by Talia Haze
“You know what I was just thinking of?” I said aloud.
“No, what?” asked Ryan. His voice was singsong; he teased me.
“Angel and I share a birthday with Connie.”
Connie turned to me with a smile. “Truly?”
“Yes. That ball those nights ago, that was for your eighteenth birthday, wasn’t it?” Connie nodded somberly, looking away from me. “Connie…?”
“That’s right,” Sean interrupted. “And that was Gabriella and Angel’s birthday too.”
“That is strange!”
“I’ll tell you what’s strange,” Ryan brought his chair closer and leaned on the back of the sofa with his arms. “What Saramine did with her eyes. How’d you do it?”
Saramine’s eyes flashed yellow again. “Muscles,” she answered. “Just like moving them around to see with an extra feature. They glow by themselves, however, when someone startles me, or when I am upset.”
“Ah! I never saw you do that before, Sean,” Ryan said. “Shall I make you upset, then?”
Sean grinned, and flashed his eyes yellow. “Perhaps you can just ask.”
“You might teach my friend to be a better dragon, Saramine,” Ryan continued, “since apparently dragons and humans can live alongside each other peaceably.”
Saramine nodded. “I have had more troubles being Inzi than being dragon,” she agreed. She yawned loudly and stretched. “I am ready for afternoon tea. I wonder if this cottage has any honey.”
I nodded. “Yes, in the kitchen. It’s in the cupboard, behind the meal,” I said. “The red pot is already on the fire in there.”
Tea would be lovely. I felt grateful that Saramine brought her Inzi blend. It tasted just so sweet and savory at the same time. I needed to find out which spices she used…
Sean dropped next to me, grabbing my shoulders. He startled me so much that I lost my breath for a moment. Everyone stared at me. I never felt so uncomfortable. “What? What’s the matter?”
Sean’s face was panicked. “You never went into the kitchen. How did you know where the honey was?”
I stammered. What was he talking about? “I just knew…”
“But how could you have?” Connie pressed. I couldn’t answer. I didn’t feel anxious because I recognized a cottage I had never been in, but because they all were. Connie and Saramine knelt at my sides, Ryan had abandoned his perfect chair and stood behind Sean who still hadn’t released my arms. Why did they scold me?
“I don’t know.” I stumbled over my words. I scanned my memory but couldn’t think of any time that I had left my home in Tempton. Even if I had left, I never would have gone anywhere without Sean or Ryan, and certainly they would have remembered.
I looked around, studying each feature. The place was familiar for sure, but it was a strange familiarity. I just knew. I knew that the rug was made of soft lamb fleece. I knew that the three chairs normally sat the in the main room, and the couch off against the wall. I knew that there were wooden bowls in the kitchen cabinet, and I knew what sizes they would be. I knew upstairs there would be a bed near the window, one near the wall, and the last in the center.
Sean’s face grimed at each of my descriptions. Ryan just stood baffled.
“Let us scout the house with Aira,” Saramine suggested, standing to her feet.
“No, let’s go see if she’s right,” Ryan corrected. We first searched the kitchen and it was exactly how I remembered. The giant red pot hung over the oven in the wall, while smaller pots and pans dangled from hooks above. The three chairs sat around a small, round table by the entrance, and the bowls were placed accordingly. The honey was hidden in the cupboard, behind the meal like I had said.
I gently brushed my hands against the table while the others stood in shock. “It is if I had eaten breakfast at this table before.”
Sean’s head perked up at my words, but he remained silent. We followed him up the stairs. Angel sat on the bed closest to the window while looking out.
“Gabriella says she has been here before,” Saramine announced, before adding a few more words in Inzi.
Angel turned. “How could you have?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted with a shrug, sitting on the bed alongside her. “This is all so familiar, but I just can’t seem to recall how.” Ryan collapsed on the bed in the middle. “It’s like I lived here…”
Suddenly, Sean jumped to his feet and darted from the room.
“Sean!” Angel called.
