by Lindsey Kelk
The king’s private chambers were very, very fancy. It wasn’t necessarily how Joderick would have decorated, but he had to admit that it was very imposing and impressive in a kingly sort of way. Lots of red velvet drapes covered the windows and there was huge wooden furniture that didn’t look comfortable at all. As well as an awful lot of animal heads. Joderick preferred his animals running around outside rather than stuffed and mounted on a wall.
He hated attending meetings with his parents in this room and much preferred the hustle and bustle of the kitchens, all steamy and shouty, with Chef singing and Cook swearing and tray upon tray of sweet treats just waiting to be tasted.
When he was king, he would hold all his meetings with his advisers round the big kitchen table at 6am, just when the bread came out of the oven. That was when the kitchen smelled the absolute best.
In one corner of the room, he spotted the chest where his father kept all the maps of the kingdom, but Joderick knew the map he wanted wasn’t in there. He’d been through that chest a million times, planning adventurous rides that would take him all over the land, even though he hardly ever left the palace grounds and never ever on his own. He was quite sure that the chest wasn’t where his father would hide anything especially secret.
‘Perhaps it’s underneath something,’ he pondered, thinking back to the first time he’d met Cinders. They had both been hiding underneath a table at the palace ball. Underneath was a brilliant place to hide something if you didn’t want anyone to find it.
First he looked beneath his father’s chair, but there wasn’t anything there. Then he looked under the table where all the king’s advisers sat when they were advising him. Nothing. All that left was his father’s desk.
Hmm. ‘No drawers, no slots, no holes, no nothing,’ Joderick muttered as he crawled under the massive piece of furniture on his hands and knees and inspected the bottom. The desk was so big, his father almost disappeared when he sat behind it. The king had once told him his grandfather’s grandfather had had it built especially for him. Joderick had to assume his great-grandfather’s grandfather had been a good deal taller than his father.
Flat on his back, Joderick blew the hair out of his face and stared up at the underside of the desk. Then he saw it. The tiniest, tiniest hint of a crack in one of the huge legs. Three of the desk’s legs were smooth, shiny and solid. Whole tree trunks, his father had told him, chopped down in the Dark Forest and polished until they shone like onyx. But one of the legs, the back left leg to be precise, had a line running all the way down from top to bottom. Joderick ran his thumb along it, just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. But, sure enough, the crack was there. And, when he gave the leg a knock, it sounded hollow.
Glancing at the door to make sure he was still alone, he gave the leg another good, hard knock and as if by magic (only not, because – as we all know – his father didn’t agree with magic) a secret compartment sprang open. Reaching inside, Joderick felt something soft and something crisp – parchment! And … something wrapped in silk?
It had to be the map, it just had to be!
When the three bears told Cinders to head due north from their cottage, she’d assumed that meant the Alabaster Tower must be quite close by, but, after several hours of riding, they still hadn’t seen anything other than tree after tree after tree after tree.
‘I don’t want to make myself unpopular,’ Sparks said, raising one red, bushy eyebrow, ‘but we seem to have been riding for an awfully long time and I don’t think we’re getting any closer to Fairyland.’
‘We definitely are,’ Cinders replied. ‘We’re riding due north, the breadcrumb trail is behind us and any second now we’re going to see the Alabaster Tower. Then we’ll be halfway!’
‘I wonder what the three bears are doing,’ Hansel said, peeking up into the trees above. They hadn’t seen the sun in ages. ‘What do you think they’re having for their tea? Do you think they made any extra?’
‘Why don’t I try another wish?’ Cinders suggested. ‘Just to hurry things along.’
They were definitely on the right track, she could feel it, but maybe a little magical confirmation would set their minds at ease.
She pulled Mouse’s reins gently and hopped down to the ground. The Dark Forest really is very dark, she thought to herself. Whoever had named it would not win any prizes for originality.
‘Okay, here goes …’ She closed her eyes and wiggled her fingers to warm them up. ‘I wish someone would show us the way to the Alabaster Tower.’
