I watched as his lips grew nearer until they were a breath away. Wait! I screamed in my head.
Before his mouth could land on mine, I turned my head slightly to the right.
I waited for him to say something, but when he didn’t, I looked up at him through my eyelashes. He smiled his crooked grin and dove in for another attempt to kiss me.
This time I bowed my head.
He straightened. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve never kissed anyone before,” I said, keeping my face turned away.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
I shook my head, embarrassed. No doubt every other sixteen-year-old girl in Idaho had already experienced her first kiss.
“It’s actually awesome you’ve never kissed anyone before.” Nate bent his head down so we were eye level. “Just when I didn’t think you could get any better.”
“You don’t think it’s silly that I have never been kissed?”
“It’s the opposite of silly. In fact, it’s very good. Besides, now I have something else on my list of things to teach you.”
I was grateful the darkness hid my blush.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, backing away.
Wait, what? I didn’t want him to leave.
“Bye, Dani.” He climbed back into the truck.
“Goodbye.” I turned and walked to the front porch.
“That was quick,” Abby said when I entered the dimly lit house.
I nodded numbly.
“My dad is asleep on the couch. He was waiting for us to come home,” she said. “I wish he could’ve gone to the fair. I hate that he had to get a second job and work on the weekends. Money is always tight.”
Hank was sprawled out on the couch with a book on the floor next to his outstretched hand. I felt bad that he had to work so much. Since arriving in Idaho, I had only seen him a few minutes in the mornings before he went to work.
“I’ll wake him up and tell him to go to bed. Good night, Dani.” Abby picked up the book next to her dad.
I told her good night, then climbed the steps to my bedroom, thinking about my own dad. We had always been close. Of course he was busy with royal duties, but he always made time for me. Every night he would find me to ask how my day had gone. I wondered what he was doing right now. Was he searching Fenmore Falls for the wizard, so they could capture him and I could go home? Was my mom worried about me? Had my dad finally told her where I was?
Thinking about them made my heart ache. Even though I was having a great time in Idaho with my new friends, I definitely missed home.
I stepped to the window by the side of my bed. It was a beautiful night. The stars peeked out between the branches of a towering tree near the house. I smiled, remembering the fun time I had at the fair and rodeo. Today I hadn’t been a princess. Today I had been simply Dani. But I couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed about how the day ended. Nate had left so quickly, and I wondered if I should have let him kiss me.
As I looked out the window, I noticed someone walking toward our house. It looked like Nate! After several more seconds, I was sure it was him.
My heart thumped excitedly in my chest. I ran from my room and raced down the stairs. I opened the front door just as he lifted his hand to knock. We both smiled, but then his face grew serious, and his eyes smoldered just like they had when we’d said goodbye several minutes before.
He took my hand and pulled me onto the front porch. Then, he closed the door so we were alone.
“I couldn’t leave without telling you something.” He raised his hand to cup my face.
My whole body tingled. “Okay. . .”
“Thank you for being my girl tonight. And I wanted to give you this.”
All I could do was watch his mouth as it neared. But he wasn’t aiming for my lips. He gave me the most tender kiss on my check.
My breath hitched in my throat, and the most amazing feeling coursed through me. If a kiss on my cheek made me that happy, I couldn’t wait to see what a real kiss from Nate would do.
He pulled away just enough to rest his forehead against mine. “I don’t usually go around kissing my date on her front porch in the middle of the night.”
“That makes two of us,” I teased.
He didn’t laugh like I had expected. “How many other boys have you dated, Dani?” He lowered his hand to his side.
I took his handsome face between my trembling hands and said, “None,” then pulled his face down to kiss him on the cheek. “You’re the first.”
He put his arms around my waist. “So, I’m your first?”
I nodded, letting my hands fall to his shoulders.
“I like the sound of that.”
The moment couldn’t have been any sweeter. With me wrapped in Nate’s arms, the world began to fade away. Well, until Troy’s voice sounded from down the road. It was the second time that boy had interrupted Nate and me.
“Now I know why you wanted me to check Aunt Em’s old house tonight. So you could make out with Dani!” Troy yelled.
I jumped back, but Nate held firm and kept me in his arms. He slowly turned to Troy. “I couldn’t very well kiss her in the truck with you watching, could I?”
“I’ll hand it to you, Nate,” Troy grumbled. “You don’t waste any time. How long is this one going to last?”
I tensed immediately, wondering what Troy meant.
Nate held me a little tighter. “Go home, Troy.”
“Well, I’m not here to see you, even though I’d love to take my turn kissing Dani.”
Nate’s body went stiff. “Back off.”
I put my hand on his chest to calm him.
Troy was always so cold around me, and we had barely spoken two words. I wondered why he didn’t like me much.
“Chill out. I was only kidding.” Troy forced a low laugh as if trying to break the tension. “I’m actually here to see Hank because I found something at Aunt Em’s.”
“Really? What was it?” Nate asked.
“Not what, but who,” his brother replied.
It was then that I saw a guy standing behind Troy. When Troy stepped closer, the stranger followed. He was limping. His shoulder hung low and he kept his eyes to the ground. He looked like he had been beaten.
