Of Sorcery and Snow (42 page)

I would know soon enough. I would know in July.

“I kind of don't agree right now,” I said quietly, but mostly I was thinking about telling Mom. “That's the worst part of having an Unwritten Tale. At least Lena, Ben, and Miriam had some clue what was coming, even if it changed a lot.”

“Is an Unwritten Tale very different from the way your parents live their lives?” Rapunzel asked. “So much of a Character's life is unknown. One's Tale only sheds light on one small part. Our lives are shaped instead by the stories we tell ourselves. Perhaps you cannot change your destiny, Rory, but
you
are writing your own story. You have some say in how it turns out.”

I sighed. “You're telling me not to count high school out just yet.”

She nodded. “It is sometimes the hardest thing of all—to know so little and to refuse to lose hope.”

I didn't
want
to hope I would live past July. I wanted to take it for granted like every other eighth grader, but I guess that would never happen again, not after watching Hadriane die.

A couple voices drifted down the corridor.

“Lena, you've got to stop crying. We're going to be there in a second, and you're going to upset Rory.”

“She's not
you
, Chase! Give it a rest.”

I smiled. Lena couldn't be crying
that
hard if she could tell Chase off.

“I told them where they might find us. I knew you wouldn't mind,” Rapunzel whispered.

Then Lena and Chase rounded the corner. They were exactly who I wanted to see. “Hey!”

Lena waved, looking relieved. I guess I looked more like myself.

“I've decided that I'm going to follow you around,” Chase said. “Eventually, it'll jump-start my Tale.”

“I told you, that's not the issue today,” Lena said.

But I knew that this was Chase's way of telling me he wasn't dwelling on his Tale. “Do I have any say in this?” I asked.

“Not really,” said Chase, but he smiled at me, kind of shy, as if he'd been kind of planning to follow me around anyway.

Wow. Not even learning about my Tale could keep my cheeks from turning red.

Lena didn't seem to notice. “The Director told us to find you and come to the courtyard.”

Somewhere, a bell started ringing. Like it does when a Tale starts.

Rapunzel waved us off. “Go. I will see you soon, but you will not wish to miss this.”

The Director had already reached her podium when we stepped outside. The elves had set it up in its usual place, under the Tree of Hope, but they'd also added a little stage so that we could all see her. She'd brushed her hair.

The Snow Queen may be loose, but the Director had an appearance to maintain.

“As I'm sure you've heard, the questers have returned successful.” The Director nodded to her right, where Miriam and Philip stood side-by-side. “The Tales of these two siblings as well as those of Evan, Mary, and Jamal combined within the current volume, and I'm happy to announce ‘The Pied Piper and the Snow Queen' has reached its final page.”

Some kids clapped. Miriam ruffled Philip's hair.

“Another long-standing Tale has reached its conclusion today—Evan Garrison's ‘The White Snake,'” the Director continued. It took me a second to find Evan, but he was grinning as he stroked the
white fox tucked inside his shirt. I guess he wanted to make sure she got her henhouse reward. “He recruited foxes to carry messages to the questers, without which they would have most certainly been caught, and the children of Hawthorne lost.”

People clapped again. Some ninth graders whooped. I was happy for him too. He'd lost two fingers to his Tale a couple years ago, but at least it ended okay.

“I need to announce another new Tale, one that I believe has sparked all the others,” said the Director. “‘The Tale of Rory Landon.'”

No clapping for me. Just staring. I wish she'd given me a heads-up about what she was announcing. I might have stayed in Rapunzel's tower.

“It is an Unwritten Tale, which means that it is the only one of its kind,” said the Director. “So no one knows what will happen to Rory. Her Tale is still ongoing, as it has been since she joined us. Do not blame her for not telling you this. She didn't learn of it until today.”

Wow. The Director had gone from keeping secrets to oversharing.

If she tried to read
everybody
the first few lines of my Tale, if she even
hinted
at us being the new Triumvirate, I was going to charge the podium. That was
private
.

But she didn't. She didn't even ask me who I wanted as my Companions, but maybe it was too obvious that I'd picked Chase and Lena.

“This week, we've spoken a great deal about the Snow Queen,” said the Director. “However, we haven't mentioned how we will protect you and your families.”

Suddenly she had everyone's attention again.

“We have received intelligence that the Snow Queen will strike
in July,” the Director said. “In the past, her pattern has been to hunt down Characters one by one before such a battle. She may try to attack you in your homes.” I swallowed. I knew who she would go after first. “The Canon and I are prepared to offer asylum to any Character who asks for it.” She looked my way, so I knew that the next line was meant for me. “We strongly encourage you to convince your families to relocate here as soon as possible. For those of you who are interested, Ellie and Gretel have leaflets containing more detailed information. The building will expand as needed, so there is definitely room for all.”

