Catch Me If You Can
“Jax!”
I fly through the front door of the shop, sending a rack of finished shoe boxes tumbling like dominos. Shoe polish containers burst open as they fall on top of a stack of leather hides. A guard in a gold-and-royal-blue uniform aims his sword at my chin.
“State your purpose,” the guard says gruffly while my father looks on in horror.
“At ease, gentlemen,” I hear a woman say. “This is a friend, not a foe.”
Rapunzel appears from behind Father’s shoe counter and ducks to avoid hitting a rack of boots that are being stretched on a rod above her head. Her voice is velvety, like the pale-pink dress she’s wearing. There is no poof to her skirt, no tulle on her gown, and no jewels are sewn into her bodice. Rapunzel is a princess who prefers understatement over frills. She’s kind of normal, which I never thought I’d say about a princess. Instead of waiting for me to curtsy, she pulls me in for a hug.
“It’s good to see you,” she says. “It’s been too long.”
“Two months,” I say, thinking of the last time I saw her—when Jax, Ollie, Maxine, and I were sent home from Fairy Tale Reform School after receiving our pardons. I put on my stained brown apron that says “Cobbler Shoes,” pick up the broken polish containers, and toss them in the trash. Brown ink stains my hands, and I wipe them on my apron. The ink doesn’t come off. Typical. “Actually, two months, three days, six hours, and two minutes.” Father does a double take. “Not that I’m counting.”
“Of course. Why would anyone count the days they’ve been out of FTRS?” Rapunzel says, and I detect the humor in her tone. It reminds me so much of Jax. All of Enchantasia now knows the two are siblings and that they worked together, with my friends’ help, to save the kingdom from Alva. Order has been restored to the kingdom. We’re no longer being terrorized by winged gargoyles (they’re all locked up) or Alva (she’s been turned to stone and is on display in the dungeons of FTRS). Life is back to normal. Simple, peaceful, boring normal.
Did I say boring? I meant…boring. Sigh.
“Rapunzel has generously offered to help me promote the shop.” Father holds up scroll ads for Cobbler Shoes. His hands and nails are stained black from all the polishing he’s done today, and he has black ink on his forehead. He looks tired but happy. He loves coming up with new shoe designs and now, thanks to the princesses, he’s got his prize design back—the glass slipper. Sales for them have been through the roof, and business has never been better. When Jack of All Trades School said I needed an internship, Father jumped at the chance to have me. “The princess says even royals from other lands are asking about Cobbler glass slippers,” he adds.
“I was just at a Royal High Council meeting with Haddingford and Captiva, and all the princesses asked if I had any connections to get a pair,” Rapunzel tells me. “The wait list is almost two months long. I told your father that at this rate, he’s going to need to expand the shop and hire more workers.”
“Can you imagine?” Father asks, his eyes bright as he looks around his small shop, which is bursting at the seams with equipment, boots hanging from every bit of ceiling space and glass-slipper boxes piled high in the corners. “We could open Cobbler Squared, and you and your sister could run it!”
Run my own shoe store? I pale. Most village kids would be lucky to have their parents pass on a successful business, but when I think of shoe polish and leather hides, I don’t get as excited as my brothers do. Suddenly, I can hear the shoe-shaped clock ticking on the wall, and I realize I haven’t responded. “That would be very generous of you, Father.”
The princess looks at me curiously.
“Rapunzel is also putting a shoe ad in the Happily Ever After Scrolls that will be published for the ball,” Father adds as he gets back to work sewing up a large, white leather boot that must be for a troll.
“We have over a hundred royals coming in for the ball later this week,” Rapunzel says proudly. “Princess Ella is working hard to foster better relations with foreign lands.”
“Is Jax going?” I notice I’m playing with my strands of purple hair and stop myself. What am I doing?
“That’s part of the reason why I stopped by today,” Rapunzel says, and I perk up. “I had no idea you didn’t already receive an invitation. The party is this Friday at 7:00 o’clock. I really hope your family will join us.”
She hands me a velvet envelope, and I pull out the scented, pink invitation. I look at Father hopefully. He takes the invitation from me.
