“Good to know!” Maddie beamed. Then she gave her ears a good tug, just in case.
“I can see everything in my bag.” Raven sat back, puzzled. “Where could my thronework be?”
“Backward go to need you,” said Maddie.
“Is that Riddlish?” Raven asked. Maddie often spoke in the native language of Wonderland, where she’d grown up. Most people thought it sounded like nonsense, but Maddie insisted it made perfect sense.
“No, silly goose! I was just speaking backward, because you need to go backward,” she said with a wink.
“Huh? Walk backward?”
Maddie let out a big laugh. “Oh, I adore walking backward! You can always see where you came from. But you need to reverse the order of your day.”
“Where did you go before you came here, Raven?” Cedar translated.
Raven remembered putting her thronework in her bag when she left her room this morning. After that, she’d brought her dragon, Nevermore, to the dragon stable beyond the sword-training meadow. Nevermore would spend the vacation there with the other dragons. Then she’d gone down to the cauldron room to return a mixing spoon. Had she left her thronework there?
“Be right”—Raven paused to take a few big bites of her sandwich—“back!” She raced for the door.
“Don’t worry!” Cedar called after her. “It will all work out in The End.”
Raven hoped so. She’d never failed to turn in her thronework. Even when Nevermore had once eaten it, she’d stayed up late and done the Home Evilnomics assignment again. Would she get a bad grade if she couldn’t find it before her teacher left?
Faybelle snickered as Raven ran down to the basement. Perfect! Raven Queen would be busy for a while—long enough for Faybelle to put the Evil Queen’s curse into place. She sneaked out the Castleteria door and was about to make her way to the section of the school that housed the girls’ dorm rooms… but then she remembered a crucial piece of her plan. She used her magic to retrieve a small white bakery box she’d hidden earlier in a supply closet. Faybelle opened her wings and flew toward Apple and Raven’s room, landing gently in front of the door a few moments later. Faybelle reached to twist the doorknob, when she heard singing.
“Z, y, x, w, v, u, t, s, r, q…”
A girl at the opposite end of the hall was walking backward and singing the alphabet backward. Faybelle narrowed her gaze. Madeline Hatter, of course. Who else would be doing everything all topsy-turvy? She must’ve left the Castleteria early, too.
Faybelle slipped her hand off the doorknob, just as Maddie passed.
“Olleh, Ellebyaf!” Maddie called out.
Faybelle had no idea what Maddie was babbling about, nor did she really care. She considered saying hello but decided against it. If she suddenly started acting nice, Maddie might get suspicious. Faybelle glared instead.
“Have a great Gnirps Kaerb! Now, where was I? Oh yes. P, o, n, m, l… hmmm, that doesn’t quite sound as fun on my tongue as l, m, n, o…” Maddie’s voice trailed off as she turned the corner and disappeared down a different hall.
Faybelle quickly opened the door. It was easy to tell which side of the room belonged to Raven. Raven’s dark furniture had thorny spikes and purple pillows and sheets, while Apple’s bed had a fluffy white canopy and red and gold accents.
“A little something, from your mom,” Faybelle muttered as she placed the white box in the middle of Raven’s bed. She hurried out, closing the door tightly behind her.
Would the little “present” make Raven evil? Or maybe it would turn her into a troll? It was win-win as far as Faybelle was concerned. Oh, how she’d love to see Raven Queen as a troll!
Faybelle returned to the Castleteria just as the clock struck one. Students filed out, hugging good-bye and promising to hext during their time away. She stayed to the side, secretly watching as Raven rushed over to Cedar. Her face was flushed and her hair fell into her eyes.
“Did you find it?” Cedar asked.
“No!” Raven bent over, huffing and puffing. “I looked everywhere. The cauldron room up to the Charmitorium over to the meadow and then back down to the Lost and Crowned office. What am I going to do?”
“You need to tell Mr. Badwolf the truth.” Cedar pointed to the main doors. The teacher was walking out of the school. “Honesty is the best policy.”
“I know.” Raven wished she didn’t have to start her vacation on such a sour note. “It’s not fair. I’d deserve to fairy-fail if I didn’t do my thronework, but I did do it.”
