Jack and the Beanstalk (Faerie Tale Collection) (8 page)

Jill swiftly made her way to the broken door of the cage and climbed inside. She could tell the baby was frantic. Hurrying over to the pretty box, she tugged against it, trying to flip it over. At least the baby was still alive.

“Urgh,” she grunted. It was too heavy. She needed her brother’s help.

“Jack?” she called. Glancing around the ruined place, she began tossing pillows and blankets aside. “Jack? Rachel?”

She heard a soft moan behind her and whipped around to see who it was. “Rachel?” she asked as she approached the doubled-over form, Rachel’s long pale hair streaming down her back. There was a mattress over her head and arms that Jill quickly pulled off to reveal a beaten-up Jack, his hands still clasping Rachel’s. “Jack!” she called, but he did not move an inch. He was lying on his side, flush against the bars of the cage. It looked as though he had tried to absorb as much of the impact as he could to protect Rachel.

Rachel groaned again. She slowly pulled her hands out of his and pushed her way to a sitting position. Rubbing her face, she brushed aside the hair that was covering it, exposing a large welt running down her forehead, cheek, and neck.

The baby’s howls were becoming desperate.

She looked at her brother.
Please do not let him be dead. Please do not let him be dead!
“Jack!” Jill cried as she rushed forward and pressed her hands against his chest. “Jack! Wake up!” It was then that she noticed one of his legs was bent awkwardly.

“What is that sound?” Rachel muttered. “And Jill! How long have you been here?”

Jill decided now was not the time to answer useless questions. “The sound is the baby. She needs help. Right now.”

“Verity?” Rachel sat up more fully. “Where is she?”

Jill pointed. “In the box, but I cannot lift it. Jack! Jack!”

“Goodness!” Rachel looked around and, seeing the music box, pulled herself all the way up, clinging to the bars. “Help me,” she called.

Jill left her brother and hurried over. Together they heaved and pushed with all their might until they were able to lift the box on its side, with the latch at the top.

The baby screamed in fright at the movement, her muffled cries growing in intensity.

“Hush, Verity,” Rachel cooed as she unlocked the thing. “I am coming. It is almost over, baby.”

The lid sprang open and a very red-faced, sweaty Verity, along with several pillows, came toppling out. Jill leaped forward and caught the baby up in her arms. For such a little thing, she could surely cry. After a few moments of the girl’s tears, Rachel held out her arms and Jill gratefully passed the child on before hastening back to her brother.

“Jack!” she called. “Jack!” This time she yanked on his broad shoulders to try to wake him.

“No.” Rachel fell to her knees, the baby cradled against her. She gasped. “No. Do not tell me he is gone. He cannot die while I yet live. He cannot. He saved me—he saved me and the baby.”

Jill took a deep breath. “We do not know if he is dead. There is not time for theatrics until we know he is truly gone.” She hovered her hand over his mouth and nose to see if any air was coming out. She could feel nothing. Looking around the area, she found a thin piece of gold about the size of her palm that had come off the door. Placing that just above his mouth and nose, she watched while Rachel sniffled, calming her tears.

Please let him live.

Please let him live.

Please let him live.

Just as she was about to give up, a small cloud of steam from his breath formed itself upon the gold. Yes. He was alive. “He is just stunned!” She smiled at Rachel. “He is alive.”

“Thank the heavens!” Rachel collapsed against the mattress that was tossed aside and leaning upright against the cage. “What do we do now?”

“I do not know, but I imagine whatever we decide, we better make it quick before the giant comes back.”

Rachel grimaced. “Who knows what he will do to us then!” She looked down at the child in her arms. Verity had stopped crying and was down to a few fast-paced whimpers now that she was safe again.

“The poor baby,” Jill whispered. “What a rough time of it she has had.”

Rachel shook her head. “You have no idea. I cannot imagine what would have become of her if I had not been captured too. It breaks my heart just thinking of the fear she has experienced already.”

“Well, there is no need for any more suffering. We have to get out of here.” Jill glanced over at Jack, seeing again that his leg was twisted. She leaned over and positioned it better. “It would be wise for us to think of a way to get him out of this castle on our own, in case he does not wake up.”