“That’s so kind of you, Princess, but truly, you’ve done enough for the Cobblers already,” he says. “We have no time to sew something this week with our workload.”
“I have my gown from the last ball I went to,” I remind him, trying not to sound hopeful. “Only the bottom of the skirt got singed by the wyvern.” Rapunzel smirks.
“What would your sisters or brothers wear, or your mother and me?” Father asks. I think of my family’s simple wardrobe. It’s been updated, but we own nothing fancy enough for a ball. Mother’s gown from the Fairy Tale Reform School affair was ruined after the school caught on fire. “Thank you, Princess, but we will have to decline.”
My heart sinks.
“Next time then,” Rapunzel says kindly, then turns to me. “Jax will be so disappointed. He’s at the tailor’s in the village getting fitted right now, if you want to stop by and say hello.” I look at Father. My shift should have started fifteen minutes ago.
“Go see your friend,” he says with a smile.
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I’m back out the door and running down the street, narrowly missing a caramel cake cart. The scent of caramel makes me think of Ollie, and I wonder where he is these days. My last two Pegasus Posts to him have been sent back. Is he still sailing with Blackbeard’s friends? I wouldn’t blame him for not heading home. That kid loves the pirate life. The pirate life and caramel cakes.
I swing around the corner of Boot Way again and see the tops of steaming teakettles and magic carpets flying. Pete, the Dwarf Squad Police Chief, passes by on a tall horse with Olaf, his henchmen, walking alongside him. The two of us nod. We’ve developed an understanding since I got out of FTRS. I don’t bother him. He doesn’t annoy me. I spin around the crowded square looking for Jax and spot a group of finely dressed kids in navy-and-gold uniforms. They’re standing in front of Combing the Sea. I hear high-pitched laughter and see a tall boy with curly, dirty-blond hair is holding court.
“Jax!” I yell, unable to stop myself.
Jax’s violet eyes light up when he sees me. “Gilly!” With a slight bow, he excuses himself from the fancy schmancies and runs over.
The two of us stop feet from each other.
I am the one who finally pulls him in for a hug, remembering too late I’m still wearing my apron and it’s got shoe polish all over it. Crumb cake.
“Sorry!” I try to rub the polish off his RA gold sash.
“No biggie.” Jax points to my head. “But you’ve got some on your forehead.”
I try to rub the mark off but assume it’s still there. Whatever. I see his friends watching, but I ignore them. Jax is my friend too. Actually, he was my friend first.
“Did you talk to Rapunzel?” he asks. “You’ve got to come to the party this week. All these neighboring royals are going to be there. The Little Mermaid borrowed a massive ship for the royal court to use for the party. They want the world to know Enchantasia is a safe place to visit and are hoping the party can do some damage control. They got Patacake BakersMan to make all the food!”
“I can’t go,” I say. There’s no way I’m telling him my family has nothing suitable to wear to a royal party. “We have plans Friday.”
“Plans?” Jax looks disappointed. He adjusts one of the gold buttons on his double-breasted jacket. “What could be more important than attending Enchantasia’s biggest ball?”
“Important things,” I stutter, thinking fast. “Besides, if you really wanted us to go, you should have given us more notice. Madame Cleo says an invite should be handed out four weeks in advance.”
“Unless an ogre invasion or a wicked fairy’s hostile takeover causes invites to go out late,” Jax teases. “Come on, thief! You have to come. We haven’t talked in forever. You never returned my Pegasus Posts about getting resentenced to Fairy Tale Reform School. What do you think?”
At the mention of our former school, a mother walking with her baby holds the child closer and gives us the evil eye.
I shush him. “Most people aren’t trying to get thrown back into reform school.”
“Most people don’t realize how cool that place is.” Jax pushes his curls out of his eyes. “Royal Academy is the exact opposite. It requires you to attend all these royal workshops on topics like princely behavior and how to save a damsel in distress.” He rolls his eyes. “I miss our fun, and I miss you. I’m sorry the invite was late. I would have told you sooner, but this is the first time I’ve been allowed to go to the village since we broke out and caused all that trouble.”
I think of the day we toppled an apple cart, were chased through the village with Pete on our tails, and snuck back to FTRS in a Pegasus carriage. “Good times.”
