by Shannon Hale
They walked back in silence. Apple was too ashamed of herself to say anything, but Raven put a warm hand on Apple’s shoulder, as if she knew.
They stopped before the door to their dorm room, Apple hesitating, uncertain if she could face it again.
“Apple,” Raven started.
The door opened, and Maddie came bursting out, shutting the door behind her.
“Ah-ha!” she said. “I heard the Narrator say that Apple was hesitating, so I knew you were near. So the Narrator may have accidentally let slip that I should come to your room, and when I saw the mess, I thought, well, that’s not like Apple White! I mean sure, Raven is known to use the floor as a temporary holding place for dirty clothes and hextbooks and items of relative value. But Apple? Never. So I had an idea.…”
Maddie opened the door. She wasn’t alone.
Ashlynn sat on the floor behind a pile of Raven’s and Apple’s clothing, stitching up a rip in one of Apple’s skirts. Beside her a family of raccoons worked, peering at the tears a pair of chicken feet had made in skirts and blouses, threaded needles held in their nimble gray fingers.
Cupid and Cedar were examining the furniture. Cedar seemed to have an excellent eye for wood, and she’d hold the broken pieces of a dresser together while Cupid ran the tip of her arrow down the fracture, mending it.
“A keyboard is tough to fix, but I’ll do my best,” said Cupid. “Most wood seems to mend well. And glass, too, so that mirror shouldn’t be a problem—”
“Uh… you can leave that mirror broken,” said Raven.
Apple nodded. Just in case, she thought.
Hunter was fixing Apple’s bed, Lizzie making a new side table out of stacked cards that magically held together strong enough to support her lamp.
“Apple, I am here,” Daring said, pausing to flash a smile so brilliant Apple’s eyes started to water all over again. Then his arms dropped to his sides. “Though I’m not exactly clear what I’m doing. If you had a dragon that needed slaying, I could be courageous and victorious for you. But cleaning up…”
“It’s okay,” said Apple, “being here is enough.”
“I’m here, too!” said Briar, coming in for a running embrace. “Wow, I don’t know what happened in here, but I know my Apple pie, and I know this mess must be killing you. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. Look at this!” Briar held up a red-and-white color-blocked dress. “This used to be two dresses, and they were too messed up for Ashlynn to fix. But I designed a new dress out of the scraps.”
“Enchanting!” said Apple, holding it up to her front.
Dexter came from Raven’s part of the room holding an armload of clothes. His face turned bright red, and he adjusted his glasses, dropping the clothing.
“Raven! Sorry, I didn’t see you come in. I was just helping Ashlynn, I didn’t mean to touch your private stuff. But I did happen to see you have the new Lady Yaga album. Did you know she’s actually Baba Yaga’s niece?”
Raven and Dexter started sorting clothing while talking music. Briar helped Melody Piper set up her stuff to DJ the restoration party and then began hauling throw pillows in from her own room to decorate Apple’s restored bed. One of the pillows bore an ironed-on photo of One Reflection. Blondie began placing everything back just right. Ginger brought in a fresh batch of cookies for a snack. Cerise ran in the door, bringing glue and new paint. Kitty disappeared and reappeared here and there, returning things to their places.
“Apple?” said Holly, plucking out single hairs from her head for Ashlynn and the raccoons to use as threads. “Hey, I just wanted you to know, after you left Buff Castle, I talked to a servant there—I think his name was Plum or something?—and I told him what you’d said. And he took your advice and arranged it so the castle bought produce from both farmers. One of them was so happy he cried.”
“Thanks, Holly,” said Apple. She felt near some happy crying herself.
Maddie gripped Apple in a sudden hug. “I smintered your balcony throne, and you still saved me. Thank you.”
“Of course! Hey, Maddie, my worthy co-president, I want to make some changes at the school so what happened to you can’t occur again. Will you help me draft a proposal regarding the proper conduct of a student trial?”
“Absotively, my distinguished co-president,” said Maddie.
Raven crouched down by Cedar, who was examining the kindling the hutling had made of Apple’s wardrobe. Raven took a deep breath, as if afraid to speak what was on her tongue.
“Cedar, I know you can’t tell me a lie, and so I’ve been afraid to ask you, but I need to know. Is all the bad stuff that happened after Legacy Day my fault?”
Cedar winced, but she said, “Some of it. None of us are hermits living alone on a mountain. Everything we do affects other people. And you did a big thing. So, yeah, a lot of the chaos and anxiety and craziness the last couple of days was set in motion by what you did.”
Raven nodded. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
“That doesn’t mean what you did was necessarily wrong, and it doesn’t mean you’re to blame for the choices everyone else made, but you did affect it all in a big way, no question. Sorry, Raven.”
Raven stood up and faced the room. “Hey, everybody, can I say something?”
Melody turned down the volume.
“I didn’t want this to be my fault,” said Raven. “But some of it is. Pretending otherwise is acting too much like my mom, who did whatever she wanted and took no notice of anyone she hurt along the way. I’m sorry that the backlash of my decision hurt many of you.”
