Otis was happy to let a stable boy lead him into a clean stall in the stable behind the inn. When they were sure that the horse was well cared for, Annie and Liam got themselves a room. After a quick supper of venison stew and coarse bread, they climbed the stairs, yawning.
“Why did we get one room?” Annie asked when the door to their room was closed. “If you need more coins, I brought some, too.”
“Shh!” said Liam. “Not so loud. These places have thin walls and we don’t want anyone to hear us. I got one room because that’s what two farm boys would get. I’ll sleep on the floor and you can have the bed.”
“Don’t you think we can stop pretending now? We’re far enough from Treecrest and King Dormander that I think we should be safe.”
Liam shook his head. “We can’t travel as ourselves yet. People always talk when they see royalty, and we don’t want word to get back to Treecrest. You saw how many people we passed outside the gates. If any one of them knew who we really are, King Dormander would learn about it very quickly. I don’t want anyone to know we’re outside the castle until we bring help back with us.”
“Fair enough,” said Annie. “I really would have liked a hot bath, but I guess that’s going to have to wait, too.” She yawned again, covering her mouth with her hand. “It’s just as well. I probably couldn’t stay awake long enough for them to bring up the water.”
“I’m too worried about my father to sleep,” Liam said as he spread his blanket on the floor, but a few minutes later neither one was awake.
For the first time on their trip, they both slept through the night without waking. Sunlight pouring through the window woke them the next morning and they were up and out the door minutes later. Although it was still early, the public dining room on the first floor was already crowded. When they appeared at the door, however, the innkeeper’s wife was able to find them a table. Neither of them usually ate much in the morning, but a serving girl brought them both cold mugs of cider and plates heaped with coddled eggs, rashers of bacon, and crusty bread still hot from the oven. Annie hadn’t thought she was hungry until she smelled the food, and she dug in as if she hadn’t eaten in days. Liam didn’t notice because he was too intent on his own breakfast, and had already started on a second plate before Annie finished her first.
They were sitting back, pleasantly full, when a young woman came into the dining room to look around. The innkeeper’s wife went to talk to her, and the young woman left, looking disappointed. A few minutes later another young woman came in and the same thing happened. This happened three more times. When the innkeeper’s wife walked past their table, Liam said, “What did those young women want?”
The woman glanced at the door, saying, “They come by every day, along with half a dozen others. They all want to talk to the fairy Moonbeam. Gertrude isn’t working here today, so it’s up to me to tell them that Moonbeam isn’t back yet, and I have no idea when she’ll return. They’ll all be back tomorrow, mark my word. Ever since everyone learned that the fairy had helped Eleanor and the prince fall in love, all the less fortunate girls have been hoping that Moonbeam would help them find wealthy husbands as well.”
“So Moonbeam isn’t in town? Do you have any idea where she went?” asked Annie.
The innkeeper’s wife laughed. “What would a boy like you want with Moonbeam? Hoping for a rich wife, are you?”
“Actually, we did need her help with something,” said Liam.
The woman sighed. “Sorry, I can’t help you any more than I can those girls. I only know what Gertrude tells me. If anyone would know, it would be Gertrude.”
“Who is Gertrude?” Annie asked.
“The butcher’s daughter, of course,” said the innkeeper’s wife. “When Moonbeam married the butcher, he declared that his three children had to move out or start supporting themselves. The son got married and moved away and the two girls got jobs. Gertrude works at the inn six days a week, but today is her day off. It’s a pity about the butcher shop. It’s been closed since Moonbeam and Selbert left. Selbert’s son, Jamesey, helped in the shop, and now that he’s gone and his father is away, there’s no one to run it. These days I have to go halfway across town to get good cuts of meat, and they aren’t nearly as good as Selbert’s. Ah, if you’ll excuse me, someone is waving at me like I’m a runaway coach. Some people don’t know the meaning of patience.”
As the innkeeper’s wife hurried off to help someone else, Liam leaned toward Annie. “Looks like another dead end.”
