CHAPTER 16

Music of My Heart

Stiltskin’s house is bigger than it looks from the outside. We move past dorm-style bedrooms with bunk beds, common rooms filled with jars of candy, and even a second kitchen. Pots and pans crowd the sink, and flour covers the table. Finally, the house opens up to an atrium with a dome-like glass ceiling. In the center is Alva’s statue. And it’s sitting next to the golden harp. The wood looks strong yet weathered, as if it’s been around for a long time, and flecks of gold shine on the strings. A shadow crosses the atrium glass, and I look up. One of Erp’s giant-sized eyes is watching us through the glass.

“Go away!” Anna shoos him. “You’re going to give us away!” Erp’s eye moves out of view. “There are too many people in this room! Someone is going to trigger an alarm.”

“While you guys try to get the harp to play, we’ll go to the dungeon and try to rescue the others,” Ollie suggests. “We’ll meet back here. Okay?”

“Yes.” Anna looks relieved. “I don’t have a key to the cells, but there must be one down there somewhere. You guys are good at picking locks, aren’t you?”

Ollie salutes her. “I’m on it, Captain. Who wants to help?”

“My mum and cow are down there,” Jack says. “I’m definitely going.”

Kayla and Maxine volunteer too. Jocelyn decides to keep watch at the door with AG. Jax walks over to the harp and attempts to strum the strings. There’s no sound, but it doesn’t try to zap him at least. He’s not evil.

“See what I mean?” Anna tsks. “It won’t even play for a royal.”

Since when does Anna say royal like it’s a bad word?

I step around the harp, looking at it from all angles.

“Are you ready to sing?” Anna asks hopefully. “I know the harp will play for you. It knows how hard you’ve fought to find me and how true your love is.” Her eyes are like saucers, and I worry she’s going to cry again. “You’ve always looked out for me.”

“You really mean that?” I ask. As a hard lump develops in my throat, I realize just how badly I needed to hear her say those words. She really does know how sorry I am for pushing her away. I love her so much and just want her to be happy. That’s what I’ve always wanted, even if I never said it till now.

“Of course,” Anna says. “You’ve always been there for me. Now it’s my turn to be there for you.” She gives my hand another squeeze, and I beam. “Sing something.”

I try to think of a song from my heart, a song that means something to both of us. “What about Father’s lullaby? The one he always sang at bedtime.”

“Yes! The one he sang on the evenings he was actually done making shoes in time to see us off to bed?” Anna says. “Do you still remember the words?”

“How could I forget them?” I ask.

“Be ready, guys!” Jocelyn says, running back over. “If this works, everyone is going to need to pitch in to carry this thing,” Jax, AG, and Jocelyn gather around the harp.

“I’m sure the harp can be heard all over the city,” Jax adds. “He’ll know we’re here and send everyone after us. We’ll have to get to the beanstalk fast.”

“I’ve brought a few extra hands.” Ollie, Kayla, and Maxine are back, and they’ve got a group of twenty kids who have definitely seen better days. Many of them look familiar. They’re still in their FTRS uniforms, but their clothes are tattered and their faces dirty. Porter looks thinner than I remember, and the twins from the village look like they haven’t slept in weeks. They all file around the harp. Erp’s eye comes back into view. Jack rushes over to me in a panic.

“My mum and cow weren’t there,” he says. “Where could they be?”

“We’ll find them after we do this,” I tell Jack. “We won’t leave without them.”

“Gilly.” Jax sounds like he’s going to argue.

“We have to help them,” I insist even though the stakes are piling high against us. How are we getting all these kids down the stalk and the harp too? “We’ll be okay.”

Anna takes my hand again. Her brow furrows worriedly, like it would when I’d bring her a present that she knew had been stolen. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be.” I place one hand on the harp and take a deep breath. I’m not really a singer—and I’ve certainly never sung in public—but I know the words to this song backward and forward. I look at Anna as I begin to sing:

When the sky has gone from day to night,

I tuck my little ones in tight.

Soft and snuggled in your beds,

I hope that warm thoughts fill your heads.

I don’t hear any sound at first. But around the third line, I feel a rush through my bones. My body starts to tingle, starting at my head and spreading quickly to my toes and to my fingers like an electric charge is shooting through my veins. My eyes widen in surprise, and so do Anna’s.

“Something is happening!” Maxine cries as the harp strings begin to come to life creating the song’s melody. “Keep singing!”

I love to sit and watch you dream,

While lacing shoes and sewing seams.

I’d sew one hundred thousand shoes

To make all of your dreams come true.

And if I had to start anew,

I’d do it all again for you.

My children, my heart, my dearest ones,

Sleep well until the night is done.

The tingly melodic sound is breathtaking. The harp matches me note for note, as if it always knew what I would sing. Even though I know the music means Stiltskin isn’t far behind, I feel very calm, like I’m meant to be here right now. Around us, everyone’s eyes brighten at the lovely melody. Even Erp is listening. I’m doing it!

With Anna by my side, and the harp playing the melody of my heart, I feel happier than I have in months. I hold the final note as long as I can, knowing it’s the moment of truth. Everyone closes in on our circle to help move the harp. Jack touches it again, and it easily lifts off the ground as if it weighs next to nothing.

Jax starts to cheer as we lift it off its pedestal. “Let’s get out of—”

KABOOM!

The door to the atrium bursts off its frame, flying across the room and almost taking out half the kids. People dive out of the way as smoke bombs and spells fly everywhere, clouding the air with fire and smoke. In the haze, I see Stiltskin and his squad running, their wands raised. I reach for my bow and arrow, but slowly realize their wands aren’t trained on us; they’re aimed at the harp.

Before any of us can react, the Stiltskin Squad channels their power together. The harp begins to glow bright red as if it might burst into flames and sparks rain down on us as I pull AG and Anna behind my back. Stiltskin runs forward and points his wand at Alva’s statue. It begins to glow red too, and a cold fear washes over me.

He’s breaking her curse with the harp’s help. My help!

“Someone stop that spell!” I shout.

Jax and Jocelyn run at Stiltskin, but his squad members are one step ahead of us. They’re already shooting spells that send my friends flying backward. Maxine goes charging in next and is sent flying into a wall. Every time one of us comes at him, they zap us right back. I watch Kayla make her move. She flutters toward Rump with Ollie on her back. With Stiltskin’s eyes on them, I run at him at full force and knock the wand out of the troll’s hand. Someone bangs into the harp, and it crashes to the floor, breaking the connection to Alva. The room goes silent as the smoke and ash swirls around us.

We did it!

My eyes lock on Stiltskin, and a feeling of triumph comes over me. “Your plan failed.”

“Did it?” Rumpelstiltskin’s smile is pure evil as he reveals a mouth of gold teeth. He starts to laugh uncontrollably, showing off his hairy chin. The sound of his laughter is so high pitched and unnatural that it makes the hair on my arms stand up. Stiltskin Squad members join in on the laughter. “You foolish little girl. My plan didn’t fail.” His eyes narrow at me. “Yours did!”

I glance quickly at Alva’s statue and realize it’s no longer there.

I inhale sharply. In its place, a dark-haired woman is lying on the floor, her silky, black wings covering her like a cape. The Wicked Fairy is free.

I look at Rumpelstiltskin in horror and feel a spell hit me in the chest. The room around me swirls, then fades to black.