Faybelle sighed and frowned. Messing up Raven’s grades was fairy tempting. But what if she was sent to Headmaster Grimm’s office as punishment for not turning in her assignment? Then there might not be time for Raven to go find her “present.”
Under her breath, she cheered:
S-T-O-P at the door,
L-O-S-T no more!
Give one more look,
between the books!
Raven started toward Mr. Badwolf, but she hesitated as he stopped suddenly in the open doorway to answer a question from Kitty Cheshire. Raven opened her book bag again. “I have the strangest feeling that I should take another look. I know that sounds crazy. I mean, it’s not—” She gasped and, from between two hextbooks, slid out her thronework. “Wait a spell! This wasn’t here before.”
Cedar shrugged. “You must’ve missed it.”
“I’m losing my crown!” Raven laughed with relief. She hurried to hand it to her teacher, and then she hugged her friends good-bye. Raven was surprised when Faybelle, who was hovering nearby, hugged her, too.
Raven’s stomach grumbled as she returned to her room. She’d had only a few bites of her sandwich at lunch and wished she’d thought to grab an apple from the fruit bowl in the Castleteria.
Pushing open her door, she was greeted by a deafening silence. No songbirds chirped at the window. No Apple singing to little birds from the windowsill. Apple’s hybrid carriage had picked her and Briar up at the beginning of lunch for her journey home. Raven missed her roommate already. She was whistling a tune Apple liked when she suddenly spotted a white box on her deep-purple satin comforter.
“What’s this?” Raven lifted a small, glittery card from the box. “It says, ‘Eat me.’”
Raven opened the lid and inhaled the sweet, sugary scent of pink thronecake. How thoughtful of Maddie to have left this for me, she thought. Or maybe Apple had left it as a good-bye treat. Apple knew thronecake was one of her favorite foods.
What good friends she had!
Raven couldn’t wait. She gobbled down the thronecake and licked the last bit of sticky frosting from her lips. All of a sudden, tiny green lights flickered before her eyes and a buzzing filled her ears. She felt strangely light-headed and sat on her bed.
“Wow! Massive sugar rush!” Perhaps she shouldn’t have eaten the treat so fast.
The woozy feeling passed after a moment, and she reached for her purple velvet duffel bag. Her own carriage waited outside. She was ready for Spring Break to begin.
Diary Entry
How are you feeling, Diary? I’m feeling kind of weird. I’m not sneezing and I don’t have a sore throat, but I guess it’s just that I don’t feel like myself tonight. If Maddie were here, she’d ask me who I felt like, but I don’t know. I just feel kind of wishy-washy and strange.
My welcome-home dinner did not go at all as I’d hexpected. Ooglot, our family ogre, waddled outside to greet me when my carriage pulled up to the castle this afternoon. He picked up my bags and then he did the weirdest thing. He inched closer to me and inhaled really deeply. It was almost like he was sniffing me… super weird! Cook hugged me tight and pinched my cheeks, and I played hide-and-seek with Butternut and Pie on the wide lawn until we got called in for dinner. I raced through the Great Hall and into the dining room to see my dad. He was sitting by himself at the end of the long table that was definitely fit for a king. I gave him a big hug and sat right next to him.
Cook served us a scrumptious m
eal of fried chicken, beanstalk casserole, and plum pudding. My father told me about the latest happenings of the kingdom. Everyone comes to him with their problems, because he’s so kind and wise. There was a building-code problem and houses made of straw were being blown down. He ruled that brick houses should be built instead. A boy had attempted to jump over a candlestick and burned his big toe. My father had visited him in the hospital.
Then it was my turn. I had SO much to tell him about Ever After High. I had just gotten through describing my Muse-ic Class when a trumpet sounded. The dining room doors swung open, and one of the king’s footmen appeared. Dad stopped eating as the footman unrolled a parchment scroll. “Hear ye, hear ye, I come with a message!” he boomed. “The cow has jumped over the moon, and a pig has flown up in the air. What say you?”
My dad considered the issue and then swiftly reached a decision. He ruled that nighttime kite-flying should be halted until the sky was cleared of all animals. The footman departed, and I went back to telling him about Maddie, Cerise, Apple, and all my other friends at school. A few minutes later, another footman appeared with another problem. Once that one had gone, another showed up. It went on like this throughout our entire dinner. My dad was so busy solving problems that he barely had time to listen to me. I got a little frustrated and, before I could stop myself, I let out a strange, almost troll-like burp.
