The Awfully Angry Ogre

by Suzanne Williams

  7

  The Ogre’s Story

  TO THE GIRLS’ SURPRISE, THE OGRE FELL SILENT. His eyes took on a dreamy look. Carried along by the melody, his thoughts drifted upward. Pretty music, he was thinking. So soothing. His hands—amazingly clean, with long, slender fingers—waved gently in time to the music.

  But now the ogre’s eyes darkened, and his thoughts shifted. I only want to be left alone in peace. Why must humans plague me? Eight years ago, before I fled to this place, humans killed my husband and sons!

  Husband? thought Tansy. Well, what do you know? The ogre was female, then. An ogress, actually.

  As Tansy continued to play, the door to the ogress’s shack opened and a small ogre—not much taller than a full-grown human—stepped shyly outside. It had the same thick lips and sloping forehead as the ogress, but its cheeks were round and dimpled and it had lots of curly brown hair on top of its head. Its eyes widened when it saw the princesses.

  Tansy was so surprised, she almost stopped playing her flute. It’s a child, she thought.

  The ogress must have understood Tansy, because she whirled around in alarm and roared a warning to her child: Keep away!

  But drawn by the music, the small ogre limped downhill to its mother. Its left leg was wrapped in a bandage.

  “Poor thing,” murmured Elena.

  The ogress hugged her child. Oh, my sweet daughter. Just look how those bad men have wounded you!

  Tansy pulled her flute away from her mouth. Edward and James must have hurt the ogress’s child! She felt so ashamed.

  Pulling her small blue bottle from the pocket of her gown, Elena approached the ogress and child. Roaring, the ogress reared back.

  “Quick,” Tansy said, lifting her flute to her lips. “Let her know you mean no harm.”

  As Tansy played a soothing melody, Elena’s thoughts soared above the music. Please let me help your daughter. I have a lotion that may heal her wound.

  The ogress relaxed and allowed Elena to unwind the bandage from her daughter’s leg. There was a nasty cut just below her knee. Tansy suspected it came from Edward’s sword. Don’t be afraid, child, Elena thought as she dabbed lotion over the wound. This should make you feel better.

  The lotion’s magic did its work and, within seconds, the wound had disappeared completely.

  The ogress’s daughter smiled. Jumping and skipping, she roared with happiness. Look at me, Mother! My leg is healed. I’m well again!

  The ogress looked around at all four princesses. Thank you, she thought. Then she pointed uphill to her shack. I don’t have much to offer, but would you please stay for lunch?

  The girls followed the ogress and her daughter into the shack. Its roof beams towered above the princesses, but the ogress could barely stand without hitting her head. A gigantic iron kettle hung in the fireplace, but to the princesses’ relief, the ogress showed no intention of cooking and eating them.

  In fact, lunch turned out to be vegetable soup and bread. Tansy put down her flute to eat. Afterward, the ogress showed them the huge garden behind her house. It was filled with carrots, potatoes, peas, and tomatoes—and all kinds of flowers.

  Motioning to Tansy to play her flute again, the ogress asked, Why do humans hate ogres?

  They’re afraid of you, thought Lysandra.

  They don’t understand you, thought Fatima.

  They think that you start fires and steal their sheep, thought Tansy. And that maybe you’ll eat them!

  The ogress’s furry eyebrows drew together. But I don’t even eat meat! she thought. Can you tell them that?

  We can try, thought Elena.

  The princesses smiled at one another. Tansy was sure they were all thinking the same thing: Not only was the ogre an ogress, but she was a vegetarian, too!

  The ogress’s daughter had been playing in the garden, digging in the dirt with a stick. Now she ran up to her mother and hugged her. The ogress glanced down at her daughter’s leg, which showed no trace of its earlier wound. You are the first humans to be kind to us, she thought. I wish there was something I could do for you.

  Tansy’s heart skipped a beat, but she kept on playing. Perhaps there is something you could do, she thought. Those stone statues…could you make them human again?

