by Tom Percival
Red glared at Rapunzel. ‘Why are you doing all this?’ she hissed, then slammed the door in her friend’s face.
Rapunzel stood there in shock until the sound of the bear got too close for comfort. If her best friend wouldn’t help her, who would? As she ran away, she thought about what the hermit genie had said: ‘So it will stay till your crime is undone!’
Somehow she had to undo what she had done – but how?
Suddenly it all became clear. She needed to find the urn and glue it back together! That was bound to work. Now she just had to get back into the palace without being seen . . .
After using her magical plaits to climb up to her bedroom window at the top of the tallest tower, Rapunzel dashed through the palace to the East Wing staircase, wearing a large hooded cloak to hide her face and hair. But she was too late! The broken urn had been cleared away.
‘What am I going to do?’ gasped Rapunzel. Since her only magical power was her really, really long hair, which was super-glossy, looked amazing in photographs and was great for climbing, things weren’t looking great.
She was starting to panic when a voice called out, ‘Ah-ha! Found you!’
‘What? Who? Where? I didn’t do it!’ blurted Rapunzel.
‘Didn’t do what?’ asked Ella. ‘I thought we were playing hide-and-seek?’
‘So, you don’t think . . . um, that it’s all my fault?’ asked Rapunzel.
‘What’s all your fault?’
You know . . . Everything?’
‘Er . . . no. Why should everything be your fault?’
‘It shouldn’t! That’s the point!’ cried Rapunzel. She noticed Ella’s blue glass necklace and breathed a sigh of relief as she remembered Zak’s spell – magic didn’t work on Ella! Finally, she had someone on her side.
‘Look, this is what happened . . .’ explained Rapunzel. ‘A moody old hermit genie got cross with me and now I’m cursed! I’m being blamed for everything that goes wrong in the whole of Tale Town – even if it couldn’t possibly be my fault!’
‘But why on earth would a hermit genie do that?’ asked Ella, her eyebrows crinkling in concern.
Rapunzel felt her face go red. ‘I’m not sure,’ she muttered. ‘But he’s totally got it in for me! Now everyone hates me!’
‘Oh, poor you!’ exclaimed Ella. ‘That must be awful!’
Rapunzel shifted her feet uncomfortably.
‘Still, that explains why Cole was acting so strangely. He stormed off to the Fairy Folk Forest saying that you’d hidden all of his clean pants, and he never wears clean pants anyway!’
Rapunzel sighed. ‘That sounds about right.’
‘So what are you going to do?’ asked Ella.
‘I don’t know,’ replied Rapunzel. ‘I guess I’ll—’
She was interrupted by an alarm ringing out through the castle. It was an alarm that everyone knew, and everyone hoped they would never hear.
Trolls were attacking Tale Town.
Rapunzel and Ella crept out of the palace to try and find out what was happening, the wailing of the siren echoing through the cool evening air.
Rapunzel pulled the hood of her cloak forward so her face was hidden. ‘What’s going on?’ she hissed.
‘I don’t know,’ replied Ella. ‘But it sounds like it’s something to do with the Story Tree.’
‘The Story Tree?’ gasped Rapunzel.
‘I’ll try to find out more,’ said Ella.
‘Stay out of sight!’ She darted off, pushing her way through the mass of confused townsfolk.
A short while later Ella returned – her eyes wide. ‘The trolls tried to set fire to the Story Tree!’ she said. ‘The good news is they were chased away before the tree caught fire – although the town hall is burning down.’
‘If that’s the good news, then what’s the bad news?’ asked Rapunzel.
Ella looked uneasily at her friend as the angry roaring of the crowd became clear:
‘It’s HER fault!’
‘RAPUNZEL!’
‘She led them here!’
‘She’s a troll spy!’
‘Oh,’ said Rapunzel, turning pale.
‘That’s kind of the bad news,’ said Ella. ‘Perhaps we should get out of here?’
