Crowns and Curses

by V. B. Marlowe

  Scarlett, who had only been at the school for about six months, knew what the current world was like but she could only provide the girls with so much information because she had lived a secluded life with her grandmother away from society. They had been mostly self-sufficient and dealt with other people only when it was necessary.

  The girls gathered around Molly cross-legged with notebooks in their laps as she had instructed them to do. She settled down on the floor with them. “I want you to think of a career or some way you can make money when you leave here.” The girls had never had to provide for themselves. They had always been taken care of, first by their families and then by Ms. Bea. “Tell me something that interests you.”

  Jolie doodled a flower on an empty page of her notebook. “Nothing interests me but my garden. I wouldn’t want to do anything else. There’s something so fulfilling about nurturing a plant from a tiny seed and watching it grow to its full potential.”

  Molly could understand that. She felt the same way about every student she taught. It was the number one reason she’d wanted to become a teacher.

  Isleen rolled her eyes. “If you get to leave here you think you’re going to take that silly, singing garden with you?”

  “Of course, she can’t,” Molly said before Jolie could answer, “but she can definitely do that line of work. Jolie, you could be a florist. They buy and sell flowers and make arrangements for people. You can make a ton of money doing weddings and parties and other special events.”

  Molly swallowed hard thinking about the conversations she'd had with her mother about which flowers she'd have at her wedding. Molly wanted orchids, but her mother had insisted on calla lilies. A sudden sadness came over her. Molly never thought she'd miss having arguments with her mother. Everything they ever fought about seemed so silly now that there was a possibility Molly would never see her mother again. She pushed those thoughts away. “You could also have a plant nursery. You’d have to be able to identify flowers which I’m sure you have down pat, and you also need customer service skills. If you want to own your own shop, you’re going to have to study business too. And managerial skills if you’re going to have people working for you.”

  Jolie jotted some things down. “Yeah, I definitely want to have my own shop.”

  That made Molly happy. “Awesome. We’ll do some research on that.”

  Oriana raised her hand.

  Molly turned her attention to her. “Yes, Ori.”

  “I’d like to be an astronomer. Do they make money?”

  Molly nodded. "They sure do. I can't tell you how much off the top of my head, but that's definitely something we can look into. You'll need to get a Ph.D. in some area of astronomy. Ori, you would make a great astronomer. Think about it—you’ve been studying the subject longer than anyone alive.”

  Oriana wrapped a golden coil of hair around one finger thoughtfully. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

  “Who else?” Molly asked, looking at the group.

  “I’d like to be a teacher,” Lily announced. “Like you. I think that would be a rewarding job.”

  Molly thought about how Lily was such a great leader and how patient she was with Allison. “I think you would make an amazing teacher. You’d have to go to school for at least four years and get a degree in education. Think about what you would like to teach.”

  Molly was pleased and relieved that most of the girls had some idea of what they wanted to be. Tress wanted to be an artist; Gretchen wanted to own a bakery; Scarlett wanted to be a zoologist. Allison was in no condition to answer the question yet, but Molly hoped she would be soon.

  Marina picked at a loose thread on her purple bikini cover-up. "This doesn't really pertain to me. When I leave here, if I leave here, I'll go back to being the princess of the ocean. That will be my job. There's none of this stuff in my world."

  Molly agreed. “Good point but since this is something we will be working on for a while I still want you to participate. If you had to choose a career what would it be?”

  Marina shrugged. “Something dealing with the ocean.”

  “How about marine biology? That means you would study the ocean and its creatures. I’m sure a ton of information has been discovered since you last lived there.”

  Marina shrugged. “I guess that sounds okay.”

  Molly’s gaze landed on Isleen who had been unusually quiet. “Isleen?”

  She looked at all the girls and huffed. "If we must engage in this pointless activity, I'd like to be a kept woman. It's the closest thing to being royalty. I want a rich husband who will buy me whatever I want when I want it, and I don't want to have to work. I want a staff who will wait on me hand and foot."

  The other girls groaned, but none of them had expected anything different from her.

  Molly didn't know how to pull the unrealistic expectation from Isleen's mind, but she had to try. "Isleen, I'm sure plenty of women would want that life but it's not practical, and it's not as wonderful as some may think it is."

  Isleen pouted. "Listen, because of this stupid curse I was cheated out of my amazing life and my chance at being a queen. In my old life, I would have had whatever I wanted, and I would have never had to lift a finger. I want to get as close as I can get to that and I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Molly folded her hands on her lap. Strangely, she understood Isleen's rationale. Had she not come to Everly, she would have had that life that she craved, and working was something she would have never had to do. Unfortunately, that life was gone, and Isleen had to adjust to her present situation. Molly tried to be as gentle as possible. The last thing she wanted to do was argue. "Let's say you don't find this rich husband of your dreams—what's your plan B?"

  Isleen studied her perfectly polished fingernails. “I suppose if I had to do something, I’d like to own a little, cute boutique coffee shop.”

  The room erupted in laughter as Isleen glared at the girls.

  Molly held her hands up. “Hey. What’s so funny?”

