by Perdita Finn
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
© 2017 Mattel. All Rights Reserved. EVER AFTER HIGH and associated trademarks are owned by and used under license from Mattel.
Cover design by Ching Chan and Véronique L. Sweet. Cover illustration by Erwin Madrid.
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Little, Brown and Company
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First Edition: July 2017
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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ISBNs: 978-0-316-46496-3 (pbk.), 978-0-316-46495-6 (ebook)
E3-20170516-JV-PC
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1: The Case of the Mixed-Up Cheerhex
Chapter 2: Not a Clue!
Chapter 3: On the Case
Chapter 4: The Plot (and the Porridge) Thickens
Chapter 5: The Bear Facts
Chapter 6: Just a Hunch
Chapter 7: Ever After Evidence
Chapter 8: The Scene of the Crime
Chapter 9: The Unusual Suspects
Chapter 10: Fowl Play
Chapter 11: A Critter Culprit
Chapter 12: A Big, Bad Trap
Chapter 13: Cold Case
Chapter 14: The Beast Bust
Chapter 15: Story Solved
For Kadence Jade,
princess in training!
CHAPTER 1
The Case of the Mixed-Up Cheerhex
Faybelle frowned. Her cheerhex wasn’t working as well as she had planned! It was supposed to put the wrong characters into the wrong stories for their hexams. It was supposed to cause all kinds of mischief and mayhem. But these princesses kept Happily-Ever-Aftering their endings!
Briar Beauty was twirling her hair around her finger and chatting with Apple White. “Can you believe Cupid landed in Ashlynn’s story at a ball with a missing sneaker? But I heard that it ended pretty Happily Ever After,” she said with a smile.
“That’s even more upside-down and backward than Wonderland,” agreed Apple White.
Faybelle loudly sighed, disappointed, as she eavesdropped. These mix-ups were supposed to cause a lot more chaos and confusion.
Across the room, Cupid was smiling brightly as she told a bunch of classmates about how much she’d enjoyed meeting the wicked stepsisters. “They’re not bad at all when you get to know them,” she was saying.
Faybelle rolled her eyes. She opened up her notebook and started making a list of Dark Fairy Dos and Dark Fairy Don’ts:
• Dark Fairies do cast spells that cause lots of trouble.
• Dark Fairies don’t let things work out happily and well!
Hmmmm, Faybelle considered. She couldn’t wait for the next fairytale mix-up. She needed something to darken her day.
Who would it be next? Maybe this time nothing would go right!
“I wonder…” Faybelle said out loud.
Briar caught sight of Faybelle’s beaming face, which seemed to worry her. “Faybelle, are you up to something?”
Faybelle wanted to tell someone about her cheerhex, but she knew in order for her hex to keep working, she had to keep it a secret. Faybelle was going to make sure the stories stayed scrambled.
“Nothing, Briar. Today’s lunch just smells wicked-good.”
Briar nodded in agreement and Faybelle sighed with relief. Her secret was safe.
Faybelle smiled to herself. She rubbed her hands together, hoping that her hex would start to really cause mayhem in these storybooks. Maybe she would finally have something really vile to brag about in Villain Club!
CHAPTER 2
Not a Clue!
Crrrack! Rosabella Beauty crashed through the trees and landed on big, soft spot of green moss. She brushed some leaves off her yellow dress and pulled a twig out of her long brown-and-red hair. All around her were blurry red spots and tiny, dark shapes. Her glasses must have fallen off when she dropped into the storybook for her midterm hexam!
But something did not feel just right to Rosabella. What had just happened? Where was she? Tall trees rose above her. There were birds singing. She was supposed to be in her fairytale for her midterm hexam, but this didn’t seem right to her. She must be in a forest, but it didn’t look like the Enchanted Forest near Ever After High. Could it be the dreaded Dark Forest? She shuddered. She couldn’t tell. Everything was so blurry. Everything was so fuzzy. Where could she possibly be?
Rosabella realized that she must’ve landed in the wrong storybook. Was this a surprise portion of her midterm hexam? Suddenly, Rosabella was nervous. She hadn’t studied for surprises!
“Oh my!” chirped a small voice. “Are these your glasses?”
Rosabella squinted. She couldn’t find whoever was speaking… but something sparkling caught her eye. Her glasses! She slipped them back on. That’s much better!
She looked around her. The red blurs were flowers, and the dark shapes were little birds. But even though she could see the trees more clearly now, she still didn’t recognize this forest. They didn’t look like the kinds of trees in the forest that surrounded her castle. How strange!
“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before,” squeaked the voice again. Rosabella looked down by her feet and saw a little buck-toothed squirrel speaking right to her!
“You can speak? This can’t be my forest…” Rosabella said thoughtfully. She knew there weren’t any speaking animals in her story.
The squirrel’s nose wiggled up and down. His tail twitched. He seemed confused.