Annie shook her head. “I don’t think so, at least not yet. The butcher probably lives above his shop. Let’s go pay his daughter a visit. Maybe she knows more than she’s told this woman.”
The butcher shop was only a few buildings away on the other side of the street. Liam and Annie were on their way there when they saw a woman and her two daughters walking in the opposite direction. Annie recognized them right away, having met them at the ball where Eleanor met the prince. They were Eleanor’s stepsisters, Wilhemina and Zelda, following behind their mother, Lenore. Once again they were arguing.
“It’s your turn to make supper tonight, Willie! I did it yesterday,” Zelda told her sister.
“You did not! I cooked while you read your silly book. Tell her that it’s her turn, Mother! I shouldn’t have to do it two days in a row.”
“Quiet, both of you!” snapped Lenore as she stopped to face her daughters. “We wouldn’t be in this mess if you two had been nicer to your stepsister, Eleanor.”
“It wasn’t us!” sputtered Willie. “You’re the one who made her work like a servant.”
“Only because you girls are lazy,” Lenore replied.
“I’ve never seen you do any housework, either!” Willie cried. “I don’t think you’ve ever cooked or washed dishes or swept or cleaned out the fireplace or any of the things you make us do.”
“Watch your manners, Willie darling, or you’ll be out on your ear!” her mother said. “I’m your mother and I deserve better than this! Even Eleanor will understand when I explain it to her.”
“So now you call her Eleanor. You were the one who started calling her Cinderella, Mother. You only like her because she’s a princess,” grumbled Zelda. “You want her to like us so she’ll invite us to the castle.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Lenore said. “We deserve to be there more than she does. I blame it on those two princesses who showed up unannounced. If it hadn’t been for them, one of you would have married the prince and we’d be living in the castle right now!”
Annie glanced at the little group as Lenore and her daughters walked past. She tried not to react when Lenore stopped to stare at her as if she looked familiar, but couldn’t quite place her. When the woman finally shook her head and moved on, Annie let out a shaky breath, not having realized until then that she’d been holding it in.
When they reached the butcher shop, Liam tried the door just in case. “It’s locked,” he said. “Do you see another entrance for the house?”
“Not in the front,” said Annie. “Maybe we have to go through the alley.”
She led the way through the narrow space between the shop and the building next door. There was a door near the back, but it too was locked. “This must be it,” Annie said, and knocked.
When no one replied, Liam started thumping the wooden door. “I’m going to keep this up until someone answers or my hand gets tired. We didn’t come all this way for nothing.”
“Maybe no one is home,” said Annie.
“Or maybe the butcher’s daughter doesn’t want to answer the door,” he said, knocking louder.
“Go away!” a voice yelled from inside the house.
“We’re not going away until you talk to us,” Liam yelled back. When no one came to the door, he began pounding on it and shouting, “Open up!”
Suddenly the door flew open, revealing an angry girl a few years older than Liam. She was wielding a wicked-looking knife like a butcher might use and stood blockin
g the doorway. “What do you want?”
“To talk to Gertrude,” said Annie. “You can put the knife away. We aren’t going to hurt you.”
“What do you want to talk to Gertrude about?” the girl asked.
“We want to ask her about the fairy Moonbeam,” Liam told her.
“I knew it!” the girl said, lowering the knife. “When I first heard the knocking, I said to myself, ‘Gertrude, it’s another one of those girls wanting to know when Moonbeam will be back. You’re not answering the door again today.’ But then I heard a man’s voice and I thought it was someone with bad intentions. A girl can’t be too safe these days. I’m here now, though, so I’ll tell you what I tell everybody. I don’t know when she’ll be back.”
She started to close the door, but Liam had put his foot in the way. “Can you tell us where we might be able to find her?” he asked.
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Gertrude said, trying to close the door on Liam’s foot. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“You sound like you don’t like her,” said Annie.
