The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell (18 page)

“What if we get the riddle wrong?” Conner said. “He’ll kill us! Let’s just find another way across the stream—”

“Conner, don’t be silly! If a simple billy goat can answer a riddle correctly, I’m sure we can, too,” Alex reassured him. “Besides, there isn’t another bridge for miles.”

Conner grunted and crossed his arms.

“How are we so sure that this is actually
his
bridge?” Conner said. “I’d like to see some ownership identification before we continue.”

Alex ignored this.

“What’s your riddle, Mr. Bridge Troll?” she asked. “May I call you Mr. Bridge Troll?”

The bridge troll eyed the twins and jauntily swayed from side to side as he began the riddle.

“What can be as small as a pea or as large as the sky and is not owned by the person who purchases it?” it asked.

The wheels in Alex’s head began turning immediately. She loved riddles.

“That’s a tricky one!” Alex said, and pressed her index finger against her lips as she thought. “Do you have any guesses, Conner?”

“Nope, you’re on your own,” Conner said.

“You have one guess before I bite off your head, so guess wisely!” the bridge troll said, doing a small dance and clapping his hands.

“That’s it. I’m out of here!” Conner said. He walked off the bridge and slowly made his way down to the stream.

“Conner, what are you doing?” Alex called out.

“I’m crossing the stream!” Conner yelled back. “No bridge is worth that much trouble!”

He slowly stepped into the stream and began traveling across it. The water was freezing, but his frustration kept him warm enough that it didn’t matter. The water rose higher and higher as he traveled farther across it.

“It’s not that deep, Alex!” Conner said. “The current isn’t even that strong!”

He reached the middle of the stream, and at its deepest the water came to just above his waist.

“You’re cheating!” Alex said, and then asked the bridge troll, “Is that even allowed? Can he do that?”

“He isn’t the one who asked for the riddle.
You
are!” the bridge troll said.

Conner had crossed the stream by now and was soaking wet. Alex continued thinking about the riddle.

“So, it can be as small as a pea and as large as the sky, so basically you’re telling me that it can be any size. And the person who buys it doesn’t own it, so that means someone else owns it,” she thought out loud.

“Hurry up, Alex!” Conner shouted.

“Oh, hush!” Alex said. “I’m going to say that it must be…
a gift
! A gift can be any size and the receiver is who owns it, not the person who purchases it!”

The bridge troll stopped swaying from side to side and slumped over.

“That is correct,” the bridge troll said disappointedly. “You may pass.”

Alex clapped her hands together and did a small jump. She extended her hand out to offer the troll a handshake, but he ignored it. Instead, he crawled back below to wherever he had jumped out from.

“See!” Alex said once she’d met up with her brother on the other side of the bridge. “I knew I’d answer it correctly!”

Conner shook his head. “And I’m sure I’ll have to hear about it for the rest of our lives,” he said. “But let’s try to make it to Cinderella’s palace by sundown, okay?”

The twins continued their journey into the Charming Kingdom. They were excited to see different scenery as they traveled. The evergreen trees they had seen so much of became scarce and were slowly replaced by large oak
trees. There were also vast fields of tall grass and wildflowers everywhere they looked.

“It’s so beautiful here!” Alex said.

They had been walking for hours and still saw no sign of anything. Conner was practically dry by now.

“Where is everything?” Conner asked.

“The Charming Kingdom is a very big place,” Alex said. “It’s going to take a while to get to the palace.”

It began to get dark, and the twins became very worried; there was no shelter in sight. Soon, the moon was their only source of light.

They walked a short distance off the path and found a grassy area among a few trees that they assumed (and hoped) was safe, and they decided to spend the night there. Conner tried making a fire by rubbing two sticks together but was unsuccessful.

“Now I really wish I had signed up for Boy Scouts,” he said.

It was their first night sleeping outside. Both kept waking up every hour or so to make sure they were still safe, because every sound terrified them.

“What was that?” Alex gasped in the middle of the night.

“That’s an owl,” Conner said. “Or a very inquisitive dove, but either way I think we’re safe.”

The next morning, the sunrise woke them. They restlessly got to their feet and returned to the path.

“We’re running out of food,” Alex said after eating one
of their last apples. “We’ll have to stock up as soon as we find a market or something.”

“I’m so tired of rolls and apples. I’m starting to think we should have asked Froggy to pack us some flies,” Conner said. “Gosh, I would kill for a cheeseburger! Maybe that’s why everyone eats each other here; they just haven’t discovered fast food yet.”

They found a small pond on the side of the path and splashed some water on their faces.

“We look so tired,” said Alex, looking at their reflections in the water.

The twins heard a galloping sound coming from behind them on the path. They turned to see a small cart of firewood being pulled by a gray horse. It was steered by a man with a big, floppy, green hat.

“Let’s ask him how much farther until the palace!” Alex said, and ran over to the cart. “Excuse me, sir?”

“Whoa,” the man said, slowing his horse to a stop. “May I help you?”

“How much farther until we reach Cinderella’s palace?” Alex asked.

“Are you traveling by foot?” the man asked.

“Unfortunately,” Conner said.

“Then it’ll take you days to get there,” the man said.

Alex and Conner looked at each other, completely exasperated.

“I’m delivering this firewood near the palace tonight,” the man said. “I can give you a ride if you’d like.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Conner had climbed aboard the cart.

“Thank you so much!” Alex said. “That is so kind of you!”

The twins traveled with the man for the rest of the day. Conner made himself comfortable on top of the firewood and napped almost the entire trip, waking up every so often whenever they hit a bump in the road. Alex, on the other hand, took full advantage of having an actual human to talk to from the fairy-tale world.

