The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell (37 page)

“This lunatic broke down one of my kingdom’s gates and rode her horse all the way into my throne room, lassoed me, and has dragged me all the way here!” Red said. “And now she’s going to kill me!”

“Yes, I am!” Goldilocks said.

“Wait, why are you going to kill Queen Red Riding Hood?” Froggy asked.

“Because she’s mental!” said Red.

“She knows why!” Goldilocks said.

They reached the edge of the pit, and the twins grew very nervous that they were about to witness a murder.

“They’ll hang you for this!” Red shouted.

“They won’t be able to prove anything,” Goldilocks said. “They’ll never find your body!”

Goldilocks stood Red up on her own two feet. She was still tied up, and Goldilocks began aggressively pushing her toward the pit’s edge.

“Please don’t do this!” Red pleaded. “It was such a long time ago! We were all just kids.”

“We haven’t been kids for years,” Goldilocks said. “You have had plenty of chances for redemption.”

“I love him, too! I was just doing what I thought I had to!” Red said.

“You just couldn’t stand that I had something you didn’t!” Goldilocks yelled.

Goldilocks went in for the final push, but Red dodged it, and Goldilocks almost fell into the pit herself. Red ran away from her as fast as possible, running along the edge of the pit. The plants below moved with excitement; they knew one of them was bound to fall in.

“Come here!” Goldilocks yelled.

“Get away from me, you fugitive floozy!” Red said.

They did an entire lap around the pit, and Red ran into the castle ruins. Goldilocks took out her sword and began swinging it at her, barely missing her by inches.

“This is awful!” Alex said with her hands covering her cheeks.

“This is awesome!” Conner said. “Five bucks says Goldilocks wins!”

The twins wanted to help, but there was nothing they could do without getting into harm’s way.

“We used to be such good friends!” Red said, constantly ducking Goldilocks’s sword.

“You don’t know what a friend is!” Goldilocks said, her swing coming much closer each time. “You could have cleared my name the day you became queen of that pathetic kingdom!”

“I never even wanted to be queen in the first place! I just wanted to impress him!” Red confessed. “Keeping you an
outlaw kept you away from him! It wasn’t anything personal!”

“Personal?” Goldilocks said, absolutely infuriated. “Forcing me to live a life of running and committing crimes to survive because you wanted to steal my boyfriend wasn’t personal?” She swung her sword hard at Red and knocked a big chunk out of the ruins’ stone wall.

Red ran up the decaying staircase; it was the only place left to go. Goldilocks ran up after her, and Red was cornered. The only way to escape was to jump into the pit.

“If you let me go I’ll clear you name!” Red begged.

“Liar!” Goldilocks said.

“I’ll give you my castle! Half of it is being rebuilt because of a fire! It looks wonderful!” Red said.

“I don’t want your castle! I want revenge!” Goldilocks said, and pushed Red off the staircase.

Red screamed and fell down toward the pit. The vines reached toward her, happy to finally be fed. Suddenly, a rope came out of nowhere and lassoed Red around the waist just as she fell into the pit and was swallowed up by the vines and thornbush.

“What the—?” Goldilocks said.

The twins and Froggy turned to see a woman riding a black horse on the other side of the pit holding the other end of the rope.

“It’s the Huntsman’s daughter!” Conner yelled and pointed at her.

Red screamed as the vines pulled her down toward the
bottom of the pit. The Huntsman’s daughter tied the rope to the horse and took off. Red was yanked out of the pit and dragged behind her.

“Not again!” Red screamed. She was dragged off into the horizon, now a captive of the Huntress.

“Son of a witch!” Goldilocks said, watching a stranger ride off with her chance at revenge. She hopped down from the staircase, and Porridge joined her by the ruins.

“What just happened?” Conner asked, completely overwhelmed by all the excitement.

“I don’t know,” Alex said. “But after seeing the Huntsman’s daughter, I have a bad feeling.”

“Who was that woman?” Goldilocks asked.

“The Huntsman’s daughter,” Conner said. “She’s working for the Evil Queen.”

“The Evil Queen?” said Goldilocks, growing even angrier.

“We have to get as far away from this place as possible,” Alex instructed.

“Oh no,” Froggy said softly. He looked more frightened than the twins had ever seen him.

Out of the distance, the Big Bad Wolf Pack crept toward them. The wolves were all growling, more irritated and vicious than ever before. Steam was practically coming out of their nostrils. They surrounded the twins, Froggy, Goldilocks, and Porridge.

Goldilocks stood in front of the twins. Even she was scared. Normally she wouldn’t have considered the wolves
to be more than she could handle, but the way they stared at their group, hungry and irritated, she knew this wasn’t going to be a sporting encounter in the forest.

“After what you’ve put us through, we ought to claw your hearts out!” Malumclaw growled through gritted teeth at the twins. “And look who’s decided to join them! I guess we get Red Riding Hood
and
Goldilocks tonight!”

The rest of the wolves howled their excitement.

“Just to let you know, you
just
missed Red Riding Hood,” Conner said.

“Nice try,” Malumclaw said.

“What do you want with children and an overgrown frog?” Goldilocks asked.

“We’re taking the children to the Evil Queen,” Malumclaw said. “We have no interest in the frog….
Dig in, boys!
”

Froggy’s face turned a pale green. The wolves moved toward him, snapping their massive jaws in his direction. Froggy turned to the twins.