Totally weird!
Dad and I both laughed. Where had that crazy sound come from? I’m telling you, Diary, I’m not quite myself. My dad apologized for all the interruptions, and I do understand—the kingdom needs him, and I love that he never lets his people down. That’s what makes him such a good king. It makes no sense that I felt so frustrated, even just for a fairy quick moment.
Dad promised we’d find some quality father-daughter time soon.
I’m going to bed now. I hope I feel more like myself tomorrow.
Spell you later, Diary.
Raven
ello, sleepyhead!” Cook greeted Raven late the next morning as she walked into the kitchen, letting out a big yawn.
“It was so hard getting out of bed this morning.” Raven pulled a stool up to the kitchen counter. Even after a good night’s sleep, she still felt a bit off-kilter. Maybe some breakfast would do the trick.
She spread butter onto a freshly baked blueberry muffin and took a big bite. Purple berry juice stained her lips. Cook pointed to the purple skirt that Raven wore with a black tank top and lace-up silver sandals. “Your lips match your skirt.”
“Blueberries are like castlemade lip gloss,” Raven said. She looked out the open window toward the towering cliffs and the sea beyond. “Where’s Dad?”
“Out and about.” Cook wiped her hands on her white apron. “He’s a busy man, you know.”
“I know.” Raven’s smile faded. “I was just hoping to spend some time with him today.”
Cook consulted the master schedule on her MirrorPhone. “It says here that he has an important lunch meeting. After that the royal tailor is fitting him for new knickers.” Her blue eyes twinkled. “Look! He set aside dinnertime with you, and he said no footmen are allowed in.”
“That’s perfect.” Raven quickly finished the rest of her muffin. “Let’s make it a party! Oh, I remember this one time you made brambleberry pie and Dad loved it. Would you mind making it for him tonight? And speaking of brambleberries, I saw this hexcellent dish on a spellebrity chef show that used brambleberries for the sauce, and…” Her voice trailed off as she saw Cook frown. “What’s wrong?”
“I have so much to do today already. I need to prepare the food for his lunch meeting and—”
“That’s okay, Cook. Is there a recipe for the brambleberry pie? Maybe I can make it myself.” Raven hopped off the stool, suddenly energized. “I can definitely handle this. And I promise I won’t get in your way. I can pull out the ingredients.” She opened the pantry. “See, here’s the flour and sugar and salt.” She dropped them on the counter, then bent over to open a cabinet. “Here’s one mixing bowl. Here’s another. Do we need more?” Raven whirled around to the spice rack. “Cinnamon. Basil. Maybe some paprika? Hmmm, what else? Oh, definitely eggs and butter!” She hurried toward the refrigerator as Cook chuckled in amusement.
“We need pans.” Raven opened another cabinet and piled five pans in her arms. “I forgot milk.” She pivoted back to the refrigerator and her foot slipped, sending the pans into the air. One by one, they clattered to the tile floor. Raven toppled, too, landing alongside the pans.
“Are you okay?” Cook hurried to help her up.
“Oh, I’m fine,” Raven assured her while laughing at her own clumsiness.
Cook laughed, too. “You’re like a troll let loose in my kitchen.”
“I’m sorry. Not sure what got into me! I just got hexcited.” Raven gathered the pans.
“I can see how much this dinner means to you.” Cook pulled out a piece of paper and a quill pen. “Let’s start at the beginning and create a menu. Then we can see what goes into the oven first. I need order in my kitchen if I’m going to cook your special dinner.”
“Oh, thank you!” Raven hugged Cook, and together they decided on a menu of roast beef, pea soup, curds-and-whey fritters, chopped salad, and a big fairy-food cake since there were no brambleberries in the kitchen for a pie. As Cook began to chop the vegetables for the king’s lunch and the dinner party, her twins scampered into the kitchen in a whirlwind of noise and energy.
“Tag, you’re it!”
“No way, you’re it!”
The boys raced around the room, each swinging his chubby arms wildly in an effort to reach the other. In minutes, the pans Raven had piled onto the counter crashed to the floor again.
