“Not until I speak to Crong!” She swooped past, and I could see the stubborn look on her face. This was not going to be easy.
“You can’t talk to him from up there,” I said. “Come down.”
“No,” said Halga. “I won’t set foot on ground again until he knows the truth.”
“And what’s that?”
“That I’m sorry he got the wrong idea, but nothing happened.”
This felt like one of my adventures all over again. Getting creatures to make up or admit how they felt. Apparently, I just couldn’t get away from situations that needed me to get involved.
“Halga, do you love Crong?” I called.
The beast swooped down again, and a giant tear rolled off her cheek. It landed on top of a picnic table with a loud splat. The teachers hiding under the table darted out from under it like beetles and scuttled behind the bleachers.
“Of course I love him!” cried Halga.
“Well, love means never having to say you’re sorry.” I clapped my hand over my mouth. That wasn’t just a cheesy line that could have come out of a movie. It was actually from a movie, one of Aunt Evie’s favorites. Apparently, I just couldn’t stop myself.
Halga’s face softened, and she let out something that sounded like a whimper. A moment later I saw a shadow at my feet. Crong was standing there, his eyes filled with tears.
“You are right, Mistress Jenny,” he said. “I have been acting like a fool.”
Then, with a wave of his hand, Crong lifted off the ground and flew into the sky to meet Halga among the clouds. A few gasps came from the crowd at the sight of the flying frog. Then there were some sounds of confusion when Crong threw his tiny arms around Halga’s face and gave the corner of her lip a passionate kiss. Finally, the crowd groaned in disgust as Halga and Crong sank back to the ground, still locked in a slobbery smooch.
“Get a room!” one of the kids shouted.
As the happy couple landed, I marched over to them. “Okay, break it up,” I whispered, though my voice still carried across the field.
“Thank you, Jenny,” said Halga. “You really are a hero.” She reached out a front leg, and I saw my mother’s purple bracelet dangling from one of her claws.
“What—?”
“Take it,” said Halga. “It’s yours. Crong can give me all the jewelry I want, but this belongs to you.” She pushed the bracelet into my hand before I could object and turned back to Crong with a dreamy smile.
I stared down at the sparkling gems. I had thought I’d never see them again. Maybe having the bracelet back meant I’d finally have some luck. I gave it a squeeze and slipped it onto my wrist.
It was only then that I noticed the deafening silence.
Hundreds of eyes were staring at me. There was no way I could cover up everything that had happened. The Committee would hear about Halga’s appearance and wipe everyone’s memories, no matter what the side effects were. That didn’t seem fair. The kids and teachers couldn’t help what they’d seen. They had just been spectators.
That gave me an idea.
“Okay, everyone,” I called, my voice still amplified for all to hear. “That’s a wrap! Shooting of the film ends next month, and you should expect to see it in theaters early next year.”
There was an uncertain silence. Then the crowd erupted in whispers. “They’re making a movie?” I heard a few people say as some of the panic on their faces started to fade.
“You’ve all been a terrific audience,” I continued. “Give yourselves a round of applause!” I started to clap loudly. The students and teachers glanced around at each other, still hesitant. “Come on. Don’t be shy!”
Crong and Halga started clapping along with me, and soon most of the crowd had joined in. I could even see a few people smiling.
“Okay, now everyone clear out!” I said. “The crew has to strike the set!”
The clapping died down, and the crowd started to break up.
“I knew it wasn’t real,” I heard someone say. I sighed with relief before motioning for Crong to cut out the bullhorn effect. The frog waved his hands, and I felt the same tingling as before.
“Thank you, Jenny,” said Crong. “You always know how to save the day!”
“Forget that,” I said. “We have to find Prince Lamb before Klarr does.”
Crong’s face grew serious. “You’re right.” He turned to Halga. “Go back to our kingdom, dearest. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He gave her a smooch, then another, and another.
I was just about to break up the lovefest, when I heard someone calling my name.
“Jenny, is that you?”
I turned to see Trish and Melissa slowly walking toward me.
“It is you!” cried Melissa. She ran up and threw her arms around my neck. A second later, Trish did the same.
“We thought we’d never see you again!” said Trish, finally letting go. Her voice sounded lower, as if the squeaky toy in her throat was gone.
“Where have you been for the past two years?” asked Melissa. It was the first time in a long time that I’d seen something besides emptiness in her eyes.
“Two years?” I said. And then I remembered what Dr. Bradley had told me, that a sudden shock might reverse the memory-dust spell. Seeing Halga must have done the trick. It had brought my friends’ memories back!
The two girls stared at me, waiting for an explanation.
“It’s a long story,” I said with a laugh. “But you don’t know how happy I am to see you guys!”
“We have so much catching up to do,” said Trish as she linked her arm through mine.
Melissa grabbed my other arm and gave it a warm squeeze. “I didn’t realize you were working on movies.”
“Those puppets look so real,” said Trish, eyeing Halga and Crong.
I glanced over at the two lovebirds, and reality came rushing back. “I’m sorry,” I told my friends. “I have to go.”
“What? But you just got here,” said Melissa.
“I know. But don’t worry, I’ll be back soon! I promise!”
