by Joan Holub
“Those roasted chickens in my basket were stolen from the king’s kitchen. And I’m not a bit sorry I took them.” Feeling a sudden weight on her forearm, she looked down to see her basket hanging from her arm. She hadn’t even noticed it whirl its way onto the stage. Had it come to help her out? It was the perfect prop for her scene!
Mr. Thumb hadn’t said students could use props during their auditions, but he also hadn’t said that they couldn’t use them.
“These chickens aren’t for me,” she went on smoothly, clutching her basket that was supposedly full of chickens to her chest. “I’m taking them to people who are poor and hungry. People whose needs the king ignores.” Focusing on what she was saying, she was soon completely into the character of Red Robin Hood. “Somebody has got to take care of the hungry,” she declared, shaking a fist in the air. “If the king won’t, I will!”
When she reached the end of her audition piece, her friends applauded wildly. She could hardly believe it was over already. She’d wanted to keep going. Because it had actually been kind of fun.
From his perch atop Schmetterling, Mr. Thumb called out to her from somewhere above the first row of seats. “Thank you, Red.” Quickly, she took the stairs down from the stage.
“That concludes our auditions, everyone! Just a reminder that the cast list will be posted on the auditorium doors after dinner tonight,” Mr. Thumb told the audience before the students began to file out of the auditorium.
As soon as she reached them, Red’s three BFFs wrapped her in a group hug. “Good job, you,” said Cinda.
“You were even more brilliant than I knew you’d be!” gushed Snow. She was holding a small box that Red figured contained some little objects she considered to bring good luck. And maybe they had!
“How did you like our sign?” Rapunzel asked, holding it up. “We got together in my room and made it this morning before we even knew for sure you’d audition.”
Red took the sign they handed her, amazed they’d had such faith and trust that she’d manage to get through this audition. “This is so …” she began softly.
“Glittery?” Snow finished for her.
“Sparkly?” Rapunzel suggested.
“Grimmtastic?” Cinda added.
Red giggled. “Exactly! I love it, and I’m going to put it on the wall above my desk.”
As the girls made their way to the auditorium doors Red glanced over her shoulder, looking for Wolfgang. He was by the stage talking to Mr. Thumb, but when he saw her looking at him he waved and loped toward her.
“You go on ahead,” Red told her friends. “I need to talk to Wolfgang.”
Snow grinned at her, and Rapunzel said, “Let’s meet in the Threads classroom before we go eat lunch, while it’s empty. It was my turn to guard the You Know What yesterday, and I’ve got something to show you.”
“Meet you there,” Red promised.
As her friends walked out of the auditorium, she and Wolfgang traded a smile. “You sounded like a pro up there on the stage,” he told her.
“Thanks,” she said. “Your tips really helped. I pretty much used all of them in combination.”
“Glad to be of service, Rose,” he said, giving her a teasing half bow.
She sent him a quick grin. Then, lowering her voice and checking to make sure Ms. Wicked wasn’t nearby, she said, “About that wicked problem you mentioned. What if I lend you my basket again just long enough for you to score a meeting with a certain Society?”
“But I thought —”
“Ms. Wick — I mean, a certain teacher doesn’t seem to know yet that it’s my magical charm,” Red interrupted. “So you can give it to her to show you’re serious about joining E.V.I.L. But then …”
After she outlined her plan, Wolfgang said, “You’re brilliant, Red Riding Hood, did you know that?”
Red beamed at him. “So you do know my name!”
They laughed, which sent a bubbly kind of happiness through her. Quickly she said bye and went to go meet her friends who awaited her in the Threads classroom.
* * *
“So how do you feel now that the audition is finally over?” Cinda asked Red when she arrived.
“Hugely glad I got through it!” Red exclaimed. “Now that I survived my stage fright once, I feel like I could do it again.”
“Fingers crossed you get the part,” said Snow.
“The role of Red Robin Hood is tailor-made for you,” Rapunzel agreed.