“I’m going to get help, children,” Froggy whispered to the petrified twins. A wolf leaped toward him, but Froggy jumped twice as high into the air, and the wolf missed him. Froggy landed on the other side of the circle the wolves had formed around them and took off running. A few wolves chased after him as he disappeared into the distance.

“Froggy!” Alex yelled after him. All they could do was pray he would be all right.

“Porridge,” Goldilocks said, “I want you to get out of
here, you understand? This is one battle we won’t be able to win.”

The horse was hesitant to leave her at first, but then nodded. She took off in the same direction Froggy had leaped. A wolf tried to attack the horse as she left, but Porridge kicked the wolf with her hind legs, and the wolf landed in the Thornbush Pit. He whimpered the entire way to the bottom as the vines wrapped themselves around the wolf and dragged him down to the bottom forever.

The rest of the wolves weren’t going to allow any more escapes.

“We’re going to see the queen,” Malumclaw growled. “And if anyone else tries to run off, it’ll be the last thing you do.”

The twins trembled. Goldilocks put her hands on the twins’ shoulders, leaned close to them, and whispered into their ears. “Be brave, children,” Goldilocks said. “Courage is one thing that no one can ever take away from you.”

T
he wolves led the twins and Goldilocks across the dead and deserted land. They walked for miles and miles across the rocky ground, never stopping for anything. The wolves kept a close eye on their captives; if the twins so much as breathed too deeply, they would get a threatening growl.

The wolves had confiscated Goldilocks’s sword and Alex’s bag, so they couldn’t get to the Wishing Spell items. Alex closely watched her bag being carried in one of the wolves’ mouth; everything she and her brother needed was
in there. Their chance at going home was just a few feet away and yet out of reach.

The twins didn’t know if they were more angry or scared. Just minutes before they had been positive they were on their way home, and now they didn’t even know where they were, where they were going, or if they would even survive what was ahead. Being so afraid gave them an odd sense of courage. They were being taken as prisoners to one of the most infamous villains of all time; they didn’t see how things could get much worse.

The area they were traveling through seemed foreign even to Goldilocks, who the twins were certain had seen
every
part of
every
kingdom. Her eyes darted around with as much curiosity as the twins’ did. The land looked different from the rest of the Sleeping Kingdom. This land didn’t seem to be sleeping like the rest of the kingdom did; this land seemed to have been murdered.

A decrepit castle finally came into view in the distance. It was made of stone but looked so frail that a strong wind could knock it over. Alex and Conner knew without having to be told that this was where the wolves were taking them, and somewhere inside the Evil Queen was waiting.

They reached the front of the castle, and Malumclaw howled. A rickety drawbridge was slowly lowered, and a towering man with a graying beard dressed in several layers of animal skins greeted the wolves.

“She’s been expecting them,” the Huntsman said.

The wolves guided the twins and Goldilocks over the
drawbridge. As soon as the twins entered the castle they wanted to leave it. All the dust and cobwebs didn’t make for a pleasant welcome.

The Huntsman pushed the twins down a stony corridor, through a set of large doors that creaked horribly, and into a long great hall. The great hall was empty except for a few chairs and a small table.

Red Riding Hood was tied to one of the chairs, with a large white scarf tied around her mouth. Her eyes were teary and puffy. She was excited to see the twins at first, happy not to be the only prisoner, but then began to panic under her restraints when she saw Goldilocks and the wolves behind them.

The Huntress stood next to Red, keeping a careful watch over the fidgeting queen.

In the middle of the room, facing two tall mirrors, one gold and one black, was a hooded woman. She was very still and very silent.

“Seat them,” the woman said, still with her back toward them. Without any doubt, the twins knew she was the Evil Queen; they could just feel it. They had never been so tense in their lives.

The Huntsman and the Huntress forcefully sat Alex, Conner, and Goldilocks down in the chairs and tied ropes around their torsos, hands, and feet.

“Easy!” Goldilocks said, glaring at the Huntress, who tripled her knots. “Did anyone ever tell you it isn’t nice to kidnap other people’s hostages?”

Red let out a high-pitched cry and mumbled something along the lines of “This is so unfair.” The twins now understood why she’d had a handkerchief in her mouth in the first place.

“We’ve brought you the twins plus a bonus, Your Majesty.” Malumclaw lowered his head in a scornful and mocking bow. There was heavy tension between the two.

“Did anyone escape?” the Evil Queen asked.

“Just an overgrown frog and a horse,” Malumclaw growled.

“Then we don’t have much time,” she said. “Put the items on the table.”

The Huntsman seized Alex’s bag from the wolf carrying it and placed it on the table next to the twins. The Evil Queen had her own collection of Wishing Spell items on display here: a lock of golden hair, a chunk of Red Riding Hood’s basket, and the other glass slipper.

“A deal is a deal!” Malumclaw said. “We’ve brought you the twins. Now give us Red Riding Hood!”

Red Riding Hood whimpered and said something like “Why is this happening to me?” through the handkerchief.

“You will have her when I am finished with the children,” the Evil Queen said. “Now wait outside.”

“That was not part of our bargain!”
Malumclaw bellowed, and his pack snarled behind him.

“I said wait outside!”
the Evil Queen ordered. Her voice was so overpowering that the twins felt tears form in their eyes from the mere sound of it. “You can have Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks,
and
the children when I am satisfied.”

The wolves were infuriated, but they left the hall and waited outside the castle.