Mal was about to protest when she nodded. If she couldn’t beat ’em, she would at least pretend to join ’em. In the end, she just wanted to make sure the kids came to the discussion tomorrow and had access to the applications, even if she and Lady Tremaine couldn’t see eye to eye. “Exactly.”
“Excellent. I will be happy to find such students to send you tomorrow,” said Lady Tremaine.
• • •
Coach Gaston was running doomball drills when Jay interrupted to talk about the new VK program. Gaston looked the same as he always did: dark-haired, aggressively handsome with his swell cleft of a chin, and still as large as a barge. “You want me to talk to the kids about going to school in Auradon?” he asked, scratching his incredibly thick neck. “And send them to some event you have planned tomorrow?”
“Would you, Coach?” asked Jay.
Gaston shrugged. “What do they have in Auradon that’s so great, anyway?”
“For starters, they can have five dozen eggs for breakfast if they want,” said Jay, who knew the way to Gaston’s heart was through his breakfasts.
“We have that here,” said Gaston. “Rotten, of course, but you get used to the taste.”
“Right,” Jay said with a sigh. “I’ll leave the forms here, just in case.”
• • •
Madam Mim was in between teaching classes in alchemy when Carlos arrived. “Shut the door!” she screeched when he entered. “You’re letting in too much sunlight! Bah! I hate sunlight!”
“Okay! Sorry!” said Carlos. “How are you, Professor?”
“As bad as can be,” moaned Madam Mim. “Ever since they closed off the Catacombs I’ve been terribly hungry.” Madam Mim used the old tunnels to poach sheep and wildlife from the farms surrounding Camelot. She had quite a large appetite when she was in her dragon form. She narrowed her eyes suddenly. “Weren’t you one of the kids responsible for shutting them down?”
“W-well, um…” Carlos stammered. Then he shook his head. His mother might be terrifying, but he wasn’t going to let himself be intimidated by Madam Mim. “Sorry about that,” he said. “But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today.”
“Then what’s this all about? That Auradon program, is it?” Madam Mim sniffed.
“Yes! Would you mind distributing these forms to your students? And reminding them that four of us from Auradon Prep will be taking questions tomorrow during study hall?” He deliberately didn’t call it a roundtable, so as not to upset Madam Mim with bad memories of Arthur and his knights.
“I suppose I could,” said Madam Mim, taking the stack of papers from him. “Although why anyone would want to stay in Auradon for that long, I don’t know. It’s always sunny there.”
• • •
Evie had always been Mother Gothel’s favorite student during her time at Dragon Hall; Evie had excelled in her Self-Interest, Selfishness, and Selfies classes. Mother Gothel was trying out another age-defying skin cream when Evie found her in the faculty lounge.
“Evie! Your skin! It’s glowing!” said Mother Gothel jealously. “What’s your secret?”
“Fresh air, exercise, and a healthy diet,” Evie replied with a smile.
“Bah!” said Mother Gothel. “Who wants to do that?”
“Try it, you might like it,” said Evie cheerfully. She set a bunch of applications in front of her former professor. “I wanted to drop these off with you, to give to your students. Did you hear about the VK program?”
“Who hasn’t?” said Mother Gothel, curling her lip. “You know we’re all gossips here on the Isle.”
Evie’s smile faltered a little. “Well, the four of us are going to be taking any questions tomorrow during a roundtable at study hall. If anyone’s curious about Auradon Prep, they can come and talk to us. It would be great if you could let people know.”
Mother Gothel shrugged. “People make their own decisions around here.”
“Please,” said Evie. She opened her purse and removed a tiny jar of moisturizer and pushed it across the table. “From me, as a token of my appreciation.” If it would help get a few kids to apply to Auradon Prep, was it truly that bad?
Mother Gothel snatched it up greedily without a word of thanks, but, of course, Evie hadn’t expected any.
• • •
The four friends met back up in the loft at the end of the day. They were hungry for dinner, so Evie opened her trunk again and set out a full meal, pulling out a picnic blanket, a cooler full of icy drinks, and hot containers of fried chicken and mashed potatoes. “Bless you,” said Carlos, awed by the incredible spread in front of them. “I thought we’d have to go to Ursula’s Fish and Chips Shoppe to eat.”
