CHAPTER 2

Time to Duel

Maxine does not appear alarmed by this course of events. “The book came alive!” she says excitedly as the sword presses harder against her wide neck. “The pirate jumped right off the page. Hi, pirate!”

The pirate growls at her, and I yank on Maxine to get her to move. As the pirate charges toward us, water flies from his dirty, ripped clothing, and blood trickles from a fresh cut above his right eye. He looks ghostly, like you could walk right through him, and for a minute, I am sure I’m seeing a mirage, but then he keeps coming.

“Who dares disturb me slumber?” The pirate narrows his eyes at Flora as she finally makes it to our side. “Are ye trying to steal me treasure?”

“No one is stealing your treasure, sir.” Flora picks up the book on the floor. “If you would kindly step back inside your story, we can return you to your nap.”

The pirate looks around. “Where am I? Where is me ship? I smell sorcery at work.” He bares black teeth. “Prepare to duel, me mateys!” He smacks the book out of Flora’s hands and a half-dozen pirates spring from the book’s pages.

Students dive out of the way as the pirates fan out, slashing their way through the library, poking their swords at bookshelves, and knocking books to the floor. One book flutters open, and a horse pops out. Another book opens, and a flock of birds flies toward the atrium dome.

Rapunzel races toward a pirate who is trying to steal a gold Princess Snow statue off its pedestal. “Someone stop the vagrants!”

“Avast! Stop! Follow the pirate code!” Blackbeard is shouting, but the pirates don’t listen. Soon, one is hanging from a chandelier, another is climbing floor to floor, and the others are terrifying students and fairy library workers.

Fiddlesticks. This is all my fault.

I look around for something to stop the first pirate from hitting Flora or Maxine, but Ollie is way ahead of me. He has his sword out in seconds.

“If it’s a fight ye want, it’s a fight ye will get!” Ollie races after the pirate heading up the nearest staircase, breaking through the velvet rope that sections it off. The two clash swords, the pirate attempting to push Ollie back down the way he came.

There is a crash behind us. Harlow, Wolfington, and Blackbeard are trying to stop a pirate from pulling a cannon from the pages of a book.

Flora covers her mouth with her hands. “They’ll blow the library to bits before our librarian even gets here!” She runs off to help them, leaving Ollie on his own.

“We have to help Ollie,” I say to Jax.

“On it!” Jax says. He whistles for Blue, our favorite magic carpet.

The rug zooms over, and I use one of his tassels to pull myself up.

Jax hops on behind me. “Blue, get to Ollie!”

“Don’t forget the book!” yells Maxine, tossing it up to me before we fly away.

Kayla flutters alongside us. “Jocelyn and I will corral the other pirates while you get them back in the book and help Ollie.”

“Reform school teamwork,” Jax says. “I like it!”

“Hey, pirate? Where are you running?” Jocelyn conjures up a fireball for a pirate threatening a group of kids, sending the pirate running right toward Jax’s open book. I hop off Blue and block the pirate’s escape route. He’s stuck between me, Jocelyn, and Jax. I give him a little kick, and he falls headfirst into Jax’s open pages, which suck him back inside.

“Six, seven, eight more to go!” Maxine counts.

“Gillian!” Harlow yells from the floor below. She’s whisking several students out of the way of an approaching pirate. “The pirates cannot leave the library! If they get loose…”

Her expression is so dark that I know I don’t want to know the end of that sentence.

“Got it!” I shout.

Hearing this, the pirate heads toward the library exit. Jax and I swoop down on him, with Jocelyn aiming another fireball, but this pirate is too quick. Before the fire can singe his trousers, he jumps to a floor below us.

“I could use some help up here!” Ollie shouts.

I look up and spot him sword fighting on a ledge.

“He could fall!” Kayla shrieks. “I’ll go spot him!” She flutters up to help him.

“They’re going after the princesses!” I hear someone cry.

There are too many of them. Books are falling, kids are crying, and the sound of swords clanging grows louder. Rapunzel is kicking and spinning into pirates, knocking them away from Ella. She’s holding her own, but the pirates don’t stop. I hear Kayla cry and look up in time to see Ollie almost fall off the ledge.

“We have to get these pirates back in the book now,” Jax shouts.

