by Joan Holub
She looked over at Malorette and Odette. They’d been nice to her since Wednesday’s interview, but so far they hadn’t asked her on other outings or asked her to sit with them, either. Were they waiting for Ms. Wicked’s decision before wasting any more time on her? Typical. Their friendship offer was apparently conditional.
She hoped that wasn’t true for Snow, and the other Grimm girls, too. If Goldie didn’t make the E.V.I.L. Society, she wouldn’t be able to bring Snow and her friends the information they sought. Would they drop her since she’d therefore be of no use to them? Would their offer of friendship prove conditional in the end as well? Her throat tightened up just thinking about it.
Since she wasn’t sure of Ms. Wicked’s rules regarding who could hang out with whom, she decided to sit alone. Borrring! She glanced down the table at Foulsmell. Not wanting to jeopardize her chances of getting into the Society, she’d been cautious about saying anything to him in Bespellings class yesterday. After all, he was a friend of Rapunzel’s, who was also a friend of Snow’s. He’d looked kind of hurt and annoyed about it, though. Just like he was acting toward her now.
Who could blame him? She had to find a way to apologize for Malorette and Odette’s horridness to him two days ago and explain why she couldn’t really talk to him, at least for a while. She didn’t dare tell him about trying to get into the Society, but she needed him to understand that she didn’t think of him as a puppy dog!
So as she was leaving Bespellings class later that morning, she sneaked him a note. It read:
Hi, Foulsmell.
I’m worried I hurt your feelings when Malorette and Odette were mean to you in the hall. You and I are friends (I hope!), and I should have stood up for you. I’m sorry. Unfortunately, it would not be a good idea for us to be seen hanging out right now. Ask Rapunzel and she’ll tell you why.
Talk soon, when it’s safe,
Goldie
Foulsmell looked surprised and puzzled as she pressed the note into his hand, but then he gave her a quick nod, as though he understood her need for secrecy. It was possible that Rapunzel had already told him what was going on.
She waited till the very end of fourth-period Scrying before summoning the courage to go up to Ms. Wicked’s desk to tell her the lie she’d decided on last night.
“Um, so I opened Ms. Goose’s egg safe,” she began.
Ms. Wicked leaned forward eagerly. “Yes? And?”
“I’m sorry, but it was empty.”
“Empty!” Goldie strove to keep a neutral look on her face as Ms. Wicked studied her expression carefully. In the end, the teacher seemed to believe her. “The wily old goose must’ve taken out those k — I mean whatever was in the safe before the meeting.” She heaved a deep, disgruntled sigh. “Never mind. I’ll come up with a different test for you. It’ll have to wait till tomorrow, though. I’ve called a meeting of the guards for this afternoon.”
“Then I’m still in the running for the Society?” Goldie asked.
Ms. Wicked nodded regally.
“Gosh! Thanks!” Goldie forced a bright smile, then turned to go.
A hand grabbed her arm, stopping her. A hand with long, glossy red fingernails.
“W-what?” asked Goldie.
“Do you still have the message marble I sent you?” the teacher asked.
Goldie nodded.
“Good,” said Ms. Wicked. She let go of her arm. “Take your seat.” There was a self-satisfied glint in her eye as she dismissed her. What was that about? wondered Goldie.
* * *
Being in limbo this way — unable to hang out with friends and waiting to find out what her evil assignment would be — was not fun at all. So when Goldie went up to her room after Friday’s classes and found a small bouquet of flowers on her desk, she felt both excited and nervous. Were they from Ms. Wicked?
“What’s this?” she asked Polly, who had only just stopped by to put on boots. Apparently, she and her nursery rhyme pals, Jack and Jill and Mary Mary Quite Contrary, were going to hike up some hill and then purposely take a spill, rolling back down it for kicks. Goldie was so desperate for fun, she’d halfway considered going with them when Polly had explained the plan just now. But she wasn’t sure what Ms. Wicked would think of her hanging out with nursery rhyme characters. Besides, she hadn’t actually been invited.