“Now where is he off to, then?” Ryan complained as we chased after him. We dashed down the stairs and found Sean digging through my bag.
“Sean!” I objected. Sean pulled out the fairy tale book he gave me and opened it.
“I knew it! This is the cottage of the three bears!”
“What …?”
“That’s why it was so familiar to you, Gabby!” Sean added, looking up at me. “When you are fancying your tales, you absorbed by them.” Sean went back to the book and flipped through the pages. “I wonder if this route changed to how you imagined it. ‘Goldilocks went inside the bear’s cottage…’”
“That’s you,” Ryan added, turning to Connie.
“’…she tried to sit on the first chair, but it was much too hard.’ That was the same thing that happened to you, Connie. ‘She tried to sit on the next chair, but it was far too soft…’ that was my chair. ‘She tried the next chair and it was just right.’ That was Ryan’s chair. Also, upstairs, there were three beds, three chairs in the kitchen!” Sean paused for a moment and stared up at Connie. “What does triad mean?”
“Three,” Connie agreed with a nod.
“Menu of three characters…Saramine.” Sean was on a roll. “Remind me, nursery rhyme, nine days old.”
“Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold!” screeched Saramine with excitement. “Pease porridge in a pot, nine days old!”
“Yes! That’s it! It all fits together! The three bears had porridge!” He ran into the kitchen and reached his hand into the red pot that sat in the oven. He pulled out a golden key with (1) engraved in it…and also covered in pease porridge.
“You did it, Sean!”
~
I rolled over and stretched. The bed was empty; my sister had disappeared again. I sat up and let my eyes adjust to the bright morning sunlight pouring through the windows. Not just Angel, everyone had gone.
I walked down the stairs, greeted with the smell of Saramine’s tea and the porridge. Ryan stood by the window, and Sean and Saramine talked quietly in the kitchen as they ate breakfast together.
“Where’s Angel?” I asked. And after doing a second count, “and Connie?”
“It seems Princess Connie has been learning archery,” Saramine answered. “They are outside practicing. Aira is training her to improve her skills.”
I nodded and sat across from them. How wonderful it was to actually eat at the table like I had so often imagined doing! The Three Bears. One of my favorites. I ate with a smile as Sean and Saramine continued their quiet conversation. I replayed each sentence in my mind. Goldilocks tasted the first bowl, and it was far too hot. She tasted the second bowl, and it was far too cold. Then, she tasted the third bowl, and like my porridge and tea, it was just right.
The door suddenly flew open and Connie dashed inside in a panic. “Hurry!” she called, dashing up the stairs. “We must flee!”
She disappeared as Angel strode in. She wasn’t panicked like Connie, but steady and calm. “Gather our belongings and prepare to leave, iamo. Now!” she repeated. We quickly did as told.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I shoved my book into my bag. Saramine quickly wrapped her spices and Sean gathered the bags.
“The three bears are really coming home!” Connie exclaimed, flying down the stairs. “Angel saw them on the other side of the field!”
The three bears? Were they now enemies? What did the fairy route maker do to my favorite tales?
“Trolls,” Angel explained. “They did
not see us, and I mean to keep it that way. It must be as if we were never here.”
“Where are we going to go?” Ryan asked.
“Out through the back.”
Outside, dark clouds gathered overhead and the faint, musty smell announcing rain permeated the air.
“Oh no!” cried out Saramine, stopping suddenly. “I left the fire burning!”
“It doesn’t matter now,” urged Sean clutching her hand to keep her from turning back. “If we go back, they’ll see us!”
“But then they will know we were there!”
“Maynep, Saramine, we should not be pursued; I closed the door,” Angel said. “For all they know, we could have left hours ago.”
“Should we not see what the next riddle is?” Connie asked. Angel froze.
“Maybe not here,” Ryan was looking around. “We’re still too close to the house…”
“No, she is right,” Angel said. “We should at least know what we are looking for. I do not want to go a long way, only to realize I have to go back.”
Sean opened the book.
He is the villain of many, but in this tale, he follows no girl, but shoat. Choose yours well.