“You don’t think I know that?” I ask. I whistle loudly. The closest scallywag turns and looks at me. I hold the book out in front of me. “Time to go home!”

The pirate laughs. “We’re never going home!”

I narrow my eyes at him. “That’s what you think!” I jump off the rug and throw the open book at him, hoping it will grab the pirate and suck him back inside. Instead, the pirate catches the book in one of his filthy hands.

Oops.

“Thanks, Gilly,” Jocelyn snaps.

The pirate laughs again. “Foolish lass! You can’t beat a pirate!”

He and his friends have the royal court surrounded. One is holding a sword to Ella’s neck. Another keeps Jocelyn at bay. Harlow, Kayla, and Ollie are still above us, but for how long? A third pirate has Blackbeard pinned to a wall, and Wolfington is trapped on a floor below. How did the tide turn so quickly?

I have no weapon and my friends are trapped, but I have always liked a challenge.

“Step away from my friends!” I demand.

The pirates all turn toward me. Gulp.

“Boys, we’ll finish this rug rat first,” a pirate says as I start to slowly back away.

Suddenly, there’s a roar so loud that it shakes the windows. It sends the birds from the open book into flight and makes fairies hold their pointy ears. But that sound is nothing compared to the sight of a beastly man dropping four stories and landing between me and a band of unruly pirates. The room collectively gasps.

The beast does not waste time. Within seconds, his hairy hands have snatched the pirates’ book and opened it to a random page. With another loud roar, he scares a pirate into jumping back inside to avoid his wrath. Then the beast quickly goes after the others, and the same thing happens over and over again.

Freed, we wordlessly move out of the way as the beast runs on all fours after the final pirate, who has escaped to the second level. The beast leaps so high and fast that he outruns the scallywag, cutting him off by a fairy librarian station. There is another ripple of gasps as the beast throws the book at the pirate. That move didn’t work for me, but the beast’s aim is much better. The book hits the pirate in the face, which sucks him back into his storybook world.

The room is eerily quiet as the beast walks over to the book, picks it up, and holds it securely closed.

“Stay in there!” he roars, his deep, throaty roar reverberating off the walls. His rounded back is rising and falling rapidly as he tries to catch his breath.

The pixie sitting on the shoulder of a goblin next to me topples off in fear.

No one moves. Neither Flora nor Wolfington approach him either, which is why I’m surprised to see a woman rush up to him. She’s petite and girlish but obviously older, with long, brown hair piled on her head and the rosiest cheeks I’ve ever seen. Her dress is golden in color and looks like a tapestry from the walls around us. It’s obviously very expensive and yet nothing like the princess dresses I’ve seen. She hands the beast a small, glittering, blue vial, and he snatches it from her, swallowing it in one gulp.

Maxine hits me so hard that I fall backward into Jax. “Do you know who that is?”

“It’s Princess Beauty!” Ollie supplies. “And that must mean that beast is her prince!”

Beauty and the Beast are our new professors at Fairy Tale Reform School?

Even Jocelyn looks stunned.

The beast burps. In the back of the room, I hear a pixie giggle.

The creature whips around to see where the noise came from, and I finally get a good look at him. Oh my Grimm, he’s scary! And yet not. He reminds me of Professor Wolfington, who has been known to revert to his wolf side when needed, but this metamorphosis is different. I watch in awe as his hairy face becomes smooth and his long fingernails and horns start to recede. As his body seems to shrink down to normal size, his hair changes to a long, dark mane that frames his pale skin. He blinks big, blue eyes that look more kind than frightening.

“Say hello, darling, or you’ll scare them,” the woman prompts.

Darling?

The beastly man grunts.

“Darling,” she tries again in a singsong voice.

He sighs and rolls his eyes. “Fine! Hello, students!”

His voice is still deep and menacing, but human. A murmur of hellos echoes in the room. Then his face darkens. “First things first: Who was the foolish child who opened that book?”

All eyes in the room are on me. Jax and I make eye contact.

For the love of gingerbread. No one can actually prove I was the one who took the book, can they? There are hundreds of people here, and the pirates caused a huge commotion and—

“Girl!” He points to me. “Come here now!” His voice makes the stained glass windows shake.

Beauty steps in front of me. She smells like rose petals.