The girl opened the door all the way and laughed. It was an ugly sound with no trace of humor. “Would you like someone who marries your father without warning and makes him tell you what to do? He’d been grumbling about our living here for years, but it wasn’t until she came along that he did anything about it. Jamesey had to marry the girl he’d been courting and move out to start his own shop. He moved all the way to Harper’s Village, so we’ll hardly ever get to see him. Papa drove him away because of that woman! And do you know what Papa did to Franny and me? We had to get jobs! Taking care of him and the house wasn’t enough. Now we both have to earn our own money.”
“Really!” said Annie.
Gertrude nodded. “It’s so unfair! The four of us were happy here before that fairy came along. Jamesey helped Papa in the shop when he got really busy, and Franny and I took care of things here at home. Papa gave us money when we needed it and no one had to work like this! And then he married that fairy and everything changed.”
“I can only imagine!” Annie told her, trying to look sympathetic.
“And to top it off,” said Gertrude, “just a few weeks after Jamesey moved out, Papa took that woman to visit our brother and left us here without any money or food in the house. If anyone should have gone on a trip, it was Franny and me. Papa was always working and never took us anywhere, and now look! And the way Moonbeam makes him laugh, why, Franny and I think it’s disgraceful. Sure, she’s fixed up the house with her magic and given us nice clothes and things, but we still wish Father had never met her. If I ever see that princess who made Moonbeam fall in love with my father, I’ll give her a piece of my mind!”
“So you’re sure you won’t tell us where they went?” said Liam, removing his foot from the doorway.
“No, I won’t! So don’t ask again,” Gertrude said, and slammed the door in their faces.
Annie couldn’t help but laugh as they walked away. “She doesn’t realize it, but she just gave me that talking-to!”
“And told us where to find her father and Moonbeam!” said Liam.
“Now all we have to do is get directions for Harper’s Village.”
Liam shook his head. “I know where it is. It’s in the Dark Forest near where we met Gloria.”
“You mean Little Red Riding Hood? It will take us at least a day to get there.”
“Less if Otis can keep up the pace. You know, I really do like that horse.”
Chapter 9
It was getting dark when Annie and Liam reached the grove of trees where they were going to spend the night. The grove was far enough off the road that passersby wouldn’t bother them, but close enough that Otis nickered softly each time he heard another horse on the road. Liam kept watch while Annie slept. She didn’t know if he dozed or not, but he was getting cold food out of his knapsack for their breakfast when she woke. They ate quickly and were soon on their way south.
A few hours later, they entered the Dark Forest. It was hilly ground, so they were constantly going up- or downhill as they followed curves in the road. Because there was little level ground and virtually no straightaways, they couldn’t see very far ahead. Otis walked when the grade grew steeper, but he seemed to enjoy trotting downhill, so Liam let him have his head most of the time. They were rounding a downhill curve at a trot when they suddenly came upon a wagon stopped sideways across the road, blocking their way. When Liam turned Otis to the side to avoid running into the wagon, the horse tossed his head and Liam leaned back to avoid getting his face whacked. Something whizzed past, right where Liam’s head had been, ruffling Otis’s mane.
“What was that?” Annie asked as Otis danced to the side.
Before Liam could answer, an arrow whizzed past, narrowly missing Annie. “Someone is shooting arrows at us!” Liam cried, urging Otis off the road.
The horse floundered through the underbrush while Annie and Liam ducked to avoid the lower branches. A man appeared from behind a tree, forcing Otis to turn back. When another man appeared, Otis turned again and they found themselves back on the road before the curve.
“I hope you’re up to this, boy,” Liam said, patting Otis’s neck, and then they were off at a gallop, hurtling through the curve, and heading straight for the wagon.
Both Liam and Annie had jumped horses before, and they knew when to shift their weight. As Otis flew over the wagon, Annie held on to Liam so tightly that it was almost as if one person rode the gelding. And then they were on the downward curve of the arc and Otis’s hooves were creating a cloud of dust, leaving the highwaymen behind. The arrows that followed them missed their mark, but were enough to make Otis go faster. Up and down hills, over gulleys where rain had washed out the road, and under branches that could knock the unwary off a horse, the old gelding galloped as if his tail were on fire. When he finally began to slow, they were well into the Dark Forest and far from their pursuers.
