CJ forward and announced, “She wants a makeover.”
“What?” CJ whispered harshly, glaring at her friend. Freddie raised her eyebrows as if to say, Just go with it.
CJ gritted her teeth and flashed her very best AK smile. “It’s true. I need a new look.”
The fairy beautician glanced over her outfit and clucked. “I can’t argue with you there! Come. Have a seat. I’m Peony.” She tugged CJ by the hand and sat her down in the last salon chair. CJ stared at her scowling reflection in the mirror. She was going to make Freddie walk the plank for this.
“So,” Peony said, shaking out CJ’s long golden-brown ponytail and finger-combing the strands. She seemed to grimace every time she snagged one of CJ’s many tangles. “Where are you dearies from?”
“Auradon Prep,” Freddie replied. “We’re students.”
Peony’s face brightened. “Oh, really! Isn’t that grand? Auradon Prep.”
“I hear King Ben is quite the looker,” the older fairy with glasses said, cutting into the conversation. “Am I right?”
Freddie shot CJ a warning look, and CJ refreshed her fake smile. “Oh, you mean Benny Boo? Yup, he’s a cutie-pie. But I’m pretty sure he’s taken.”
Peony laughed as she futzed with CJ’s hair. “Maybe just a little off the bottom and some layers in the front.” She held up one of the beaded strands with her fingertips like it was a snake she was afraid to touch. “And we’ll do something about these…things. Way too piratey for my taste.”
CJ clenched the armrests of the chair until her knuckles turned white. She watched in horror as Peony grabbed three kinds of scissors, two combs, and countless spray bottles and placed them on a nearby tray.
“So what brings you lovelies all the way out from Auradon City?” she asked.
CJ opened her mouth to say something but Freddie beat her to the punch. “We’re here on a school assignment. We’re studying the physics of fairies.”
“Oh, be still, my magic wand,” Peony said, placing a hand to her chest. “My heart’s all aflutter! That’s marvelous. Simply marvelous!”
Freddie winked conspiratorially at CJ, and then her lips fell into a perfect pout. “Yes, it was,” she lamented, “at first. But actually, I think we’re going to fail the class.”
CJ immediately caught on to what Freddie was doing, and she had to admit she was impressed. It was a clever trick, and CJ was relieved to see Freddie back to her old wicked ways again. She’d been worried about her friend a lot lately.
Peony stopped fiddling with the items on her tray and turned to look at Freddie. “What’s that, now, my dear?”
Freddie put her hand to her forehead, like she was a princess who’d just fainted. “We tried. I promise we did. But fairy physics is just so complicated.”
“Oh, come now,” Peony said, patting Freddie’s hand. “Maybe I can help. I am, after all, a fairy.” She glanced at herself in the mirror and flashed a beatific grin.
“I don’t know,” Freddie said doubtfully. “It’s really advanced stuff.”
The fairy clucked. “Nonsense! Nothing’s too advanced for me.”
“Well,” Freddie went on, “we’re trying to understand the dynamics of shrinking magic.”
Peony picked up a comb and waved it toward Freddie. “Shrinking magic! Easy-peasy! We learned that in preschool.”
“Really?” Freddie asked. “Could you show us how it works?” She reached into the pocket of CJ’s backpack and pulled out the map. “Like on this old piece of scrap paper?”
CJ’s heart hammered. She was starting to get a very bad feeling about this. What if they’d misinterpreted the clue? What if the fairy shrunk her map and then couldn’t unshrink it? What if—
But her panicked thoughts were cut short when the fairy said in a disappointed tone, “Oh, well, we’re really not supposed to use magic anymore. Official proclamation from King Beast and all.”
CJ couldn’t help feeling a small twinge of relief. Maybe they should just leave and figure out another way to unlock the next section of the map. But Freddie was still fully vested in the charade.
“Oh. Right,” Freddie said, wilting. “I understand. That’s finesies
. I guess we’ll just fail the class. It was what we were expecting, anyway.”
Peony bit her lip thoughtfully, then leaned in close so the other customers couldn’t hear. “Well, maybe just a little magic would be all right,” she whispered, her eyes darting anxiously around the shop. “But we’ll have to go into the back room.”
CJ, happy to get away from those scissors and combs, shot out of the chair like it was on fire.
“Just give me a moment to put this dye in,” Peony told them, walking over to the older fairy with glasses. “Did you decide on a color?” Peony asked her.
The older fairy smiled. “Yes. I’d like to make it pink. No, make it blue. No, definitely pink. Well…”
“Pink it is!” Peony said before the older fairy could change her mind again. She turned toward CJ. “Will you be a deary and hand me the pink dye from the shelf in the back room?”
CJ stepped into the small storeroom in the back of the shop and scanned the shelves and cabinets, stocked with beauty supplies. She quickly found the shelf of dyes and read the labels. A mischievous smile crossed her face as she plucked a bottle and delivered it to Peony. “Here you go. One bottle of pink hair dye.”
“Thank you!” Peony smiled and started dousing the older fairy’s hair with the liquid. Once she was finished, she led Freddie and CJ into the back room and closed the door. Then, after glancing over both shoulders, she reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a long sparkly wand that seemed to drip glittery dust with every movement of her hand.
“Now, it’s not Fairy Godmother’s wand, by any means, but it’ll do the trick,” Peony said, giving her wand a few practice swings. “Where is that piece of paper?”
Freddie held up the yellowed page again, with the ink side facing her to hide the treasure map from Peony’s view. CJ felt a knot form in her stomach as she stood next to Freddie. She couldn’t believe they were doing this. Getting help from a pixie? What would her father say?
The fairy took a deep breath, and with a swift flick of her wrist, a stream of white sparkly light shot out the tip of her wand. CJ could barely track it as it flew across the small shop, heading right toward them.
CJ's Treasure Chase Page 6
