“Are all of those barrels full of acorns?” asked Rapunzel, squinting to see through the glass doors.
“Yep,” said Jack as he strode toward the front doors. “This is just what we need.”
Rapunzel followed him. “Will they have bread and ropes and bridges?”
“They’ll have everything you can think of, and things you’ve never heard of.”
A sudden burst of energetic noise erupted from across the street. Rapunzel turned to see what the sound was, and when she saw who was making it, she gripped Jack’s arm.
“Blue fairies,” he whispered.
Two of them. They were as big as humans, and they were different shades of blue, with small wings that glittered in the sun. The woman fairy was laughing as though she had never heard anything so funny in her life — a low, husky laugh, which made her sequined dress sparkle on her short, curvaceous frame.
“You are too much,” she said to a human woman who stood by the door of the building from which they’d just emerged. “I’d just eat you up if I weren’t already so fat, I swear I would.” The woman said something in reply, and the fairy answered, “No, you’re fabulous. Pleasure doing business with you. Ta, babe.”
The woman shut the door. The instant it closed, the fairy stopped laughing and scowled. She heaved a gusty sigh of annoyance and pushed a hand through her short spikes of frosty blue hair.
“I hate this town,” she muttered. “Can that aunt be more provincial? The girl just wants to marry a merman in an underwater ceremony. Like it’s the first time that’s ever happened. Did you take notes?”
“Yes, Jules,” said the other fairy. His posture was impeccable; his voice was flat. “I’ll organize it.”
“Perfect. If I don’t take ten minutes for myself, I’ll lose my mind.” Jules rubbed her blue temples with her fingertips. “I mean, honestly,” she groaned, “when’s the last time I did anything just for me?”
The fairy beside her did not answer. He was reading what looked like a very long list, and his lips were pressed together.
“We’ll get some work done tonight, sound good? I swear I won’t keep you as late as yesterday. Ta, babe.” Jules fluttered her glittering wings until they were moving so fast that Rapunzel could no longer see them, and she rose several inches into the air. She flew off down the road, leaving the other fairy behind.
“We’ll get some work done,” this fairy said to no one in particular. He grimaced at the list in his hands, then stalked to the front door of the Ubiquitous shop. He stopped at Jack’s elbow without sparing a glance for either of them, and Rapunzel stared at him, half-frightened, half-fascinated. He was taller than she by a few inches, with pale blond hair that was cut short all over his head except in the very front, where a thick plume of it fell in a perfect wave over half of his forehead, partly obscuring one eye. His suit and cloak were crisp, cream-colored velvet, his black boots were high-heeled, and his wings were taut. He put out his blue hand with a sharp gesture, blew the doors of the Ubiquitous shop open with a bang, and went inside. Rapunzel and Jack exchanged glances, then hurried into the shop after the fairy. Rapunzel barely had time to yank her wagon in behind her before the doors slammed shut.
The Ubiquitous shop was cavernous in size, with every surface polished to gleaming. It was empty of people except for the shopkeeper. He stood up when they entered, blinked first at the Blue fairy and then at Rapunzel, and then ducked down behind the counter, out of sight.
The Blue fairy took a large wicker basket from the front of the shop and clicked his way over to a wall of polished barrels, filled with acorns of all hues. Rapunzel pulled her wagon to the closest section, over which swung a little gilt sign that read New Additions. Rapunzel read one of the tiny copper plaques above the little glass doors: Writing quills — 3 thorns.
Rapunzel withdrew an acorn and turned it over in her hand. It was pumpkin-orange, with a quill stamped on it.
“Why didn’t your acorns have pictures?” she asked Jack, who was also surveying the newest Ubiquitous products.
“I think they sell different stuff in the Violet Peaks,” he said. “It’s a lot cheaper there — that means it costs less money.”
“What does this one do?” asked Rapunzel, putting back the quill and picking up a small glassy-looking acorn from a bin marked Spectacles (Nearsighted) — 5 thorns. Jack explained, and Rapunzel realized that she had just seen spectacles a moment ago.