Rapunzel and Ella had been running for ages. They’d run far beyond the town walls and deep into the woods. As they had been sneaking out of town, Ella had spotted Jack, Hansel and Gretel in the crowd, but as soon as she’d said she was trying to help Rapunzel, Jack had yelled: ‘HEY! EVERYONE! Rapunzel’s over here – she’s the one in the big hood! She made me forget my seven-times table!’ and Betsy had added a VERY cross-sounding,
‘WHAAAAAT!?!’
‘Don’t you worry, Betsy –’
‘– she won’t get away with it!’ yelled Hansel and Gretel.
After that, it seemed like all of Tale Town had started chasing them! It was only luck that had kept them ahead of the crowd, but now Rapunzel’s legs were burning and Ella was gasping for breath.
‘Quick! Let’s hide in there!’ wheezed Ella, pointing to an old cart she’d spotted, hidden in a small clearing. The small wagon stood in the shadows, almost entirely concealed by bushes.
‘It doesn’t look very clean . . .’ muttered Rapunzel, poking at the animal skins which filled the back of the cart. She wrinkled her nose. ‘It doesn’t smell very clean either!’
‘Oh, come on!’ hissed Ella. ‘Staying clean is the least of our worries!’
Rapunzel paused. Ella was right, but the cart really did smell awful. ‘Thanks for helping me, Ella,’ she said. ‘But can t we—’
‘You’re welcome!’ interrupted Ella. ‘Now in you get!’ She shoved Rapunzel into the cart and jumped in too, covering them both in the smelly skins.
‘Now what?’ hissed Rapunzel.
‘Now . . . we wait,’ whispered Ella. ‘Stay quiet! I can hear them coming!’
‘Whass goin’ on?’ Rapunzel muttered blearily. There was a heavy weight on her stomach and the floor kept banging into her head. ‘Stop it!’ she mumbled, trying to sit up. She felt very hot, a bit queasy and something smelt awful. She shoved the weight off her stomach and a voice murmured, ‘Hey! Watch it!’
It was Ella! Of course! They’d been hiding in the cart! They must have fallen asleep. Rapunzel threw off the animal skins and looked around. They were bouncing down a forest path she didn’t recognize.
She turned to Ella and they both jumped when a deep voice boomed out, ‘Ella? Rapunzel? What in the Fairytale Kingdom are you doing here?’
‘Well, I’m sorry to hear all that,’ said Anansi’s Uncle Rufaro, once Rapunzel and Ella had explained what had happened. ‘It’s a good job I wasn’t in Tale Town at the time, or the genie’s spell would have worked on me, too!’ He scratched his huge green jaw with an equally huge green hand. ‘Listen, I’ve got a very important meeting later today,’ he added in his rumbling troll voice. ‘It’s to do with the curse on my family – I have to go – and there’s no way that I could take you back to Tale Town and still get there in time. I’m really sorry, girls, but you’re going to have to come along.’
‘Fine with me,’ said Rapunzel. ‘I’m not exactly flavour of the month at home.’
‘And I’m staying with Rapunzel until she gets rid of this curse,’ added Ella.
‘Well, that’s settled then,’ said Rufaro. ‘But you’d better let the palace know you’re OK – they’ll be sending out search parties and all sorts!’
‘More like angry mobs . . .’ muttered Rapunzel. Even so, she agreed to send a note wrapped around the leg of one of the tame birds that flew through the forest.
They watched as the pink little bird took flight, dancing through the air and tweeting out little heart-shaped musical notes.
‘How do they do that?’ marvelled Rapunzel as the bird flew off to Tale Town. She turned to face Rufaro. ‘So anyway, who’s this person that you’re meeting later? Won’t they be a bit surprised when a troll turns up?’
‘Well that’s just fantastic!’ said Rapunzel in a That’s-not-really-very-fantastic-at-all sort of way. ‘Do you think we can get that bird back?’ she added. ‘I need to cross out the line where I wrote “I’m safe”.’
The cart bounced uncomfortably as it trundled slowly through the forest. Rufaro looked anxiously at his watch.
‘Can’t the horses go any faster?’ asked Ella.
Rufaro shook his head. ‘They’ve not had a rest since I set off last night – they’re exhausted, poor things.’
‘I know!’ exclaimed Ella. ‘Maybe Cole can help, he’s always got a couple of tricks up his sleeve.’