  8

  Back to the Castle

  THROWING BACK HER SHAGGY HEAD, THE OGRESS roared so loudly, the princesses’ ears rang. How can you ask me that? she thought. Those men tried to kill my daughter!!

  I know. Tansy gulped. But two of those men are my brothers.

  The ogress frowned. Then I am sorry for you.

  Please give them a second chance, pleaded Tansy. We can explain what we’ve learned about you. We can make sure no one ever bothers you again.

  The ogress’s frown deepened. I’d like to believe you, but how can I take the chance? You don’t look much older than my daughter. Why would other humans listen to what you say?

  Tansy straightened her shoulders and nodded toward her friends. Because we’re princesses. My father is king of Majesta. He has never believed the rumors the villagers spread about you. If you free the men, the villagers will see you mean no harm. My father will give you his protection.

  The ogress cast a glance over her garden and home. And my daughter and I can stay here as long as we want? No one will try to make us leave?

  Tansy nodded. I promise.

  The ogress sighed heavily. All right. Wait here. She lumbered into the shack, returning a few minutes later with a small cloth pouch. She handed the pouch to Tansy. There’s powder inside. Throw a tiny pinch over each statue’s head.

  Tansy’s face lit up. Thank you so much! I promise you won’t regret this. The ogress’s hand was too large to shake, so she squeezed one of her fingers instead.

  The ogress and her daughter waited inside their shack while Tansy and her friends raced down to the well. Tansy opened the pouch, drew out a pinch of the powder, and threw it over James’s head. Flecked with gold and silver, the powder sparkled as it fell. Immediately the granite melted into warm, rosy flesh.

  Still on his knees, James glanced up in confusion at Tansy and the other princesses. Then he leaped to his feet, his cheeks red with embarrassment. “I…uh…I was looking for something. A…a…rock to throw at the ogre,” he stammered. “Hey—what are you doing here? And what are those funny purple things you’re wearing over your eyes?”

  “We’ll explain in a minute,” said Tansy. “But first we need to free the others.” She opened the pouch wide so she and her friends could all take pinches of powder to toss over Edward and the rest of the statues.

  Sneezing violently as the powder drifted over him, Edward waved his sword in the air. “Take that, you fire-setting, sheep-eating, spell-casting—”

  “STOP!” shouted Tansy, quickly stepping back to avoid being sliced in two.

  Edward stared at Tansy and her friends, looking just as bewildered as the other young men. Then they all began asking questions at once.

  Tansy waved her arms in the air. “Be quiet and we’ll explain.”

  The men sat on the ground before them, and the princesses took turns telling their story. They told about trying to follow Edward and James on Fatima’s flying carpet. They described the old woman they’d met, and the good advice she’d given. Finally, they explained what Tansy’s flute had revealed about the ogress and her daughter.

  After the princesses finished speaking, the young men remained quiet for a long time. “I feel kind of foolish now,” one of them said at last.

  “Me too,” said another.

  Edward bowed his head. “I wounded a child,” he said, sounding ashamed.

  “But she’s okay now,” Elena reminded him softly.

  James ran a hand through his hair. “You’re saying the ogre is really an ogress and she’s a vegetarian?”

  Tansy nodded. “That’s right.”

  “Well, I guess she wouldn’t steal sheep then,” he said.

  “No,” said Tansy. “And
I’m sure she didn’t do any of those other horrible things she’s been accused of, either. She only wants to live in peace.”

  James scrambled to his feet. “Maybe we should go and apologize.”

  “That’s a great idea,” said Tansy. “Only you’ll need to wear blindfolds. And I’ll need mine to play my flute so the ogress can understand your thoughts.”

  It was decided that Edward, James, and a young man named Steven would go to see the ogress. “Of course the blindfolds would have to be purple,” Edward grumbled as they approached the shack. “That’s a girl color.”

  Tansy smiled. “It’s a royal color too, you know.”

  When the ogress opened the door, Tansy raised her flute and began to play. Many thoughts swirled through the air.

  Thank you for releasing us, thought Steven.

  I’m sorry I believed things about you that weren’t true, thought James.

