Get up, everybody!” Olot said as he banged on the door the next morning.
“The sun isn’t even up yet!” complained Goldilocks. “It’s too early to get out of bed.”
“It’s not too early if you want to have breakfast before we get on the ferry,” Olot answered through the door.
“About that . . . ,” Goldilocks said. Climbing out of bed, she threw a robe over her nightgown and went into the hall. When she came back, she took off her robe and climbed back into bed.
“What did you say to Olot?” Cory asked her.
Goldilocks rolled over to face Cory. “I told him that I won’t be going with you. Rupert proposed and I accepted. We’re getting married in a few days whether his mother likes it or not. I’m sleeping in this room until then, so there’s no need for me to go downstairs at this unheard of hour to eat my breakfast.”
“You’re staying here?” Cory asked.
She glanced at Daisy, expecting her to say something, but her friend just nodded. “She told me last night when she came back to the room. She woke me up to tell me, and then I saw that you weren’t here. Where did you go?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk,” said Cory. She had hoped that the girls hadn’t noticed that she was gone, but wasn’t surprised that they knew. Before Daisy could ask any more questions, Cory turned back to Goldilocks. “Aren’t you afraid that you’re taking this a little fast? Most people want to tell their family and their friends that they’ve found the right person, then plan a wedding and—”
“Nope,” said Goldilocks. “Rupert and I have a really strong connection and neither of us wants to wait. The minister who was going to perform the service yesterday left when Lillian’s parents did, and it’s going to take a few days to get him back. Otherwise we’d be getting married today. My mother will learn about it when I take Rupert to meet her. Now, do you mind? I need my rest. I have a busy life ahead of me. Oh, and Olot says you two still have to hurry up. You’re leaving for the ferry in half an hour. Less than that now, I’d guess.”
Cory was out of bed, throwing on her clothes, before Goldilocks had even finished speaking. She had to talk to Lillian before the princess left, which would probably be soon if she hadn’t already gone to catch the ferry. Shoving all her possessions in her bag, Cory slung it over her shoulder and stopped. She had one last thing to do before she left.
While Daisy packed her bags, Cory walked between the beds and squatted beside Goldilocks. “Do you still want your necklace back more than you want that ring?” she whispered.
“Yes!” Goldilocks said, her eyes popping open.
“Then give me the box and I’ll see what I can do,” Cory told her.
Goldilocks gave her a long hard look before reaching under her pillow and pulling out the box. “I’m counting on you,” she said, and watched as Cory tucked the box in her knapsack.
Daisy was heading to the door when Cory bolted past her and down the stairs. She paused by the entrance to the great hall long enough to make sure that the princess wasn’t there, then ran out the door and down the cobbled path to the dock.
She saw Princess Lillian right away, waiting with her coachmen and armed escort while her possessions were loaded onto the ferry. When Cory reached the princess, her first thought was that Lillian didn’t look very good. Her face was pale and she had dark circles under her eyes, red from crying. The princess was about to turn away when she realized that Cory was the new arrival.
“Oh, it’s you,” said Lillian. “Are you crossing now as well?”
Cory wanted to tell Lillian what she had heard the highwaymen say at the tavern the night before, but didn’t know how to do it without telling her where and how she’d heard it. Instead she said, “I came to ask if I could go with you. Don’t ask me why, because I can’t tell you and I have a very important reason.”
“A secret reason?” Lillian said, raising one eyebrow. “I bet it has something to do with that ogre. Let me guess—he’s horrible to you and you want to seek asylum in my kingdom.”
“That sounds—”
“I knew it!” Lillian said as a little color came back to her cheeks. “There’s no time to lose. Get on the ferry and I’ll see that it leaves right away. We don’t want him finding you here.”
“You don’t understand! I have to—”
“I understand perfectly! I knew from the moment I saw him that he was a typical ogre and would be horrible to any young woman who worked with him. There you go, crouch down behind my luggage and he won’t see you from the castle. We’ll be ready to go in just a few minutes.”
“Apparently, first impressions mean everything to her,” Cory muttered as she crouched behind the luggage. The princess was talking to her men when Cory took a leaf and an ink stick from her bag and wrote a note to Olot.
I found another ride home. I am fine. Will see you in a few days.
