First Frost (13 page)

Bianca blushed and signed on the Xs and handed him her mother’s credit card. He jotted down all the numbers as well as the security code on the back of the card. He handed her another piece of paper to sign and gave her copies of the paperwork as well as a receipt.

“Cool. Thanks again,” Bianca said.

“You’re welcome. Have a nice day.” And just like that he was gone.

Bianca grabbed the spell book and raced back to the museum. She needed to share this with Ming.

Chapter Nine

“Please tell me we don’t need eyes of a newt or kitten paws for this; otherwise I’m going home,” Ming said as she put down the magazine she was reading.

“No. It’s just a spell. Look,” Bianca replied. She then opened her mouth to chant the spell, but Ming put her hand over Bianca’s mouth and stopped her.

“Wait,” she said.

Bianca pulled Ming’s hand off. “What?”

“You can’t just go there without being prepared, and you definitely can’t open a portal to another world in the middle of the museum you and your mother run. Plus, you don’t know where you’re going or what you’re going to find on the other side of whatever it is you’re opening.”

“You’re right,” Bianca admitted.

She was lucky she had Ming with her. Had she been all by herself, she would’ve thrown herself head first into the portal. She thought about the things in the museum and made a quick mental list of the items she would need.

She made her way to Rapunzel’s hair and carefully took it out the glass case. Then, she collected the brick from the third little pig’s house. She felt it was better than taking a tent with her. She wasn’t exactly the camping type anyway.

When she wandered into the Wicked Wing, she wondered if there was anything in the room that would be useful to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the red dancing shoes quivering with excitement as she walked past them. The worn red leather shoes seemed eager to get out of the glass case and cause all sorts of mischief. They looked as though they had literally been to hell and back.

What good would they be to me?

It wasn’t as if she could force someone to wear them…or could she?

“Hmmm.” Bianca finally decided to take the shoes with her. She also picked up a little hand mirror; it was supposed to be like Mirabel’s magic mirror…only smaller.

The evil queen’s version of an iPod Shuffle…only…evil…I guess.

She climbed up the stairs and headed to the attic. For some reason, Rose had never gotten around to putting lights in the attic and there was a faint smell of mothballs. Bianca hated mothballs; it reminded her of old people and not in a good way. She opened the trunk that contained Red Riding Hood’s cape. She pushed several items and dresses out of the way until she found the famous blood red cape. She carefully placed it in her backpack, zipped it shut and rejoined Ming downstairs at the gift shop counter.

“Got some good stuff?” Ming asked.

“I hope so,” Bianca replied.

“Any magic carpets?”

“We don’t have that here. Most of the Arabian Nights collection is in the Middle East. Somewhere in that giant hot mess they call a country.”

“Ohhh.”

“Most of the stuff we have here are from European fairy tales. You know, like the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and old English fairy tales.”

“Huh.” Ming wrinkled her nose.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just surprising how much you know about this place.”

“Well…I grew up around all this stuff,” Bianca said.

“Anyway, what do you wanna do now?”

“Well, there’s no one here. May as well close up for the day and go home.”

“Okay.”

“Can’t afford to waste any more time.”

“True.”

“Mom is going to kill me when she finds out that I’ve been closing early, but since I’m trying to save her butt, I think she’ll forgive me.”

“I call dibs on your stuff,” Ming said.

“I don’t think she’s going to literally kill me.”

“Well if you die, I still call dibs on your stuff.”

“You really know how to inspire confidence,” Bianca said sarcastically.

Ming gave her a bright smile. “I do what I can.”

At noon—the earliest they had ever closed the museum since it opened—both friends headed back to Bianca’s house.

“What are you going to tell your mom?” Bianca asked as they walked through the front door.

“I have no idea. I’ll come up with something,” Ming promised.

Bianca sighed. She didn’t like lying to the soft spoken Mrs. Lee. “Let me know what she says.”

“Will do.” And with that Ming went to her house to pack for their unexpected adventure.

Bianca’s heart skipped when she heard the door close behind her best friend. She was alone again. She was overwhelmed with the feelings of sadness and guilt that washed over her. At least with Ming around she could hide it and try to pretend that she was fine. But on her own…she felt as though the sky was collapsing over her.

Stop thinking that way!
She scolded herself.
Mom doesn’t need that.

She climbed up the stairs and went into her mother’s room. She wanted to pack a fresh set of clothes for when they rescued her. It had been two days since her mother was kidnapped.

She pushed down the lump that formed in her throat and opened her mother’s drawers. She grabbed some underwear, a bra, T-shirt, and a pair of jeans. Bianca carefully folded these pieces of clothing and put them in her black backpack. It was beginning to get full and heavy. She wasn’t sure what else she would be able to fit into it. She went to her room and packed a couple of things for herself as well.

