Crowns and Curses

by V. B. Marlowe

  “Yes!” Lily said excitedly. “An Earth Witch.”

  "HMMMMMMMMMM," went the crocodile once more. "You are correct. Half your time is gone, and there is another riddle left."

  Molly read it quickly.

  “It rules the world

  East, west, north, south

  It roars and hisses

  But has no mouth.”

  That riddle was much more difficult than the others because no one said anything for a while. Molly read the words over and over again, but they made no sense. Her stomach dropped when she realized there were only ten minutes left.

  The crocodile laughed at them mockingly. "I wonder which one of you I will soon be dining on. Tick tock. Tick tock."

  Molly fell to her knees, grabbing fistfuls of sand. Less than ten minutes. She didn't want any of the girls to be gobbled down by the crocodile, and she certainly didn't want to be eaten. She couldn't imagine losing anyone on the journey, especially in such a brutal way. How could she even begin to explain it to Ms. Bea?

  Oriana flapped her hands in the air. “What do we do? What do we do?”

  Lily held her hands up. “Don’t give up, guys. Remain calm and think.”

  Molly tried to do that, but her body wouldn't let her. Her pulse raced, and she could hardly breathe. Every time the crocodile laughed at them, her chest closed a little tighter.

  Oriana pulled out her compass “It rules the world, east, west, north, south.”

  “But nothing rules the world,” Scarlett said.

  Oriana grinned. ‘Something does when you think about it. We can’t escape it no matter where you go. It tells us when it’s morning, noon, evening, or night.”

  Isleen narrowed her eyes at her. “You better be sure before you just blurt out an answer.”

  Oriana motioned for the girls to huddle together. “I think it’s the sky,” she whispered. “I’m pretty sure. It runs in all directions north, south, east, and west.”

  "It sounds right to me," Molly admitted, and the others agreed. "Try it."

  Oriana turned to the crocodile. ‘It’s the sky. We must conquer the Sky Witch.”

  The crocodile closed its giant eyes and snorted. The gusts of wind from its nostrils knocked them off their feet. Molly knew they had been right. Now it was time for the trickier part of the riddle. It roars and hisses and has no mouth. They had six minutes.

  Molly thought about everything that roared and hissed, but not much was coming to her. Lions roared. Dinosaurs too. Snakes hissed, but all those things had mouths. Think, Molly. If it doesn't have a mouth, it's probably something inanimate that made noise.

  Five minutes. “Tick tock. Tick tock,” went the crocodile.

  She silently pleaded with the girls to figure it out. They were so much wiser than her. Everyone desperately threw out answers, but none of them made sense.

  The crocodile snickered more cruelly that time. "I already have my eye on a plump, tender morsel."

  Gretchen whimpered. “He’s talking about me.”

  Lily wrapped her arms around Gretchen. “I won’t let him touch you.”

  It was a nice thought to comfort Gretchen, but if it wanted Gretchen, there would be nothing any of them could do to stop it.

  Molly glanced at the clock. Two minutes. She slammed the clock into the sand. The crocodile stretched out its front arm. "It's been so long since I've had a bite."

  “Wait!” Isleen shouted. “We still have a minute and a half.”

  “You won’t figure it out,” the croc taunted.

  Molly muttered everything she could think of that could possibly fit. Shoes had tongues, but they didn't hiss or roar.

  30 seconds.

  Without warning, the crocodile snapped its humongous head in their direction, latching on to Gretchen's leg and pulling her toward him. Molly's stomach dropped as she watched in horror. Her thoughts were drowned out by the rising screams around her. Molly hurled the clock at the crocodile. "We still had time, cheater!"

  Everyone raced toward Gretchen in an effort to release her from the crocs sharp teeth. Tears streamed down her face which was twisted in pain. "I know! I know!" she screamed frantically. "Stop! It's fire!"

  The crocodile froze but it didn't let her go. Molly shuddered. Was Gretchen right?

  Gretchen peered up at the croc from where she lay. “Release me. It’s fire. I know it all too well. I should have guessed it right away. I was there when my brother burned in that furnace. The fire roared. It hissed, but it had no mouth.”