She glanced at Apple. Apple smiled back.
“I haven’t changed my mind about not signing the book,” said Raven. “But I know that many of you are feeling lost about what to do now—follow your destiny or write your own? I don’t know all the answers, but I’d like to lead a support group, I guess. We can meet here once a week. Anyone interested could come talk about destiny—to follow it or not—and if not, we can talk about what to do now. You know, lean on one another a bit, figure this out together.”
“I’ll be there,” said Cedar.
“So will I,” said Hunter.
Several other people voiced support as well.
“What a charming idea, Raven!” said Apple. “I’ll come to your support group, too, if that’s all right, just to lend a Royal voice to the discussion.”
“Of course,” said Raven. “Your perspective will be an asset.”
“Thank you,” said Apple. “I’m eager to appreciate your perspective better. For instance, I understand that you value choice over destiny. But what if my choice is my destiny?”
“Um, okay, you can still make that choice.”
“I’m not sure,” said Apple. “If you don’t play your part in our story, how do I get my Happily Ever After?”
“That might still happen,” said Raven, “even without me.”
“But I think the Snow White tale is worth fighting for. All our stories are worth fighting for. If we don’t retell them, they fade away.”
“The stories we write for ourselves by how we live our lives might be even better than our parents’ stories,” Raven said.
“Why risk the loss of all the old stories?” asked Apple.
“Can’t we retell them without living them?”
“Not according to Headmaster Grimm. Besides, living them is a great privilege, as well as a guarantee for a particular life. Without destiny, there’s no guarantee of any Happily Ever After, not just for me but for all of us.”
“With destiny, many of us were guaranteed an unhappy ever after,” Raven said. “Now at least we can choose our own lives.”
Apple’s heart was pounding. “But with choice there aren’t any guarantees. Maybe no one will get a Happily Ever After now. Why gamble away the ones we had in exchange for possibly none at all?”
“Because before there was no chance that everyone would get that happy ending,” said Raven, her voice rising. “Now at least there’
s some chance.”
“A chance?” Apple said. “You’re willing to risk all those happy destinies for just a chance? How do you know if anyone will get a—”
“I don’t!” Raven shouted. “No one knows! This is life and we just live it and hope for the best!”
Raven was even paler than usual, her eyes a bright purple, her hands clenched. Apple supposed she looked fierce: evil and powerful and scary even. But Apple kept picturing her as she looked hanging onto that hutling for dear life, hair wild, eyes wide, bumping along as they crashed through the room.
And Apple giggled.
Raven looked incredulous. She opened her mouth as if to shout back, but instead a laugh came out.
And then Apple and Raven were holding each other, exhausted from their sleepless night, and laughing so hard Apple thought she might split her seams. The more they laughed the harder it came, till Apple’s stomach hurt and eyes streamed. It had been a really long day.
Everyone was watching them, unsure if they’d lost their minds. Which was even funnier. And they laughed some more.
Apple wheezed, trying to get the laugh under control. Raven managed to stop first, though she was hiccuping now. Apple took a deep breath.
“We both want the same thing,” Apple said both to Raven and to everyone in the room.
“Yeah, Happily Ever Afters for ourselves and our friends,” said Raven.
“We just disagree how to get that.”
Cedar shook her head. “I still don’t know what choice I should make.”
“I think that’s okay, Cedar,” said Raven.
“It most definitely is,” said Apple. “We don’t have to decide what our entire lives will be right now.”
“We’re still in high school, for Grandma’s sake,” said Cerise.
“Right, we have plenty of time to make up our minds,” said Ashlynn.
“Or change them,” said Hunter. He cast a shy smile toward Ashlynn. “And this is a good place to be while I figure stuff out. I mean, all my friends are here. And the people I care a lot about.”
“I care about the people here, too,” Ashlynn said, her eyes on her stitching. “A lot. And if we don’t have to decide everything right now—”
“Off with their heads!” Lizzie suddenly shouted.
Apple stared. “Why?”
“Oops, I meant to say, ‘Here, here,’ ” Lizzie said. “Sometimes the wrong words come out.”
“Ooh, sometimes the wrong words can be the right words,” said Maddie, who was collecting loose feathers and stuffing them back into a pillow. “Let’s play a game. At the same time, everybody say the first word that pops into your mind. One, two, three!”
“Freedom,” said Raven.
“Family,” said Cerise.
“Color,” said Cedar.
“Fun,” said Briar.
“Handsome,” said Daring.
“Mice,” said Kitty.
“Doors,” said Blondie.
“Croquet,” said Lizzie.
“Rhythm,” said Melody.
“Snickerdoodles,” said Ginger.
“Whistles,” said Maddie.
“Love,” said Cupid. And Ashlynn. And Hunter. And Dexter, too. They looked at one another and laughed.
“Friends,” said Apple.