I forgave the Director for everything right then. She was inviting me to move to EAS. She was offering me a chance to keep my family
safe
.

“I need to go home,” I told Chase and Lena.

I had some explaining to do.

n the workshop, Lena fixed up a temporary-transport spell to go straight to my house. She used some dirt from a jar labeled
RORY'S BACKYARD
—I'd collected it as soon as we moved in, just in case of emergencies, but we'd never risked using it till now.

Appearing out of nowhere wouldn't matter anymore. Also, I was way too exhausted to figure out which bus could take me home.

“Are you
sure
you'll be okay?” Lena asked for the fiftieth time as I painted the ruby doorway. Chase had scurried off in an annoyingly good mood, and every time I looked, he was talking to a different eighth grader. This was a dream come true for him. He was probably trying to convince the whole eighth grade to move before the end of the month.

I tried not to let it bother me. I would see him at school, after all.

“I'm fine,” I told Lena again. The sooner I started explaining, the sooner I could convince my family we needed to move too.

Finally she chanted the spell and hugged me, hard enough that her bony elbows dug into my ribs. “Good luck,” she whispered.

I nodded and stepped through. I arrived in the backyard, just
between the wooden fence and some hydrangea. It was misting here in San Francisco, and moisture settled over my eyelashes as I stared at the back of the house.

A light brightened the kitchen. Mom was in there.

I walked across the lawn and up the steps, concentrating on finding the right words.

Then footsteps thudded inside, and I knew I'd been spotted. I froze when someone threw the door open.

Dad's eyes squeezed shut
hard
, and then he opened them again, like he was checking to make sure I was still there. Then he turned back into the house. “She's here, Maggie!”

“Dad? What are you doing here?” Not the greatest opening in the world.

He gave me a stern look, one I almost
never
saw on his face. “I've been helping your mother search. I've flown from here to North Carolina to L.A. twice, looking for you.”

Then Mom appeared in the doorway—her eyes red, a tissue crumpled in her hand. She grabbed me to her as tightly as she could, and I hugged her back, filling with guilt as she took long, shaky, trying-not-to-sob breaths.

“Who's my favorite mother?” I whispered.

She jerked back and scowled at me, her hands tight on my shoulders. “Don't be cute. I'm not even remotely in the mood.”

Amy ran out on the porch, looking scarier than General Searcaster.

I wished Brie was here, and the baby too. I wanted my whole family right in front of me, where I could see they were okay, where I could protect them.

Then the questions came at me.

“We tried tracking your phone, but it was malfunctioning,”
Mom said. “It said you were in Portland, Oregon. Then nothing for days. Did you not even charge it? Didn't you know how worried we were?”

“We went to EAS's door every day, but we couldn't get in,” Amy said. “Why is the door always locked? And why didn't any other kids go in there?”

“Mrs. LaMarelle said Lena ran off too,” Mom added, “and the Director said you went on an unauthorized ‘quest.' What on earth is a ‘quest'?”

“I flew to the LaMarelles to see if you went there,” Dad said. “Did you know they don't even live in North Carolina? Jacqueline LaMarelle and her grandchildren are listed at an empty lot in Milwaukee.”

Whoa. At least that gave me an idea of how much they knew.

“And
what
happened to your
face
?” Mom asked.

I lifted a hand to check. My cheek flared with pain. I'd completely forgotten about getting hit by the bats.

That last one was easy to answer. “I was in a fight. A couple of them, actually.”

“You better come inside,” Amy said. “There's no point in catching a cold on top of what Rory has put us through.”

Guilt ate me up from the top of my throbbing head to the soles of my muddy sneakers, but I knew what I had to do.

The Snow Queen would come whether my family believed she was real or not.

Dad locked the door behind us, and I was glad, even though I knew it was to lock me
in
. Mom didn't let go of my shoulders as they steered me into the living room and onto the couch. The coffee table was cluttered with old mugs of tea, tissues, and lots of cell phones. It must have been really bad here while I was away. Mom
took the love seat, Dad took the armchair, and Amy leaned against the back wall, arms folded.

They waited. Their stares pinned me to the cushions.

“I'm really
really
sorry for lying to you.” I couldn't stop my voice from trembling, but their faces didn't change.

“You've run off
twice
, Rory,” Dad said. “You never even contacted us to let us know you were okay. You were just gone. For a week.”

“I don't know how we're ever going to trust you again,” Mom said, and it clawed at me, hearing how sad I'd made her.

“Ever After School is a program for Characters—fairy-tale characters—to train and get ready for their Tales,” I started.