Rufaro frowned. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked. ‘You know his magic can be . . . unpredictable?’
‘How DARE you!’ yelled Cole as he fizzed into view, inches away from Rufaro’s face. ‘It’s only because of RAPUNZEL that my spells aren’t working properly.’ He glared at her angrily. ‘I don’t know how you did it, but you’d better fix my magic – and soon!’
‘Come on, Cole!’ said Ella soothingly. ‘It’s not Rapunzel’s fault! You only think that it was because of the hermit genie’s horrid curse!’
‘Whatever,’ muttered Cole. ‘What’s the problem anyway? You want to speed this journey along?’ He looked at the trees that they were very slowly passing by. ‘I can do that, no problem!’
Before Rufaro could stop him, Cole performed his spell-making dance. He flung his arms into the air, screwed up his face and danced around as though he was trying to shake off his pants without removing his trousers. His hands quivered and his eyes shone bright with wild, blue magic.
‘It’s done!’ he exclaimed happily. ‘The horses will go faster now – just you wait!’
Sure enough, the horses did start going faster. They were surrounded by a pulsing blue glow and looked far happier.
‘I was wrong!’ Rufaro laughed. ‘Good job, Cole!’
The wind whipped through Rapunzel’s hair as the cart went faster and faster. ‘Wow!’ she said. ‘We’ll be there in no time at all . . . Duck!’
‘What—’ began Ella, but was cut off as a leafy branch slapped into her face. Overhanging branches and leaves were shooting past faster and faster. Cole grinned proudly, but Rufaro frowned as he tried to keep control of the cart.
‘Cole, is there any way we can slow this down a bit?’ the troll asked.
‘Make your mind up!’ exclaimed Cole.
‘Duck!’ cried Rapunzel.
Everybody bent low to avoid a heavy branch that whipped over their heads. Rufaro grimaced as he pulled on the reins in a desperate attempt to keep the cart on the road.
‘Cole!’ yelled Rufaro. ‘We need to—’
‘DUCK!’ shouted Rapunzel.
Rufaro and Ella ducked down again – then sat up, looking confused. There weren’t any low branches nearby.
‘NO! I mean that duck – over there! yelled Rapunzel, pointing at a very worried-looking duck up ahead in the middle of the path.
Rufaro yanked the reins and the cart swerved to the left. They sped past the duck, which let out an angry ‘QUUUUUACK!’ as the cart zigzagged all over the road, skipping and bouncing, completely out of control.
Rapunzel, Ella and Rufaro screamed as the cart went up on two wheels, then tipped over completely, scattering broken wood, animal furs, two girls, one fairy and a troll into the woods.
‘Hmm . . .’ said Rufaro as he looked from Cole to the broken cart and back to Cole again.
‘Stupid Rapunzel, breaking everything,’ muttered Cole.
Rufaro’s eyebrows knotted together. ‘Hmm . . .’he said once more, although this time it was more of a growl.
Everyone looked at the splintered wood that had once been Rufaro’s cart, and at the scattered animal furs it had been carrying.
‘Well . . .’ said a voice from deep within the trees. ‘That doesn’t look good.’
‘Who’s there?’ shouted Rufaro, moving Ella and Rapunzel safely behind him. ‘Show yourself!’
‘OK!’ replied the voice. There was a swooshing sound as a small green blur shot through the air above, swinging through the trees like a gymnast before landing gracefully in front of them and doing a little bow.
‘You’re . . . you’re a monkey!’ said Rapunzel.
The monkey nodded.
‘You’re . . . a small, green monkey,’ added Ella, stepping out from behind Rufaro.
Again, the monkey nodded. ‘And you have two working eyes,’ he replied. ‘Pleased to meet you, I’m Alphege.’ He held out his hand and Ella bent down to shake it.
‘Nice to meet you. I’m Ella.’ She gestured around their small group. ‘This is Rapunzel, Rufaro and Cole.’ Everybody waved, then fell into an awkward silence.
‘So, can all of your family talk?’ Ella asked politely. ‘I’ve never met a talking monkey before.’