Very, very slowly, her fingers began to tingle. Cinders watched as her nails turned very slightly silver. And then everything stopped.
‘Well, that was disappointing,’ Sparks said.
‘I don’t know what’s wrong,’ Cinders said, concentrating as hard as she could. ‘It was a clear wish, wasn’t it? And I’ve eaten so much cake!’
‘More than anyone else, actually,’ her doggy pal pointed out.
‘Cake makes my magic stronger,’ Cinders reminded him. ‘I have to eat it.’
‘I wish I was magic,’ Hansel said with a moan, sliding down from Mouse’s back and stretching his arms above his head. ‘I flippin’ love cake.’
‘Let me try again,’ said Cinders, shaking herself. ‘I wish someone would show us the way to the Alabaster Tower.’
She closed her eyes and waited. And waited. And waited. But nothing happened.
‘Er … Cinders?’ Sparks muttered.
‘Sparks, be quiet – I’m trying to concentrate,’ she said, squeezing her eyes shut even tighter.
‘I realise that, but I think we need to be moving on …’
‘I know I can do it if I focus,’ Cinders whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
Focusing had never been a particular skill of hers. Climbing trees? Sure. Swimming in the river? She was an ace. But concentrating on one thing at a time? Not Cinders’s specialist subject.
‘I do appreciate that,’ woofed her friend, ‘but it’s definitely time for us to get going!’
‘Sparks!’ Cinders grumbled crossly. ‘Will you just give me a minute?’
‘Cinders!’ Hansel bellowed at the top of his voice. ‘There’s a munklepoop behind you!’
Opening her eyes, Cinders turned to come face to face with something she had never seen before and hoped never to see again. It was very, very, very big, almost as tall as the trees, and shaped somewhat like a foot, only it was covered in matted bright blue fur and had blazing yellow eyes and – oh, yes! There were the claws! Why did it have to have claws? It already had very long, very pointy teeth – the claws were almost a little too much. It was the scariest thing Cinders had ever laid eyes on, and that included her stepmother before she’d had her first cup of tea in the morning.
‘I always wondered what a munklepoop would look like up close,’ Sparks whispered, all four legs shaking as the munklepoop began to creep closer, claws scraping along the forest floor. ‘And now I wish I didn’t know. Let’s get out of here!’
As quick as a flash, Cinders grabbed Sparks under one arm and leaped up on to Mouse’s back. ‘Everyone on!’ she yelled, taking Hansel’s hand and hauling him up behind her. ‘Is he following us?’ she asked, cracking the reins.
‘GRRRARGGH!’ growled the munklepoop as it leaped high off the ground and landed so close that Sparks could smell its breath. It most certainly hadn’t brushed its teeth that morning.
‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ Cinders said with a grimace as Mouse set off at lightning speed, the munklepoop roaring as it chased after them.
Joderick peered into the hole in the desk leg. He could see several objects hidden in there. Precious objects, obviously, otherwise why bother hiding them?
He pulled out the soft silky thing first, a carefully wrapped package tied up in a square of pale grey silk. Inside the parcel was a letter and a small painting of a woman wearing a crown. They both felt very old, as though they might turn into dust if he wasn’t careful. The parchment had
already turned yellow and curled up at the edges, and it was written in a language Joderick didn’t recognise. But the woman in the painting looked awfully familiar.
She looked just like Cinders.
She had the same green eyes, the same light hair, the same happy smile. If Cinders ever thought to brush her hair, it could have been her double.
Joderick carefully folded the painting back in the silk square and placed it in his pocket before reaching back into the secret compartment. He didn’t know who this woman was, but he was certainly going to find out. The next thing he found was much bigger and seemed to be stuck. He tugged, as carefully as he could, determined to get the parchment out into the light so he could take a look at it.
‘It’s got to be the map,’ he muttered, reaching even deeper into the desk leg until he was in all the way up to his elbow.
Just as he was about to pull his arm out and try again, Joderick heard a loud creak. Someone was outside the door! There was only one thing for it. He gave the parchment a big, strong tug.