“Jenny!” Trish objected.
“I’ll explain everything when I get back.” Only after I’d said it did I remember that I wouldn’t be able to tell my friends anything without risking having their memories erased again. But I’d have to worry about that later. For now, at least, it was good to know that I finally had my friends back.
I marched over and wrestled Crong away from Halga. “We need to go find Prince Lamb.”
Crong gave Halga one last longing glance before he jumped up onto my hand. I pushed through the crowd, searching for any sign of the prince. Finally, I spotted a couple of Prince Lamb’s popular friends hanging out by the edge of the field. I put Crong behind my back and went toward them.
“Hi, Jenny,” one of the boys said, giving me a shy smile.
“Have any of you seen Prince?” I said, surprised they were actually giving me the time of day.
The boys shook their heads. “Next time you’re working on a movie, do you think we could be in it?” another one asked.
Ugh. That was why they were talking to me now. I shook my head and rushed off.
“Bye, Jenny!” a couple of the boys called after me. I didn’t care about silly boys when Prince Lamb could be in danger. I went back into the cafeteria and scanned the clusters of people.
“Look!” said Crong, pointing to a trash can nearby. Ribba was perched on top, her head in her tiny hands. She was shaking with croaking sobs.
“Ribba, are you okay?” I asked.
“I was too late,” she cried. “He’s gone! Klarr already got to him.”
“He took the prince? How do you know?”
Ribba pointed to a nearby table. In the middle sat a shining red ball
oon. It had been twisted and tied into the shape of a tiny lamb.
Chapter 18
My head was throbbing as I stumbled out of the school with the frogs perched on my shoulders. Klarr had Prince Lamb. I had to do something, but what?
“We must bring you to the kingdom of Klarr immediately,” said Crong, “so you can finally defeat the sorcerer.”
“With what army?” I said. “If you haven’t noticed, my big weapon is saying cheesy things. It’s not like I can do magic or anything. There’s no way I can defeat Klarr.”
“There are other ways to take down a sorcerer besides magic,” said a voice from behind me.
I froze. I knew that voice, but it couldn’t be. “Dr. Bradley?”
There stood the doctor on the school steps, a big toothy grin on his face. I had never been so relieved to see someone. I wanted to tell him how sorry I was about everything, but his eyes sparkled back at me, telling me he understood. All that silly stuff I’d said to Halga about love earlier seemed to really be true.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
“The Committee said there was an emergency on your world.” He glanced around. “But I see you took care of it all by yourself.”
“I did the best I could. And I had some help.”
“You never give yourself enough credit, Jenny,” said Dr. Bradley. “I’m afraid that’s been the trouble from the beginning.”
“And you always give me too much. Half the time I just mess things up and wind up almost having my head burned off or getting stabbed by unicorns.”
“Stabbed by unicorns?” said Ribba. “But that’s great!”
I looked down at her in surprise. “What are you talking about?”
“I wish I could have been honest with you, Jenny,” said Dr. Bradley. “But the Committee insisted that I let you learn things on your own.”
“What do you mean?”
Dr. Bradley sighed and adjusted his glasses. “Those unicorns weren’t trying to hurt you. They were trying to thank you.”
“Thank me?” I echoed. “But they stuck me with their horns! They ran after me and tried to trample me!”
“That’s what unicorns do,” said Ribba. “They show their appreciation with little love jabs.”
Dr. Bradley nodded. “So you didn’t fail, Jenny. You taught the unicorns about sharing, just like you were asked to. Over the past three years, you’ve accomplished more than most adventurers do in a decade.”
I couldn’t believe it. After all of that, those stupid unicorns had actually been trying to be nice? “But why didn’t Anthony tell me?”
“Maybe we should let him answer that himself,” said Dr. Bradley, looking over my shoulder.
I turned to see a familiar, round face staring back at me. After all that had happened, I didn’t feel an ounce of anger at the gnome anymore. Maybe he hadn’t been the friend I’d always wanted, but he didn’t deserve how I’d treated him. “I’m sorry I called you an elf,” I said finally. “I didn’t mean it.”
“No, I’m sorry,” said Anthony, and for once he wasn’t grinning from ear to ear. “I know I wasn’t always the best guide. I guess it was because I figured you could take care of yourself. The truth is, you didn’t need me at all. You’ve done great on your own.”
“You see, Jenny,” said Dr. Bradley, coming up beside me. “You may not have mastered magic, but you make people feel safe. You come up with solutions when they can’t see them on their own. That’s what makes you an adventurer. Without the skills of your people, the magical worlds would have perished long ago.”
It seemed strange to think that all my Hallmark card sayings and kindergarten lessons had made any difference. But I had to admit that they did seem to work pretty well in the magical worlds, even if I didn’t understand why. All I had to do was say things like “Mind your manners!” and “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt!” and everything tended to fall into place.
And the more time I spent in the regular world, the more I realized that I actually liked being an adventurer. When Halga and the frogs had appeared in my school and everything had gone into crisis mode, I’d been totally in my element. Maybe life as an adventurer wasn’t perfect, but I’d missed it. Being a normal girl wasn’t enough for me, not when adventuring was in my blood.