“Or the Slop Shop,” said Jay with a shudder. “Goblin cuisine. Blegh. I used to get the worst stomachaches.”
“Preparation is the key to success,” said Evie, spooning out braised greens and yams.
“And Mrs. Potts,” added Mal.
“Hear, hear,” agreed Evie, handing out napkins and utensils. They helped themselves and murmured their thanks to the benevolent school cook.
“So how’d it go?” Evie asked. “Do you think we’ll get more applications? And anyone to come to the roundtable tomorrow?”
“We tried,” said Mal. “Hopefully.”
“Who knows?” said Jay. “They’d be silly to miss out on Auradon Prep.”
Carlos shrugged. He was too busy eating.
There was a knock on the secret door, and Evie went to answer it. “Oh, hey, Celia,” she said. “What’s up? I don’t think anyone else is interested in having their fortune read.”
“No, I’m not here for that,” said Celia, flushing a little.
“Okay,” said Evie, ushering her inside. “Come and have a bite to eat with us, then.”
Celia’s eyes grew wide at the picnic spread. For a moment, the four VKs felt guilty for the bounty they shared. No one ate this well on the island. “Here, have a doughnut,” said Carlos.
“Thanks,” said Celia, and took a big bite.
“So, what’s up?” asked Mal.
Celia put down the doughnut and fidgeted with the sleeve of her dress. “I came to tell you guys: Uma’s back. She’s definitely on the Isle of the Lost somewhere. And I think she’s coming for you, Mal.”
Mal wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Uma hasn’t been seen anywhere, Celia,” she said reassuringly. “I promise, Ben and I have been taking the security of both Auradon and the Isle very seriously. Anyway, if she were back, she’d be with her pirates.”
“But my cards foretell doom and disaster,” said Celia.
Jay cocked his eyebrow. “Do they, now?”
“I wouldn’t believe everything the cards say,” said Evie, shaking her head and starting to put things away, folding up the picnic blanket and saving the leftovers in plastic containers.
“Whatever it is, we can take care of it,” said Carlos. “Don’t worry about us.”
“But I heard Uma’s voice! And we all know Uma is dangerous,” said Celia defensively. “She already attacked you guys once!”
“We’re leaving the day after tomorrow,” said Mal. “We’ll be fine. And we will watch out for Uma, I promise.” But Evie saw something flicker in Mal’s eyes. Was Mal worried? Were they safe from Uma? Evie shook away her thoughts. Everything was fine. They were just here to do a job. Nothing bad was going to happen!
“Okay,” said Celia finally. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“We won’t,” said Mal. “Thanks for coming by.”
“If something happens, you owe me for predicting it correctly,” said Celia with a smirk. “I take gold coins. Lots of them.”
“How can we forget?” said Jay drily.
They said good-bye to Celia, and Evie sent her off with the leftovers. Mal locked the door behind her.
“Do you really think Uma’s back on the Isle?” asked Carlos, when it was just the four of them.
“Anything’s possible,” said Mal. “We�
��ll keep watch.”
“Okay, I’ll take the first shift,” said Jay.
“Uma again,” said Evie with a sigh. She supposed that, on an island full of villains, they should be glad there was only one to worry about, but it was a fitful night’s sleep nevertheless.
hen he lived on the Isle, Jay used to sleep in until noon, but now that he was an Auradon kid, he was up bright and early the next day—even if he had been up all night keeping watch for anything suspicious. There was too much to do to stay in bed! The four of them had to get ready for the roundtable event they’d planned for study hall. “Do you think anyone will show?” asked Carlos, yawning as they made their way back to campus.
“I hope so,” said Evie, looking determined. She had made a slideshow and everything, even giving it a sound track.
“They will,” said Mal. “If only out of curiosity.”
“Curiosity killed the cat,” Jay reminded them with a grin. “But in this case, curiosity will send people to Auradon!”
