The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell (26 page)

“Like Hagatha,” Alex said. “She only knew what the riddles were. The man she told them to had to figure out what they were on his own, but he could have been wrong.”

“What if we found Hagatha and asked her for her opinion—?” Conner began.

“Hagatha is dead,” the Tradesman said.

“Dead?” Alex gasped. “How did she die?”

“She fell into the Thornbush Pit,” the Tradesman said.

“What is the Thornbush Pit?” Alex asked.

“Good heavens, child, are you daft? After the curse was broken on the Sleeping Kingdom, all the thornbush and shrubbery that had grown wild around the kingdom was cleared out and dumped into a large and deep pit,” the Tradesman said. “Hagatha was collecting some of the thornbush for her home and fell in.”

“That’s awful,” Alex said.

“She called for help for days, but no one would help her; no one wanted to help an old hag,” the Tradesman said. “Just before she died, Hagatha cursed the thornbush so
that it would grow onto anything or anyone near it and pull it straight to the bottom, where she was trapped, forever.”

“That’s intense,” Conner said.

“Since then, however, it’s been used as a wasteland. People from all over the kingdoms journey there to drop off anything they never want to see again,” he said.

“I wonder if there’s anyone else we could speak to?” Alex said.

“Whatever journey you were on, I’m afraid it’s over,” the Tradesman said. “Once you’re here, you’re here, and there is nothing you can do about it.” He turned away from them.

A commotion came from up the tunnel leading into the dungeon. Trolls and goblins led the men and women who had been serving in the tunnels and the common room back into their cells. They all looked as if they could sleep for a year if permitted.

“Time for sleep!” a troll ordered, and then extinguished all the torches in the room with a bucket of water. “And if anyone makes a sound, no one will be fed tomorrow!” The trolls and goblins left the dungeon chuckling.

The room was pitch-black. Alex found Conner in the darkness and they rested beside each other.

“I just don’t want Mom to worry,” Alex said with big, teary eyes. “The longer we’re in here, the longer she’s going to be alone.”

“I’m sure Grandma is with her,” Conner said. “They probably have the entire police department out looking for
us. It’ll be an interesting conversation once we get home and tell them where we’ve been all this time.”

“Thanks for being positive, Conner,” Alex said.

Despite the little comfort her brother gave her, Alex cried herself to sleep.

Conner couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking that, just a week before, he had been safe and sound in his own bed, fearing nothing but schoolwork and Mrs. Peters. And now, here he was, in the dungeons of another dimension, facing a life of slavery. How quickly times had changed….

Conner had just dozed off when he suddenly awoke; he felt like someone was watching him. He opened one eye and saw, standing on the other side of the cell door holding a single candle, the troll girl they had seen in the common room. She had been watching him sleep.

“Can I help you?” asked Conner, very creeped out.

“What’s your name?” the troll girl asked him in an airy and engaging voice.

“Why do you want to know?” he asked.

“Because I’d like to know everything about you,” she said with a dreamy smile that made Conner feel sick.

“I’m Conner. Who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Trollbella,” she said. “I’m a troll princess.
My father is the Troll King. Do you have a girlfriend, Conner?”

Oh no, Conner thought. She had a
crush
on him. He was suddenly so grateful for the bars between them.

“Um… can’t say that I do,” Conner said awkwardly. “It’s hard to meet people after having been recently enslaved by trolls and goblins.”

“Oh, I know!” Trollbella said, with big flirty eyes. “Trolls and goblins are the worst! I hate living here. I would move away if I could. Everything is so unorganized and everyone is so mean, and don’t get me started on troll boys! They don’t know how to treat a lady!”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Conner said, hoping a goblin would walk in and take him away to work in a tunnel and save him from this situation.

“I’m just a hopeless romantic myself,” Trollbella said, batting her eyelashes and twirling one of her pigtails. “Can I call you Butterboy?”

“Definitely not,” Conner said.