By the time Ming returned to her house, she was finished packing. Ming unlocked the door, using the key that Bianca had given her several days ago.

“Hey!” Ming called out once she walked through the door.

“Hey.”

“Where are you?”

“My room,” Bianca replied.

Ming pounded up the stairs and joined Bianca in her bedroom. She dropped her pink backpack by the door and sat on the corner of her bed.

“So what did you tell your mom?” Bianca asked.

“I told her you had to join your mom in Florida to help with your sick grandma and that you asked me to go with you to keep you company on the flight over,” Ming said.

“She believed you?” Bianca asked. She wondered if Ming had elaborated more on the story. Ming was known to be a bit of a drama queen.

“Yep.”

“That’s crazy,” Bianca said as she shook her head in disbelief.

“Yep, it sure is. I guess it helps that I only lie in case of an emergency. Most of the time, I’m actually telling her the truth. What are you bringing?”

“I got clothes for me and Mom. A few things from the museum, a couple of flashlights, batteries, Pop-Tarts, and soup. You?” Bianca said.

“I got clothes, water, ramen noodles, and waterproof matches, and a first aid kit.”

“Cool.”

“Ready?” Ming asked.

“Yeah.”

Bianca opened the spell book and chanted the spell.

“Find the shortest distance between
This place and the faeries’ green.
A place for weird-less days and weary nights,
Put this door within my sight.”

At first nothing happened. They stood silently side by side, waiting for a magic door to appear out of thin air. But that didn’t happen. Magic…at least the magic that came forth was much more subtle. Bianca could see a very pale hand use a silver knife to cut through space and time. The door that appeared was translucent, almost ghost like, except that the frame and the doorknob were highlighted with blue-white light.

Bianca examined it before touching it; there was nothing behind the doorframe. Carefully, she touched the doorknob and was amazed to find it was just as solid as everything in her house.

“Ready?”

Her friend was pale and looked like she was ready to throw up what she had for lunch, but she nodded and stepped toward the door.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” Bianca whispered and then she opened the door.

Bianca and Ming held hands as they walked into the unknown. They walked a very short distance into a hallway filled with bright light and then they fell several feet down until they landed on the ground. Bianca couldn’t contain the scream that escaped her lips.

Chapter Ten

Bianca landed feet first and stumbled gracelessly onto the ground.

“Ow.” Ming whined as she massaged the pain off her right knee.

“You okay?” Bianca crawled toward her friend. It would certainly be a bad way to start this bizarre adventure if Ming was injured in the first five seconds of being in this strange new land.

“Yeah. I’ll probably get a bruise, but I’ll live. You?”

“I’m okay,” Bianca replied. She muttered while she wiped the dirt and grime off her light blue jeans.

“Where are we?” Ming whispered.

“I have no idea. I hope we’re in the right place,” Bianca replied.

Bianca studied her surroundings. Everywhere she looked was a series of earth tones: emerald, jade, lime, pine, and hunter green. The tree trunks were a mix between chocolate brown and auburn. Bianca turned her gaze to the sky. It was a perfect light blue and not a single cloud to be found. She heard birds sing and chirp. She couldn’t tell what types of birds they were, but at least she knew there weren’t any crows nearby. That was the one bird she couldn’t stand. All she could think of was death and disease whenever she saw one.

“What now?” Ming whispered as she stood up. She dusted off her jeans and moaned when she noticed the grass stain on her left knee.

“I guess we start walking until we find a village or someone who can help us,” Bianca replied.

After several hours of wandering in the woods, they had yet to meet a single person. There was nothing but miles and miles of forest and a dirt path that seemed to take them nowhere fast.

“Do you have any idea where you’re going?” Ming asked just before a tree branch smacked her on the jaw. She spat a few leaves out of her mouth and pulled some leaves out of her hair.

“Depends,” Bianca said.

“On what?”

“On whether or not you want me to lie to you.” Bianca stepped over a huge pile of poop left behind by an animal she hoped she never had to meet face to face. “Watch your step.”

“Ew.” Ming covered her nose and jumped over the huge pile of animal dung. “Fine, tell me the truth.”

“I have no idea where we’re going,” Bianca said.

Ming groaned. It was obvious that wasn’t the answer she was looking for.

“So, what’s the plan?” she asked.

“Find a castle or something equally creepy,” Bianca replied.

“I think you’re just hoping we stumble into a creepy castle with a big neon sign that says Bianca’s mother is in this room.”

“Yep.”

“This place gives me the creeps,” Ming said.