When they arrived, they discovered to their dismay that the room used for study hall was covered in dust and cobwebs, and it made Jay sneeze. “We forgot,” said Evie. “No one actually goes to study hall.”
“Because no one studies,” said Carlos. “It’s Dragon Hall.”
They set about clearing the cobwebs and putting the chairs in a semicircle. Then they waited for students to arrive. Minutes ticked by. Mal fiddled with her notes. Evie took out her journal and sketched some dresses. Carlos did homework. Jay paced the room, unable to keep still.
“You guys, I don’t think anyone is coming,” he said.
“Maybe we should have met with Yen Sid? You know, and his secret Anti-Heroes Club?” said Evie. “They were helpful in shutting down the Catacombs that time, remember?”
“Yen Sid is on a sabbatical. He’s actually back in Auradon—I checked yesterday after meeting with Coach Gaston,” said Jay. “And the Anti-Heroes Club was disbanded by Dr. Facilier when he found out it was actually a pro-heroes and anti-villains club. I think those kids are a bit freaked-out.”
“Bummer,” said Carlos. “They would have been great candidates.”
“Shhh,” said Mal. “I think someone’s here.”
The door creaked open. Ginny Gothel, who used to be one of Mal’s friends on the island, entered. “I think I’m in the wrong place. This isn’t the world-domination seminar, is it?” she asked.
“No!” said Mal. “But it could be. I mean, you could learn about how to dominate the world for good.”
“Why would I want to do that?” sneered Ginny with a toss of her curly black hair.
“It would mean getting out of here,” said Jay. “For one.”
Ginny thought it over and took a seat. “Okay.”
Jay shot Mal a triumphant grin. Mal grinned back.
“We’re going to wait for a few more students before we get started,” said Mal.
Jay hoped there would be a few more, but he wasn’t counting on it. Then the door opened again, and Anthony Tremaine walked inside. Anastasia’s son was as fastidiously dressed as ever; even though his jeans were patched, they were still immaculate. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Jay. “Oh, it’s you,” he said in a haughty voice.
“You,” Jay said with a menacing tone. Then he smiled happily. “I was hoping I’d run into you! Here you go.” He handed Anthony his wallet. “I’ve been holding on to it for a while, I stole it a long time ago. Sorry.”
Anthony took it back with a dubious look on his face. He opened the wallet and counted the bills inside.
“It’s all in there,” said Jay.
“Quelle suprise,” said Anthony, who liked to make people feel inferior by speaking in French. “My grandmother sent me.”
He sullenly took a seat next to Ginny Gothel, just as LeFou Deux walked in. The squat little boy looked nervously at the older kids in the room. “Coach Gaston forced me to be here,” he explained. “I’m too scared to go to Auradon.”
The last student was Mad Maddy, one of Madam Mim’s granddaughters. She had her namesake’s wild hair and fierce expression. She too, looked balefully at the four Auradon representatives. “This is the roundtable thing, right? About getting into Auradon?”
“Yes, it is!” said Evie. “Please, take a seat.” She glanced nervously over at Mal, and it seemed like Evie was wondering if Mal would be upset at seeing her old-friend-turned-enemy. But Mal just smirked and shrugged.
Mad Maddy took the other seat next to Ginny Gothel, and the two of them were soon whispering and cackling. Anthony looked bored and LeFou Deux kept fidgeting.
“I think this is it,” said Jay, whispering to Mal. “We need to start, or we’ll lose them too.”
“Evie, did you want to start?” asked Mal.
“Sure!” said Evie, running up to the chalkboard to pull down a screen, which was also covered in dust. Once she stopped coughing, she turned to her friends. “Jay, the lights? Carlos, can you run the projector?”
“Since we can’t bring you guys to Auradon Prep, we thought we’d bring Auradon Prep to you,” said Evie, hitting PLAY on her computer to begin her slideshow. A photograph of the main castle building came on-screen, and the school song began playing in the background. The next slides showed earnest Auradon kids in classrooms, learning how to be good, the homecoming and tourney championship games, the marching band, and the cheer squad, along with various shots of ordinary life—students laughing, eating, and hanging out.