“Come back!”
We spun around; Angel prepared with an arrow in her bow. I blinked as I stared at my sister. I didn’t even see her grab it.
Far off, a small girl in a red and yellow dress stood by the cottage. The real Goldilocks and she was adorable. Her golden curls fell around her face, but her tiny pink lips were agape in terror.
“Put down your weapon!” she begged Angel. “You must help me! My foot is stuck!” she turned and screamed. Two trolls closed the space between them. She struggled with her foot and cried out. What could we do? Angel’s face didn’t relent. “Please help me, Robin!” I turned impatiently to my silent sister. What did she wait for? Her arrow was notched, but she didn’t release it and the trolls were only yards away from the girl. Perhaps they were out of her range?
“We shall help you,” Angel finally called, giving the girl an awkward look as she nodded. With a quiet twang the arrow was off. My relief was instantly replaced with horror as the arrow curved from the trolls and hit the girl with a sickening thud to her chest, sending her sprawling to her back. We all cried out in horror and Connie covered her eyes. I didn’t know what to think. Did Angel miss? Surely, not…
I clutched Angel’s skirt, and she finally looked at me. “Look, Gabby,” she said, gently. Lying on the ground, the little girl slowly turned back to a troll. Angel smirked and nodded her head down the path, eyes still focused on the three. “Ma-hali. Let’s go.” The trolls had stopped over their fallen friend. One started after us, but because we were already so far ahead, he didn’t bother and bent to help the other. I felt relieved, perplexed…and so very unsettled. My whole body trembled.
“Chancy, that, Angel!” Ryan finally broke the uneasy silence. He walked quickly to keep up with her steady pace. “Very chancy, that! What made you think that girl was a troll?”
“As Connie told you, the three bears are coming home,” Angel simply answered without even giving Ryan a look. “There were only two trolls chasing that girl. You will learn to be observant. One girl, two trolls…trick. Besides, only the trolls call archers Robin. That was the girl’s biggest mistake...”
“Come see!” Connie cried out. She was off the path, standing on a boulder and leaning against a tree. Initials were carved into the bark.
“B.B.W.,” Angel read. “Perhaps that was someone who came here a while back.”
“Perhaps,” Connie agreed. “But do not forget it. It may be of some importance.”
“Tapo, Connie,” Angel replied before continuing on. “We would not be given any more clues than we already have.”
“Angel, I am going to keep it in mind.” Connie’s face scrunched up as she flew into princess manner. “We cannot be certain until we are freed from here.”
I shuddered, thinking how easily I trusted Goldilocks. Clearly, we couldn’t be certain of anything.
Chapter Two
Key Two
“Good glory, lad!”
Each of us gasped at the sight. Stretched from left to right as far as the eye could see stood a huge wall made of stones. It towered high above the trees, casting us in menacing shadow. Three high arches spaced equally apart functioned as passages through the wall. Between us and the wall ran a small creek.
At the first arch, bales of straw served as a bridge over the creek. A thick log led to the second arch and bricks laid out one by one marked the last bridge. It would have been impossible to balance on the bricks. I wondered why the bridges were even there anyway. The creek wasn’t that wide; even Connie could easily jump it.
“Does it matter which arch we take to get through?” Connie asked.
“In this place, one cannot be sure,” Angel responded, stepping across the log and looking through the wall under each arch. “They all lead to the same place. Come.”
We followed her across the log and under the arch. The instant we passed through, everything went black.
“I think it did matter.” Ryan’s voice seemed to echo. After a few seconds of painful silence, a torch was lit. Sean held it high to survey our surroundings. “You haven’t been here before, have you, Bittersweet?”
We stood in a wooden, one-room cabin. There were no windows and the ceiling reached high above. A small door sat just beyond the reaches of Sean’s torchlight, and a simple wooden table sat in center of the room with only a single chair.
“Tanga!” Angel cursed quietly. “We are careless! We should have first deciphered the poem…”
“Let’s just read it again,” broke in Sean as he put the book down on the table.