Cory
Folding the leaf in half, Cory stuck it in her pocket and waited for the ferry to leave. She was still crouched behind the luggage when the ferry left the protection of the jetty. It lurched and something in the luggage whimpered. Cory turned around and really looked at the luggage for the first time. More than a dozen trunks and bags were stacked in a pile, and under the pile was a very large crate. Although only one corner of the crate was visible from where Cory crouched, she could tell that it was the one she had seen in the great hall. The wedding was off, but it looked as if Lillian was taking her wedding gift home with her.
“You’ll be all right,” Cory told the baby dragon in a soothing voice. “We’ll reach the other side in a little while and your ride will get smoother.”
Hearing Cory’s voice, the baby dragon shuffled closer to her in the crate. With each rock and lurch of the ferry, the little dragon whimpered and Cory tried to calm it. When they finally reached the other side, the dragon finally grew quiet and Cory was able to stand up and look around. The men who worked on the ferry were already unloading the luggage when Cory approached the Head Water Nymph. “Thank you for everything you do,” she told Serelia. “I don’t know if people thank you enough, but you certainly made our stay more pleasant.”
Serelia looked surprised. “You’re quite welcome. I didn’t know you were on the ferry. I thought all the members of Zephyr were crossing on the next trip.”
“They are, and I would be too if I weren’t going with Lillian. Could you please give this note to Olot? Tell him that I’ll explain it when I see him next. Oh, and were you serious when you said you could help Rina? If you are, I’ll tell her parents about you and perhaps you can meet with them.”
“I was quite serious,” Serelia told her. “I haven’t taken a vacation in a very long time. I think I’ll see if I can find a few nymphs who can fill in for me. I’d like to come to town to meet Rina and her family.”
“I’ll look forward to that,” Cory told her. “I hope to see you again soon. Now if you’ll excuse me, it looks as if Lillian is ready to go.”
Serelia nodded and glanced at the note in her hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll see that Olot gets this.”
Princess Lillian was already in the carriage, impatiently waiting for her as Cory climbed aboard. She was surprised to see that the crate holding the baby dragon was taking up most of the floor. With no space to put her bag by her feet, she set it on the seat beside her.
“We couldn’t fit the crate anywhere else,” said Lillian, looking at it with distaste. “Rupert insisted that the dragon is mine and I have to take it with me, even if we’re not getting married. I’m sorry we have to put up with this. I can’t stand the way it smells.”
Cory didn’t mind the way the baby dragon smelled. It reminded her of toasted marshmallows, one of her favorite treats. She felt sorry for the little creature and would have let her out if she could, but Cory was a guest and it wasn’t up to her.
Lillian didn’t have much to say at first and stared glumly out the window as they rode farther from the castle. But after a while she seemed to perk up and asked Cory about her life in town. Cory told her about what had happened with the Tooth Fairy Guild and how they had taken away her fairy abilities. She told her about being a member of Zephyr and how much she enjoyed it. Even when she told Lillian how nice Olot was, the princess insisted on referring to him as horrible. Finally, Cory told the princess about the odd jobs she had taken on recently, many of which Lillian thought were terribly funny. She was especially interested in hearing about the “Old Lady Who Lived in the Shoe,” as she repeatedly called her.
They had traveled for nearly an hour when the carriage rolled to a stop. Hoping that she had made the right decision, Cory peeked out the window and was relieved to see that it was the same group of highwaymen who had stopped Zephyr last time. She sat back when she saw the leader of the group coming toward the carriage.
“Georgie!” Lillian cried when he opened the door. “I wondered why we’d stopped.”
“I told your men that I wanted to speak with you,” Georgie said. He smiled at Lillian, but his smile vanished when he saw Cory. “What is she doing here?”
“Cory has come to me for refuge,” said Lillian. “What do you want to say to me that’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait until I returned home?”
“I’d rather not talk in here,” Georgie told her as he looked from Cory to the crate. “It’s too crowded.”
Lillian sighed and stood, holding out her hand for Georgie to help her down. Georgie didn’t seem pleased when Cory followed the princess.
“You were right,” Cory told him. “It was crowded in there.”
He scowled, but when he saw the impatient look on Lillian’s face, he said, “My sweet, I’m sorry you had to endure such an awful scene at what was supposed to be your wedding, but I assure you it’s all for the better. You can’t imagine how relieved I am that you didn’t marry Rupert. He’s a good fellow, but not nearly good enough for you.”
“I don’t understand,” said Lillian.
“I mean that you deserve someone better—like me!” Georgie told her, and reached for her hand.
Lillian pulled her hand free, saying, “Georgie, this isn’t the time or place! I was just left standing at the altar!”
“In the aisle, actually,” said Georgie. “I was there.”