“Thanks,” said Red. “I’m going to be biting my nails till that cast list goes up.”
Rapunzel tugged the mapestry from the black bag she was holding. “Look,” she said, unrolling the mapestry on top of a desk so they all could see it. “This is what I wanted to show you.”
The girls gasped. “There are new stitches now!” Cinda said in wonder.
Indeed, more golden stitches had been added onto those that had led them all to Grandmother Enchantress’s cottage in the center of Neverwood Forest. Now the stitches looped back to the Academy, ending at a golden cross-stitched X … smack in the center of Pink Castle!
“What?” Red said in surprise. “Does this mean the treasure could actually be right here in the Academy?”
“Or maybe the X doesn’t mean treasure after all,” said Cinda. She sent Snow an apologetic glance for even suggesting it might not turn out to be gold and jewels.
The girls traded speculations on what the X could possibly indicate. Jack and Jill’s stolen pail, perhaps? Some other magical object? Or was it truly the treasure itself?
“Pink Castle is huge,” said Snow. “How are we ever going to find what we’re looking for if we don’t even know what it is?”
Red’s gaze darted to Snow. She wished she could completely trust her again. After all, they were BFFs! But was Snow trying to discourage them from looking for the treasure now? She really hoped that wasn’t it.
“Good question,” said Rapunzel. “But we still have to try.”
“And we’ll have to be careful not to let anyone figure out what we’re doing,” Cinda said. “E.V.I.L. could have eyes everywhere.”
Snow shuddered, looking around. “Do you think so?”
Quickly, Rapunzel shoved the mapestry back into her bag. “We’ll only search after everyone is in bed asleep,” she suggested in a low voice.
The others nodded. All a little spooked now, they hurried off to lunch.
Afternoon classes dragged by for Red, and her anxiety about the outcome of her audition began to rise again. At dinner that night she only picked at her puffy, golden shrewfflé.
“If you’re too nervous to go look at the cast list, I could stay here with you while Cinda and Rapunzel check it and report back,” Snow offered kindly.
“No, I’ll go,” Red replied. “But will you all come with me? That way you can give me celebratory hugs if I do get a role, or hugs of sympathy if I don’t.” She managed a small wobbly grin. “See, it’s a win-win. ’Cause either way I’ll get hugs.”
A small group of students was already gathered around the lists after dinner as Red and her friends approached the auditorium doors on the fourth floor. Red clutched her basket and looked around for Wolfgang and Ms. Wicked. Neither was there. Not yet, anyway.
“Woo-hoo!” Red heard Polly yell. “I’m Red Robin —” At those first words Red’s stomach took a dive. But then Polly finished. “— Hood’s mother in the play!”
“Hey, Red,” Polly yelled, seeing her. “Do you like tea?”
“Um, yeah,” Red said.
“Good,” said Polly, giving her a pretend evil look. “I’ll bring you some during that scene where I come to visit you after you get thrown in jail.”
“Thrown in jail?” Red repeated. She remembered that scene (minus the mention of tea), and if she was the one in jail that could only mean one thing. She craned her neck to scan the list for her name. “I’m Red Robin Hood!” she shouted in amazement. She’d gotten the lead! The part she’d dreamed of all along.
She and her friends hugged one another and jumped up and down with excitement. To Red’s surprise, Polly gave her a hug, too. “This play is going to be a blast!” she said.
Red hugged her back. “I think so, too.” Polly could be snippy at times, as well as tea-obsessed, but maybe there was more to the girl, Red decided now. Who knew? It might be fun getting to know her better during rehearsals.
After the girls had all calmed down a bit, Wolfgang suddenly appeared. He smiled at Red. “Congratulations, Red Robin Hood!”
“You too, Tiny John.” She’d seen his name on the list. It was no surprise at all that he’d gotten the male lead role. The name Tiny John was actually a joke, though. Because the character was quite big.