  “A coffee shop?” Gretchen said between giggles. “She can’t even a make a cup of coffee.”

  "That's okay. There's plenty of time for her to learn," Molly said. Then she turned to Isleen, hoping she didn't feel discouraged by the girls' reaction. "I think it's a great plan. Many people love coffee, and they are willing to spend money on it. I'm hoping to see many entrepreneurs emerge from this group." Molly turned her attention to the girls again. "Between now and tomorrow, I want you all to research what you will have to do to achieve your career goals. And those of you who would like to own your own businesses, we will be studying that aspect too." Molly hoped this project would keep the girl's minds off what was going on outside of the house. "Now," Molly said. "Even though I've given you a project, we can't forget our main priority which is finding this next pen."

  Allison clucked her tongue at that. All eyes went to her, but she offered nothing else.

  “Okay,” Lily began. “We know we need a pen. We know we need to conquer one of the villains to get it. We just don’t know who. Only Allison knows the order of which we must complete the tasks.”

  Isleen snapped her fingers “Hey, Allison, anytime you’d like to share would be great. We’re kind of in a time crunch here.”

  As usual, Allison ignored her, taking a particular interest in her pinky finger.

  Molly sighed. “Girls, we’re done for the day. See you bright and early tomorrow morning.”

  As the girls filed from the room, Molly wondered if she were truly doing the right thing. She hoped the girls would actually get to use what they were researching and that she wasn’t getting their hopes up for no reason. If the next Blood Moon came before they broke the curses, none of them would have a future.

  7

  MOLLY

  THE FOLLOWING DAY MOLLY quickly discovered that being cooped up inside was taking a serious toll on the girls’ moods. When Molly entered the Great Study, Marina and Jolie were in the midst of an argument. Joli
e stood over Marina with her hands on her hips. “All I’m saying is that the least you can do is towel off when you leave the pool. You’re trailing water all over the house. I almost slipped and broke my neck.”

  Marina scowled at her. “Well, I’m sorry I can’t be like you humans who can live without soaking yourself in salt water every two hours. Must be nice. You think I asked for this?”

  Jolie plopped down on the couch. “Stop being so dramatic, Marina. All I’m saying is that you should dry off before walking through the house. It’s not that hard!”

  “Stop acting like my mother!” Marina shouted.

  Jolie narrowed her eyes at her. “Just because you’re the youngest here doesn’t mean you have to act like a child.”

  Molly clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. She didn’t think she’d ever seen an argument take place that didn’t involve Isleen. “All right, everyone. Settle down.”

  Tress angrily brushed her hair complaining about how she couldn't get her braid just right. Lily was fighting with Allison trying to keep her from banging her head against the window. She was probably sick of being stuck inside like the rest of them. Scarlett had her green hoodie pulled tightly over her head, and her arms crossed over her chest while Gretchen and Oriana fought over the purple bean bag chair when there were still several left unoccupied. From their argument, Molly discerned that they both thought the purple one was the most comfortable. Isleen, strangely enough, looked content. Molly figured she was happy with all the turmoil going on around her and that none of it involved her.

  “Girls!” Molly shouted. Everyone quieted down, even Allison. Molly continued. “I know we’re all a little testy about not being able to go out, but let’s not take it out on each other.”

  Isleen raised her hand. Sensing that whatever she had to say would only aggravate the situation, Molly ignored her and went on with her question. “Did anyone get any research done on their assignment?”

  There were a few head nods.

  Isleen raised her hand higher, flapping it in the air. “Ms. Dillinger, I have an idea. I know what could keep everyone’s minds off the vines.”

  Molly raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “We should have a discussion about the fairy tales we’ve been studying. The villains in particular.”

  No one said a word, staring at Isleen as if she had suddenly grown seven heads. “What?” Scarlett asked from underneath her hood. “We’ve only done that a million times already.”

  Isleen took that as an invitation to stand up and take the floor. “Not like this. You guys are only looking at the stories the way you’ve been taught to. You’ve been trained to think that the heroes are always the heroes and the villains are always the villains. What if they weren’t?”

  Gretchen rolled her eyes. "Forget it, Izzy. I don't know what you have up your sleeve, but it sounds like some way for you to justify people being evil. No thank you."

  Isleen threw her hands up. "Seriously? You're going to shoot down a great idea just because it's mine? I bet if Lily or Scarlett had mentioned it, you would be all over it. What do the rest of you think?"

  Jolie shook her head. “I’m with Gretch. Clearly, you are the villain of this story because that’s the way you made it. I think this is just a way for you to start trouble and try to get people to feel sorry for you. It’s what you do best.”

  Isleen turned on her heels, giving Jolie her back. “Tress?”

  Tress looked up from her half-done braid and smiled briefly. “Oh, I think it’s a great idea.”

  Oriana sighed heavily. "Of course, you do, Tress. Sorry, Izzy, we're not doing it."

  Isleen smoothed out her emerald-green dress and sat back down. "Good thing it's not up to you. Ms. Dillinger is our teacher, and she has the final say."

  The girls shifted their gazes to Molly. She had to admit she felt the same way as the other girls, but she wanted to give Isleen the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she wasn't trying to cause problems, and there was a lot to be learned by delving further into the stories and seeing more than what was on the surface.