  The crocodile moaned in disappointment before opening its mouth and letting Gretchen go. Molly took one look at her leg and adverted her eyes. Although it could have been much worse, Gretchen’s right leg was a shredded mess. The crocodile gagged again, this time coughing up a pen covered in goo. Scarlett snatched it up. The crocodile rose to its feet and ambled away. The ground shook beneath them as it moved. Molly had to duck to avoid getting hit by its tail.

  Oriana wrapped a shirt from her pack around Gretchen’s wound. “She’s going into shock.”

  She was right. Molly knelt beside Gretchen who was pale and shaking uncontrollably. "We have to get back. Quick, girls. Give me anything you have that we can use to wrap her wounds and stop the bleeding." Within seconds a small mound of clothes had materialized, and everyone worked to wrap the garments tightly around Gretchen's leg.

  Isleen pointed over their heads. “Look, the portal.”

  Molly had never seen so happy to see a green, glowing orb in her life. "Help me," she said, throwing one of Gretchen's arms over her shoulder. The other girls helped lift her and as fast as they could, they carried their injured friend through the portal and back to safety.

  26

  MOLLY

  THEY CAME BACK THROUGH the portal with a little time to spare. Still carrying Gretchen, Molly was relieved when she stepped through the portal and into the War Room. They had made it back to real life.

  Marina spotted them as they entered the hallway. “They’re back!” she called loudly. Her face crinkled into a frown. “Hey, what happened to Gretch?”

  “The downside of battling a huge crocodile,” Molly replied. “Could have been much worse though. Let’s get her to her room.”

  By the time they had placed Gretchen on her bed, Ms. Bea and Ms. Halifax were dashing in.

  "Oh no!" Ms. Bea said, her hands going right to her face. She rushed over to Gretchen who was no longer shaking. Molly didn't know if it were a good sign or not. Ms. Bea quickly unwrapped Gretchen's leg to take a good look at it. "Okay. I can fix this."

  Bea breathed heavily, looking over the group as if she were trying to make sure the rest of them were alive and well. She snapped her fingers and a tray containing small bottles of multi-colored liquids and a clean cloth materialized. She went to work dabbing the liquids onto the cloth and pressing the cloth into Gretchen's wounds.

  "This will accelerate the healing process," she told them. "Well, aside from this, congratulations." Molly handed Southey's pen to Ms. Halifax. "Thank you. we will exchange this for an elixir."

  “So, let’s cut to the chase,” Isleen said. “Who gets it?”

  Ms. Bea took a deep breath as she continued to work on Gretchen. "I don't know. That is something we will discuss. For now, I want you all to shower, have a good meal, and get some rest. Ms. Dillinger and Ms. Halifax, will you join me in my office once I'm done with Gretchen, please?"

  Molly wanted nothing more than to take a long hot shower and tell Owen she was back, but she knew that had something significant to discuss and no time to waste.

  Molly followed Ms. Halifax to Bea's office where she plopped down in an armchair. Ms. Bea came in ten minutes later and took a seat behind her desk, and Ms. Halifax stood by the window.

  "Will Gretchen be okay?" Molly asked.

  "Yes. Give it two days and she should be back to normal. Bea folded her hands in front of her. "I'd like to start off by saying thank you, Ms. Dillinger. We wouldn't have been able to do any of this with
out you. Now, who should get this next elixir? I believe everyone wants it."

  There hadn't been an issue when they discovered the pen that belonged to the Grimm brothers. The girls had been scared to take it because they were afraid of leaving their friends and the estate. Eventually, Dru ended up going. Now that they knew leaving was actually possible and that they would be okay, everyone wanted out.

  Ms. Halifax folded her arms over her chest. “Why don’t we make a list and then remove the ones who aren’t eligible?”

  Ms. Bea pointed her fingers toward her closed door and immediately the names of the girls were written across it in purple letters.

  Scarlett

  Oriana

  Lily

  Allison

  Isleen

  Tress

  Marina

  Gretchen

  Jolie

  Nine girls. “Who’s ineligible?” Molly asked.