He nodded, starting to say something. Then Cinda called out, “Ready to go, Red?” She, Snow, and Rapunzel were already moving toward the staircase.
“I’m coming,” Red called back. She looked at Wolfgang. Smoothly slipping her basket to his arm, she murmured, “A tisket, a tasket. Stay with him for now, basket.”
She expected Wolfgang to head off then, to put the plan they’d discussed in motion. But instead he stuck around, saying, “Once the rehearsals start, we’ll be practicing our lines together.”
Red smiled. “Sounds fun.”
His gray eyes smiled into her brown ones. “Yeah, to me, too.” He reached out a hand.
Was he going to hold hers? Red’s breath caught.
Then they both heard the clicking of high heels. Ms. Wicked appeared in the hallway, her eyes obviously searching for someone.
“Later, Ruby!” Wolfgang murmured, grinning at her. Then he headed for Ms. Wicked.
Red rolled her eyes, grinning back. As she moved toward her friends, she peered over her shoulder to see what was happening with Wolfgang and Ms. Wicked.
She watched him start to hand the basket to Ms. Wicked. The teacher reached for it, her eyes glinting with excitement.
Quickly, Red whispered, “A tisket, a tasket. Return to me now, dear basket.”
The basket flew out of Wolfgang’s hands! It scooted and twirled its way down the hallway toward Red as fast as it could go.
“Come back here!” Ms. Wicked snarled. She chased after it for a few steps, but when faces turned toward her in surprise, she quickly halted. That didn’t stop her from glaring at Red as she scooped up her charm, however. A little nervous, Red backed away. What was the teacher going to do next?
However, she’d worried for nothing. With a shrug, Ms. Wicked only turned away, a forced smile on her face. Heels clicking, she went back to where Wolfgang was standing and said something to him. As he followed the teacher down the hallway, he looked over his shoulder at Red and winked.
She winked back, hoping that her double-cross plan had worked. After all, he’d tried to do as Ms. Wicked asked … or so it must have appeared to her, anyway.
“Come on,” Rapunzel urged. “We need to figure some more stuff out about —”
“Yes, yes. The treasure!” Snow interrupted gleefully.
“Treasure? What treasure?” Cinda’s stepsisters, Malorette and Odette, had crept up beside the girls.
Red thought fast. “The treasure Red Robin Hood steals from the king and gives to the poor. Rapunzel and Snow are making props for the play.”
“Oh. Boring,” said Malorette. With a sniff and a one-handed fluff of her black hair, she and Odette went on their way.
Cinda lifted an eyebrow. “Is part of being a good actor coming up with quick and convincing stories?” she asked Red. “If so, you’ve got that nailed!”
The girls all laughed.
As they headed off together, Red dropped back a moment as she passed the cast list posted on the wall. She smiled softly when she read her name there again.
LEAD ROLE, RED ROBIN HOOD: RED RIDING HOOD.
Hoorah! She could hardly wait for rehearsals to start. And there was also a treasure to find, and maybe a festival to plan for, too. Not to mention an E.V.I.L. Society to foil!
Hugging her basket to her side, Red gave an excited little skip and then hurried to catch up with her friends.
Joan Holub has authored and/or illustrated more than 130 children’s books. She lives in Raleigh, NC, and can be found at www.joanholub.com.
Suzanne Williams is the author of more than 40 books for children, including the award-winning picture book Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg). She lives outside Seattle, WA, and is online at www.suzanne-williams.com.
Together, Joan and Suzanne have written the Goddess Girls, Heroes in Training, and Grimmtastic Girls series. Though they live in different states and hardly ever get to see each other, they spend lots of time together in Grimmlandia.
Cinderella Stays Late
Red Riding Hood Gets Lost
Snow White Lucks Out
Rapunzel Cuts Loose
Copyright © 2014 by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First printing, January 2014
Cover art by Frank Montagna
Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll
e-ISBN 978-0-545-63385-7
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