  "Ms. Dillinger," Isleen said. "Didn't you say that you'd like to prepare us for the real world? In the book I'm reading, the main character is on the debate team. We could have a debate on whether or not the villains in these stories are really villains. If some of us are going to college after this, debating is a great skill to have along with the power of persuasion. If done correctly, we can learn a lot from it."

  Molly thought it over. Isleen had made a lot of good points that she couldn’t argue with. Although Isleen was usually up to no good, she didn’t see what harm it could cause. Molly took a deep breath. “We’re going to have a debate.”

  The girls groaned and slumped in their seats.

  “Ms. Dillinger,” Lily whined. “I can’t believe you’re falling for it.”

  Molly stood. The wheels in her mind were spinning. “Come on, guys. This could be a lot of fun. I would like for you to choose any villain from any fairy tale and try to get the group to believe that the villain is really the hero and that the hero is really the villain. This could be very interesting, and we might even learn something that could help us.”

  Isleen nodded. “I totally agree.”

  Molly thought some more about the topic. "This is what I'll do. I'll put you in pairs, and you and your partner will decide on a fairy tale. One of you will speak for the hero's side and the other from the villain's. Then we'll decide who was the most convincing." Molly scanned the room. "There are nine of you, but Allison won’t participate this time. That leaves eight of you to pair up perfectly.”

  Isleen clapped her hands. “This is awesome. Who wants to be my partner?” No one else said a word, shooting death glares at her.

  With raised eyebrows, Isleen turned to her friend. "Tress, want to partner up?"

  “Oh no,” Lily snapped. “If you want to do this, we’re not letting you take the easy way out. How about you go against me?”

  Isleen stared at Lily through narrowed eyes. “Fine with me. Game on.”

  Molly cleared her throat. "Okay, girls. This is just a debate, not a Death Match." The other girls split into groups of two and decided which stories they would focus on. When class was over, most of them seemed to not be able to get out of the room fast enough. Molly figured they could all benefit from some alone time.

  Watching Allison leave with Marina, Lily lingered behind. “Ms. Dillinger, please be careful.”

  “Be careful of what?” Molly asked.

  “Izzy. She’s up to something.”

  Molly smiled and gently squeezed Lily’s shoulder. “I know you guys don’t like Isleen or her ideas, but I don’t see what harm can come from a simple debate.”

  Lily pressed her lips together. “It does seem that way, yes, but trust me. Izzy does nothing unless it’s going to cause trouble or simply piss everybody off. This isn’t as innocent as it seems.”

  Molly wanted to believe that Isleen had only brought up the topic because she was interested in it, but she had to take into account the way the other girls were feeling. After all, they’d known Isleen a lot longer than Molly had.

  The next morning Molly took a shower, dressed, and blow-dried her short blond curls. She wanted to see if she could catch Owen still working on the vines. She opened the double doors that led outside. Tiny spots of sunshine snuck in through the closely clustered vines. Molly longed to be able to lie in the warm sun, having it dance on her skin. She didn’t hear the sounds of axes and chainsaws, so she figured the men had given up on trying to penetrate the wall of plants. Sighing, Molly rested her forehead against the giant stalks.

  A few moments later the sounds of a staticky radio playing eighties music came from the other side. “Owen?”

  "Yeah. Thank goodness. We've been trying to get a hold of Bea through the PA system, but it's not working." Owen’s voice sounded rushed and frantic. This alarmed Molly because he was usually so calm and rel
axed.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “I can get her the message.”

  Owen was silent for a moment, then Molly heard the rattling of paper. "Jack left this message tacked to a vine. You all need to see it."

  Jack. As in Jack and the Beanstalk. Molly wondered what the message could possibly say.

  Owen rolled the paper into a tiny tube and slid it through one of the narrow openings. Molly grabbed the note and unrolled it. The rough, brown paper looked old. The letter showcased some of the sloppiest handwriting she'd ever seen. It seemed to be written by a kindergartner. The words were difficult to make out, but Molly had become accustomed to reading illegible handwriting during her internship. The letter read:

  My dearest Tress,

  The witches are not happy about you recovering the elixir, so they've doubled down on trying to find your location. They are also quite miffed about the Cheshire Cat and Dr. Meyer going MIA. Know anything about that? Not to worry though. I promised to always protect you, and I have. I used my magic beans to grow beanstalks all over the house, so now Everly Academy blends into the forest. They will never find you no matter how hard they try. You're welcome! Give Ms. Bea and all the girls my best. I hope to be with you very soon.

  Love Yours Truly,

  Jack

  Molly read the letter a few more times to make sense of it. “I don’t believe this. So, it wasn’t the witches after all. Jack did this?”

  "It appears that way," Owen said. "That Jack . . . he's a good kid and all, but he doesn't have it all up there, you know."

  Molly groaned. "That would be an understatement." Inside, she could hear the others gathering for breakfast. She could only imagine what their reactions would be after hearing the content of the letter. "Owen, how can we get a hold of Jack? We have to get him to take his beanstalks back."