“He has to wake up. We cannot do it without him. He has to.”

Jill saw the golden cage door and walked over to it. “What if we dragged him on something like this?” Tugging on it, she saw that it weighed too much to pull on her own. “Never mind. I had forgotten how heavy gold is until this moment.” She walked around the settee to see what else could be of use in the room. When her eyes alighted on the curtain tieback still lying upon the floor, she quickly snatched it up and dragged the whole thing behind the sofa. “What about this? I was hoping to hide it earlier, but he came back too soon.”

“So it was you who caused Gleeflak to fall!” Rachel gasped. “We had no clue what he was even speaking about.”

“I did not plan it. I merely wanted to use the rope to escape, but did not have enough time to conceal it with me.” Jill lugged it up to Jack. “Here, help me entwine these together in a series of knots to make a suitable mesh to drag him.”

“You mean to leave sometime tonight, before Gleeflak wakes up in the morning?”

“No.” Jill shook her head. “I mean to leave this instant. We do not know if he will come back again to check on you once he realizes what he has done. Hopefully we will be long gone if he does.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

THE GIRLS SCURRIED TO intertwine the long tieback into netting. It took just over a quarter of an hour to accomplish the chore, and then the tricky part was figuring how best to get Jack on it. After another good ten minutes, Jack was on the mesh with little Verity giggling upon his chest. Jill’s pack was used to block off the lower end so the child would not tumble out without them aware.

Rachel pulled one corner while Jill took the other. Once they were able to get the net moving, it was quite simple to keep up a fast-paced movement due to the silky ropes, and ended up being an easier challenge than either expected. They were through the crack in the door and out the of the palace courtyard, sliding through the castle gates, before even a full five minutes had passed.

“This is perfect!” Jill exclaimed as they went on the path leading to the beanstalk.

Jack groaned.

What was happening to him?

It felt as though he were traveling
under
a carriage instead of
in
it.

Oomph! He winced as his back hit another stone and risked opening his eyes. The late-afternoon sunshine was blocked by slowly passing treetops. Indeed, he was traveling, but not as fast as it felt like, and certainly not as fast as a carriage.

He heard giggles and glanced down. There perched happily on his chest was sweet little Verity in all her brown curls. “Well, hello there,” he croaked in barely a whisper.

Making out the chattering of Jill and Rachel above him, he looked up to see what was going on. They both seemed to be pulling on a blue net of some kind and merrily babbling away.

“Hello?” he croaked again, but they did not hear him.

Just then they went over another rock, and this time it jabbed him directly in his shoulder. “Ahhh!” he cried out. Something must be wrong with his arm. That should not have hurt so badly.

“Jack!”

The moving stopped, and Rachel was hovering over him when he opened his eyes. “You are awake! Finally!”

He grinned and brought a hand up to run his fingers through the long blonde hair spilling upon him. “Yes.” Tugging softly on a section of her locks, he brought her head forward, eager to taste her lips after so long.

“Jack!” She laughed and mockingly scolded him. “We cannot kiss now—the baby will be flattened.”

“Jill, help a man out,” he called, his eyes never leaving Rachel’s. “I have not been able to kiss my fiancée properly this whole day.”

His sister chuckled as she removed Verity from his chest, and Jack wasted no time in bringing his beautiful Rachel to his lips.

“I love you,” he murmured against her mouth. “I love you more each time I see you.”

“Hmm…” She sighed and kissed him back before raising her head and saying, “I love you as well. Though, if you scare me like that again and pretend to be dead when you are merely asleep, I shall kill you.”

“What?” He smirked. “Come here, you.” He pulled her down and kissed that delicious mouth once more.

“This is good, but perhaps heading home would be better,” Jill interrupted.

Rachel smiled and pulled back. “She does have a point.”

Jack struggled to sit up. “How long have I been unconscious?”

“About an hour or so, I imagine,” Jill answered. “How are you feeling? Your leg was pretty crooked; do you think you could walk?”

“My leg?” He moved them both with ease. “What are you talking about?”

