I’m gathering my team in the banquet hall, because it makes sense to go back to where we started—where this whole scavenger hunt veered off course. Back to the beginning for a do-over. Except now I’m going to handle things differently.

“Okay,” he said, seating himself next to Jane at the table. “Let’s come up with a strategy. I want everyone’s input. We’re going to conquer this thing together.”

Evie smiled at Carlos like a proud older sister. Her empty hands were folded on the table in front of her. After Carlos had shared the good news with his team—that Fairy Godmother was allowing him to continue with the hunt—Evie had agreed to silence her phone and keep it in her pocket until the competition was over.

Carlos pulled up the scavenger hunt list on his phone and placed it in the center of the table so they could all see the screen. “Which items seem the most doable to you guys?”

Evie and Jane leaned in and peered at the list. “Let’s forget number three,” Evie said. “That shopkeeper at Belle’s Boutique is going to shoo us away with a broom if we show our faces in there again.”

“And we’re never going to get a bowl of Tiana’s gumbo with so little time,” Jane said. “I had to special-order some during my internship.”

“I wonder if we could find someone who had the recipe and make it ourselves,” Evie suggested.

Jane shook her head. “Not enough time. The gumbo has to stew for at least two hours.”

“Okay, no gumbo,” Carlos said. “What about the fruit picked from the hazelberry tree? Evie, didn’t you say you knew where a tree was?”

“Yes!” Evie said excitedly. “We studied the tree in botany class, and I think there’s one near the dorms.”

“What does the tree look like?” Carlos asked.

Evie pursed her lips, as if she was trying to picture it. “It’s tall and thin, and the branches kind of stick out like…like…” She glanced up at Carlos. “Like your hair first thing in the morning.”

Jane giggled.

“Har-har, very funny,” Carlos said sarcastically.

“And the hazelberry fruit is sort of reddish-purplish, like a plum but bigger.”

Carlos’s eyes shot wide open. “Hold on a second. Did you say ‘like a plum’?”

“Yeah, why?” Evie asked.

“There’s a tree like that outside of Jay’s and my dorm room! I always wondered what it was. I thought it was a plum tree, but the fruit always looked so huge. I just thought maybe plums were bigger in Auradon.”

Evie snapped her fingers. “That’s right! I knew I’d seen one somewhere.”

Carlos doubled-checked the list, feeling his hopes rise. The hazelberry fruit was a whopping twenty-five points. If they could nab that one, they’d be well on their way. Carlos wondered if Jay had remembered the tree, too. He hoped not.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Carlos said, jumping to his feet. “Let’s go berry picking!”