Witchy Tales: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Fairy Tale (16 page)

I launched the rock at the giant’s head as hard as I could. He was readying himself for another blow against the beast, but when the rock hit him in the head he shifted his attention to me.

The beast howled, enraged, but the giant ignored it. I was on the menu now.

I didn’t take a step back, and I didn’t try to protect myself. Instead, I spoke the words I knew would end the story. I remembered this one from Aunt Tillie’s book. “Sometimes you have to fight, even though you know you’re going to lose,” I yelled, clenching my hands into fists at my side. “I can’t win, but I won’t stop fighting!”

The giant’s face blanked at the words and then, like magic, it started dissolving. Within seconds, the only thing that remained was the beast … and my tears.

The beast breathed heavily, and it listed to one side and dropped to a knee, giving in to fatigue now that the danger was gone. I closed the distance between us, the lyrics of an old song playing through my head.

When I got close to the beast I leaned down, searching the clear eyes that stared back at me. “You promised we wouldn’t be separated again,” I said, grabbing either side of its face. “I love you!”

I closed my eyes and leaned forward, pressing my lips against the beast’s. I could hear the zip of magic, and when I opened my eyes Landon stared at me in astonishment.

“How did you know?”

“No one else would be willing to die for me,” I said.

“I think you’re wrong on that front,” Landon said, reaching for me. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Sometimes you have to fight for the person you love,” I said, bursting into tears.

“You do indeed,” Landon said, pulling me close as we sank to the ground. “Oh, cripes, you scared me half to death. Don’t cry. If you don’t stop crying, I’m going to cry. Oh, well, crap. I guess we’ll both cry.”

If someone tries to distract you by making you look in a specific direction, make sure you look the other way. The one thing they’re trying to hide from you is usually the one thing you need to find. That’s only true if I’m not the one trying to hide something from you, though. If I tell you to knock it off, I mean it.

–
Aunt Tillie’s Wonderful World of Stories to Make Little Girls Shut Up

Landon and I remained wrapped around one another for at least five minutes. We didn’t glance up until someone cleared a throat behind us.

“Now is not a good time,” Landon growled, tightening his arm around my shoulder. “I can’t tell you how ticked off I am at you guys right now.”

“What did we do?” Thistle protested.

Landon stiffened. “Well, for starters, you bolted and left Bay to fend for herself. Way to be loyal.”

“Hey, you were terrifying,” Thistle said.

“We thought she was right behind us,” Marcus offered sincerely. “I didn’t realize she wasn’t until we were already on the terrace … and by then we had another problem.”

“Whatever,” Landon grumbled. “You still left her in there. What if she’d been hurt?”

“Were you going to hurt her?” Thistle asked.

“You didn’t know it was me,” Landon said. “By the way, in my head I was talking regularly but it kept coming out in growls. I wasn’t trying to frighten you.”

“I know,” I said, pulling my face away to study him. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. Are you hurt?”

“I was so worried about you,” I said. “When I woke up … you were gone.”

“I’m so sorry,” Landon said, cupping my chin. “I shouldn’t have promised I would be there when we woke up. This world doesn’t give us the luxury of keeping promises.”

“It’s not as if I thought you walked away on purpose,” I said.

Landon arched an eyebrow.

“I didn’t,” I said. “Not this time. It didn’t even enter my head.”

“That’s good, Bay,” Landon said. “No one is leaving. Not again.”

I snorted. “Don’t say that just yet,” I said. “We’re trapped in a fairy tale world. We still don’t have control.”

“I know,” Landon said. “I wasn’t talking about here, though.”

I rested my forehead against his briefly. “I know.”

Landon pressed me to his chest as he rolled us to a different position. He climbed to his feet and pulled me along with him, never letting go of me. When we were standing, the look he shot Marcus was chilling. “I’m not thrilled with you right now.”

“What did you expect me to do?” Marcus asked. “She ran right into danger. She wasn’t the only one here.”

“I know that,” Landon said. “I also know that Thistle is your first priority. You still left her.”

“I … .” Marcus’ cheeks colored with shame. “I’m sorry. Clove ran, and Sam ran after her. Then Thistle took off and … instinct took over. I swear I thought Bay was right behind us. I wouldn’t have abandoned her.”

“I know,” Landon said, running his hand over the back of my head. “I heard you during the fight.”