“Oh dear. I don’t think I’ll ever get all this food prepared with these two underfoot.” Cook sighed.
“I can babysit,” Raven offered. The twins let out a cheer.
“That’s a big help. I’m off to the henhouse for eggs. We need more than this carton. Maybe the three of you can shell the peas?”
“Sure, I think we can handle that!” Raven replied.
Cook smiled gratefully. “Just make sure not to take your eyes off them!” Cook whispered to Raven. “They’ll make a mess faster than you can say ‘Happily Ever After!’”
“Got it!” Raven said. She sat the twins at the round table and showed them how to pull the tiny peas from the pods. They got the hang of it quickly. A few moments later, Raven began having an unfamiliar feeling: impatience. Suddenly, she couldn’t wait to finish with the pile of peas.
“Let’s have a race,” she told the twins. “The first one to finish their pile of peas wins. Ready, set, go!” Raven’s mind spun as she worked. She thought of the yummy menu. There really is a lot of food for Cook to prepare. Oh dear. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. I just made Cook’s busy day so much harder. Is Cook angry at me for creating hextra work? That would be horrible. No, no! She shook her head. Don’t be silly. Cook understands. She has to… right?
“Look, Raven! You lost!” Butternut cried with glee, pointing at Raven’s pile, which hadn’t grown any smaller. She was so deep in thought that she’d just stopped shelling peas altogether.
Raven pushed her pea pods toward the twins. “Finish for me? I’ll be right back. No one get into any trouble.”
She sprinted out the back door and toward the henhouse. She would tell Cook that they would simplify the menu. She didn’t want to be too demanding. A few feet away from the house, the twins’ delighted squeals rang out through the open window.
Raven paused. Could they be that happy shelling peas? Doubtful. She glanced toward the henhouse and back at the kitchen. The laughter grew louder. That did it! She raced back inside.
“Oh my godmother!” Raven cried out. The mischievous twins had found the big bag of flour. They scooped and tossed fistfuls into the air. Butternut grabbed the bag and struggled to lift it up over his brother’s head.…
“Stop! Freeze!”
> The twins froze, and for a moment everything was still, until Butternut lost his grasp on the heavy bag. They all watched a blizzard of flour blanket every surface. The kitchen looked like the Snow Queen’s winter wonderland. Butternut’s orange hair was dusted with white, and Pie’s pudgy arms and legs resembled chicken cutlets floured and ready to fry in a pan.
Raven wanted to scold them, but it was all her fault. Her only job had been to keep the rambunctious twins out of trouble. She had messed it up, and now Cook’s kitchen was a royal disaster. Guilt hardened the blueberry muffin into a brick in her stomach. What was going on with her? Why in Ever After had she left the twins alone in the kitchen?
“We need to clean up fairy fast.” She handed each boy a dish towel and pushed up her sleeves. Cook prided herself on her spotless kitchen, often bragging that the floor was so clean you could eat off it. “You two do the table. I’ve got the counter.” Raven wiped her damp towel through the thick layer of flour, creating a gloppy paste.
She swooped again in a wider arc, and her hand knocked the carton of eggs on the counter, sending them flying into the air. She let out a startled cry and tried to dive for them—but she wasn’t fast enough.
Splat!
One dozen eggs exploded on the flour-dusted floor. Yellow yolks oozed from cracked shells, spreading in a sticky puddle, seeping into her sandals and tickling her toes. Raven had just made the mess a hundred times worse. What was wrong with her today?
Butternut’s cries jolted her out of her daze. “Whee! Waterslide!”
“No! Egg-slide!” Pie joined his brother, sliding on baking pans through the yolk puddle, smearing gunk across the floor.
“Stop!” Raven raised her hand like a troll guarding a bridge.
The twins stopped sliding and pointed at her hand. Purple sparks crackled from Raven’s fingertips. When she was angry, magic pulsed its way out of her.
I can do a cleanup spell, she realized suddenly.
Raven’s gaze landed on the broken eggs and the near-empty flour bag. Even better—she’d use magic to recycle the flour and eggs and bake a cake. Cook would get a spotless kitchen, wouldn’t waste food, and wouldn’t have to spend time baking. A win-win-win!
Ever After High Page 2