“Oh!” she said. “Like the Nexus was wearing. Where can you get one of those amulets he had? They’re pretty.”
The Blue fairy paused in his acorn collecting. He turned his head toward Rapunzel, and she wished she’d kept her voice low.
“You can’t get an amulet,” said Jack. “I told you, you have to be born Exalted. Hey, there’s the aisle we need.” He pointed to a sign that read Adventure. “That’ll be tents and lanterns and stuff; come on.”
He went, but Rapunzel didn’t follow. Instead, she looked up at the signs, amazed by how many aisles there were and not sure where to start. Fashion … Tools … Housewares … It all sounded interesting, but when her eyes fell on Edibles, Rapunzel forgot everything else and hurried toward the food. She was full now, but she had felt hunger this morning, and she had no intention of feeling it again. She was delighted to find acorns that would crack into all sorts of good things, like cheese and apples, sausage and eggs, rice pudding, hot chocolate, and tea. She scooped shovelfuls of everything into the wagon.
“Hungry?” came a dry voice from her shoulder.
Rapunzel jumped. The Blue fairy stood beside her. She took two steps back and watched him warily. His own expression was a mixture of mockery and suspicion.
“Any particular reason that you’re out shopping in your nightgown?” he asked, folding his velvet-clad arms.
Rapunzel tried to take another step back and nearly fell over her wagon. She stood with her calves pressed against it, hugging herself. “Don’t kill me,” she whispered.
The fairy looked mildly amused. “That’s not my line of business,” he said. “My name’s Serge. What’s yours?”
“Rapunzel,” she whispered.
“Funny name.” Serge swept his eyes over her dirty clothes and slippers. “You ran away from home,” he said, “didn’t you?”
The question was so unexpected that Rapunzel was surprised by emotion. “I didn’t want to,” she whispered, wiping her eyes with the blackened lace cuffs of her robe.
“Sure you didn’t.” Serge eyed her tearful face with disdain. “Go home.”
“I can’t,” Rapunzel said, sniffling and scrubbing at her cheeks. “I’m not allowed. They won’t let me go back.”
Serge looked halfway surprised by this. “Who won’t let you?” he asked. “Your parents?”
“The fairies.”
His eyebrows arched. “Yellow fairies won’t let you go home?”
“No, the fairies in the Redlands.”
“Red fairies? But they’d never …”
His eyes followed her braid to the wagon, where it was buried under a heap of cloaks, supplies, and Ubiquitous acorns.
“You don’t … happen to have a hundred feet of hair under there,” he asked slowly, “do you?”
Rapunzel nodded, and Serge’s wings wilted.
“Great White skies,” he said. “It’s been fifteen years.”
At this moment, Jack rounded the end of the Edibles aisle. When he saw Rapunzel wiping away tears, he strode up. “What is it?” he asked in a low voice, glancing toward Serge. “You all right?”
Serge was still staring at her braid. “Rapunzel,” he said. “I knew I’d heard that name.”
“You know her?” Jack asked, stepping forward. “You’ve heard of her too?”
“Sure.” Serge gave Jack an appraising look and shrugged. “It’s the fashionable dare. Find the tower, try to get the girl to come down. Most people aren’t stupid enough to cross a witch, especially Envearia, but you get your thrill seekers….” He cocked his head
to one side and studied Rapunzel with interest. “How did you get out of the tower?” he asked.
“I climbed down a Ubiquitous rope,” said Rapunzel.
Serge whistled. “Bet Envearia wasn’t expecting that,” he said. “Did she come after you? Ah, but that might spoil things, hmm? Tricky, tricky. I wonder what her plan is?”
“She can’t come after me,” said Rapunzel. “Rune — the Red fairy — he says he’ll kill me if I call for her. He’s following me to make sure.”
“Interesting,” said Serge with a flicker of his wings. “Following you where?”
“To the First Wood.”
At this, Serge let out a peal of shocked laughter. “Well, if you’re not just one surprise after another,” he said. “Envearia might have made a perfect bargain with your parents, but I’ll bet she never counted on this.”
Rapunzel’s heartbeat quickened. “What parents?” she asked. “Governor Calabaza said something about me having a mother, but I don’t!”
