Chapter 9

The mother bear had already made porridge by the time Annie and Gwendolyn went downstairs the next morning. “It’s the only food I can cook,” she told them as they joined Liam at the table. “Eustace’s fairy godmother gave us a magic cooking pot when we got married.”

“She’s only a minor fairy so all it will cook is porridge,” said the father bear. “But it warms you up and fills your belly.”

“Sounds tempting,” Gwendolyn whispered to Annie, making a wry face.

Even so, with a little honey dribbled on top, the porridge was delicious and all the bowls were soon scraped clean.

“Before you leave, we were wondering if you could do us a favor,” the father bear said to Annie as the travelers gathered outside the door. “Could we touch you all at once so we can see ourselves as we’re supposed to be?”

“Yes, of course,” Annie replied, and held out her hand. She was expecting them all to touch her hand or arm, but when the father bear nudged his cub toward her, the little bear stood on his hind legs and threw his arms around her waist. Annie staggered back into the mother bear’s embrace, and then the father bear stood up behind the cub and Annie was enveloped in a big bear hug.

Annie glanced down and saw that the bear cub’s fur was turning into silky brown hair. She heard the mother bear gasp behind her and felt the father bear’s grip tighten as they too began to revert to their human form. And then the mother and father bears began to cry. She thought at first that they might be in pain, but when she looked at the father’s face, she saw a middle-aged man smiling through his tears.

They’d been standing there for a few minutes when Annie began to wonder when they would let her go. Hot and uncomfortable, she fidgeted, hoping they would take a hint.

“I’m getting squished!” announced the little boy.

“Um,” Annie began, “I think we should…”

“I can’t thank you enough!” cried the mother bear. “I thought I might never see their real faces again!”

Annie looked over her shoulder at the curly-haired woman with the tear-streaked face. “You’re welcome,” Annie told her. “Now if you don’t mind, we really do have to go.”

“Yes, of course,” the mother bear said, and they all stepped back, freeing Annie.

The father picked up his son and put his other arm around his wife, pulling her to his side. “The Moonflower Glade is due north of here, but be careful.”

“We will be,” said Liam. “Can you be more specific about what dangers we might have to face?”

No longer in contact with Annie, the three people were already reverting back into bears. The half-man, half-bear father shook his head. “I’ve just heard that it’s dangerous, not what the dangers might be. Good luck finding the evil dwarf. I don’t know how you’ll make him undo his magic, but he deserves whatever you do to him.”

“Thank you again!” the mother bear called to Annie as the four friends started toward the path.

“That was really embarrassing,” Gwendolyn told Annie when the bears were out of sight. “I thought they were never going to let you go, and the crying… I don’t know how you stood it.”

“They were happy!” said Annie. “There was nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Well, it made me uncomfortable, seeing them like that,” Gwendolyn snapped.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, during which Annie kept expecting her sister to leave her side to walk with Beldegard. She was about to ask if she wanted something, when Gwendolyn turned back to her and cleared her throat. “I don’t suppose that later, when we stop for a break or something, you could, uh—”

“Touch Beldegard’s shoulder so you can gaze into each other’s human eyes? Yes, I can do that,” Annie said, and sighed.

They had walked well into the afternoon when Annie finally turned to Liam and said, “Do you have any idea where we’re going?”

“Not really,” he said. “What about you, Beldegard? Do you think we’re getting close?”

“I haven’t a clue,” said the bear prince.

“Then why don’t we ask for directions instead of wandering around like fools?” Annie asked. “Surely we’re far enough north that someone here knows where the Moonflower Glade is located.”

Liam shrugged. “I suppose if you want to.”

“Fine! I’m asking the first person we see!”

Annie would have been happy to talk to someone, but the path had become a road, and though it looked well traveled, they walked for miles without seeing a single person. She was becoming increasingly frustrated when she finally heard the creak of a wagon coming up behind them and spotted an old farmer driving a team of tired horses home from market.

While Beldegard hid in the bushes, Annie and her friends stepped aside so the wagon and horses could pass. “Pardon me, good sir!” Annie called. “Might I have a moment of your time?”

“Huh? Whazzat?” the old man asked, cupping his hand behind his ear.

“I was just wondering if you could give us directions. We’re trying to find the Moonflower Glade,” Annie said, raising her voice.