“What’s your name?” Alex asked the man.

“Smithers,” the man said.

“Where are you from?” she asked.

“I grew up in a small village in the northeastern part of the Charming Kingdom,” Smithers said.

“What’s it like here?” Alex said dreamily. “My brother and I… um… haven’t been around this kingdom very much.”

“The Charming Kingdom is a quiet place,” Smithers said. “It has many small villages on the outskirts of the kingdom and many wealthy estates in the center, near the palace.”

“Have you ever been to the palace before?” Alex asked.

“Oh, yes, I make many deliveries there during the year,” he said. “In fact, tonight the king and queen are having a huge ball.”

“They are?” Alex’s eyes doubled in size. She shook Conner awake. “Conner, did you hear that? Cinderella’s
having a ball tonight! Isn’t that wonderful? What are the chances?”

“What? Oh… er… that’s great,” Conner said, and then immediately fell back asleep.

“Why are they having a ball?” Alex asked.

“They’ve had one every month since their wedding,” Smithers said. “It’s a celebration of their marriage.”

“What’s Queen Cinderella like?” she asked.

“Absolutely beautiful, and the best queen our kingdom has ever had,” Smithers said with a big grin. “Not too many people were eager to accept her when she first moved into the palace, though. Many of the aristocratic families were upset that Prince Charming hadn’t chosen one of their daughters to wed. But she’s overcome all that since.”

Alex could tell they were getting much closer to the palace. They passed more small villages, which grew in size and population as they went along. She was so excited to be so close to people, actual
people
, who had spent their entire lives in the fairy-tale world. She wished with all her heart she could say she’d grown up in the Charming Kingdom.

“Do you ever find it overwhelming?” Alex asked Smithers. “Does it ever get frightening living here and knowing that at any moment a fairy could fly by and grant you a wish, or an ogre could run up and eat you?”

Smithers looked at her curiously. “Does such a place exist where people can’t unexpectedly be helped or hurt?”

Alex couldn’t think of any. Maybe this world and the world she was from weren’t so different after all.

The cart began passing large estates. Everywhere they looked, they saw another huge, elegant home. They were all so bright and colorful, with pointed roofs that curved on the sides. Some were made from wood, others from brick, and some were covered completely in ivy.

It was something straight out of a storybook, and Alex kept reminding herself that she was in one.

“We’re almost at the palace,” Smithers said.

The cart began to vibrate as the dirt path beneath them turned into a cobblestone street. Shops and markets started popping up on the sides of the street as they traveled into the city. They shared the road with other carts and carriages. Villagers and townspeople alike walked alongside them and went about their day-to-day routines of shopping and trade.

“Are we there yet?” said Conner, stirring back to life.

The cart rounded a corner onto a very long and wide street. At the end of the street was an enormous palace.

“I’ll take
that
as a yes,” Conner said.

The palace took Alex’s breath away. It was perfectly symmetrical and smooth, as if it were made out of sky-gray porcelain. Three prominent towers in the middle of the palace shared a base with a gigantic clock large enough for the whole kingdom to see. The palace almost seemed fake, it was so majestic, and was grander than they had ever imagined.

“This is where I’ll drop you off,” said Smithers, pulling his cart and horse over to the side of the street. “Best of luck to both of you youngins. Enjoy the town!”

“Thank you so much!” the twins said together.

They tried to offer him a few gold coins as a thank-you, but Smithers insisted that they save their money, and then went on his way.

The twins walked around the town for a good while. Everyone seemed to be buzzing with anticipation for the ball later that evening.

They found a small market and were able to purchase fresh fruit, vegetables, and breads. Alex kept trying to make small talk with every person she encountered, but most of the townspeople ignored her.

Conner kept rolling his eyes at his sister;
everything
she saw excited her.

“I don’t know how I’m going to survive traveling with you if you keep up this constant state of excitement,” Conner said. “It’s exhausting, and it’s really getting on my nerves.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex said. “We’ve been around so many trees the last couple of days. I’m just so excited to see all the people and their—ooooh! Look at that doorknob on that building! It’s in the shape of a slipper! Isn’t that cute?”

After a busy afternoon of sightseeing, they found a quiet hill that overlooked the town, and they sat under the shade of a large tree. The sun was starting to descend, and the twins grew anxious at the thought of another day ending.

“What’s our plan?” Conner asked.

“Let’s see what the journal suggests,” Alex said, and pulled it out from her school bag. She flipped through the pages until she came across the section about the glass slipper.

“How are we going to get into the palace?” Conner asked.

Alex began to think of a plan, but she was distracted by a long line of carriages driving down the main street of the town toward the palace. They were elegant and colorful,
and each was of its own design. Each carriage had at least two horses pulling it, a coachman, a footman riding on the back, and a number of passengers inside.

“The ball,” Alex said. “We’ll have to sneak into the ball!”

“Uh-huh,” said Conner, contemplating this information. “And what are we supposed to wear? Look at us! We’re not dressed formally enough! And I bet we smell really fresh after walking for three days straight with no showers!”

“I have an idea,” Alex said.

She opened their bags and took out their blankets. She grabbed hold of Conner and began wrapping the blanket around him, folding it strategically in certain places so it would stay up. Alex wrapped herself in the other blanket.

“There,” Alex said. “Now we look like we’re wearing sensible robes!”

“We look ridiculous,” Conner said.

“Do you have any other ideas?” Alex asked him.

“Do you think there’s a fairy godmother hotline we could call?” Conner asked.