“Truly? Perhaps the angle you were lying in made it seem worse than it was.” Jill held out her hand. “Here, allow us to assist you and we will see if you can stand.”

Rachel held her arm out as well and he grasped both hands as they hauled him to a standing position. He winced as fire ripped through his shoulder, but did not cry out again—no reason to alarm the girls. But he knew his left shoulder was painfully wrenched.

Stepping forward, he was happy to note his legs were fine. One ankle was definitely tender, which caused him to hop a bit, but nothing he could not shake off. He would put his full weight on in it a few minutes’ time. He held out his arms and turned for the girls’ inspection. “I am well. Do you see? Now let us get going before Gleeflak decides he would like to be friends again.”

He bent over and collected the mesh. Did they really do this by themselves? “Have I ever told you both how decidedly ingenious you are?” he asked as he looked up.

“Do not stare at me!” Rachel exclaimed. “It was all Jill’s doing. If it were up to me, we would still be in that crooked cage waiting for the giant to come back.”

Jill brushed the comment aside. “No, Rachel is being silly.”

“I am not. I had decided I would find a way out of the palace on my own if I had to, but when the time came to escape, it was the furthest thing from my mind. I tell you, Jill is incredibly resourceful.”

His sister blushed. “And have you met Jack?” she asked. “He taught me everything I know.”

“Yes, well, we could sit and compliment each other all day—and I see you females would prefer to do just that—but let us get this baby wrapped up and go home!”

Jill laughed while turning to Rachel. “And then there are days when I cannot stand the man and I want to kill him. But I usually do not mention such things in the company of my friends.”

Chuckling, Rachel shook her head. “Believe me, I know all about wanting to throttle him. The thought passes my mind quite often.”

“And you both love me dearly for it. I know.” He collected the rest of the netting, and while tossing it aside said, “If one of you will strap Verity to my back using Jill’s pack, we can be on our way.”

“How right you are! He is just like you!” Rachel said as she helped reposition the food items and settled the baby inside.

They readjusted the wrapping of the pack to allow Verity’s legs to dangle out, and then placed it on him.

Jack bit back the pain as his arm twisted when he put the pack on, but thank goodness Verity did not weigh much and so did not overly burden that shoulder. “Are all of my womenfolk ready, then? Can we finally leave now?” He grinned at them.

Jill rolled her eyes and pushed past him. “We have been ready for ages. We have been waiting upon you, sleepyhead.”

Rachel laughed as she approached him, sliding her hand into his. “Yes. Take me home.”

“Very well.” He bounced the baby a bit to adjust her better and then they were off.

In no time at all, they were approaching the tips of the tall beanstalk.

“So this is how you arrived here?” Rachel exclaimed.

“Well, when one bargains with a witch, one should never be surprised at what means one is given to complete the task,” Jack replied as he looped one leg around the stalk and began to climb down. “It is quite safe,” he called back. “Jill, help Rachel tie her skirts up so she will not get caught on the leaves and such.”

It was much easier to climb down than it had been to go up, and as long as Jack stayed at the bottom of the group, he figured he could catch one if she should fall. The sun was close to setting as they neared the base of the beanstalk and first heard the great roar of Gleeflak.

“Jack?” Jill had never sounded more frightened.

“Yes, I heard. Let us move—quickly now.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE GROUP MOVED DOWN the stalk at a much more rapid pace than before. All at once, nothing mattered but the safety of the village spread out below them.

“We are almost there!” Jill shouted.

“Hurry!” Jack answered back. “Do not dawdle—move faster!”

He was about two hundred feet from the ground when he noticed a roaring coming from below. He glanced down and saw a large group assembled, hopefully to welcome them home. It would seem that word had spread far and wide—they were clapping and cheering.

Jack felt the trembling of the stalk the instant Gleeflak climbed on it. “Go, girls! Now. We have no more time. He is on the stalk with us!”

“We felt him!” Rachel called out as she jumped from coiled stalk to coiled stalk.

“Help!” Jack shouted to the group. They were cheering so loudly, no one heard. “Stop!” he attempted again. “Please stop! We need help!” He was nearing close to about fifty feet from the ground, the girls much higher up, when someone finally heard him and hushed the group.