“What did you do?” Nate asked Troy.
“He attacked me. I was only defending myself.”
Nate took my hand and we walked down the path toward Troy and the guy. I squeezed Nate’s hand in dread. What if it’s someone looking for me? It could even be the wizard!
The stranger glanced up through his disheveled hair.
My heart jumped. It can’t be. Is he really here? How did he get here?
I left Nate’s side and threw my arms around the injured guy. “Jack,” I said through tears of joy.
He winced as I squeezed him. “Hey, beautiful.”
Jack was here. In Shelley, Idaho.
Chapter 13
Jack and the Beanstalk
by Joseph Jacobs, 1890
There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, and a cow named Milky-white. And all they had to live on was the milk the cow gave every morning, which they carried to the market and sold. But one morning Milky-white gave no milk, and they didn’t know what to do.
“We must sell Milky-white and with the money start shop, or something,” said the widow.
So Jack took the cow’s halter in his hand, and off he started. But he later hands over Milky-white to a funny-looking old man in exchange for some beans.
“What?” says Jack’s mom. “Have you been such a fool, such a dolt, such an idiot, as to give away my Milky-white, the best milker in the parish, and prime beef to boot, for a set of paltry beans? Now off with you to bed. Not a sup shall you drink, and not a bit shall you swallow this very night.”
Jack in Idaho
“Jack, what are you doing here?” I still couldn’t believe my best friend from Fenmore Falls was in Idaho.
>
“I came to warn you.” He held his side while he spoke. Troy must have broken one of his ribs.
“Warn me about what?”
Jack looked behind me to Nate and then at Troy, who still stood next to him. “Who are these people, Dani? Where are we?”
I glanced back at Nate. “This is Nate, and his brother Troy.”
Nate’s eyebrows were lowered in question, so I said, “This is my best friend, Jack.”
“Where are we?” Jack asked worriedly. I knew how he felt, being dumped in a strange land.
I took his hand. “This is Idaho. We’re in Shelley, Idaho.”
Nate stepped a little closer and asked me, “Is he from your home?”
“Yes, I’ve known Jack almost my whole life.”
Nate held out his right hand. Jack flinched, no doubt because of Troy’s violent “welcome” from earlier, then glanced at me. Nodding that it was okay, I moved closer to Nate so Jack could see that Nate was also a friend.
Timidly, Jack took his hand. As they shook hands Nate said, “Good to meet you.”
“Thanks,” Jack mumbled, still looking wary.
“Any friend of Dani’s is a friend of mine,” Nate replied.
When Nate called me by my nickname, Jack’s eyes went wide. All I could do was smile, hoping Jack didn’t say anything about the proper way to refer to a princess.
Since I couldn’t explain things to Jack in front of them, I figured it would be best to say goodbye to Nate and Troy. Troy left without replying, and Nate said he’d see me tomorrow.
I led Jack into Dorothy’s house. “What is this place?” he asked, his gaze darting around.
“Just come this way so I can clean you up.” In the bathroom, I started gently wiping the blood from his face with a wet washrag. Jack was pretty tough, so I was sure Troy had his own wounds from their fight.
“When my dad brought me here, he told me to find Aunt Em, but she ended up being dead. The only other thing he said was that the three fairies would help me.” I stopped. “Wow, there’s so much blood here. Are you in a lot of pain?”
“Not nearly as much as the other guy is, I’m sure.” Jack winked at me. “Anyway, who are the three fairies?”
“Aunt Em’s niece is Dorothy. This is Dorothy’s house, and she is one of the three fairies. The other two are friends of hers. They know about Fenmore Falls and about me being a princess. Dorothy told me to keep my identity a secret so I’d be safe.”
Jack played with the faucet at the sink, turning it on and off. “Are we still in Fenmore Falls? If so, I’ve really been missing out on these inventions.”
I shook my head. “Once you passed through that door, you entered a different world.”
He continued to play with the faucet as I finished cleaning his face. When I gently touched his ribs, he hunched over in pain. “What did Troy do to you?” I asked, frowning.
“That boy can hit. I don’t know who was more surprised to see someone in that abandoned house, me or him.”
“Well, I think you have a broken rib or two,” I said. “We’ll have to see how it feels in the morning.”
I moved to leave the bathroom, but Jack grabbed my hand. “Dani, I need to warn you about something.”
“What is it?” I asked nervously.
“The wizard knows where you are.”
My throat tightened. “How did he find out?”
“I followed you to Sherwood Manor the night you left the castle,” Jack said. “When I got there, I watched your dad leave without you. I wasn’t sure what to do. I stayed at the manor until the next morning and asked my aunt where you were—but she wouldn’t tell me anything. I searched all of the rooms, but you were nowhere to be found. I decided to go back to the castle and ask your dad what happened, but an old man stopped me on the road and told me to turn around and warn the princess that the wizard knew where she was.”
Chills shot through my heart. “Had you ever seen the man before?”
“No, never,” Jack replied. “But he said he knew my dad.”