“I … I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Landon said, coldly. “We’re all fine. We’re all getting out of here.”

“Landon, I really am sorry,” Marcus said.

“I told you not to worry about it,” Landon said. “We’re all exhausted. We’re all … frustrated. I want out of here.”

“Where do we go next?” Thistle asked, linking her fingers with Marcus’ as she rested her head against his shoulder in a sign of solidarity.

“The castle,” Landon said.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“It’s a feeling. I think the castle is our end location. We have to figure out how many fairy tales we’re talking about here.”

“Let’s go,” I said, slipping my arm around his waist. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“The second I changed back all of my aches and pains went away,” Landon said, kissing my forehead. “Well … except one. You’re here, though. You’re fixing that one.”

I wanted to cry again. “Landon … .”

“No, Bay, not now,” he said. “We’re okay. Everyone is okay. Let’s finish this. I want to go home.”

“All right,” I said. “Let’s do it.”

“We’ll be right behind you,” Marcus said.

Landon ignored the proffered promise.

“WHAT
happened to the talking candlestick?”

I shrugged, unsure. The busy room from before was different now. The candlestick was gone. The broomstick, devoid of life, leaned against the wall. The cobwebs and decay had been replaced with a bright and shiny cleaning. It was the same castle, yet everything was different.

“What do you think?” Landon asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “We still have a few stories to go through. This doesn’t jump out as anything I recognize.”

“Maybe we’re done,” Clove suggested. “Maybe we only have to find a way out.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “There’s no way we’re getting out of here without a nod to Wonderland and Oz,” I said. “Those were Aunt Tillie’s favorites. There’s a reason we haven’t hit them yet. They’re going to be the big finale.”

“How do you know that?” Thistle asked.

“It’s Aunt Tillie. She’s not going to let us out of here without forcing us to go through those stories.”

“Is that how you knew how to beat the giant?” Clove asked. “I couldn’t believe you did that, and yet as you were saying the words I realized I remembered them.”

“I’m not sure how I remembered to beat the giant,” I said. “I only know that I realized the beast was Landon before I decided to fight the giant. Once I realized it was him, I didn’t have a choice.”

“You had another choice,” Landon said.

“No, I didn’t.”

Landon’s face softened. “You’re my brave girl.” He pulled me in for a brief hug. “If this was the real world, though, I’d be yelling at you for risking yourself.”

“I know.”

“Since this is a fairy tale world, I’m going to give you a pass.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you saying what you think I want to hear because you don’t want to argue?” Landon asked.

I smiled. “You’re very handsome.”

Landon grinned. “That’s what I thought.” He leaned over and gave me a soft kiss. “I desperately need to get out of this place. Not only do I need breakfast, I need to make sure we have a day in bed to recuperate.”

“What about punishing Aunt Tillie?”

“We’ll do that first,” Landon said, winking.

“Good to know.”

The room lapsed into silence, everyone searching for clues to our next destination. When a hint of movement caught my attention on the far wall I shifted my head and focused on the shadow. It looked like the plant in front of the window and yet … there was more to it.

I narrowed my eyes and focused, sucking in a breath when the shadow moved on its own accord. I tilted my head to the side, studying the shadow. I risked a glance over my shoulder, but nothing moved behind me. When I glanced back at the wall, the shadow had moved away from the plant and now stood alone. It was also in the shape of a person.

“Uh, guys … .”

“What’s up, sweetie?” Landon asked, moving to my side.

I pointed at the shadow, which refused to move.

“What am I looking at?” Landon asked, confused.

“The shadow is moving.”

Landon focused on it. “No, it’s not.”

“It was.”

Landon shifted so he could look over his shoulder, and the second he did the shadow waved at me. It froze again when Landon turned back. “There’s nothing back there moving.”

“No,” I agreed. “The second you turned your head, though, it waved at me.”

“It did?”

“Yup.”

“Is Bay seeing things now?” Thistle asked, smirking.

“No one is talking to you,” Landon snapped.

He was angry. It practically rolled off of him. He was trying to control himself, at least delay an argument, but I was the only one he wasn’t angry with right now. That was a nice change of pace.

The shadow moved again. “There!”

“I saw it,” Thistle said, giving Landon a wide berth as she moved around him and settled on my other side. We exchanged an eyebrow lift and then focused back on the shadow. It was playing a game, jumping from one shadow to the next and then poking its head out to wave at us.