Lillian took a step back. “If you’ll excuse me, I want to go home.”
“You don’t understand!” Georgie cried. “I’ve thought about you every minute since I learned that you were engaged to Rupert. If you’re going to marry someone, it should be me! I tried to tell you before the wedding, but we missed your carriage and stopped the wrong one. When the wedding was called off, I was so happy! But when I realized that you must be upset, I couldn’t go home knowing that I could ease your pain. I had my men break the axle on your carriage so you couldn’t leave yesterday with your parents, and waited for you to come by so I could tell you how much I love you.”
“And how would you ‘ease my pain,’ as you put it?” Lillian asked.
Cory wasn’t expecting it when Georgie dropped on one knee and tried to take Lillian’s hand again. Apparently Lillian wasn’t expecting it, either.
“Oh no, you don’t!” she said, pulling her hand from his grasp. “You have no right to propose to me now! You courted me for an entire year and could have asked me at any time. Lord knows I gave you enough opportunities! But no, by your own words, you didn’t even consider me for your wife until I was engaged to someone else. If you had proposed first, I would have been happy to marry you! When you didn’t, my parents made me accept Rupert’s offer, even though I didn’t really know him. It’s your fault that I had to go through the hurt and humiliation of this awful wedding. My parents are so embarrassed that I don’t know if they’ll ever speak to me again.”
“Please forgive me!” said Georgie. “I didn’t know how much I loved you until I thought I’d lost you forever.”
“I can’t marry you now,” said Lillian. “It would look like a rebound romance.”
“I don’t care what it looks like!”
Cory had had enough. She just had to know one more thing before she took an irrevocable step that would change their lives forever. “Lillian,” she began, “do you know that he is a highwayman? He holds people up so he can steal from them.”
“You can’t be serious,” said Lillian. “This is Prince Georgie from the ancient and highly venerated Porgie family, not some common thief!”
“He stole my bracelet and my girlfriends’ jewelry. Admit it, Georgie!”
“But . . . But . . . This is preposterous!” Georgie sputtered.
“You said you haven’t gone home yet,” Cory told the prince. “If that’s true, I may find the jewelry in your saddlebags!”
“Don’t you dare go near my horse!” said Georgie.
“Why would you care if you don’t have anything to hide? What do you say, Lillian? May I look in his saddlebags or are you worried that I might find something there?”
“Go ahead and look!” Lillian exclaimed. “You’ll see that it’s not true.”
Georgie’s face turned red, but he didn’t move to stop Cory. She found the usual things in one side of his saddlebag: a bag of coins, some dirty clothes (some stained with pudding, others with pie), a ratty-looking comb, and a copy of Robin Hood’s autobiography. The saddlebag on the other side was a different story, however. Wrapped in a clean white shirt and a handkerchief decorated with yellow duckies was the jewelry that he had taken from Cory and her friends.
“Now do you believe me?” Cory asked as she held up all four pieces of jewelry.
“I bought those!” Georgie declared. “I was going to give them to Lillian.”
“Really?” asked Cory. “You were going to give her a bracelet that says Cory and Blue? Is her name Cory? Is your name Blue? Because I am Cory and my boyfriend is named Blue, and this is the bracelet he gave me!”
“I’m sure there’s some mistake,” said Lillian.
“There was a big mistake, and Georgie made it! He never should have stopped our carriage and robbed us!”
“Georgie Porgie is the most honest man I have ever known!” Lillian cried. “He would never steal from ladies!”
Well, that answers that question, Cory thought. Her impression of him is going to hold no matter what she hears. Holding out her hands, Cory thought bow! and the bow and quiver appeared even as time stood still for everyone else. She shot Georgie first, using the arrow labeled “George Eugene Porgie.” The next arrow, labeled “Lillian Rosemarie Denubia Theodora Shuttersby,” went straight to Lillian’s heart. While the gold glimmer faded away, Cory climbed into the carriage to give them some privacy.
She tucked the jewelry in her knapsack while taking the small box out, staying in the carriage until she’d thought they’d had plenty of time to kiss. They were still kissing when she climbed out again and cleared her throat, loudly and repeatedly, until they both turned to face her.
“I’ll be going,” said Cory, “if someone would direct me to the nearest hostelry where I might get a ride to town.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Lillian said in a dreamy voice. “My coachmen can take you home. I’m riding with Georgie now.”
“Thank you, that’s very kind. But what about your dragon?” Cory asked.
