And I did. Just like that. As if I’d pulled myself out of the dream by snapping my fingers. That had definitely never happened to me before.
I sat up on the uncomfortably stiff fairy bed, in my uncomfortably starchy fairy pajamas, and a huge wave of homesickness washed over me. I’d been away from home dozens of times on my adventures, and it had never bothered me before. Anthony had always made sure my aunt didn’t notice I was gone so she wouldn’t worry.
This time, all I wanted was to be in my own room in my own bed. I wanted to be able to pick up the phone and call Trish and Melissa and hear their voices. Or to chat with Aunt Evie over a nice cup of Earl Grey tea while one of her animal patients snoozed on the table. Heck, I would have settled for talking to Anthony about his latest candy obsession, but even that was out of the question since I was trapped in my room. The only sign of life outside my prison was the faint sound of mice singing somewhere below, which didn’t make me feel any better.
The truth was, I wanted my parents back in my life so badly that it hurt. I had to figure out how to make that happen. I just had to.
Chapter Twelve
Just as the sun was starting to come up, a huge Crash! echoed through my room.
The trap I’d set had caught a Luken-sized intruder.
“Ow!” he cried as he tried to untangle himself from the web of bath towels and mini-golf clubs I’d crisscrossed in front of the closet.
“Sneaking around again?” I said, turning on the lights.
Luken struggled to get free, causing a shower of mini-golf balls to fall on his head. “Some help, please?”
“Fine,” I said, “but you have to tell me how you manage to sneak around this place. How do you keep that cuff from going off?”
“Sorry. I cannot reveal that information.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Then you can get out of that mess on your own.”
One last ball bounced off Luken’s forehead. He sighed. “Very well, but you must tell no one my secret.”
“I won’t.” As I helped free him from the trap I’d made, he told me how he’d deactivated his tracking cuff by opening it up and switching off some kind of sensor. Yet another bit of technology that made no sense in a fairy-tale land.
“Switching the cuffs off is rather simple, really,” Luken said.
“Okay, so can you deactivate mine?” I said, unwinding the last towel from around his arm.
Luken shook his head. “It is too dangerous. If anyone finds out what I have done, I will be harshly punished. I cannot inflict that same fate on you.”
“You don’t understand. I don’t care how much they punish me! If I don’t get out of my room and find my parents in the next two days, then I might never get them back. Please, you have to help me!” I was about a second away from grabbing him and shaking him until his pointy ears fell off.
“What do you mean?” Luken asked. “What has happened to your parents?”
“They’ve been missing since I was really young, and now I know the queen has them hidden somewhere. She said she’d make a deal with me, but I don’t trust her. That’s why I want to find my parents on my own, so I can get them out of here before the queen’s deadline is up.”
He stared at me. “You have actually met the Queen Fairy? What was she like?”
“Creepy and blinding. I can still kind of see her outline on the back of my eyelids every time I blink.”
Luken’s face lit up, and he pulled out his sketch pad again. This time, his drawing was of a ride made completely out of lights. No doubt it would blind everyone who went through it, probably permanently.
When he saw me looking at the sketch, Luken quickly closed his notebook and put it away.
“The queen has ruined many families,” he said, rubbing one of his long ears. “If helping you means that at least one family might be reunited, then I suppose it is worth the risk.”
“You mean you’ll do it?” I practically squealed. “Thank you!”
Luken shrugged. “I only hope it will help.”
He looked so sad all of a sudden that my excitement faded. “Did she break up your family too?” I said.
He nodded slowly, not looking at me. “Before I was born, my father was one of the most influential theme-park designers in this land. His sketches inspired the Ferris wheel and many other rides, and he was working on his biggest project yet: a ship that could actually take you into space. Can you imagine something so incredible?”
Actually, I could. But Luken was so awed by the idea that I didn’t say so. Instead, I asked: “So what happened?”
“The Carousel Catastrophe,” Luken whispered like it hurt to even say the words. “My father and several others perished in the accident. The queen had just come into power, and she used the tragedy as an excuse to close the park once and for all.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “And your mom?”
“After the accident, she came to believe that our theme-park lifestyle was responsible for my father’s death and that something would happen to me too if I followed in his footsteps. She became one of the queen’s biggest supporters, convinced that her vision for the future of this land was the only way to keep me safe.”
“You don’t agree with her?’
Luken shook his head. “My father’s designs were amazing. If we can get the park to reopen, then I will be able to carry on his legacy and make others happy just like he did.”
“That’s why you’re always drawing plans for amusement park rides?” I said.
He smiled shyly. “They are not nearly as good as my father’s were, but most of his plans were destroyed. I hope to one day be able to replace them all.” His smile faded. “That is why the queen must be taken off her throne, so that we can reopen the park and return this land to the way it should be.”
“Okay, then we’ll make that happen. If you help me find my parents, I’ll help you take down that glowing fairy.” I stuck out my hand. “Deal?”
Luken stared at my hand for a minute and then lightly rubbed his palm against mine. I guess that was the closest to a fairy handshake I was going to get. “Deal,” he said.