Hearts racing and as out of breath as if they had been running themselves, Annie and Liam praised Otis, thankful that they had such a good horse under them. They made the horse walk to cool off, which gave them the chance to talk.
“Do you have any idea who those men were?” Annie asked Liam.
“None,” he replied. “I got a good look at one of them, and I’d never seen him before. They were wearing ordinary clothes, too; nothing about them stood out.”
“Do you think they know who we really are?”
“Either that or they were shooting at everyone who came along. Two farm boys on an old horse wouldn’t be carrying enough money to make it worth their while. Say, I know where we are,” said Liam. “See that lightning-blasted tree? If we turn here, we aren’t far from the cottage where we first met Yardley.”
“When he was a wolf,” said Annie. “Yes, I remember.”
“We could go there now and then on to Harper’s Village,” said Liam. “If anyone is following us, they wouldn’t expect us to leave the road like this.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Annie. “It will throw them off our track and we can see how Gloria’s grandmother is doing.”
Liam turned the horse toward the woods. “Not much farther and you can rest for a bit, Otis.”
They rode for only a short while before dismounting and walking beside Otis. The gelding was exhausted from his gallop and walked slowly, stopping every now and then until Liam made him move again. They were finally approaching Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother’s cottage when they heard the sound of someone chopping wood.
“It’s probably Granny’s son, the huntsman,” said Annie. “I bet he came by to look in on her.”
It wasn’t the huntsman, but Yardley, the young man who had been turned into a wolf by a nasty dwarf. He was human again, thanks to Annie and Liam, who had hunted the dwarf down and given him a taste of his own magic.
“Yardley, what are you doing here?” Liam asked from the edge of the clearing that surrounded
the cottage.
“Prince Liam, is that you? And who is that with you? Is that Princess Annie dressed like a boy again? You don’t always dress that way, do you?”
“Not normally, at least not at home,” Annie told him. “Why are you here? Where is Gloria’s grandmother?”
“My wife and I bought the cottage from her. She didn’t want to live in such an isolated spot any longer and moved in with one of her daughters.” Setting down his ax, Yardley strode to the door and opened it, calling, “Honey! We have company.”
Rose Red appeared in the doorway, smiling and wiping her hands on a rag. “Well, well! Would you look at what the wolf brought in! What are you two doing here? Beldegard isn’t with you, is he?”
Annie shook her head. “He married my sister a few weeks ago. I don’t think you’ll be seeing much of him.”
“I’d like to water the horse while we have the chance,” Liam told Yardley. “Where is your well?”
“Right this way,” said Yardley, and the two young men walked off with Otis.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” Rose Red asked Annie. “We don’t have much, but we do have tea!”
“I’d love one!” said Annie, following Rose Red into the cottage. Taking a seat at the small table, she looked around the room while Rose Red moved from fireplace to table and back again. The cottage was cozy inside and was better laid out than it had been before. The bed no longer dominated the center of the room, but was pushed into a corner, with a table and chairs opposite and more chairs beside the fireplace. Annie recognized the cushions on the chairs as being like those she’d seen in Mother Hubbard’s cottage. PEACE, HARMONY, HAPPINESS were written on three of the cushions and Annie could hear the faint magic that enforced the words.
“My mother gave me those pillows when I got married,” said Rose Red. “They work, too. Yardley and I never have arguments when we’re in the cottage. I never was serious about Beldegard, you know,” said Rose Red as she set a mug in front of Annie. “Well, maybe I was for about fifteen minutes, but I didn’t really think it would work out, him being a prince and all. I knew for sure when I saw him with your sister, the most beautiful princess in all the kingdoms. No, I’ve known for a while that the one I wanted to marry was Yardley. As soon as you turned him back into a human and he came home, he proposed to me. Mother made all the arrangements and we were married within a week. I can honestly say that I’ve never been happier.”