“Darling, that’s no way to talk to a student,” she says in a wispy voice. “What did I tell you about first impressions?”

“But she could have destroyed the library before you ever got to use it!” he barks. “And we came all this way! What if Allison Grace had gotten hurt? I told you teaching here wasn’t a smart idea!”

Flora clears her throat.

“No offense,” he mumbles.

Flora steps forward. “Prince Sebastian, I can assure you, nothing like this will ever happen here again.”

Ollie nudges me. “She does remember what school she’s talking about, right? Things always happen here.”

“See?” Beauty rubs the prince’s arm. “This is going to be a wondrous adventure for us. Deep breaths in…and out. Try it with me, Seb,” she says soothingly.

We watch as he takes several breaths before he calms down. Slowly, his appearance starts to change. He’s all man now. A very cranky-looking man giving me the stink eye.

“My apologies for being gruff, but you did open the book without permission,” he says.

“Apology accepted, and just so you know, the book opening was an accident,” I tell all the adults. “I tripped, and the book popped open.”

Ollie coughs. Maxine squirms. Jax runs a hand through his glossy hair. Kayla’s wings flutter faster.

What do they want from me? To confess to the royal court, HEAS, my old and new professors, and the whole school that I almost destroyed the new library? No. Way.

Prince Sebastian narrows his eyes at me. “You tripped?”

He’s not buying it.

Beauty steps in. “What’s done is done. What’s important is that we follow the rules in the future, right?” She looks at me and I nod. “What is your name, child?”

“Gillian.” I attempt a curtsy. After all, Beauty is royalty.

“Gillian Cobbler is one of the students who first suggested the new program you will be teaching, Seb,” Rapunzel tells him and smiles at me. “She is a clever student.”

“Gillian Cobbler.” He begins waving his hands around wildly. “Why am I not surprised? Of course you opened the book! You’re the reason he’s on the run again! You couldn’t hold him off in the castle until he could be apprehended, could you? You let him get away!”

I blink rapidly. How does he know about that?

“She’s also the reason we got these wonderful new positions,” Beauty says graciously.

The prince snorts. “Rumpelstiltskin is out there doing who knows what, and we’ve had to uproot our lives and pull Allison Grace away from the safety of home all because of you.”

“I don’t think he likes you,” Jocelyn whispers in my ear. With glee, I might add.

“How are you so familiar with Stiltskin?” I ask curiously.

The prince growls and walks off muttering.

“Professor Wolfington?” Headmistress Flora appeals.

“I’m on it,” says my favorite teacher. Maybe they can have a beast-to-beast chat.

“You’ll have to excuse him,” Beauty tells us. “Stiltskin has also caused much trouble in our kingdom. He’s gotten many of our subjects to join his Stiltskin Squad. It’s a sore spot with Sebastian since he was unable to stop him. But hopefully now that we’re here…”

“Don’t worry, B. Our goal is to find him and bring him to justice.” Rapunzel puts a hand on Beauty’s shoulder. “In the meantime, we’re just glad you’re here.”

“When was the last time we saw you?” Ella asks. “Was it Rose’s bachelorette party?”

“Yes, when Rosie got her head stuck in that willow tree on our hike?” Snow says with a laugh.

“Of course!” Beauty says. “We had to send for a flock of sparrows to peck her out.” She shakes her head. “That girl. So headstrong. How is she?”

Ella hesitates slightly. “A few more months at her summer cottage and some work with our fairy godmother Olivina, and she should be as good as new. We hope.”

Beauty nods. “A good fairy godmother like Olivina can do anything.” They all murmur in agreement.

Professor Harlow clears her throat. “I hate to interrupt such jolly merriment, but, Beauty, maybe you could tell the students a bit about the library before they head to class. This is a school, after all, and we can’t stand around all day reminiscing.” She gives Beauty a beatific smile that looks semi-sinister to me. The Evil Queen has that effect.

“Oh, of course!” Beauty says. “Raz told me she goes by her first name, so I hope you all will do the same for me. Beauty, or B, is fine,” she tells the students. “Sebastian would prefer that you call him Professor, of course. I will send your library class schedules via magical scroll this evening. They will contain library hours as well as policies on taking out books. As you’ve seen, certain books can only be used in the library.” She smiles. “But it’s such a lovely space. Why would you want to read anywhere else?”