I held out my cuff. “Now, please turn this thing off.”
Luken reached into his pocket and took out a small box filled with tools. He got to work, poking and prodding at the cuff. “If we are to search for your parents,” he said, “we should do it soon. There is a lot of unrest in the kingdom.”
“What do you mean?”
After glancing around, as if making sure no one was listening, Luken whispered: “Protests. The leprechauns are going on strike early tomorrow morning. They will refuse to go to their stations.”
“That’s perfect!” I said. “It’ll be a huge distraction. The fairies will be so worried about what’s going on with the leprechauns that no one will notice if we’re not in our rooms.”
Luken nodded, rubbing his ear again. I was starting to think he did that whenever he was pondering something. “That might work.”
There was a loud knock on the door.
Luken grabbed his tools and jumped to his feet. “At dawn,” he whispered, hurrying toward the closet he’d just come from. “When the leprechauns strike, we shall go into the tunnels.” Then he disappeared.
Chapter Thirteen
When the door opened, Karfum and the two female leprechauns who’d given me a makeover bustled into my room.
“What’s going on?” I said.
“It’s time to get you ready for the ball.”
Oh no. I’d totally forgotten about the ball Mahlia had mentioned. Maybe my brain had blocked it out on purpose. The last thing I wanted to do was watch fairies waltzing around.
“Do I have to go?” I said.
The leprechauns didn’t answer. Instead, they bustled me across the room and started attacking my hair again. I
didn’t know how celebrities put up with teams of stylists fussing over them all the time. Then again, my friend Melissa would have been in heaven.
As the two female leprechauns worked on recurling my hair, Karfum smeared green paste all over my face that smelled like it was made out of crushed-up clover.
“What is that?” I said.
“A shamrock mask,” he said. “It helps hydrate the skin.” Then he dipped his finger into the leftover paste and licked it. “Plus, it tastes delightful.”
Gross.
When I was all made up and dressed in a gown that made me feel like a pink cream puff, the guards ushered me out into the hallway where Anthony and a few other leprechauns were already waiting.
I almost fell over when I saw Anthony’s outfit. He was dressed in a green vest and green tights, and his shirt and pants were the exact same color as his orange hair. He could have passed for a walking pumpkin. Somehow, the leprechauns had managed to slick back Anthony’s unruly hair, and they’d even woven a green ribbon into his orange beard. I could tell the gnome was not happy about his makeover by the way he was angrily crunching on a hunk of purple candy.
I wanted to pull Anthony aside and tell him about the queen’s proposal, but I didn’t get a chance. The guards ushered us to the elevator, and then we all screamed our way up to one of the top floors. This time, I threw up my arms and shrieked as loudly as I could. It felt good to get some of my frustrations out. Maybe that’s why the leprechauns didn’t mind sticking to this particular rule. If someone took my gold and trapped me in another land, I’d be screaming as much as possible too.
We went down a hallway where an overly chipper leprechaun told us to stand in front of a forest backdrop and smile for a contraption that could have been a toaster oven.
“Perfect!” the leprechaun called as he handed over a photo of me scowling and Anthony grinning like a fool. “Would you like to take one as a souvenir?”
“Um, no thanks,” I said, just as Anthony snatched the picture out of my hand and happily put it in his pocket.
Mahlia and the Queen Fairy had both insisted this land was no longer a theme park, but either they were blind or totally fooling themselves. Only amusement parks and cruise ships forced you to take touristy photos, and last I checked, the floor wasn’t swaying under our feet.
When we got to the ballroom, it was decked out in silvery lights and white garlands. The room was filled with fairies, all dressed in ball gowns and fancy suits (all with tights, of course) and all dancing stiffly to deafening music that sounded like cats marching across cellos.
“Wow!” said Anthony. “Look at this shindig. Promise you’ll save me a dance, Jenny-girl.”
“Trust me. That’s a really bad idea. I’m a horrible dancer.” Even my gym teacher had asked me to sit out our last square-dancing unit so no one would get hurt.
As the guards ushered Anthony and me across the room, I kept an eye out for the Queen Fairy. She had to be here somewhere. This was her ball, after all. But there was no sign of her. Maybe she was watching from one of the shadowy balconies around the room.
The crowd parted to let us by, but I could feel the fairies’ eyes on us. I started to notice that even though the fairies were all dressed up, there was something off about each of them. One woman’s hair was only half done. Another’s dress was different colors in a way that made me wonder if she’d run out of fabric dye. One man’s coattails were two lengths, as if one of them had stopped growing before the other, and he was only wearing part of a top hat.
I turned to Karfum. “Why does everyone look so…unfinished?”
“Not enough magic,” he said. “The rations only let them do so much.”
Again, I thought of the queen and the magic nearly bursting out of her. How could the other fairies stand having theirs rationed when she had so much? Or maybe they didn’t know about all her magic. Maybe that’s why the Queen Fairy stayed hidden away.