Blondie passed out bowls of porridge sweetened with a great deal of honey. Maddie produced a tea party seemingly out of her hat. Melody played a jam with a really great beat.
Apple’s dorm room was still a shambles. Some things would never be fixed, not completely. But there was porridge and tea, and friends that were trying. And Apple thought, Everything doesn’t have to be perfect right now. For the moment, trying is enough.
She sipped her tea and felt warm. She found a hanger and hung up the first mended dress. Then Briar pulled her into the center of the room, and Apple took a short break from working so she could dance.
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NESTLED BETWEEN THE EPIC PEAKS, the jabberwocky flexed its wings. It was delighted to be free of its tiny glass prison, and doubly delighted to have found delicious bears to eat on its way up the mountain.
But things were wrong in this slithy, little land. The sun moved in a straight line, and things remained a certain size and shape no matter how the jabberwock looked or screamed at them. Its intention had been to find a spot or a clime, an angle or a time where rabbit holes were large and the jabberwock could be made small. It would have burrowed inside, eaten the rabbits, and slept, unnoticed, until it felt right again. But for all it spun and ducked and searched and clucked, it remained fearsomely large. For all it dug and flapped and poked and slapped, the mountains did not become molehills and the trees of the forest did not become broccoli.
Clearly, this was not Wonderland.
What a wretched and mimsy place the Great Manxome Jabberwocky had been released into, and it did not like it at all. Its foods of choice were misplaced and every Rule of Nothing was broken. Things would need to be done. Iron, tree, and stone would need to be torn and rent and broken and bent until this place became home or until home became this place.
Lights flashed in the valley below, and the jabberwock snaked its long neck around to look. This was a land of creatures of skin and fur. But no other wocks or jubjub birds or even a single tove. And so many two-legs that walked like Alice and Hatterfolk.
Yes. There had been Hatterkin spied at its escape from the Uni Cairn. And the scent of The Cat and sounds of the Card Queen, too. There were pieces of Wonderland here. Pieces it would move, poke, and prod until the Dull Wrongness of this place transformed into the Splendid Wrongness of Wonderland.
The jabberwocky yawned with a mouth the size of a castle gate. First, it would have a nap. Then it would find the Hatterkin. What had it been called?
The beast twitched and then closed its eyes with a smile. “Maddie,” it whispered, and began to snore.
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It was an honor to return to Ever After High! Ogre-sized hugs to the creative team at Mattel who brought this world to life, including Cindy Ledermann, Lara Dalian, Emily Kelly, Christine Kim, Robert Rudman, Julia Phelps, and Talia Rodgers. Thanks for letting me join your storytelling party.
Courtly bows and rakish winks to the Little, Brown team, including Erin Stein, Connie Hsu, Andrew Smith, Melanie Chang, Victoria Stapleton, Christine Ma, Christina Quintero, Tim Hall, Mara Lander, Jenn Corcoran, and Jonathan Lopes. My, what a crew! Surely you qualify as a coven.
This book would not exist without the wicked skills of Dean Hale, my partner in crime, punishment, storytelling, and everything else. All the good parts are yours, baby.
New York Times bestselling author SHANNON HALE knew at age ten that it was her destiny to become a writer. She has quested deep into fairy tales in such enchanting books as Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends, The Goose Girl, Book of a Thousand Days, Rapunzel’s Revenge, and Newbery Honor recipient Princess Academy. With the princely and valiant writer Dean Hale, Shannon coauthored four charming children, who are free to follow their own destinies. Just so long as they get to bed on time.
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
A SPOONFUL OF PORRIDGE
CHAPTER 2
IN THE SERVICE OF DESTINY
CHAPTER 3
MADDIE CHATS WITH THE NARRATOR
CHAPTER 4
JUST BE HAPPY
CHAPTER 5
TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS
CHAPTER 6
MADDIE CATCHES UP WITH THE NARRATOR
CHAPTER 7
A SMILE AND A FRIEND
CHAPTER 8
TIME TO TAKE OFF THE HOOD
CHAPTER 9
A CHILDREN’S TREASURY OF FAIRYTALE HEIRLOOMS
CHAPTER 10
MAD
DIE GABS WITH THE NARRATOR
CHAPTER 11
THE UNI CAIRN
CHAPTER 12
BANISHED
CHAPTER 13
SUCH SKULLDUGGERY AS THIS
CHAPTER 14
WISP WHISPERING
CHAPTER 15
MADDIE CHATS WITH THE NARRATOR
CHAPTER 16
BLESSED BEAST OF TERROR
CHAPTER 17
FAIRY BALL
CHAPTER 18
THE OPPOSITE OF QUIET
CHAPTER 19
THE BUZZ OF A SPELL
CHAPTER 20
SMILE LIKE YOU MEAN IT
CHAPTER 21
IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE
CHAPTER 22
MADDIE PESTERS THE NARRATOR
CHAPTER 23
HAPPILY EVER AFTERS
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Mattel, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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