Certain books can’t be checked out? Great! I bet any book on Rumpelstiltskin falls under that category. I raise my hand. “Can we take books out today?” Wilson squeaks in my pocket in agreement.

“Gillian.” Headmistress Flora sounds exasperated. “Have you looked around? We have much cleaning up to do before any books can be checked out.” She purses her lips. “Or should I say you have a lot of cleaning up to do.”

“Aye, detention is in order, lass,” says Professor Blackbeard. “I’m happy to run this one if you like, Flora, ol’ girl.”

“Beardie, I told you, we have to go over a few more detention rules before I can allow you to handle some of the detention periods.” Madame Cleo giggles. She swims across the mirror in Blackbeard’s hand, her mermaid tail glistening silver in the pale-blue waters. Her tail stops swishing. “If only I could remember what those rules are.”

“For now, Miss Gillian and her friends who were involved can serve detention in the library by helping clean up,” Flora says.

“Why are we in trouble?” Jocelyn complains. “We didn’t open the book.”

“You didn’t stop her either,” Flora reminds her. “You’ll all help Gillian clean up.”

“They can’t do it alone,” says Beauty. “This collection has some unique books that have to be handled delicately.” Her brown eyes light up. “But my daughter, Allison Grace, knows these books well and can help you. Allison?” She looks around. “Where are you, dear?”

A girl slightly younger than me steps slowly out of the crowd, her head bent so low that her brown, curly hair covers her face. She’s wearing a fluffy, pink gown with shiny gold shoes with tiny butterfly clips on them. Anna always wanted Father to make her shoes just like them. When the girl looks up, I suck in my breath. She even looks like Anna. Allison Grace stares at me shyly, and I feel a pang in my chest. I miss Anna so much that it hurts.

“This is Allison Grace,” Beauty tells us. “She’s going to be a new student at FTRS.” Beauty pulls Allison Grace’s hair off her face. I watch the girl move closer to her mother.

“If she’s royal, why isn’t she going to Royal Academy with the other royals?”

Of course that question comes from Tessa, our Royal Ladies-in-Waiting leader, who is eyeing Allison Grace with interest.

“If she went to RA like I once did, she’d be away from us.” Beauty hugs her daughter. “Our family agreed that keeping her close is for the best.”

“If Father had his way, I’d be homeschooled,” Allison Grace murmurs, and I’m the only one who laughs. She looks at me, and we share a smile. I can’t get over how much she looks like my sister. Is anyone else noticing the resemblance?

“You were homeschooled before,” the prince says, walking back over with Professor Wolfington. “I don’t see what’s so bad about continuing the same schooling in Enchantasia.” He looks at Flora. “Allison isn’t one for crowds.”

“Father,” the girl whispers, her face heating up.

“Which is why it will be wonderful for Allison Grace to take smaller classes, like the one you’re teaching,” Beauty says reassuringly. “Allison Grace is excited, aren’t you?”

“I guess.” She avoids looking at any of us.

“Sheltered much?” Jocelyn asks us.

Jax shrugs. “It happens sometimes. When you’re royal, you’re alone in a castle so much that sometimes you can’t relate to anyone outside those walls. Another reason I’m glad I go here.”

Our conversation is interrupted by the sound of a loud foghorn.

Blackbeard cheers. “Jolly roger, it’s working! Much better than chimes, eh, Flora?”

“That’s the new sentencing alarm?” Harlow looks livid. “I thought we decided on claps of thunder. These children coming in need to know we mean business!”

“I wanted a lovely wind-chime sound.” Madame Cleo sighs. “We don’t want to scare them off.”

The professors start bickering, and Miri interrupts.

“Headmistress?” The nearest mirror glows red and pink. “We have an emergency sentencing that Pete would like you to handle right away.”

“Now?” Headmistress Flora sighs and claps her hands to get the room’s attention. Kids look up from the bookstacks, reading nooks, and library information centers. “Children, you are dismissed and should go to class. There will be time to explore the library later.”

A collective groan is uttered at the word class.

It’s followed by what sounds like a roar. I see Beauty nudge her husband.

My friends and I use the ensuing mass exit chaos as a distraction to try to get out of our punishment. Harlow points a red fingernail in our direction when she sees us slinking out.