“Conner, what’s going on?” asked Alex, waking up.

“Who is
she
?” Trollbella asked. Her playful expression fell into a threatened frown.

“Relax, this is just my sister,” Conner said.

“Hi?” said Alex, very confused about what was happening.

“I don’t like her,” Trollbella said, pointing at Alex.

Alex was taken aback. Had she done something wrong?

“She grows on you,” Conner said. “And if I had to be enslaved for life with someone, I’m glad it’s her.”

“Have you enjoyed your stay with us so far?” Trollbella asked.

“Not really,” Conner said. Was she kidding or just stupid?

“We’d really like to get out of here if you could help us,” Alex said.

“I’m not talking to you!” Trollbella yelled at Alex. She then turned her head slowly and smiled at Conner. “I may be able to give you freedom in exchange for something else.”

“What’s that?” Conner said. Both the twins would have been on the edge of their seats if they weren’t on a dirty dungeon floor.

“A kiss,” Trollbella said, staring passionately at Conner.

Conner gulped. “Well, I guess we’re going to be slaves forever.”

Trollbella frowned. Alex hit Conner upside the head.

“Kiss her, you idiot, and then we’ll get out of here!” Alex said.

“Don’t hit my Butterboy!” Trollbella said. “And I never said I would let
you
go, I only said I’d let
him
go.”

“I think he’d be more inclined if you promised to let both of us go,” Alex said.

“No, I wouldn’t! Please don’t speak on my behalf,” Conner chimed in, but neither of them was listening to him.

Trollbella’s nostrils flared up. She didn’t like negotiating. She turned around and disappeared without saying a word.

“Way to go, Conner!” Alex said. “That may have been our only chance to escape!”

“There’s no way I’m kissing
that
!” Conner said. “Freedom or no freedom, you’re asking way too much of me!”

The twins both jumped back from the cell door. Trollbella had quickly returned with a key; she was ready to make a deal.

“Pucker up, Butterboy,” Trollbella said, and pushed her head up against the bars of the cell door.

“I can’t do this. I physically can’t do this!” Conner said.

“Do you ever want to see home again?” Alex asked him.

Conner looked as if he were about to vomit and cry at the same time. At a snail’s pace he approached Trollbella with his lips extended. He wasn’t going fast enough for Alex, so she pushed him toward the cell door and Trollbella grabbed hold of him through the bars. She planted a big, fat, juicy kiss on him.

“Plaaaah!”
Conner said, breaking away from her. He was wiping his mouth manically and gasping for air. Trollbella had a huge, satisfied grin on her face.

“That was the worst thing you have ever done to me!” Conner said, pointing at Alex, feeling completely betrayed. “How could you?”

“All right, Trollbella,” said Alex, ignoring her brother’s dramatics. “A deal is a deal. Let us go.”

Trollbella’s smile dropped into a scowl. She reluctantly unlocked the cell door and opened it. And as she did, Alex caught sight of the other slaves in the dungeon. The few that were awake had been silently and intently staring at the twins. They had never seen anyone be freed before; they hadn’t thought it was possible.

“You’re free to go,” Trollbella said.

The twins briskly walked out of the cell, but as Alex passed Trollbella, she swiftly grabbed the key and pushed the troll princess into the cell, slamming the door behind her.

“Let me out of here right now!” Trollbella screamed. “This wasn’t part of the deal!”

“I can’t leave without the others,” Alex said. She ran around unlocking the doors on all the cells. “Everyone wake up! We’re getting out of here! Come on!”

She ran over to the pile of waste on the side of the room and retrieved all their things.

“Guards!” Trollbella howled. “Guards! The slaves are escaping!”

“Trollbella?” Conner said. “Please be quiet! Would you do that? Please? For your Butterboy?”

Trollbella blushed. “All right, Butterboy. For you, I’ll be quiet.”