Serge’s blue face paled. “You don’t know?” he asked. “You don’t know —”
“What?”
But he didn’t seem to be able to make himself answer. “How do you think Envearia got you?” he asked instead.
“Witch rescued me,” Rapunzel said. “From the swamplands. What were you going to say about parents?” When Serge remained speechless, she stamped her sore, slippered foot on the polished wooden floor. “If you’re not going to answer me, then go away and let me get some shoes. I’m so tired of you fairies! You’re all horrible and confusing!”
“Don’t hold it against her,” Jack said to Serge. “The witch never told her anything real. She didn’t even know what parents were till I explained it.”
Serge considered him. “And you are?”
“Jack Byre of the Violet Peaks,” said Jack. “I rescued her from the tower.”
Rapunzel opened her mouth in indignation. He had done nothing of the kind.
“And when I met her,” Jack went on, “she didn’t want to leave at all — Envearia had her thinking she’d get eaten by beasts, and she was too scared to come with me.”
“That’s not true!” said Rapunzel, rounding on him. “I didn’t want to leave my tower because I love it.”
“You were brainwashed.”
“No, Witch never washed out my brain. She said it was the fairies who took my memory!”
“Took your memory?” Serge peered at Rapunzel. “Is that how Envearia keeps you from asking questions? She wipes your mind?”
“Yes,” said Jack.
“No,” shouted Rapunzel at the same moment. “You don’t know anything,” she said to Jack. “Witch would never hurt me. You don’t understand.”
“She lied to you.”
“No —”
“You know she did,” Jack insisted. “She told you towns were full of diseased peasants who would sell you into slavery, but Cornucopia isn’t. She told you the Redlands was in the center, but it’s not —”
“She told me there were beasts, which there are, and horrible people, which there are —”
“She never told you about your parents, or that you were born in Yellow.”
Rapunzel felt as though she could not breathe. It was true — Witch had never told her. Why had she kept such secrets?
“You don’t understand,” she repeated.
“Let’s all take a moment,” said Serge, holding up a blue hand. He was silent for a space, and Rapunzel hugged herself while she waited for him to speak. She could not look at Jack.
“I think I see how it is,” said Serge finally. “Maybe I can explain a few things, but we’ll take it slowly. First things first.” He guided Rapunzel into the middle of the shop. “Stand there a minute and let me fix you up.” He stepped back and studied her. “Technically, I’m not supposed to do this — you’re not on the List. But you’re a special case, wouldn’t you say?” He tapped his finger in the air toward her feet. “What you need is real shoes.”
“I know that,” mumbled Rapunzel, wiping her nose. “I’m getting Ubiquitous ones.”
“No you’re not,” Serge said. “They only last twenty-four hours.”
“Then why are they for sale?”
“They’re for one-night events: balls, parties, that sort of thing. You’re a tall one, aren’t you?” Putting his hand flat, he touched the top of her head and then drew his hand toward his own face until he touched his eyebrows. “And you’ve got some big feet there too…. So. Shoes for a long journey.” Serge looked at her ruined slippers. “Take those off,” he commanded.
“Do you want me to burn them?” Rapunzel asked as she peeled a filthy slipper from her foot.
“I wasn’t going to say it,” said Serge, “but yes.” When both Rapunzel’s slippers were off her feet, he flicked his fingers in the air, and a bit of what looked like blue glitter flew from his fingertips. The slippers were incinerated in a burst of bright flame and a puff of blue smoke.
Serge exhaled with satisfaction, closed his eyes, and pressed his mouth shut. Rapunzel watched him curiously.
“What are you doing?”
“Designing. Shh — a minute, please.”
“Designing what?”
“Shoes.” Serge’s eyes snapped open. He swept his fingers through the air, drew them into a fist, and opened them to reveal a palm that was covered in the same blue, glittery dust that had flown from his fingertips before. He looked down at his hand in surprise. “I forgot what it’s like when I actually want to do this,” he said. “Anything in your pockets?”