“I’m Rosabella,” she hexplained. “I hope I didn’t frighten you before. Do you know the way to the Beast’s castle?”
“The Beast?!” squealed the squirrel, alarmed.
“Oh no! A beast! A beast!” someone cried. A little salamander who was scrambling by had overheard them.
A crow squawked loudly. “A beast! A beast! A beast!”
It seemed that Rosabella had said something wrong, and she didn’t like to see any animal upset—especially not by her!
“Are you the Beast?” The squirrel rubbed his paws together nervously.
“No!” Rosabella laughed. “I’m the daughter of Beauty and the Beast, though I think I’m in the wrong storybook.” Rosabella paused to consider how nervous all the animals were acting. No matter which storybook she’d landed in, Rosabella couldn’t just leave these poor creatures when they were so worried! “But my story isn’t important right now. It looks like something’s upsetting all of you. Can I help?”
The birds gathered around, twe
eting and flapping their wings. The salamander began making hissing noises. The squirrel was chattering a mile a minute.
“Our nests were just a jumble of sticks!”
“A beast overturned our rocks!”
“Are you the one blowing down our houses?” The squirrel was looking up at her, his little black eyes worried.
“Oh no!” Rosabella replied reassuringly. She was sad to see the woodland creatures so worried, and she wanted to make them smile. Then she had an idea!
“Watch—I can hardly blow a leaf past the tip of my nose!” She picked up an oak leaf and tried to blow it. It stuck to the end of her nose. The sight made the squirrel giggle. He thumped his tail as he saw she was telling the truth. The salamander grinned.
But Rosabella still didn’t know where she was. She wondered if Daring Charming had also landed in this strange fairytale, since he was the Beast to her Beauty. “Has anyone seen a prince around?” she asked.
But no one had.
I wish I could take a quick trip to the Legacy Orchard right about now and do some research on strange forests and talking animals! This is definitely someone else’s story, she thought.
Still, it sounded like this forest had a mystery that needed solving and some animals that needed helping. Rosabella was always looking out for woodland friends in trouble.
“Watch out!” It was a little butterfly with spotted wings, staring up at her. Her boot was just about to land on him.
“Whoops! I’m sorry,” Rosabella said, jumping carefully out of the way. She was going to have to be fairy careful, she realized.
Rosabella didn’t want to cause any trouble in this mysterious fairytale. She didn’t want to take this story off book! So she made sure to walk between the bushes and the flowers, and she smiled at all the butterflies. When she knocked a stick or a fallen leaf out of place, she put it right back where it belonged. Still, she noticed the deer scampered away from her and the owls swooped through the trees as she passed.
“Who! Who! Whodunnit?” they hooted.
Rosabella was fairy sensitive, and she could tell that all the creatures she met were nervous and frightened. What were they all so scared of? Should she be scared, too?
She peered into the shadows, but she didn’t see anything scary—and she didn’t feel anything scary, either… and she usually did if there was trouble afoot.
Jumping into someone else’s storybook was a lot of work. Soon Rosabella started to feel really tired. And hungry! Her stomach rumbled, and she wondered if she could persuade any of the squirrels to help her find some nuts.
A beam of golden light was shining through the trees. At first, Rosabella thought it must be the early-morning sunshine, but as she got closer, she saw it was coming from a window in a cottage. Smoke was rising up out of the chimney, and a delicious smell was wafting from the open door.
“Looks like someone might be home,” she noted to herself. “And something sugary and sweet is on the stove!”
Rosabella made her way to the cottage, hoping that whoever lived inside might be able to tell her hexactly which story she was in. Even though the front door was open, she knocked on it and called inside, “Is anyone home?” Rosabella was fairy polite.
But no one answered.
She knocked again. She peeked through the open door into the cozy cottage. No one seemed to be there. She hesitated. The fireplace was roaring and the table was set. Whoever lived here had left in a hurry, and they might need Rosabella’s help when they got back.
Something strange was happening in this forest. Maybe she could find a clue inside that would tell her where she was… and why the animals in this mysterious forest were all so scared!
CHAPTER 3
On the Case
Oh my wand! thought Rosabella as she walked into the cottage. Everything in it was enormous. An umbrella twice as tall as she was leaned against the wall. The furniture towered over her. A fire roared in a giant fireplace. Three big chairs were arranged around it. The biggest was so gigantic that Rosabella could have curled up on it with a bunch of her friends!
“Maybe giants live here!”
But she hadn’t seen any beanstalks when she was walking through the woods—and the house didn’t smell like giants. It smelled… cozy. She inhaled the sweet aroma that had lured her into the cottage and followed the smell to a bright kitchen.
There was a jar of honey on the table so huge, it could have fed every student at Ever After High. On the stove, a bubbling pot was sending up puffs of delicious steam. Rosabella pushed an oversize stool to the stove and stood on it to look inside. Was it an enchanted potion? Did a witch live here, perhaps?