But no matter what kind of blood I had, it wouldn’t be enough to defeat Klarr. The sorcerer was the most powerful enemy I had ever gone up against. He didn’t just scare me—he made me want to go hide under my bed with a teddy bear. But I couldn’t let him win. Not anymore.
“Crong, do you think you can get the League together?” I asked.
The frog stood up tall. “Of course, Mistress, but what would you like us to do?”
“We’re going to storm Klarr’s castle.”
“Hooray!” said Ribba, clapping her hands. “I knew you wouldn’t let us down.”
I turned back to Crong. “Can you have the League meet us there?”
“You can count on it,” said the frog before disappearing with a determined Pop!
“Does this mean you have a plan of attack?” Dr. Bradley asked.
I wished I could say I did, but the truth was I had no idea what I was going to do. All I knew was that I couldn’t let Klarr harm Prince Lamb. “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “But if I really am the right person for this job, I guess I’ll figure it out. Will you keep an eye on my aunt until I get back?”
“Of course I’ll watch over your aunt,” Dr. Bradley said. “And I will keep an eye on you too. But I’m sure you’ll do splendidly, just like always.”
“Thanks.” I turned to Anthony. “Do you want to come with us?”
Anthony grinned. “Absolutely! I want to be there when you save the day.” He took a step forward and lowered his voice to a whisper. “By the way, I worked out a deal with the Committee so that your friends won’t get dosed with any more memory dust. You can tell them about your adventures as long as they swear never to tell anyone else.”
I was stunned. That was the first time Anthony had ever done anything truly nice for me. Maybe he really did care. “Thank you,” I finally whispered.
“It wasn’t a big deal,” Anthony said with a shrug. “I just had to promise to deliver some candy to the Committee every once in a while. Turns out the old crones love Tootsie Rolls.”
I smiled. I couldn’t wait to get back and tell Melissa and Trish about everything that had happened. If I made it back…
“All right, Jenny-girl,” said Anthony. “Are you ready to go take care of that crazy clown?”
I swallowed. Was I ready? Yes. This was what I was born for. It was time to be an adventurer again.
“Let’s go!”
Chapter 19
Ribba, Anthony, and I materialized behind a patch of trees just outside Klarr’s castle. I was ready for a fight, but the coast was clear. Crong and the League were nowhere in sight, which meant we had to wait. I hoped they’d hurry up and get here soon. Now that I was at Klarr’s castle again, I could feel the panic brewing in the pit of my stomach. I needed a plan. Some way to rescue the prince and to defeat Klarr for good. Then I’d never have to see that clown’s face again.
I replayed what Prince Lamb had said to me ages ago, about seeing Klarr’s moment of weakness. But what had caused it? I went over the events in my head again and again. Klarr had been attacking me, then Anthony had popped in and showered him with circus peanuts. But no, Klarr had winced in pain before then. It had been when…when Anthony laughed!
My mind started spinning. Was it possible? Was laughter his weakness? Maybe that’s why he hated mouths so much. A clown hating laughter was ironic, but Klarr wasn’t exactly the happy kind of clown. In fact, everything he did was intended to make others miserable. Maybe laughter really was his weakness.
Okay, my
theory was a long shot. But it was the best I had to go on.
There was a loud Pop! and Crong appeared, surrounded by a dozen other creatures of various shapes and sizes, about half of them with mouths. They all bowed when they saw me. Even Ribba bowed at my feet, which made my cheeks burn. It wasn’t like I was royalty or anything.
“All right, everyone. Gather ’round,” I said.
The members of the League huddled up like I was a coach and they were waiting for me to psych them up for the big game. All we needed were some cheerleaders. Or at least a couple of pom-poms.
“Tell us what you need us to do, Mistress,” said Crong.
Ready or not, it was game time. “First, we need to get inside the castle.” I turned to Anthony. “Do you think you can blast open the door?”
“Easy peasy,” he said.
“Then, I’ll need the League to fight off any guards so we can try to get into the castle. Once we find Klarr, we’re going to form a circle around him, and then those of you without mouths will try to deflect his magic. While those of you with mouths…will help me laugh in his face.”
There were a few murmurs and concerned looks among the League members as Crong hopped toward me. “I’m sorry, Mistress. Did you just say that we’re going to laugh at Klarr?”
“I think it’s the only way to defeat him,” I said, not mentioning that I could be completely wrong. If laughter turned out to be a huge mistake, we’d just have to find another way to beat him. Or lose all of our mouths, and maybe our lives, in the process. But it was better not to think about that.
The League still looked skeptical until finally Ribba jumped forward and said, “Jenny is the best adventurer there is. If she says it’s the only way, then we do it.”
That seemed to reassure everyone. I could have kissed Ribba’s slimy head, but I settled for giving her a grateful smile.
“Okay,” I said. “Everyone come up with something funny to think about, something that’s guaranteed to make you laugh.” The League members looked deep in thought. I tried to come up with a funny memory or image, but all I could think about was that first day when I’d arrived in Speak and seen hundreds of its mouthless citizens staring back at me with their hopeful eyes. I couldn’t let them all down, not again.
My Very UnFairy Tale Life Page 10