Jay turned the lights back on and was discomfited to find their entire audience had fallen asleep. He and Evie shared a distressed glance, and Carlos looked practically indignant.
“Is it over?” LeFou Deux blinked.
“Oh, thank Maleficent,” said Ginny Gothel.
“What a snore,” hissed Mad Maddy.
Anthony Tremaine was still asleep, his dark head resting on his arms on the table.
“Anthony, wake up, it’s done,” said Ginny Gothel, poking him awake.
Evie’s smile faltered. “I just thought you might want to see what it’s like,” she said.
Jay patted her arm in consolation.
Mal crossed her arms and called the room to attention. “Thanks, Evie, that was really a wonderful peek into Auradon life, and I wish you guys had been paying attention.” She narrowed her eyes at their audience. “Anyway, we wanted to talk to you guys about the VK program, and to see if you had any questions about Auradon.”
Mad Maddy raised her hand immediately. “Oh! I have one! Can we use magic?”
“Yes!” said Mal, looking relieved that it was an easy question. “But it’s discouraged and regulated.”
Maddy’s face fell. So did Ginny Gothel’s. “What’s the point, then?” asked Ginny.
“The point is to learn how to be a good person without having to resort to using magic. Magic makes people lazy and irresponsible,” said Evie.
“Hmpf,” said Ginny, who didn’t look convinced. “Sounds dreary.”
“So, what’s Auradon Prep like?” asked Anthony Tremaine. “Why would we want to go there?”
“It’s great! There are so many advanced classes, and it really prepares you for college,” said Carlos.
“And so many extracurricular activities,” said Evie. “What are you guys interested in?”
“Embezzling,” said Anthony Tremaine.
“Poisons,” said Ginny Gothel.
“Revenge,” said Mad Maddy.
LeFou Deux just continued to look nervous. “Anything you guys think I would be interested in,” he said, resorting to his usual flattery.
The rest of the discussion went the same way, frustrating both groups at the roundtable. At the end of the period, not one of the villains took an application form.
When they had the room back to themselves, Jay said what was on all their minds. “Well, that went well. Not.”
“Was the slideshow that boring?” asked Evie.
“It was the best! You even got Dude in there,” said Carlo
s supportively.
“They don’t understand. I thought they would if we came and spoke to them and they saw how we’d changed,” said Mal. “Or maybe this is all a mistake. Maybe we’re just wasting our time.”
Evie turned to Mal and put both of her hands on Mal’s shoulders. “Helping people and showing them another way to live—it’s always worth our time. We can’t give up yet. We’ll figure out how to make them understand—how to make them want Auradon.”
“Oh, they’ll want it, I assure you,” said Jay. “Evie’s right, we’ll figure it out. It’s just that right now all they know is evil.”
“So we have to sell them good,” mused Carlos. “Show them how amazing it is.”
fter the meeting, the four of them split up—Evie to see if she could find the remaining members of the Anti-Heroes Club and convince them to apply, Jay to follow up with Coach Gaston after practice, Carlos to scout some locations for the Auradon Prep posters, and Mal to take a few pictures of the island to show Ben how things were faring there. Except Mal didn’t take a camera with her. She didn’t want to alarm her friends, but she was truly worried about Celia’s warning. She decided to do a security sweep of the island to see if there was any place in the invisible barrier that might have been weakened by Uma.
As she walked around the island, Mal checked her pocket to make sure she still had the remote that opened the barrier and called up the bridge to the mainland. She felt a little spooked that this one small key could open up the island just like that, but that was the way its magic worked. Ben trusted her with it too. Still, though she had never worried about it before, she found that she kept making sure it was there.
So far, nothing seemed amiss on the island. There were no signs of any illicit magic around, and while she did find a trail of tentacle slime, it only led to Ursula’s cottage, where Ursula was watching her “stories,” aka the soap operas she watched on an old DVD player. The old sea witch was annoyed to see Mal at her doorstep.
Escape from the Isle of the Lost Page 8