Joderick fell backwards, a huge piece of dusty paper in his hands. It was the map! There was the palace, the Dark Forest and the mountains beyond, just as he remembered from when he was little.
Whoever was outside the door was chatting very loudly. Dilly-dallying was one of his father’s very favourite pastimes, but Joderick knew he might not have very long and the map was very large. He folded it this way and that, but he couldn’t fit it in his pocket.
‘When I’m king, all maps will be pocket-sized,’ he muttered as the handle of the door slowly turned. Quickly, Joderick balled up the map and shoved it in the only place he could think of. His pants.
Sprinting out of the room, he flew right past the king and a whole host of advisers.
‘Joderick Jorenson Picklebottom! What were you doing in my private chambers?’ the king cried as his son raced away.
‘Um … I thought I heard someone inside,’ he panted, thinking quickly. ‘I wanted to make sure it wasn’t another witch. But it’s all right – there’s no one in there.’
‘Ah, truly Prince Joderick is a fine, brave boy,’ said one of the advisers, stroking his long grey beard as Jodders disappeared from view.
‘He’ll make a great king one day,’ agreed another, nodding sagely.
‘Does he usually carry things around in his royal britches?’ asked a third.
But Joderick wasn’t listening. He was already racing down the stairs to the stables.
‘I think the munklepoop is hungry!’
Sparks said, peeking out from under one paw as the monster chased them through the trees, tearing them up by the roots as it pounded ever closer. ‘And I do not want to be on the menu.’
‘Sparks, give me all your sausages!’ yelled Hansel as the big, furry beast bounded after them. For something so very large, it was very, very, very fast.
‘Not the time for a snack, Hansel!’ the dog woofed back.
‘Not for me!’ he shouted. ‘Hand over that knapsack!’
With the utmost reluctance, Sparks passed Hansel his bag, nudging him towards the half-dozen Lincolnshire sausages Sparks had hidden at the bottom.
‘I hope you know what you’re doing!’ Cinders cried as she squeezed Mouse with her knees, his hooves thundering along the floor of the forest. Branches and leaves flashed by her face as they galloped on, with no idea where they were heading.
‘Here you go, Munkles! Fill your boots!’ Hansel shouted, hurling the sausages at the slavering creature as hard as he could.
The munklepoop ignored the first sausage, his bright blue fur almost a blur as he ran faster and faster and faster. But Hansel’s second pork missile hit the monster right between the eyes and he skidded to a halt. He sniffed the sausage for a moment before lapping it up with his spiky purple tongue.
‘It’s working!’ Hansel said with a whoop. ‘He’s eating the sausage!’
Without a second’s hesitation, Hansel launched the rest of the sausages in the munklepoop’s general direction until he was all out of Lincolnshires and the big blue ball of terror had enough snacks to keep him distracted while the friends made their escape.
‘Hansel, you totally saved the day,’ Cinders gasped as Mouse dashed on through the forest.
‘Yes, but at what cost?’ Sparks said with a sniff. All those sausages – gone for ever.
‘No need to sound so surprised, Cinders,’ Hansel said, his chest puffed out with pride, his stomach full of butterflies and just a little bit out of breath. ‘Can we slow down now? I don’t think he’s coming after us. And my stomach feels a bit weird.’
‘Okay,’ Cinders replied, pulling Mouse’s reins in just a tad. She didn’t want to be eaten by a munklepoop, but she also didn’t want Hansel to puke on her either. ‘I still can’t figure out why my wish didn’t work. Anyone got any ideas?’
‘Nope, but would you look at that?’ Hansel tapped her on the shoulder and pointed through the trees to a building dead ahead. ‘What do you reckon it is?’
‘Um … let me see,’ Cinders replied, a smile spreading slowly across her face. ‘It’s a tall, bright white structure. Do you think it could be the Alabaster Tower?’
Hmm. Maybe her magic hadn’t completely deserted her. After all, she had asked someone to show her how to get to the tower and, in a funny sort of way, that was what the munklepoop had done.