Anthony let out a giggle beside me. “Look, Jenny-girl,” he said, pointing to the display case in the middle of the room with the glass loafer inside it. Apparently, the queen liked to bring the case with her wherever she went. “That shoe looks like it’s my size.”
I had to laugh too. “If it is, that means you’re the Queen Fairy’s true prince,” I said.
Anthony’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Listen,” I said. “Speaking of the queen, I need to tell you something—”
Trumpets blared from somewhere high over our heads. Then Mahlia appeared in the doorway, and everyone stopped dancing and bowed. Only when she took a few steps forward did I notice there was someone next to her.
Luken.
He was dressed up even fancier than usual and looked pretty cute for an alien fairy. He stood at Mahlia’s side with a fake grin on his face, her hand resting on his arm as if he were her date. Or…
“Her son,” I said softly.
“What?” said Anthony, drooling in the direction of a table of fairy food in the corner.
“Nothing,” I said, but my mind was spinning. All that stuff Luken had told me about his parents, about his mom supporting the queen after his dad died, it had all been about Mahlia.
When he glanced across the room, Luken’s eyes met mine, and his fake smile faded. Clearly, he hadn’t expected to see me here. Then he turned away, as if we were complete strangers, and started talking to another fairy.
I told myself the disappointment I felt was stupid. Of course Luken couldn’t let on that he knew me. Besides, we’d only just met. So what if he was ignoring me? So what if he hadn’t told me who his mother was? Okay, so maybe I’d thought we’d had a real connection when he’d confessed that his family had also been torn apart by the Queen Fairy. I’d thought I could really trust him. Now I wasn’t so sure.
“Everyone dance!” a voice echoed from high above us. I recognized it as the queen’s. She was still hidden away, but she was watching.
Everyone scrambled to find a dance partner. I realized this was my chance to finally talk to Anthony.
“Hey!” he said as I pulled him out onto the dance floor. “I thought you didn’t dance.”
“I’m making an exception,” I said, trying not to step on his feet. “I have to tell you something. The queen offered me a deal.”
Anthony gave me a quick spin and then had to catch me before I collided with an old fairy couple. “What kind of deal?” he said.
I quietly told him about my conversation with the queen. “She gave me three days to decide,” I said when I’d recapped her offer, “and now I only have two days left.”
“Ow!” Anthony cried as I accidentally kicked him in the elbow. “So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know!” I said, managing to step on my own feet this time. “Of course I want my parents back, but what about the magical worlds?”
Anthony shrugged and then shimmied his shoulders. “I can’t make that decision for you, Jenny-girl. You have to do what you think is right.”
If only I knew what that was. Having my own happy ending was starting to seem impossible.
As the song ended, Anthony wrenched out of my grip and ran toward the snack table before I could force him into another dance. Just then, Mahlia came up to me and gave me her trademark fake smile.
“You dance beautifully,” she said.
“Um, thanks,” I said, wondering if she needed glasses. My feet hurt from how many times I’d managed to step on them. I couldn’t imagine how Anthony’s legs, arms, and shoulders felt.
Mahlia’s smile faded. “The queen has told me about her offer,” she said. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Take it. It is your only chance.” Then she strode away, leaving me alone in the crowd.
“Jenny-girl!” Anthony cried after a minute. I glanced over to find him next to the display case, grinning like a maniac. Somehow, he’d managed to wr
ench the case open. He was holding up his foot, which he’d shoved into the glass loafer. “Look. It fits perfectly!”
The music screeched to a stop and all eyes swung to look at Anthony.
From above, the queen’s voice rang out again: “Bring him to me.”
Fairy guards appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Anthony’s arms. Before I could do anything—Pop!—they vanished, leaving only one of Anthony’s worn shoes behind.
Chapter Fourteen
“Where did they take him?” I demanded, marching over to Karfum. Around me, the ball started up again as if Anthony hadn’t just disappeared.
“Nothing to be worried about.”
“Of course I’m worried!” I said. “He’s my friend, and the queen just abducted him because she thinks he’s her prince. You know he can’t really be her prince, right? I mean, you’ve met him!”
Karfum’s mouth twitched, like he was trying not to smile.
“Please, can you just make sure he’s okay?” I could easily imagine the queen getting tired of Anthony and turning him into a tap-dancing penguin or something.
The leprechaun let out a soft sigh and nodded. “I will see what I can find out.”
“Thank you. Now, can you please get me out of here? I can’t stand being at this ball a second longer.”
“Attendance is mandatory for all fairies and their honored guests,” said Karfum.
“Okay, so I attended. Now I’d like to go.”
He glanced around, as if making sure no one was listening. Then he whispered, “Act ill.”
It was exactly the kind of idea I’d normally come up with. In fact, I was surprised I hadn’t thought of it myself. I guess being in Fairy Land, knowing that my parents were so close by, had started to get to me. I’d barely even said anything cheesy since I’d been here!
I grabbed my stomach and started groaning.
“What are you doing?” said Karfum.
“Acting sick.”
He shook his head and pointed to the dance floor. “It looks like you’re doing the latest dance.”
My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending Page 5