  Ms. Halifax walked toward the door. “Allison very well cannot be out there on her own without constant supervision.”

  Molly agreed with that although she felt bad about her being automatically eliminated just because of her condition. “Okay. Who else?”

  “Marina,” Bea said. “At least for now.”

  "Why?" Molly asked. Marina had the best reason of all to get out of there. The families of the other girls had perished long ago, but because mermaids lived for thousands of years, her family was still out there somewhere.

  Ms. Bea looked at the door. "You know how much of this earth is covered with ocean? More than seventy percent. Over the past decades, the Lost City of Atlantis has had to move deeper and deeper into the depths of the oceans to hide from humans and pollution. We have no idea where it is now, and until we find it, Marina must stay here."

  Molly rubbed her forehead. “That just seems so unfair.”

  Ms. Bea nodded. "I know it does, but I can't just drop her off at the beach and leave her to fend for herself not knowing whether or not she'll ever find her way home. She's a mermaid, but she's grown unaccustomed to the ways and dangers of the ocean. She wouldn't survive without her family. I have to at least get her close to them before I can set her free."

  That made sense to Molly although it sucked for Marina. The names Marina and Allison disappeared from the door that left them with seven choices. It was still going to be hard to choose one.

  Ms. Halifax tapped on the door. "Isleen and Oriana. Without them, we cannot locate any of the other pens."

  While Oriana may have been willing to make the sacrifice, Molly knew Isleen was going to flip when she heard that.

  "That's very true, and I know that we've discussed this before, but I'm going to leave it up to the girls to decide," Ms. Bea said.

  “The girls?” Molly asked.

  Ms. Bea rose from her desk. "I've decided that we're going to let them vote. Everyone gets one vote, and no one can vote for themselves. They will each get a chance to speak on why they should be the one to receive the elixir."

  Molly was relieved that it wasn’t up to her to make the decision because she didn’t know how she would have done it.

  Ms. Bea continued. “Later this afternoon once everyone has gotten a chance to rest, we will gather in the Great Study. Then depending on who's chosen, we will make a plan on what we should do with them."

  Molly thought this was going to be a difficult meeting, but there was no way to avoid it. Hopefully, there would be no tiebreakers for her to decide.

  "I need to check on Gretchen," Ms. Bea said as she opened the door.

  “Oh, Ms. Bea,” Molly called.

  Ms. Bea paused. "Yes?"

  "The Yuki-Oona that we came across on the first part of our journey—we had to promise her something for her to give us the first box. We promised her Dr. Meyer. She said if we didn't send him, she'd come for him--and us."

  Ms. Bea nodded. "Very well. I'll be glad to have him out of this house."

  Ms. Bea left the room with Ms. Halifax on her heels. Molly closed the door looking at the list of names behind it. They had to find a better way. They had to find a way that all the girls would be free.

  A few hours later, Molly, Ms. Bea, Ms. Halifax, and the girls gathered in the Gwreat Study. The mood was somber. Everyone knew that a difficult decision was about to be made that may leave many of them upset.

  After the girls had settled into their various spots and gotten comfortable, Bea took the floor. "Girls, this time we have decided that we will put the decision to a vote. Everyone gets one vote, and you cannot vote for yourselves." Bea swallowed hard. "The following girls are not eligible, and I have discussed this with them previously. You may not vote for Marina or Allison. We are still working on some things."

  Allison studied her fingernails seeming oblivious to what Bea had just said, and Marina stared straight ahead at a bookshelf. Molly didn't know what to make of her expression, but she felt terrible. The entire situation was so unfair. Ms. Bea continued. "Would everyone like to take a moment to speak on why they should receive the elixir?"

  No one said anything for a while, but then Lily spoke. "I don't think that's necessary. We've known each other for so long. We know why each of us wants out and why we're deserving."

  “In other words,” Isleen interjected. “They already have their minds made up.”