“The flowers? They flew in the window by bluebird delivery from the Bouquet Garden a few minutes ago,” Polly said as she finished lacing up her boots. “I figured they must be for you since no one ever sends me flowers.” She grinned over at Goldie. “Tea, yes. Flowers, no.”
Goldie bent over her desk to sniff the bouquet, which was made up of yellow roses, white daisies, orange lilies, and yellow sunflowers. “Mmm, nice.”
An extraordinary variety of flowers grew in Grimm Academy’s Bouquet Garden. Unlike most flowers, however, the ones in the GA garden actually bloomed together in attractive combinations all on one bush. So with a single flick of your wrist, you could pick a beautifully arranged ready-made bouquet of many kinds of flowers.
“Well, I’m off!” said Polly, heading for the curtain door at the entrance to their room. “See you!”
“Later,” Goldie called after her, without looking around. Glimpsing a small card hidden among the flowers, she pulled it out. For Goldie, it said on one side. She flipped over the card and read what was scribbled on the back:
Thanks for your note.
Need to talk.
Four thirty.
Heart Island.
– F.
These flowers were from Foulsmell? She couldn’t have been more surprised if someone had hit her in the face with them. She’d never gotten flowers from a boy before. Or from anyone! Her aunt had allergies and disapproved of flowers, especially cut ones. “Frivolous and unnecessarily showy,” she would have likely proclaimed this bouquet to be. But Goldie thought it was beautiful.
She reread Foulsmell’s note. She guessed the flowers must mean he’d accepted the apology in her note to him. But he had ignored the bit about them not hanging out. Why did they need to meet on Heart Island?
Come to think of it, though, she’d been kind of wanting to check the island for those three bear guards. She’d asked around and it seemed that no one else had seen them since they’d marched into the Great Hall last Monday either. What could they be up to? And were they up to it on Heart Island? If so, sneaking around there was a must!
Just then the Hickory Dickory Dock clock bonged in the Hall, the sound echoing throughout the school. It was almost four. She could row to the island by four thirty if she left now. So …
Her feet decided what to do before her mind did. They carried her across the room, where she grabbed a hooded blue cloak from her closet. She was going to the island!
After making sure the message marble was still in the pocket of her gown (in case Ms. Wicked sent her a message with a new assignment), she was out the tower door, down the stairs, and across the drawbridge. She wasn’t surprised she didn’t meet any guards since Ms. Wicked had said she’d called them together for a meeting that afternoon. Perfect. Goldie only hoped that the bear guards would be at the meeting, too.
At the dock, Goldie untethered a single-bench swan boat and was quickly on her way. She had paddled only a few lengths downriver, however, when a breeze whipped back her hood. Quickly, she slipped it over her hair again and darted a look across the river at the Academy. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a couple of figures in a tower window. Had someone seen her? If so, her bright, golden locks would be a dead giveaway as to who she was.
She squinted at the window, but now it looked empty. Not that it really mattered one way or the other. It was perfectly fine for her to be out boating on the river. She just didn’t like the idea of being spied on.
On the dot of four thirty, she pulled up to the dock on Heart Island and found Foulsmell waiting for her, a bag slung over one of his shoulders. As she leaped out, he tied up her boat next to the
one he must have come in.
“Hurry,” he said, taking her arm. “There could be spies.”
She might’ve thought him overly concerned if she hadn’t been worrying about the same thing just minutes ago.
“Thanks for the flowers,” she told him as they rushed for cover. Anyone approaching the island would see their boats, but they wouldn’t know who had arrived in them. Once they reached a thick grove of alder trees, they slowed, continuing on toward the island’s center.
“You got the bouquet? Oh, yeah, of course you did. Duh. You wouldn’t have gotten the note and come here otherwise,” said Foulsmell. He seemed a little nervous and shy. Should she apologize more for the whole puppy thing? Or maybe he just wanted to forget about it. She sure did!
When Foulsmell bent to set down his bag, Goldie sat on a stump and looked around. Heart Island was pretty flat, a lot like Maze Island. Which made it the perfect place to hold events and festivals like the one students had organized to earn money for the Academy not long ago. The very one where Ms. Wicked had picked the animal blossom guards from all those tongue twister plants. There was plenty of space here to put up booths, games, makeshift stages, and even large tents for dances. Still, there were lots of trees, too. Trees that could hide a house for bear guards.