  I’m sorry I hurt your daughter, thought Edward. I’m glad she’s okay now.

  The ogress was so pleased with their apologies that she gave them vegetables from her garden to share with their families and the other young men.

  By now it was late afternoon. Edward’s and James’s horses had disappeared after their masters had changed into statues. James frowned. “I guess we’ll have to walk back to the castle.”

  Fatima eyed the brothers. “It’ll be a squeeze,” she said, “but I think I can fit two more on my carpet.”

  When all six of them were seated as comfortably as possible, they waved good-bye to the eight young men returning home on foot. With the added weight of Edward and James, the carpet rose more slowly than usual, but soon it had cleared the treetops and was soaring toward the castle.

  “Wow! You can see everything from up here!” James exclaimed.

  Edward said nothing. As they picked up speed, his face turned as white as the snow on Mount Majesta, and his knuckles gripped the edge of the carpet. Suddenly Tansy realized why Edward always refused to climb the stairs to her tower room. She hid a smile. Her biggest, strongest, oldest brother—who’d shown no fear in facing what he thought was a ferocious ogre—was afraid of heights!

  9

  Trouble

  IT WAS NEARLY DUSK BY THE TIME FATIMA landed the carpet near the castle. Tansy’s two younger brothers were playing outside, lunging at each other with toy swords. They came running toward Tansy as she climbed off the carpet.

  Cole planted himself in front of his sister. “You’re really in big trouble,” he said. “You didn’t tell Mother and Father where you were going!”

  “Yeah,” echoed Ethan. “You just disappeared.”

  It was true, Tansy admitted. But how could she have known what would happen? She’d thought they would find Edward and James right away.

  Color was returning to Edward’s face now that they had landed. “Clear off, you two,” he growled at Cole and Ethan.

  Laughing, the two boys ran off.

  Fatima rolled up her carpet and strapped it onto her back. As everyone headed toward the castle, James whispered to Tansy, “Maybe Father will forgive us when he finds out what we’ve learned about the ogre—I mean, the ogress.”

  Tansy hoped so. But she didn’t think King Albert would be pleased that his two oldest sons had disobeyed his orders. What if the ogress hadn’t had a magical powder to restore James and Edward to life?

  Queen Charlotte met them just inside the Main Hall. For once she was not her usual cheerful self. Wrapping Edward, James, and Tansy in a big hug, she sobbed. “Thank goodness you’re home. We were so worried about you! How did you manage to escape from the horrible ogre?”

  Tansy frowned. Escape? It was true Edward and James had been turned into statues, but the ogress had helped to free them in the end. She’d been nothing but kind to the princesses.

  Edward stroked his straggly beard. “How did you know where we’d gone?”

  “We didn’t, for sure,” said Queen Charlotte. “But when your horses came back without you, and we couldn’t find the girls, we talked to Jonah. He told us the princesses had asked him where you’d gone and had flown off soon afterward. He guessed they’d left to search for you, thinking you’d gone to find the ogre.”

  The queen gazed at Tansy and her friends tearfully. “We feared the ogre had captured and eaten you all. Ogres like princesses, I’ve been told. They think royal girls taste sweet.”

  Fatima made a face. “Why should princesses taste sweet? I’m sure I’d taste as nasty as skunk cabbage!”

  Popping up from behind the large potted fern, Cole grinned. “Tansy would probably taste like a smelly old shoe!”

  Tansy rolled her eyes. “Who cares what we’d taste like!” She quickly explained all that had happened that day and what they’d learned about the ogress.

  Queen Charlotte listened carefully. Her eyes widened when Tansy mentioned finding Edward and James as statues. When Tansy finished, the queen cried, “But this is terrible!”

  “What’s terrible?” asked Tansy. “Don’t you see? The ogress didn’t do any of those horrible things she was accused of. She only wants to live with us in peace.”

  “No,” said her mother, shaking her head. “You don’t understand. What’s terrible is that your father rode off with Jonah and Matthew and about a dozen village men a few hours ago. Your father didn’t want to believe the rumors, but when Edward’s and James’s horses came back without them…” She sighed. “They’re planning to sneak up on the ogre tonight while he—I mean, she—is asleep…and set fire to her shack!”