“Uh-uh. Not you all,” she says, her lips pulling into a tight smile. “You’re on cleanup duty. Wait here. The elf cleaning crew will get you some cleanup tools.”

“Thanks a lot, Cobbler.” Jocelyn drops onto a feather bag chair.

I sit down beside her and watch the students file out, along with the royal court and the reporter from HEAS who is still asking questions. Beauty and the prince are talking quietly with their daughter on their way out the door. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but suddenly, Allison Grace laughs and hugs both her parents. I feel a small pang, knowing my own sister isn’t around to do the same thing.

Pete and Olaf burst into the library, each holding the arm of a curly-haired boy whose mocha skin is covered in what looks like flour. I don’t recognize him. Pete pushes the boy into the center of the room and throws his hands up.

“This one needs maximum security! He’s only been in the village a week, and he’s already… He’s… He’s… Three times! One week! The flour factory, the Three Little Pigs, and… He’s got to go here even without any parent permission. I insist.”

I haven’t heard Pete this flustered since he apprehended…me.

Flora reaches for the scroll that contains the boy’s rap sheet. “Caught stealing rolls from Gnome-olia Bakery on Monday afternoon.”

“I was hungry, okay?” The boy looks up at Flora with big, brown eyes. “So were some of the other kids on the street.” His mouth tightens. “I’d do it again if I could.”

“Same as me,” I whisper to Jax. “I used to steal bags of rolls for my family from there all the time.”

Flora keeps reading. “Two days later, you were caught pinching clothes from Combing the Sea.”

“I stole from there too!” I nudge Jax again. That’s where I got Anna’s dragon-tooth comb.

The boy hangs his head. “I’ve been in the same rags for weeks, okay? Besides, I didn’t just steal them for me. I was looking for a gift for my mum.”

“And then today, you were caught stealing a rib-eye steak from the Dwarf Police Squad Annual Picnic.”

Now that’s something I haven’t done.

“I’d marinated that steak for days!” Pete rails. “Finest piece of meat this side of the kingdom! Ordered it weeks ago for the party! Olaf and I couldn’t wait to dive into it, and this kid stole it right off the grill and tossed it in the trash!” He glares at the boy in his possession.

“You shouldn’t eat meat,” the kid says. “Cows have feelings too, you know. My cow, Milky Way, is my best friend.” He looks down again. “Or at least he was, till Rumpelstiltskin stole him and my mum. I’ve been on my own ever since.”

I feel a pang of sadness mixed with anger for this boy whose life seems to mirror my own. He’s alone because of Stiltskin. I’m without Anna for the same reason. I step forward to speak up, but Wolfington cuts in.

“In Enchantasia, putting your worst foot forward has consequences. What’s your name, boy?”

The kid looks Wolfington straight in the eye. “Jack Spriggins.”

“Jack Spriggins? You’re the one who climbed the beanstalk!” Maxine cries. There is a murmur among the staff and my friends.

This boy is the Jack? My brothers and sisters loved hearing Jack’s story when Father would tell it at bedtime. He told it so often that my siblings memorized it. I rack my brain thinking of the key details. Beanstalk, giant, golden egg, huge reward. But if that’s true, why is Jack still stealing?

“That was just a bedtime story,” Jax says. “There’s no such thing as a city at the top of a beanstalk.”

“Tell that to the giant who fell in my yard,” Jack fires back, and the two narrow their eyes at each other. “There are giants up there and treasures like you’ve never seen.”

“And yet you’re stealing bread,” Jax reminds him.

“Jax,” I whisper. He’s being rude.

Jack continues to look at Jax. I mean Jack. I mean Jax! Wow, this is going to be confusing. “You have no idea what I’ve been through, Prince,” Jack says. “Tangoing with Rumpelstiltskin and then getting away is no picnic.”

My ears perk up. “You’ve seen him? When?”

He shrugs. “I can’t remember. It all happened so fast.”

“He’s telling tales again. And how do you know I’m a prince anyway?” Jax counters.

Jack looks him up and down. “I can tell.”

“Enough shop talk,” says Pete, leading Jack away. “Let’s get you signed in, Spriggins.”

I watch Pete lead Jack away and wish I could go after them. I have to know more about what happened between him and Rumpelstiltskin!