“Hello?” said Foulsmell, leaning over so his face was in her line of sight.
“Oh, sorry, did you say something?” she asked him.
“Mm-hmm. I said Rapunzel told me what you were up to. Trying to join E.V.I.L.” He frowned at her. “Sounds pretty dangerous.”
Goldie felt a sharp tug of annoyance. Her aunt had often looked at her like Foulsmell was doing now, especially when she was unhappy about whatever Goldie was up to. She stood and folded her arms, glaring at him.
“It’s nice of you to be so concerned,” she said in a tight, overly sweet voice that implied the opposite. “But this is my business and it’s something I really feel I have to do.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” Foulsmell replied with a sigh. “So I brought these.”
Stooping and reaching into his bag, he produced two magic wands. Seeing her immediate interest, he handed her one. “Like ’em?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously. “I ‘borrowed’ them from Ms. Blue’s room. Figured you should at least have some kind of protection if you’re going to keep on with this crazy scheme.” He sounded rather pleased with himself.
“Good idea, only we never quite mastered the whole wand and bubble thing, so …” Goldie began.
“Exactly. So I thought we should practice. Which is why I suggested we come out here. Knowing more than one class’s worth of bubble-using spells would have been cool, but since somebody magicked the chapter on Defensive Magic right out of our Handbooks, we’ll have to —”
“You noticed that, too?” interrupted Goldie.
He shrugged and turned to lead her toward a clearing. “Hard not to.”
“Ms. Wicked’s handiwork, do you think?” she asked, skipping to catch up to him.
“Most likely. E.V.I.L. must not consider defensive magic to be important ‘for everyone’s safety,’ as she’s always putting it.”
“Or maybe they figure it’s important for E.V.I.L.’s safety that we don’t learn defensive magic,” Goldie mused. Quickly, she told him about the meeting of the guards Ms. Wicked had called that very afternoon, and they speculated on what it might be about.
Foulsmell stopped in the clearing and ran his fingers through his tangled brown hair. “Remember back in class how I said I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt?”
“Uh-huh.” Her cheeks went warm as she remembered that she’d called him Foolsmell for saying it. “You said that being suspicious of others all the time isn’t a very fun way to live.”
He looked pleased that she remembered what he’d said. “It’s not, usually. But, well, I’ve decided you were probably right to suspect Ms. Wicked after all. Too bad for her and her evil empire, though. Because we’ve got these!” He held up his wand, swishing it in a zigzag of expert moves. “Ready for a little bubblizing?”
“Definitely.” Thrusting off her hooded cloak, Goldie tossed it over a large flat rock nearby, then grinned at him. “Here goes nothing.” She spun her wand around in a series of quick circles, and so did he.
His first bubble was a half-inflated flop, but he only laughed and quickly popped it. His second surrounded him completely, and was round and strong. He bounced around in it carefully, testing its strength.
Goldie’s first bubble had been a complete one that was only a little misshapen, so she too tried some bouncing. When she managed a bounce as high as a nearby tree branch, she stretched out both arms from within the bubble to grasp it. Catching hold, she hung from the branch, pleased when her bubble didn’t pop.
“Nice!” Foulsmell encouraged, while bouncing in a circle around the clearing. When he drew closer, he said, “By the way, Rapunzel said to tell you she and Snow and their friends discovered that some of the animal guards are snitching on students … teachers, too … and reporting back to Ms. Wicked whatever they see or hear.”
“I know.” It was what Ms. Wicked had implied at lunch on Wednesday, and Goldie had already guessed that the kangaroo guard probably had ratted on her about picking the dungeon lock. “What I don’t know is what Ms. Wicked would think about me having any non-evil friends,” she went on as she dangled from the tree. “So like I said in my note, we probably shouldn’t hang out.” With that, she released her grip on the branch she’d been hanging from.