“You sure you want to go there?” asked the old man. “The way is long and fraught with danger.”

“That’s what we’ve heard, but we’re not sure what it means,” said Liam. “Will we have to pass some tortuous test or fight dragons or what?”

The old man shrugged. “I don’t know what it means. It’s just what everyone says. Never been there myself. Fact is, you can’t get there from this direction. You’ll have to go to the Old Mill Road, about a mile or two back,” he said, pointing back the way they’d come. “Then turn left at the falling-down barn, which might have already fallen down, come to think of it, then go through Gruntly Village. Whatever you do, don’t eat at the tavern with the bird on the sign. Eat at the other one, the food is good and someone there can give you directions for the rest of the way.”

“Thank you, kind sir,” said Annie.

“You’re welcome, miss. By the way, did you know that a large animal is following you?”

Annie laughed and glanced toward the shrubs. “Yes, I know. He’s a friend of ours.”

The old man’s eyes widened, but he just nodded and clucked to his horses to get them moving again, although Annie did hear him mutter to himself, “Now that’s an odd one for you. Not as odd as those dwarves, though. Never heard such bickering in all my born days.”

“Did you say you saw some dwarves?” Annie called after him, but he didn’t seem to hear her and kept going.

“I guess you should have asked someone for directions sooner,” Liam told her.

“But I… I mean, you… Oh, never mind!” she said, but she let him take her hand anyway.

Annie fumed all the way back to the Old Mill Road. Once they were seeing new scenery, however, she forgot to be irritated and began to look for the falling-down barn. The old farmer hadn’t told them which side of the road to watch, but the others were looking as well and Beldegard was ranging across both sides of the road. It was the bear prince who finally came across the decaying timbers that had once been part of a barn. He emerged loping out of the underbrush, his tongue lolling like a big dog’s, and plopped down in front of Annie. “I found the old man’s barn. At least I think it was a barn. Come see for yourself.”

Annie glanced at the waist-high grass and shook her head. “I’ll take your word for it. The farmer said we should turn left now. Do you see a road anywhere?”

“I saw something that might once have been a road. It’s overgrown, but we could try it,” said the bear prince. “What are we looking for next?”

“A village where we might get something to eat as well as more directions,” Annie replied.

“So far the way to the Moonflower Glade hasn’t been fraught with much of anything,” said Liam. “I wonder what the bear and the old man were talking about.”

“I’d rather we didn’t find out,” said Gwendolyn. “Walking this far is grueling enough without having to worry about dragons or monsters or some awful test.”

“Have any of you ever heard of Gruntly Village?” asked Beldegard. “Because that might be it up ahead.”

They peered through the trees in the direction the bear prince was facing. Although they couldn’t see them very well, there were buildings just past the curve in the road.

“I don’t know anything about it,” said Liam. “So it can’t be in Dorinocco. We must have crossed the border into Floradale.”

“I remember now!” Annie exclaimed. “The fairy Moonbeam is the fairy in the Moonflower Glade! Mother was born in Floradale, you know, and Moonbeam was her favorite fairy godmother. Moonbeam was also the fairy who gave me the gift of no-magic.”

“I don’t recall Mother mentioning that,” said Gwendolyn.

Annie sighed. “Then maybe she didn’t tell you about it. She did talk to me once in a while when you weren’t around.”

“This is where I leave you again,” said Beldegard. “I’ll see you when you’re finished in the village.”

“Good-bye, my sweet,” Gwendolyn said, hugging Beldegard around the neck. “Be safe.”

“I live but to see you again,” Beldegard told the princess, and licked her across her face.

“I feel ill,” Liam muttered to Annie as they began to walk.

“I know! All that bear drool!” said Annie. “Imagine!”

“I meant I feel sick because of what he said. Being a bear must be affecting his mind. No self-respecting man would talk like that.”

“Unless he’s being romantic,” Annie replied, giving Liam a wistful look.

“Is that what you call it?” said Liam. “Say, is it me or are those buildings larger than most?”

Annie sighed and shook her head. Nice way to change the subject! she thought, turning to look where he was pointing. From a distance the buildings hadn’t looked like anything extraordinary, but as they drew closer she could see that they were proportioned differently than most. Some of the buildings had strange peaks and angles, while others had windows in odd places, as if the rooms inside weren’t where you’d expect. All of the buildings, however, were taller than those she had seen in other villages.