Alphege grinned. ‘Of course my family can talk, but then again, they are human.’
‘Well you must have come as quite a surprise!’ said Rapunzel.
Alphege burst out laughing. ‘It’s a curse!’ he explained. ‘I’m human too! I wasn’t born like this. Anyway, it looks like you need some help?’
‘Well, it’s kind of you to offer,’ said Rufaro. ‘But unless you have some sort of horse-drawn carriage, then I don’t see how . . .’
Alphege put two green fingers into his mouth and blew a shrill, ear-piercing whistle. Two large brown monkeys swung down from the trees and chattered at Alphege, waving their hands and slapping the floor. Alphege shook his head crossly, chattering and shrieking before baring his teeth, beating his chest and pointing into the undergrowth. The monkeys bowed low and sprang away.
‘What was that all about?’ asked Ella.
Alphege sighed. ‘Well, they were asking if I wanted spaghetti hoops for dinner, but I told them that I HATE spaghetti hoops.’ His little green face looked extremely cross. ‘I’ve always hated spaghetti hoops, they really should know that by now!’
‘And that helps us because . . . ?’ asked Rufaro.
‘Oh yes,’ continued Alphege. ‘Sorry – I also ordered them to ready the carriage and bring it here immediately. I probably should have said: I’m kind of the King around here.’ He grinned proudly. ‘I think it’s because of the green fur!’
Moments later, a carriage woven from thin branches burst through the trees with a thunderous crash and stopped just in front of them. Ella and Rapunzel looked on with wide eyes: instead of horses pulling the carriage, a team of four gorillas stood there, with special harnesses around their chests.
‘Marvellous work!’ exclaimed Alphege, swinging up on to Ella’s shoulder and standing on tiptoes to clap one of the gorillas on the back. Then he turned back to the others and smiled. ‘Ladies and gentelment – your carriage awaits!’
Ella, Rufaro and Rapunzel bounced around inside the carriage as they sped through the forest. Alphege was perched on Rapunzel’s shoulder, staring at her silken hair, while Cole was outside, keeping the gorillas company. This was partly because he wanted some fresh air, but mainly because Rufaro had made it clear that if Cole didn’t STOP telling his ‘jokes’, then ‘bad things’ were going to happen.
‘Here’s the plan,’ said Rufaro. ‘Once we get there, you all wait at the edge of the forest while I go into the market. I’ve brought all the goatskins from my wagon so I’ll look like a trader and nobody will ask any questions. As soon as I’ve found the troll I’m meeting and got the information I need, I’ll come straight back. Whatever happens, I must get back before it gets dark, as I’ll turn back into a human in the moonlight. Can you imagine what would happen then?’
‘They’d eat you,’ said Alphege. ‘Or maybe just capture you, or—’
‘I didn’t really expect you to answer t
he question!’ interrupted Rufaro.
‘So what if something goes wrong?’ asked Ella.
‘Nothing’s going to go wrong,’ said Rufaro.
‘But what if they find out you’re not really a troll?’ asked Rapunzel.
‘Listen,’ said Rufaro. ‘The most important thing is that you all stay safe. If I’m not back by nightfall . . . well . . . Alphege can take you home.’
Rapunzel frowned. ‘But you haven’t answered my—’
‘Do you mind if I add a little something?’ interrupted Alphege. ‘It’s just I think your plan has one teeny problem . . .’
‘And that is?’ asked Rufaro.
‘It’s terrible!’ exclaimed Alphege.
Rufaro sighed.
‘How about this?’ Alphege continued. ‘You and I go in together. You can pretend to be a street performer, and I’ll be your dancing monkey. That way you’ll have some backup . . . just in case!
Rufaro frowned. ‘I suppose that does make sense . . .’
Alphege grinned. ‘Cole should come ; too. Then if we do get into trouble he can fly out and tell Ella, Rapunzel, Professor Hendricks and the others, so they can rescue us!’
‘And Professor Hendricks is . . . ?’ asked Ella.
‘One of the gorillas,’ explained Alphege. ‘They’re all very well educated – what they don’t know about science, art and history isn’t worth knowing. So, what do you think?’