  Tansy felt as if she’d just been punched in the stomach. “Oh no!” she moaned.

  “We’ve got to save her!” cried Lysandra.

  Elena nodded in agreement.

  “We’ll fly back on my carpet,” said Fatima. “With any luck, we’ll be able to reach the men before they reach the ogress’s house.”

  “Yes,” said Tansy. She didn’t want to think about what might happen if they weren’t lucky.

  “I’m coming too,” declared James.

  “So am I,” said Edward, turning white as he eyed the magic carpet.

  Before they left, Tansy asked her mother for a bolt of gauzy white fabric the queen had been saving to make curtains. “What do you want it for?” Queen Charlotte asked as she handed it to Tansy.

  “I’ll explain later,” Tansy said hurriedly.

  “Be careful, and come home safely!” the queen called to them as they ran outside. The princesses, along with Edward and James, climbed onto the carpet and rose into the sky.

  Night had fallen, but the moon was almost full, casting a glow that lit their way. Clutching the bolt of fabric, Tansy anxiously scanned the forest and meadows below for signs of horses and men. But she couldn’t see any torches gleaming among the trees, and she couldn’t hear voices, or hooves beating the ground.

  “Where could they be?” Elena finally asked, voicing the question on all of their minds.

  When at last they reached the well, there was still no sign of the men or their horses. The ogress’s shack stood a short distance away, seemingly untouched. Tansy sighed with relief. Perhaps her father and the villagers had decided not to harm the ogress after all. Seeing the statues gone, they might have realized the young men had been set free. Or perhaps they’d even met up with a few of them returning home and learned the story of their release. If so, King Albert and his men might be headed back to the castle this very minute.

  “I guess they’re not here,” said Lysandra. “Do you think we should wait, just in case we missed them somehow?”

  Everyone started talking at once. Suddenly Edward held a finger to his lips. “Shh,” he whispered. “I think I hear something.”

  They all grew quiet. For a minute the only sounds were the wind in the trees and the flapping of bats’ wings. But then Tansy heard something else—the soft whinny of a horse. Glancing at the others, she knew they’d heard it too. All at once bright orange flames shot up from the roof of the shack, and a group of rid
ers—bursting from behind the ogress’s home—galloped away.

  10

  Fire!

  HORRIFIED, TANSY WATCHED AS FLAMES spread from the roof of the shack down the sides. “Halt!” shouted Edward as the riders thundered up to the well. They stopped abruptly, their horses rearing up in confusion.

  “Edward?” King Albert’s eyes darted from him to James to the princesses. “We thought the ogre had killed you all! What happened? How did you escape?”

  Tansy tugged at Edward’s sleeve. “If we don’t act fast, the ogress and her daughter will be burned alive!”

  “You’re right!” Edward exclaimed. “We’ve got to save them and put out the fire!”

  King Albert frowned. “Ogress? Daughter?”

  “Ask James,” Tansy said. Tearing two strips from the bolt of gauzy fabric, she threw one to Edward, then tied the other around her own eyes. “Here,” she said, tossing the bolt to Elena.

  With Jonah’s help, Elena made sure everyone had a blindfold so they could face the ogress without turning to stone. After they were all fitted, they formed a line behind Fatima. She was already at the well, hauling up buckets of water to throw on the fire.

  Meanwhile, Tansy and Edward raced toward the burning shack. As Edward forced open the door, Tansy pulled out her flute and began to play. Flames licked the wooden house. Tansy wiped sweat from her forehead. When the door was finally open, smoke rolled out and Edward disappeared inside. Tansy heard a loud roar as the ogress awoke.

  Don’t be alarmed, Edward thought. We’re here to help you.

  I smell smoke, thought the ogress.

  It’s a fire! thought Edward. You must get out quickly!

  Seconds later the ogress and her daughter crawled from the shack, coughing. They were followed by Edward. He sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath.

  Tansy bent over him. “Are you okay?” she asked anxiously.