“You can have it if you’d like,” said Lillian. “I don’t want the nasty thing any more now than I did when Rupert gave it to me.”
“That wasn’t what I meant,” said Cory, “but if you’re sure, I’d be happy to take it. Before I go, however, I need to talk to you, Georgie.”
Lillian looked confused when Cory pulled Georgie aside. “I was going to return this to you in exchange for the jewelry if I needed to, but I already have the jewelry, so here—take it,” Cory told him. “I think you need this now.”
Georgie’s eyes grew wide and his hand flew to his pocket when he saw the box on Cory’s palm. “How did you get that?”
“If you want to be happy with your future bride, there are two important things for you to remember,” Cory told him. “Do not steal, and do not kiss strange women. Doing either of those things can get you in very big trouble.”
“I, uh,” was all Georgie could say.
Cory waved as she left them and headed for the front of the carriage. “I need to go to town,” she told the driver, and climbed back inside. After tucking the jewelry in her pockets, she turned to the baby dragon. She had never thought about getting a dragon, but now that she had one, she had plenty of uses for her. With a little training, the dragon might be just what Cory needed to keep the guild from harassing her anymore.
Cory settled back in her seat as the carriage started moving again. She spent the next few hours giving the baby dragon treats from the basket she found under the seat. The dragon had gotten friendlier and had even let Cory pet her head through the side of the crate. Cory named the dragon Shimmer because of the way the light played across her copper-colored scales; she was already becoming attached to the little creature.
After the dragon ate all the dried fish that the cook had sent for her, Cory rooted around in the basket, trying to find something else. She was wondering if dragons liked cheese when the carriage began to slide. Cory let out a small shriek as the carriage skidded and slid off the road into a ditch filled with briars.
“What happened?” she shouted to the driver once she got the door open. Prickly briars surrounded the carriage, making it impossible for her to get out.
“We hit a patch of ice,” the driver shouted back. “Stay there, my lady. We’re going for help.”
“Ice, in the summer? That doesn’t make sense unless the frost fairies put it there,” Cory told the little dragon. “At least no one was hurt. I guess we’ll just have to wait here until the coachmen come back and . . . Ow! Who did that?”
Something had pricked Cory’s arm. When she turned to see who had done it, she found briars coming through the doorway. Pulling the door shut wasn’t easy, but by the time she had it closed, briars were already coming through the windows. She cried out again when one tried to wrap itself around her wrist, pricking her fingers and her wrist as she pulled it off. It was hard to get away from the briars with the dragon’s crate taking up so much room and . . . Suddenly, Cory had an idea; maybe she wouldn’t have to wait to see if the dragon could be useful.
Although Cory’s fingers were sore from touching the briars, she was able to pry off an already loosened board from the front of the crate. The little dragon was scratching at the door when Cory finally opened it. By then, the briars were creeping across the floor. One was trying to latch onto Cory’s leg when the dragon burst out of its crate.
“Burn the briars!” Cory told her, and had to cover her face with her arms as the dragon toasted the plants. The briars shriveled back, pulling out of the carriage even as the dragon burned them to a crisp. When there were no more inside, the dragon flew out the window and burned the plants to the ground.
By the time the coachmen returned, the carriage was free of briars, the ice on the road had melted, and the baby dragon was asleep in Cory’s arms. Cory had to climb out then, however, because the coachmen had brought a farmer and two draft horses with them. Waiting by the side of the road with Shimmer, she watched the big horses drag the carriage out of the ditch. Once the carriage horses were hitched up again, Cory returned to her seat. The carriage had scarcely started moving before something flashed past the window.
“What was that?” she wondered out loud. She was still holding the sleeping dragon, but the baby was heavy for her size and generated a lot of heat even when she wasn’t breathing fire, so it was a relief to set her down to peer out the window. Cory jerked back just in time to keep her nose from getting frozen as a frost fairy sent a frost bolt her way. The bolt hit the back wall inside the carriage, turning it white with ice crystals. Cory shivered, glad that it hadn’t been her. When she sat down, she bumped the baby, who looked up at her with sleepy eyes.
Another bolt hit the back wall, only inches from Cory’s head. Cory ducked down, trying to get out of the fairy’s reach. The baby dragon yawned and sat up, curious about so much activity. When she spotted a frost fairy at the window, she gave chase, singeing the fairy’s wings before returning to Cory. When no more fairies showed up after that, Cory was able to relax. She smiled to herself as she petted the dragon’s head. Having a dragon in the house might work out very well.