Jax raises an eyebrow. “Maybe not good, but definitely adventurous times.” The two of us laugh.
“Have you heard from Ollie?” I ask.
“I heard he slipped onto Pete the Cheat’s ship to avoid heading home,” Jax says. “At least that’s what a pirate visiting the manor told me. My posts keep coming back. I’ve heard from Maxine, but Kayla hasn’t written at all.”
“She’s probably having too much fun with Jocelyn,” I grumble.
Jax smirks. “You sound jealous.”
“I’m not jealous!” I scoff. “It’s not like I miss having a fairy roommate that used to work for a villain.”
A fancy schmancy with a bright-pink bow walks over. She’s pulling at her hair. “Hi, Jax.”
Note to self: Never play with your hair again.
“We have to catch a Pegasus coach back to Royal Academy.” She gives me the once-over, starting at my messy hair and moving to my stained apron and have-seen-better-days lace-up boots. “Are you done talking to this villager so we can get going?”
“Villager?” I snap. “I’ll have you know I saved your pricey behind a few months back—and everyone else’s in this village too.”
The fancy schmancy’s jaw drops, and I practically sneer at her.
“Thanks, Genevieve. I’ll catch the next one,” Jax tells her and steers me away. “Madame Cleo would be very disappointed. Where are your manners?”
“She started it!” I gripe. “Those fancy schmancies and royal wannabes…they’re the ones who give royals a bad name! I was just—”
Kaboom!
A firework goes zooming past our heads, and Jax and I drop to the ground to avoid getting hit. It hits the village clock tower and explodes. The Humpty Dumpty statue on top of the clock topples to the ground and cracks. People scream and run for cover.
Zoom! Zip!
More fireworks fly past us, and people begin diving in all directions. A magic carpet goes skidding into a Rapunzel Hair Care cart and sends shampoo bottles flying. I can see the fireworks shooting out of the roof of Red’s Ready for Anything like it’s Royal Court Commemoration Day. Jax and I spring into action. I direct confused villagers away from the mayhem, while Jax rushes some peddler carts out of the way. A firework hits Pinocchio’s Puppet Theatre, and one of the marionettes in the window is toast.
“How did this happen?” I ask a troll thundering by.
“Someone broke into Red’s storage room and set off all the fireworks at once!” he says. “It blew the roof off! Red had to evacuate!”
“For the love of royals, who would do something that foolish?” Jax asks.
“Maybe someone who wanted to create a distraction so they could pilfer some area shops?” I guess. Jax looks at me. “What? I might have tried something like this once myself.”
“Clear the way! I have the criminals!” Pete cries, and a crowd gathers to see who Pete is marching through town like a prize. “No need to panic, peasants! I have saved the day! These three are headed to FTRS!” People cheer.
“Wow, the third offense for all three? Brutal,” Jax comments as we strain to see who the culprits are. I bet it’s one of Patacake BakersMan’s sons. Or Jack Be Nimble. He’s been known to slip in and out of shops easily with lifted loot. I stand on my tippy-toes to see. I hear a gasp and realize it is my own.
“Anna?” I freak.
Hansel, Gretel, and my baby sister are in cuffs!
Their faces are covered in ash and soot from fireworks powder. Hansel and Gretel look thrilled, but Anna seems frightened. I break through the crowd with Jax behind me and stop in front of Pete’s horse. “There must be some mistake! This is only her first offense!”
“Second!” Pete sneers at us. His horse neighs nervously at the sounds of the fireworks, but Pete grabs the reins tighter. “Her first was helping you and your little friends escape capture that day in the village.” Anna won’t look at me.
Oh right. “Well, it’s only her second then. You have to let her go!”
Pete smiles sickly and lets a scroll unroll in front of us. I recognize the FTRS proclamation. “You get sentenced on your second offense now. The little guy in charge changed the rules.”
“What little guy in charge?” Jax asks.
I grab the bottom of the scroll and look at the signature. “Rumpelstiltskin?”
“Anna Cobbler,” Pete says with satisfaction, “you’ve been sentenced to Fairy Tale Reform School!”