CHAPTER 3

Into the Woods

Even though I went to bed hours ago, I still can’t sleep. My mind is on my first class with Prince Sebastian. These classes were my idea, so I want to make a good impression. Especially, um, after what happened in the library.

Tomorrow, I will arrive early!

My quill will be full of ink, and my scroll will be ready for note taking!

My uniform is going to be pressed, and my hair is going to be neatly tied back in a ribbon!

Do I have any hair ribbons? I keep losing the ones Maxine gives me. I will need to ask Maxine for another ribbon.

I toss and turn and almost knock Wilson off my pillow three times while Maxine and Peaches snore loudly together from the other bed. A duck snore is not a pretty sound. I cover my ears—and hear my name called.

“Gilly!” Kayla is banging on Maxine’s and my bedroom window. I can see her fluttering outside it. “I need your help!”

I glance at our newest alarm clock—Peaches keeps eating them because she hates the noise—and almost pass out. It’s 1:00 a.m.? How can I still be awake?

“Gilly, please!” Her voice is desperate. It’s the Kayla of old, and I really like the new, happy Kayla. “It’s Mother.” She sounds frantic. “She’s missing from the fairy hut, and I’m worried he’ll find her if she’s out on the grounds alone!”

I know the “he” she is referring to. I get out of bed, slip into my boots, and run to the window in my nightgown. To avoid tripping the magical alarm that will alert Miri that I’m out of bed after curfew, I have to make my exit quick. We are on a low floor, but still high enough that I can’t jump. I’ll have to spring off Maxine’s super-springy ottoman, through the window, and into Kayla’s arms.

I take a deep breath and listen to Maxine’s snoring. “Ready?” I whisper.

“Ready!” Kayla whispers, reaching her arms out to catch me.

This isn’t the first time we’ve done this move.

I hit the ottoman and fly through the window into Kayla’s arms. She catches me, and we both listen closely for a second, neither of us moving. Nope, no alarm. We are clear! Kayla flies me to the edge of the woods where her family’s hut is, quickly explaining to me what happened.

“My sisters are away overnight, taking a fairy librarian course with Beauty—it’s their first time away since they’ve become fairies again. I said I’d keep an eye on Mother, but I didn’t know that literally meant ‘keep an eye on her.’ I put her to bed, but when I checked on her a little while ago, she was gone!”

The cool night air we are flying through makes my eyes water. “Did she say she wanted to go out before bed?” We land near a patch of trees.

“She kept asking me for ‘the book’ at dinner.” Kayla makes air quotes. “She’s been talking about books a lot since she started working at the library, but this was different. She says this book is calling to her.” Kayla’s eyes shine in the glow of the moonlight. “Gilly, I think something’s wrong with her.”

“I’m sure she’s just confused,” I say, trying to sound sure although this does sound strange. What is Kayla’s mom talking about? I know she’s been a little off since her transformation, but I didn’t know she was mumbling about books. I search behind a patch of sunflowers that are moving, but all I find is a family of bunnies. The hair stands up on my arms. What if Kayla’s mom really was kidnapped by Stiltskin? “How long ago did you check on her?” I can’t let Kayla know I’m panicking.

“Like an hour ago!” Kayla cries. “She was still muttering about the book, so I said we could take it out of the library tomorrow. She got all excited, and I thought that was the end of it. But then she was gone. I checked the library first, but it’s empty. Where could she be?” Kayla sits down on a tree stump and covers her face with her hands. “I’m going to have to wake Flora or Harlow, aren’t I? Harlow will kill me! You know how the Evil Queen feels if she doesn’t get eight solid hours of beauty sleep!”

Kayla is so busy freaking out that I think I am hearing things, but the sound grows louder. Someone is mumbling. I shush Kayla and spin around, listening closely. I hear the rustling of wind, the trees, an owl in the distance, and then—a voice!

“This way!” I head into a patch of trees. We’re close to the edge of the Hollow Woods now and have to be careful (especially at night). But the voice is close. If I just go a little farther…I round one more bend, and that’s when I see Kayla’s mom sitting on a rock talking to herself.

“Mother!” Kayla rushes toward her as a wolf howls in the distance. “What are you doing out here?” She pulls off her jacket and wraps it around her mother, who is wearing a thin nightgown.

Kayla’s mom looks up at her with wild amber eyes. “The book called to me! I came to find it, but it’s not here. It’s never here. I have to find it first! I have to find it first. I have to find it first,” she repeats as she looks around the forest. “Where are you! I hear you, but I can’t see you!” she shouts.

“Shh!” Kayla and I say. I worry we’ll wake a sleeping giant or, worse, a sleeping Harlow.

“We’ll get it at the library tomorrow, but tonight you need sleep,” Kayla says soothingly. She mouths thank you, and we try to bring her mother back to the fairy hut.

“No!” Kayla’s mom pulls away. “You don’t understand! I have to get to it first. It’s mine to protect, and I’ve lost it. I have to find it before they do, or all will be lost.” She appears frightened. “If they get their hands on it, they’ll know what to do and Enchantasia will be lost.”

I feel a shiver in my nightdress and tell myself it’s just the wind giving me goose bumps.

“Don’t worry. I’ve seen the book and it’s safe,” I say to help things along.

Kayla’s mom’s face lights up. “You have it? It’s safe? Take me to it!”

“In the morning,” I promise, and Kayla smiles at me gratefully. We both steer her mother successfully out of the edge of the woods and toward their hut. “But only if you wait till morning.”

“Okay,” her mom promises, yawning. The sound makes Kayla and me yawn too. “In the morning.”

I’m sure she’ll forget about this book by then.