“What do we think this means?” Sam asked.

“It’s Peter Pan,” I said.

“Does that mean we’re going to Neverland?” Sam looked excited at the prospect. “Sorry, I just loved that story when I was a kid.”

“It always reminded me of
Lord of the Flies
,” Thistle replied drily.

“What?” Sam was incensed. “How can you say that?”

“A bunch of boys on an island with nothing to do but cause trouble? It’s total anarchy.”

“You obviously didn’t get the point of the story,” Sam said.

“She has a point,” I said. “I think Peter Pan, just like
Lord of the Flies
, is a cautionary tale of what happens to men if they don’t have women in their lives to temper the crazy.”

Landon barked out a hoarse laugh. “That’s kind of funny.”

“It’s not true, though,” Sam protested. “Peter Pan is a great role model!”

“He wears tights and tempts kids out of their bedrooms at night so they can terrify their parents into thinking someone kidnapped them,” Thistle countered. “Then they fly to a land where no one wants to grow up and you’re either a pirate who doesn’t care about killing kids or a kid who has nothing better to do than terrorize adults. That doesn’t sound healthy to me.”

I could tell Landon was fighting the urge to smile, his anger with Thistle and especially Marcus still at the forefront of his mind, but he was having a good time watching Thistle crush Sam’s childhood dreams.

The shadow dove to the dark spot on the far wall, and this time when it poked out it beckoned to us.

“I think it wants us to follow it,” Clove said. “Do you think we should?”

“I think we’re going to set these last stories up and knock them down,” I said, resolved. “This is the next one. Let’s get to it.”

Landon grabbed my hand as I started to move. “Don’t you even think about stepping away from me,” he said. “We’re doing this together.”

“Of course we are,” I said. “I couldn’t do it without you.”

“I feel like puking,” Thistle said.

“Don’t push me, Thistle,” Landon warned.

“No one push anyone,” I said. “We’re close here, people. We only have to stick together for a little bit longer. Let’s not fall apart now.”

“Fine,” Landon said through his clenched jaw. “When this is over with, though, I want a whole day of just you and me. I don’t want to see a single member of your family. I’m talking a full twenty-four hours.”

“We’ll go to a hotel,” I promised.

“You bet we’re going to a hotel,” Landon said. “You’re going to pay, too.”

“Okay.”

“We’re getting nothing but room service,” Landon said, pulling me as he started to follow the shadow. “We’re getting breakfast in bed, lunch in bed and dinner in bed.”

“That sounds fun,” Clove said. “Maybe we’ll go with you.”

Sam shot her a quelling look.

“Maybe not,” Clove said quickly. “Sorry.”

“I’m not joking, Bay,” Landon said. “We need a break from all this … togetherness.”

“Maybe you should go to the hotel alone,” I suggested. “You don’t look too happy with me right now.”

“You’re the only thing making me happy right now. Never doubt that.”

“OKAY,
does anyone think this is the weirdest setting yet?” Thistle leaned over and rested her hand against the giant toadstool, snatching it away after a few seconds of contact. “That feels funny.”

“It’s a giant mushroom,” Landon said. “What did you expect it to feel like?”

“I don’t know,” Thistle said, ignoring his sarcasm. “It looks like it’s made out of plastic. I thought it would feel smooth.”

“It smells,” Clove said.

“It’s a mushroom,” Landon said.

“I wish we had our phones,” Thistle said. “I would love a cool photo on top of the toadstool.”

“It’s a giant mushroom!” Landon was beside himself.

After following the shadow through the labyrinth of hallways and out a side door of the castle, we’d spent the last ten minutes studying the peculiar setting. The shadow disappeared, which meant whatever was supposed to happen would occur in this area. I was almost sure of it.

“Which story is this?” Landon asked.

“I’m not sure yet.”

“Why is nothing happening?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you know?”

“I know you’re upset,” I said, setting my hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry. I … .”

“No, I’m sorry,” Landon said, shaking his head. “This isn’t your fault. I did this.”

“How do you figure that?”

“I’m the one who threatened her,” Landon said, rubbing his forehead. “I’m the one who promised to confiscate her wine. She probably would have ignored us if I hadn’t been so … harsh.”

“You shouldn’t blame yourself for doing your job,” I said. “Aunt Tillie is the one at fault here, not you.”