I reached out and put my hand on Jack’s shoulder. “He must be trustworthy if he was a friend of your dad’s.” When Jack was young, his dad had died from an old injury. People often spoke of Jack’s dad as a hero whose life had ended in tragedy.
Jack shook his head and let out a sigh. “I came to the same conclusion, so I followed the stranger’s advice and returned to Sherwood Manor to search for you. The man had said to look in the kitchen. Tonight my aunt finally confessed and showed me the secret door. It was directly behind the bean plant growing on the other side of the wall from the garden. She said it was my mom who ordered her not to tell me about the door.”
“Your mom knows about the door too?”
“Apparently the secret has been in my family for a long time,” Jack said.
I pinched the bridge of my nose to try to stop the pain from all the information circling around in my brain. “What are we going to do?”
“We’ll figure something out.” Jack wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into a side hug.
“Thank you for finding me, Jack.”
“You’re like a sister to me. Of course I had to come looking for you.”
“Thank you.” I grabbed his hand. “Now, let me show you where you can sleep.”
“Wait, Dani. You still haven’t told me something—what was the bargain your mom made with the wizard?”
“She promised he could marry her unborn daughter once she turned sixteen.”
Jack’s mouth fell open. “Why would she do that?”
“My mom figured it was only a threat. I mean, how could his curse have a hold on the queen herself?”
“Maybe it is only a threat,” Jack said, looking a little relieved.
“I don’t think so. My dad was pretty convinced he had to dump me here to get me away from the wizard.”
“What happens if you don’t marry the wizard?”
“My dad said the wizard vowed to poison me so I would go to sleep and never wake up.” As I spoke the words out loud, I was surprised how much my life sounded like a storybook. You know, the ones where a witch casts an evil spell and a prince comes to some maiden’s rescue and saves the day? It seemed like a made-up story, not something that happened in real life.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said.
My eyes filled with tears.
He pulled me in tighter. “Don’t cry, beautiful. Everything will look better in the morning when you’re not so tired.”
I wiped away my tears with the back of my hand. “You’re right. I’m exhausted.”
We walked to my bedchamber. I pulled the quilt from my bed and spread it on the floor for Jack.
When we were both settled in for the night, Jack spoke. “Who was that Nate guy you were so friendly with?”
“Uh, well, . . . he’s a friend.”
Jack smiled. “I’m your friend, Dani. But you’ve never looked at me like you look at him.”
“Be quiet.” I put my hands on my cheeks, glad he couldn’t see my blush. Ah, he can read me like a book, just like Abby. That thought reminded me of something important. “Dorothy’s daughter, Abby—she and I are friends—has no idea who I really am. We need to keep it that way, Jack. Nobody knows I’m a princess, except the three fairies, and Dorothy’s husband, Hank.”
“Got it.”
I snuggled further into my bed. “I’m glad you’re here, Jack.”
“Me too.”
We fell asleep holding hands, my arm dangling over the side of the bed, and his fingers reaching up from the floor. I just couldn’t let go of the one thing that was absolute and real.
That night, I dreamed of strange men, and large beanstalks with huge creeping vines crawling around the outside of the house. At one time, I dreamed Jack was climbing the beanstalk. I yelled at him to come down, but he said he was fighting the giant for me. The dream was crazy, and I awoke the next morning in a sweat.
A little while later, Abby knocked on my bedr
oom door. “Dani, are you awake? I made breakfast.”
Jack was sitting on the edge of my bed, looking battered and bruised from last night’s fight with Troy. “Who is it?” he quietly asked me.
I put my finger to my lips. “Stay right here.”
I went to the door. “Good morning, Abby.” I tried to keep the door partially closed to block her view of Jack.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I made pancakes and bacon.”
“Thank you, I’ll be down in a minute.” I quickly closed the door.
I waited till I heard her go down the stairs. “That was Abby,” I whispered to Jack.
“Why doesn’t she know who you really are?”
“Dorothy says the less she knows, the better.”
“Is that to protect you or her?”
I thought it over. “Probably both. Any mother would want to shield her child from danger, and Dorothy also wants to keep me safe. Keeping my identity a secret accomplishes both goals.”
“How can you trust people you don’t know?” Jack asked.
I realized he was just protecting me, but I had to convince him that Dorothy and Abby were good people—not just because my dad said so, but because I felt it in my heart.
I looked my best friend straight in the eye. “You need to believe me, Jack. I am sure we can trust these people.”
“All right, but what about those two guys from last night?”
Trying to hide my emotions, I turned away. Jack followed me and stood in front of me so he could see my face. “You’re blushing even harder now.” He laughed.
“I can’t help it.” I pretended to brush something off my sleeve so I wouldn’t have to look at his scrutinizing eyes.
“What about the guy who left his mark on my face.”
“I don’t know Troy very well.”
“Are they brothers?”
“They’re stepbrothers, and they’re totally different. Nate would never try to beat you up like Troy did.”
“That could be true,” Jack replied, “but it worries me that you’re so captivated by someone so quickly. You’ve never been like this.”
Finding Sleeping Beauty Page 9