“Look at how tall those doors are,” said Gwendolyn, coming up from behind. “You don’t suppose giants live here, do you?”

“Not giants,” said Liam. “A giants’ village would have doors twice as tall as these. If I’m not mistaken, this is an ogre village.”

The color faded from Gwendolyn’s face. “I didn’t know ogres lived in villages. Maybe we should go around it.”

Annie shook her head. “We need to ask for directions again. Look, there’s a tavern with a bird on the sign.”

“And there’s another tavern over there,” said Liam. “There’s a bird on that sign, too. I thought the farmer said that only one sign had a bird on it.”

“Someone must have changed the other sign,” Annie said, frowning. “Now what do we do?”

“You two stay here and I’ll go check out the taverns,” Liam told the girls. “You should be fine if you don’t talk to anyone.”

Because there was only one street in the village and it seemed to be deserted, Annie didn’t think they needed to worry. But just minutes after Liam disappeared into the closest tavern, a trio of young male ogres came out of one of the houses and sauntered over to where Annie and Gwendolyn were standing in the shade of a tree. All three of the ogres were nearly seven feet tall; Annie and Gwendolyn had to look up to see their faces.

“Well, well, well! What have we here?” said the ogre with one eyebrow across his forehead and the beginnings of a scraggly beard.

The second ogre grinned. Annie couldn’t help but let her eyes wander to the top of his head, where stringy hair grew in patches around irregular bald spots. “Looks like two little humans wandering around all by themselves,” growled the ogre.

“Do you know how dangerous that can be in a village like this?” asked the first ogre.

The third ogre laughed, an unpleasant sound that revealed his tongue, which was split down the middle like a snake’s. When he saw that the girls were looking at him, he licked his lips and said something garbled that Annie couldn’t understand.

The first ogre punched him in the arm, then turned to the girls and said, “Don’t pay any attention to Screely. He cut his tongue because he thought it would make him look scarier. Now he can’t talk worth dragon dung.”

“We’re not alone,” Gwendolyn piped up. “We’re here with friends.”

“Really?” said the ogre with the bald spots. “I don’t see anyone else. They must be invisible friends.”

“Maybe they’re imaginary friends,” said the first ogre. “Do you have good imaginations?”

“Very good,” said Gwendolyn. “I can imagine exactly what will happen to you if I scream and our friends come running.”

The ogre with the bald spots snorted. “Oh, really?” he said, and stepped closer until he towered over both of the girls.

Annie didn’t like the way the conversation was headed, and was relieved when she saw that an older ogre was hobbling toward them, using a whittled tree trunk as a cane. “What’s going on here?” he snarled.

The three younger ogres backed away. “Nothing, Gloover. We were just greeting these two humans.”

“You’ve talked to them long enough. Off with you before I take my cane to your backsides. So,” he said to Annie and Gwendolyn once the other ogres had scuttled off. “What are you doing here? We don’t get many humans coming this way.”

“We just wanted directions,” said Annie. “We’re going to see the fairy Moonbeam, in the Moonflower Glade.”

“Ah!” said the ogre. “I can give you directions, but you do know that the way is long and fraught with danger?”

Annie sighed. “Everyone keeps telling us that.”

“All right then. Pay attention. Take the road out of town, go right at the pasture where Midas keeps his cattle, then go over the rainbow bridge, under the waterfall, turn left, and you’re there.”

“Are there any special dangers we should expect to find?” asked Annie.

“I don’t know,” said the ogre. “I’ve never been there.”

“Annie, is everything all right?” Liam asked, hurrying across the street.

Annie nodded. “This nice gentleman was just giving us directions to the Moonflower Glade.”

“Good, because no one in that tavern would talk to me. I’ve been waiting this whole time for someone to notice that I was there.”

“I’m sure they noticed you,” said the ogre. “They just didn’t want to talk to you.”

“Thank you for the directions,” Annie told him.

“Good luck getting there,” the ogre said, and walked away.

“Why does everyone keep warning us about the way to the Moonflower Glade?” Liam asked as they started down the road. “We have yet to see anything dangerous.”

“I thought that ogre with the terrible tongue looked dangerous,” said Gwendolyn.

Liam scowled at her. “I thought I told you not to talk to anyone.”

“They talked to us first,” Gwendolyn said, shrugging.