The slaves all stirred to life. It took them a moment to understand what Alex was saying; they had dreamed about this day for so long. Many eagerly jumped up and left their cells, but others hesitated, including the Traveling Tradesman.

“Come on,” Alex said. “What are you waiting for?”

“Are you two mad? They’ll skin us alive if we try to escape,” the Tradesman said. This worried some of the others, especially the children.

“Would you rather die in your cell or die trying to get back the life they stole from you?” Alex said.

Alex’s words must have inspired them, because they all gathered around her. Even the Tradesman was willing to take a chance for freedom. He nodded at Alex as he joined the group.

“Does anyone know the best way out of here?” Alex asked.

“We need to get to the tunnels!” a man said.

“Yes, the tunnels!” a woman agreed.

“How do we get there?” Conner asked.

“We’ll go up to the common room and past the stone arch. The trolls and goblins have built tunnels leading to every kingdom. That’s how they get around,” the Tradesman said.

“Do we need to worry about anyone catching us?” Conner asked.

“They’re all asleep by now,” Trollbella said with a sigh from her cell, “even the guards. That’s why no one came when I called.”

“All right, let’s go,” Alex said. “Everyone be as quiet as possible and help the older and younger ones in the group.”

Everyone nodded, and Alex led the way out of the dungeon, praying it would be the last time any of them were ever in this room again.

“Until we meet again, Butterboy,” Trollbella said, and blew Conner a kiss.

“Whatever,” Conner said, and then followed the others out of the dungeon.

Trollbella smiled from horn to horn. This had been the most exciting day of her entire life.

The group of escapees traveled up the tunnel to the common room and snuck past a line of goblin guards. Just as Trollbella had said, they were asleep while standing guard.

They finally reached the common room and covered their mouths in horror at what they saw. All the trolls and goblins that Alex and Conner had seen carousing on the way in were spread across the floor, passed out. How were they going to get to the other side of the room without stepping on one of them?

Some were snoring, others twitched in their sleep. Even the Troll King and the Goblin King were sleeping in their thrones. You could barely see the floor between the unconscious monsters sprawled across the room.

“Quickly and quietly!” Alex whispered to the group. “We can do this; just be as careful as possible.”

They began tiptoeing around the sleeping creatures. Carefully they put their feet between the monsters’ spread-out limbs, between the broken plates and goblets across the dirt floor, and between the knocked-over chairs and tables.

Every time a troll or a goblin made any noise or movement, everyone froze, their hearts stopped for a moment. If
any of the monsters were to wake up and see their slaves walking through the room toward the exit, it would be a disaster.

They were almost at the stone tunnel. Alex stopped in the middle of the room and made sure everyone passed her safely and that no one was left behind. Eventually, everyone had made it except her brother, who remained very still in the back of the room. He was staring at the Troll King and the Goblin King with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“Conner! What are you doing?” Alex asked in her loudest whisper.

“Look!” he mouthed, only a little whisper coming out. “Look at the crown! It’s the crown!”

Alex looked up at the stone crown above the Troll King’s and Goblin King’s heads.

“What about it?” Alex whispered.

“It’s the crown for the Wishing Spell!” Conner said. “ ‘A stony crown that’s made to share, found deep within a savage lair’!”

Alex could feel her heart beating in her throat. Conner was right. It fit the description perfectly.

“What are you two doing? We’re waiting for you!” the Tradesman said from the stone tunnel.

Alex and Conner looked at each other. They knew they couldn’t leave without the crown.

“Go ahead without us!” Alex said.

“Suit yourselves!” the Tradesman said, and then left with the others down the stone tunnel.

“I’m going to get it!” Conner whispered to Alex.

“Be careful!” Alex said.

Conner slowly moved through the room. He accidentally kicked a goblet, and it made a loud
ding
, causing a few of the trolls and goblins to twitch in their sleep.

“Sorry!” Conner mouthed to Alex. He climbed up onto the throne platform. The crown was pretty high up; he would have to climb up onto the thrones to get it.