He is the villain of many, but in this tale, he follows no girl, but shoat. Choose yours well.
“Perhaps this is another fairy tale,” Saramine said, turning to me. “Does it sound familiar?”
I shrugged. Ryan just rolled his eyes. “Get on,” he complained. “Why do it twice…?”
“Perhaps the maker wasn’t as cruel as said,” Sean agreed, looking over my shoulder as I opened my book. “There are several traveling girls in here. Goldilocks…”
“Did that…”
“…the Princess and the Pea, Little Red Cap, Gretel, many more…who was the star of all of these?”
“They were all different,” I answered.
“Do you not know what shoat is?” Sean looked to the princess who shook her head.
“I am not familiar with that word,” she replied. “Perhaps…”
A strong breeze cut her off, howling in our ears. It came on so suddenly that everyone jumped in surprise.
“A storm must be coming,” Angel said, cocking her head as she listened carefully. “I had wondered about those clouds after we left the bears’ house.” Seconds after she spoke, a loud crash echoed outside. It sounded like several trees had come crashing down onto the huge wall, tumbling it into ruins. Then, silence.
“I am grateful that whatever that was, is out there, and…and we are in here.” Connie trembled uncontrollably. Angel wasn’t relieved and spun to face me.
“Gabby, the book says he follows no girl, but shoat. In which of the girls’ stories is she being followed?”
I went silent, quickly going through each tale in my mind. “The princess was followed by the frog, the sister was followed by the king, Little Red Cap was followed by the Big Bad Wolf…”
“B.B.W.!” cried out Connie, suddenly. “That was what we saw on the tree! B.B.W. must be Big Bad Wolf!”
“You were right, Connie,” Angel admitted. “That was useful.”
“But what else was the Big Bad Wolf a villain of?” asked Ryan.
“The Three Little Pigs,” I answered. “‘Shoat’ must mean ‘pig!’”
“But the last line says choose yours well,” Angel urged with her hands. “What does that mean?”
“Well, in the Three Little Pigs, the first little pig m
ade his house of straw, the second pig of sticks, and the third…of bricks…” I trailed off. My stomach suddenly knotted.
“The big bad wolf came and huffed and puffed and he blew down the house of straw, then the house of sticks,” Sean continued, scanning the pages. Saramine leaned on his shoulder to see. I looked around frantically, taking note of everything in the house. A wooden floor. The wooden table. A wooden chair…
“But when he huffed and puffed, he couldn’t get the brick house down,” Saramine read.
“We have to leave!” I cried out, running for the door. Sean grabbed my hand, stopping me. I pulled, but he wouldn’t relent. We were wrong! We chose wrong! We didn’t have time, but I couldn’t find the words. My heart thumped in my chest and Sean’s face grew concerned.
“Please, Gabby, talk to me!”
“Outside!” I finally said. My thoughts ran faster than my mouth. The floor. The beams. The bridge. “Those…outside…those things over the creek weren’t bridges! They were markers!”
“We walked across a log bridge,” Ryan said slowly, “we’re in a log house…! Dumplings! We chose sticks!”
“That crash was the Big Bad Wolf blowing down the straw house!” I said, senses finally returning.
Connie pushed hard at the door. “Oh, it is stuck!” she cried out, pulling at the at the handle.
“Sean!” Ryan quickly backed away from the door, pulling Sean with him. Together, they rammed the door hard with their shoulders, toppling to the ground outside. We ran past them, but they quickly caught up.
“Find the brick house!” Angel commanded. The ground rumbled and a low resonation thudded in my chest. The log cabin behind us shook dangerously.
“Look! There!” Saramine ran ahead and flung open the door. With a terrible howl, a gust of wind blew, carrying huge logs in the air.
“The door!” I screamed, my hair swirling in my face. Sean quickly slammed the door shut with his back, locked it, and slowly slid to the floor.
“Now I know why those three little pigs were scared,” wept Connie, clutching a yellow handkerchief. “That wolf is…” A polite knock on the door interrupted her.