When she hit the ground, her bubble bounced her right back up again. Then down. Then up again. She tried moving around the clearing. Boing! Boing!
“Hey, this is fun!” But then she got a little too boldly enthusiastic. When she landed at an angle, she suddenly found herself rolling down a hill.
“Whoa!” she shouted as she hurtled toward the bottom. So this was Polly, Jack and Jill, and Mary Mary’s idea of fun? Scrambling your brains by rolling down hills? Nuh-uh! Eventually, she managed to direct her bubble so it bounced off a tree trunk, then off another and another, finally slowing herself.
Foulsmell bounced up to her. “You okay?” he asked breathlessly.
“Yeah. You?” she asked, breathless, too.
He nodded.
“Enough! I need a bubble break.” Pop! Goldie poked her bubble from the inside with the sharp tip of her wand.
“Okay, I’m beat, too,” he said, popping his bubble as well. “That was a workout!”
“Yeah, fun, though,” she said. They sat in the grass at the bottom of the hill, waiting for their hearts to slow, then finally got up and walked back toward the dock.
“I don’t think anyone spotted us here,” Foulsmell noted, looking around.
“Yeah. And I wore my hooded cloak on the way over to cover my —” Suddenly, she broke off. “Oh! Hey, I forgot my cloak back on the rock near our practice area.”
“I’ll go back and get it for you,” Foulsmell volunteered.
Quickly, Goldie shook her head. They were just steps away from the dock by now. She could see their two boats still tied up to it. “No. You go on ahead,” she suggested. “That way if Ms. Wicked’s meeting is over and there are any snoopy guards around, they won’t see us arrive at the Academy together.”
“You sure?” he asked. He seemed reluctant to leave her alone, as if he thought it too dangerous.
“Mm-hmm,” she said firmly. Waving her wand, she added with a grin, “If I get in trouble, I’ll make a bubble!”
He laughed.
“Go ahead. I’ve got this wand for protection. I’ll be fine, I promise,” she told him.
“Okay. See you soon. But I’ll pretend I don’t see you, so no one will know we’re friends.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she replied, grinning at what he’d said. Friends. It appeared their friendship had been rescued from certain doom after all! How grimmtastic was that?
As Foulsmell climbed into his boat,
Goldie went back for her cloak. It was actually a lucky thing she’d left it behind, because even though she hadn’t done it on purpose, it gave her an excuse to remain on the island a little while on her own. She was pretty sure Foulsmell wouldn’t have approved of what she was about to do now. And though she could’ve used his help, this was something she wanted to do on her own.
Earlier, in mid bubble bounce, she’d noticed a grove in the distance that was not too small. With trees not too short. Yes, that grove had looked to be just right for a bear guard hideout! And now was her chance to search for it.
After putting on her cloak and tucking her practice wand deep inside its pocket, she started toward the grove of trees at the far side of the island. When she neared it, she climbed a tree to have a look around. And there, in a small clearing at the very center of the grove, just as she’d somehow known it would be, she spied a cute little cottage. One with a bear paw–shaped welcome mat outside the front door. Score!
She climbed down, remembering the squeaky voice of the smallest bear that night in the library: “Don’t forget, Principal W told us a special visitor will be waiting for us there!” In the cottage they called home, he’d meant. This cottage, she bet.
Was their “special visitor” still inside? A visitor called Principal R, who was really more like a prisoner? She’d better go have a look!
Low-hanging branches snatched at Goldie’s cloak and hair as she threaded her way through the grove’s thick trees to the clearing at its center. Finally, she drew near enough to study the cottage from the protection of bushes surrounding it.
Were the three bears at Ms. Wicked’s meeting with all the other guards? Or were they here, inside? She tiptoed and kept a careful lookout as she approached, just in case.
The cottage was plain, with wooden sides painted white. There was a window beside the door, but its dark green shutters were closed. No matter what Malorette and Odette thought, Goldie wasn’t the type to break into houses, so she tapped at the door.
“Hello?” she called. No one answered. She rattled the knob, but as she expected, the door was locked. “Are you in there, Principal R?” she called out, louder than before.