When Rapunzel checked, she found her jacks, which Serge told her to put in one of her belt pouches. And then, with a sharp swish of his arm, he flung the dust at her. A cloud of pale blue smoke burst around Rapunzel, enveloping her from head to toe. When it cleared, she looked down at herself — and gasped.
Her tattered nightclothes had been replaced by a long tunic with billowing sleeves and a fitted vest with many useful pockets — rather like Jack’s, but not shabby — cinched around by her leather belt. Her trousers fit her well but were stretchy, giving her room to crouch or climb. The entire outfit was made from fine, heavy fabrics in greens, browns, and tans, expertly tailored to her height and figure, and soft against her skin.
Best of all, her feet and calves were now encased in high, thick-soled boots made of dark green leather, with shining buckles at the ankles and calf tops. The inner soles were lined with soft fleece that cushioned Rapunzel’s blistered feet, almost relieving them of pain. She bounced on her toes and took a few steps, and then she put her hands over her face and cried just a little in relief.
“You don’t like them?” Serge asked. “I suppose I could’ve gone trendier, but you’ll be hiking — and all the ladies in Blue are dressing like gentlemen this season, so I thought —”
“I like them so much,” blurted Rapunzel. “They’re the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn.”
Serge’s wings flared.
It was a long time before Rapunzel could do anything but admire her shoes. She paced the shop from end to end, delighted. “Will they crash?” she asked, holding up one booted foot.
“Never,” said Serge. He flicked his gaze to Jack, whose vest pocket still bulged from time to time as Prince Frog continued his losing struggle. Serge’s attention, however, was fixed on Jack’s battered boots. “You could use some new shoes yourself,” he said. “You’ve about worn those through. How about it?”
Jack’s face lit. “Yeah — I mean, thanks,” he said. “If it’s all right.”
He was soon shod in striking black boots that Rapunzel thought went very well with his sword and made him look even more princely — though he didn’t deserve to know that. He shouldn’t have said those things about Witch. Even if Witch had hidden things — which Rapunzel had to admit was true; Witch had hidden things — she must have had good reasons.
What were the reasons?
Troubled, Rapunzel approached the counter to pay for their acorns.
Mostly they’d selected camping equipment and food, but Jack had also gathered a handful of miniature acorns that glittered, pale green and blue and gold. As he showed them to Rapunzel, his hair fell over his eyes and partly obscured the pink in his cheeks. “Costumes to bring back for Tess,” he said. “From the kids’ section. She’s never been in a shop like this; there’s nothing like it in the Peaks.”
“Costumes?” asked Rapunzel. “For playing dress-up?”
“Fairy wings, a tiara, glass slippers — that kind of stuff. We don’t have to buy them,” he said hastily. “I can put them back.”
“No, let’s buy them! Where are they? I want some too.”
Paying for it all was a little difficult, as the shopkeeper remained cowering under the counter, but Rapunzel remembered what Jack had told her about Hawthornes. As Serge watched, she laid out the right coins.
“So you know how to count,” said Serge. “Can you read too? Envearia taught you?”
“Of course she did,” said Rapunzel, insulted. She tucked the remaining money into a pouch in her belt, stowed the acorns under the cloaks in the wagon, and held the wagon handle out to Jack.
“We have to take turns pulling,” she said, “since both our things are in it.”
Jack took the wagon handle from her, and they followed Serge out of the shop.
“If you’re looking for the First Wood, then I’m going your way, at least for a little while,” said Serge. “I know a shortcut.”
They headed north out of the town center, through another cluster of houses that spilled out into great swaths of farmland. Tyme stretched endlessly ahead, and many leagues of travel remained before they would reach the First Wood, but the distance didn’t worry Rapunzel now. Wagons were wonderful inventions, and boots were the best shoes in the world. She could not believe she had come all this way in slippers with her hair on her back.
But though her feet were comfortable, her mind was not. Her thoughts fixed on her mother and father, the Bargaining, and Envearia. Envearia — that had to be Witch’s name. The Red fairies, Governor Calabaza, and now Serge had all called her the same thing. Rapunzel wondered why Witch had never told her that she had another name.
Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel Page 14