Rosabella peeked inside the pot. Porridge! She sniffed. Porridge with honey! That’s what smelled so sweet. Her tummy rumbled again.
She studied the kitchen table. There were three chairs—big, bigger, and biggest. There were three bowls on the table—big, bigger, and biggest. Steam wafted up from them. Someone had served the porridge into each of the bowls.
“Hello!” Rosabella called out. But no one was home. How strange! Who would leave the door open, a fire burning, and their hot breakfast on the table? As soon as she caught the scent of one mystery, another one popped up! Whom did the house belong to? And even more important, where were they?
Standing on the chair in front of the biggest bowl, she touched the side to test the temperature. Way too hot! Then she felt the medium-size bowl and found that it was way too cold. Finally, she felt the smallest bowl. It was just the right temperature! Rosabella dipped a spoon into the bowl to take the teeniest, tiniest taste. Porridge with honey, just as I suspected, she thought.
“Porridge that’s just the right temperature,” Rosabella said to herself. “Just right.” Wait a minute! She knew this story. She looked around the room again. How had she missed it? Three chairs, three bowls of porridge. A giant jar of honey. There was even a painting on the wall of a friendly family of bears. Momma Bear was wearing an apron and had her arm around Baby Bear. Poppa Bear had a big smile on his face and was wearing a pointy green hat. The family looked so nice.
This must be Blondie Lockes’s story: Goldilocks and the Three Bears!
Rosabella thought for a moment. The instructions for the midterm hexam were to get to The End of the storybook, but Rosabella couldn’t fairy well worry about that after seeing the whole forest in such a tizzy! That sounded off-story, even for Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Where had the Bears gone, and whatever-after was going on? Rosabella was worried that the Bears had left their delicious breakfast without eating. They must have left in a hurry. Could this have something to do with why all the animals in the forest were so upset?
Rosabella decided that her first job was to figure out what happening and help any animals that needed her. Then she could figure out how to pass her hexam and return to Ever After High!
Rosabella searched the room carefully for a clue, but she couldn’t find anything that hexplained why the Bears had left. Besides, her stomach was still rumbling, and it was hard to think on an empty stomach. Tired, Rosabella took a seat in Baby Bear’s armchair (Poppa’s chair was much too hard, and Momma’s was too soft) and rested for a moment. It felt just right.
Her thoughts turned to the porridge. It had been delicious, but Rosabella would’ve added some cream and maybe a touch of cinnamon. That would have made it hextra yummy. She rested her head on her hand and thought about warm porridge in her stomach. She was beginning to feel a little bit sleepy. What a long, strange morning it had been. She was completely hexhausted.
It couldn’t hurt to take a little nap.…
And with that, she fell fast asleep. Her glasses slipped off her nose and landed on the floor.
CHAPTER 4
The Plot (and the Porridge) Thickens
Rosabella was dreaming she was in her own forest again. She walked past the big, old fir trees, past the rose garden, up to the castle with the huge front door. She pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. S
he reached up to the knocker above her head.
Knock, knock, knock, KNOCK!
Knock, knock, knock, KNOCK!
The noise woke up Rosabella. It wasn’t coming from her dream. It was coming from somewhere inside the house. Jumping out of the chair, she heard the front door slam shut.
Something fairy fishy is definitely up, thought Rosabella. Was that the Bear family? Why didn’t they say hello? Maybe because they couldn’t see me.… But why did they leave so quickly?
Rosabella raced to the window and peered through the glass. But—uh-oh!—she’d lost her glasses again. Everything was so foggy. She could hear leaves rustling, but she couldn’t see anything hexcept trees and a shadow moving through the forest.
How was she going to solve a mystery if she couldn’t see any clues? She found her way back to the chair where she’d been sleeping. They must have fallen off. She felt around on the floor… and discovered her glasses broken into two pieces! Rosabella didn’t remember stepping on them. She held the pieces in front of her eyes and looked around the room.
All the chairs were toppled over. Feathers from burst pillows floated through the air. What had happened? Someone—or something—had stomped through the cottage in a hurry. Maybe that was what had happened to her glasses.
The living room looked like it had been hexed. It was a complete mess! The kitchen, too, was topsy-turvy—all the porridge in the bowls and in the pot was gone. Someone had used the tablecloth as a napkin and spilled the jar of honey all over the floor and knocked the Bear family portrait off the wall. How could someone have made such a big mess when she’d only closed her eyes for a moment?
Then Rosabella remembered the animals chattering about their damaged nests and dens. Whoever was causing so much trouble in the forest must’ve made the mess in the cottage! But why would someone want to do that?
Oh, this poor family, thought Rosabella. I wouldn’t want to come home to this mess and no breakfast!