  No one said anything to that as Molly handed out pens and small slips of white paper. The girls sat thoughtfully for a few moments before casting their votes. Once everyone was done, the votes were tallied. Almost everyone had at least one vote, but Lily had two and Jolie had three. Ms. Bea held the three ballots up in her shaking hands. "It looks like Jolie will be leaving us now. Congratulations," she said, her voice cracking.

  The room was silent. There was a mixture of happiness and disappointment. Molly knew the girls were probably happy for Jolie, but they had to be disappointed that their curse wasn’t going to be broken. Everyone stared at Jolie who stood. “Thank you. Thanks a lot. I don’t know what else to say.”

  More awkward silence followed that.

  "I do," Lily said. "Congratulations, Jolie. You are just as deserving as anyone else. We will miss you, but we know we'll all be together again. It's just a matter of time."

  Molly thought about that. The girls maybe weren't as sad because they expected to be reunited on the outside but what they didn't know was that Ms. Bea planned and wiping their memories clean of Everly so they wouldn’t accidentally reveal the location to anyone. Molly that that was unfair also. Having two hundred years of your life wiped from your memory just wasn’t right.

  Ms. Bea's eyes brimmed with tears as she squeezed Jolie tight. "We will get you packed up. Once we have everything situated for you on the outside, we will make our departure." She turned to the other girls. "Don't be disappointed. The time will come for all of you to leave, I promise you that."

  At that, Isleen stormed from the Great Study. Bea ignored her as usual. “Girls, you are dismissed. I need to speak with Ms. Dillinger and Ms. Halifax.”

  The girls left the room crowded around Jolie, talking excitedly. It warmed Molly’s heart how quickly they had gotten over their own disappointed to be happy for her.

  Molly stood at the window looking out. Beyond the iron gate, that enclosed the academy was a road. She felt the sudden need to run down as far as it would take her. She had been reminded that she was as much as a prisoner as the girls. They all were. "So, what's the plan?"

  Drusilla had wanted to go to college, so Molly had been able to hook her up with her old college professor. Ms. Bea took care of all the financials but Denise promised to get Dru enrolled in school and to show her around a modern world she wasn't accustomed to. That's what worried Molly the most. Although Ms. Bea's main priority was to keep the girls safe, Molly felt that she was doing them a disservice by sheltering them from the outside world. Now they would be thrown out there to fend for themselves totally unprepared.

  "You don't give my girls enough credit," Ms. Bea said.

 
; Molly jumped, afraid that Ms. Bea could read her thoughts. She was a fairy, after all, maybe that was something she could do. "What?" Molly asked.

  Bea lowered herself onto the couch where Tress and Isleen usually sat. "I see the worry on your face. I know they are not used to the world out there, but they are smart, strong, and resilient. They will learn fast. They will be fine."

  Molly's attention was drawn to Owen and Donald who had just entered her field of vision. They were dragging something wrapped in a tarp across the front lawn. "Still. We just can't throw her out there alone, and I can't ask Denise to keep taking on a new girl."

  "We've been thinking about that," Ms. Halifax said. "We will find her a nice place to live, and she will have everything she needs. Someone will go to check on her every few days to show her how to do simple things like shopping and balancing her checkbook. Maybe take her to the mall and places that young people like to go."

  Molly’s attention was finally pulled away from the window. “Who’s going to do that?”

  Ms. Bea and Ms. Halifax exchanged glances. "You are, Ms. Dillinger," Ms. Halifax announced.

  “What?” Molly asked. “You mean, you’re going to let me out of here?”

  Ms. Bea watched her for a moment before moving closer to her. "You've earned my trust. It won't be permanent but just for a couple of hours every few days. No one here is more current on the ways of the modern world than you. That's also part of the reason I brought you here."

  Molly's mind was swirling. She couldn't believe she would get a break from being imprisoned at Everly, even if it was just for a few hours. Bea placed her hands on Molly's arms. "As I said, you've earned my trust. But if you try to run or you don't come back when you are supposed to, or you contact anyone out there that you shouldn't, you will not be permitted to leave again."

  Molly thought about her words. She couldn't imagine being on the outside and not even attempting to contact her family, but for the time being, she needed to tell Bea what she wanted to hear. "Of course. I would never betray your trust."