‘Perhaps next time you could specify exactly who you’d like to give us directions,’ Sparks said, eyeing the sparkling tower in the distance. ‘Because I’d rather not take travel advice from a munklepoop again.’
‘Fair enough,’ Cinders said, giving him a happy scratch behind the ear. ‘Can you believe we’re halfway to Fairyland?’
‘No,’ he said with a sigh, ‘but I can believe we’re completely out of sausages.’
Cinders grinned and rode on with the Alabaster Tower in her sights, another step closer to finding the answers to her questions.
The sun was beginning to droop in the afternoon sky when Joderick found himself in the Dark Forest. After nabbing the map, he’d had to hide behind a suit of armour for a whole thirty minutes while Elly and Aggy called his name.
‘Those girls are like a cold draught,’ he muttered to his horse, Muffin. ‘They get everywhere.’
The horse neighed in seeming agreement, but one thing she didn’t agree with was the idea of riding off into the Dark Forest. What was Prince Joderick thinking? Did he really expect her to leave the royal stables, with the best hay and the nicest apples, to gallop off into this nightmare? She might not have been a magic horse like Mouse, but she wasn’t stupid.
She stepped backwards, uneasy, as Joderick tried to encourage her on.
‘I know this isn’t the sort of thing we usually do,’ he said, ‘but we’ve got to help Cinders.’
Muffin snorted. Did they really?
A rustling in the trees made them both start and, for just a moment, Joderick wasn’t quite sure why he was doing this. He didn’t like girls all that much, and he’d only met Cinders a few days ago! Now here he was, running off into the Dark Forest, the one place he’d been forbidden to enter by his father. It seemed like a very un-Joderick-like thing to do. He’d much rather be baking a cake in the kitchens or taking Muffin for a lovely ride through town to visit some friends. But he had a funny feeling inside that something was wrong, and that Cinders needed his help.
His father had been acting very strangely, even for him (he was always a little odd). The secret compartment, the map, the letter, the painting, exiling Cinders before anyone bothered to ask what was going on? All weird. Joderick had been so sure fairies and magic were bad, but meeting Cinders had changed all that, and he knew in his heart that if he was in trouble she would try to help him.
‘What kind of prince would I be if I didn’t try to save her?’ Joderick asked Muffin. ‘Not a very good one, that’s for sure.’
Muffin gave another snort. Being honourable and brave was all well and good, but what if she missed
her dinner?
‘We can do this, Muffin,’ he said, shaking her reins and taking a deep breath. ‘All the princes in my books go on grand adventures. And this will be quite the adventure.’
With a whinny and a neigh, Muffin finally gave in. If Prince Joderick wanted to ride into the Dark Forest right before teatime, then she would ride into the Dark Forest and teatime would have to wait. But she did rather hope they’d be back before supper.
Deeper in the Dark Forest, Cinders was starting to get a little frustrated. It felt as though they’d been riding towards the Alabaster Tower for hours, but they never seemed to get any closer!
‘Are you absolutely certain we aren’t riding round in circles?’ Sparks asked as kindly as he could. Which wasn’t that kindly because he was still quite sore about Hansel throwing all his sausages at the munklepoop.
‘We can’t be,’ Hansel replied. ‘We’d have seen my breadcrumb trail by now.’
‘Unless something is eating the breadcrumbs,’ Sparks muttered, his tummy grumbling rather loudly.
‘Would you like a bite of my brownie?’ Cinders said, hoping he wouldn’t really want it, seeing as it was her last one.
Sparks shook his head and she sighed with relief before taking a great big bite.
‘It is weird,’ she said through a chocolatey mouthful. ‘We’ve been riding for ages, but the tower looks further away than ever. I wish I knew what was going on.’
‘Cinders!’ Hansel yelped, searching all around for munklepoops as his friend’s fingers began to tingle and glow. ‘How many times do we have to remind you to be careful what you wish for?’
‘Don’t panic,’ Cinders said, bringing Mouse to a standstill as sparks shot out of her fingers. No trouble with her magic this time. ‘It’s not munklepoops. Look!’