Red crashed through the thatched roof. She’d bounced off one, rolled down another and things had been looking up . . . until this last one gave way beneath her.

Instead of dropping silently, Red was now screaming as loud as she could as she fell towards the flagstones below. ‘Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!’

There was a puff of smoke and instead of slamming on to a cold hard floor, Red found herself landing on something surprisingly soft and warm. The flesh-coloured cushion wobbled beneath her as she sat up and looked around.

What was this thing? And where had it come from?

Suddenly she heard high-pitched, uncontrollable laughter. Hovering in the air nearby was a bright blue, almost see-through young boy.

‘That is the funniest thing EVER!’ he squealed.

‘What is?’ demanded Red, feeling annoyed. She’d just fallen through a roof, she had rotten straw poking out of her hair, and now she was being laughed at.

‘Look what you landed on!’ continued the boy. ‘It’s a bum! I magicked a bum! AMAZING!’

Red looked down. He was right – she was indeed sitting on top of a giant bum.

She tried to wriggle off, but it melted away into nothing.

‘You smell of bum! You smell of bum!’ sang the boy happily as he whirled around through the air.

‘That’s enough, Cole!’ rang out an exasperated voice. Standing in the corner of the room was the same tattered girl that Red had seen in the witch’s chambers.

‘Sorry about him.’ The girl sighed. ‘That’s Cole, my Fairy Godbrother. I apologize in advance for anything annoying or horrible that he says . . . or does.’

The Fairy Godbrother responded by looking curiously at Red, then slowly and thoroughly picking his nose.

‘You’re disgusting!’ said the girl.

‘That’s MEAN!’ shouted the boy. ‘You’re always bossing me!’

He blinked out of sight, leaving Red and the girl alone in the cold dark room.

The girl shrugged. ‘He never stays cross for long,’ she explained. ‘I’m Ella, by the way – it’s short for Cinderella, but that’s a pretty out there kind of name so I just stick with Ella.’

‘I’m Red.’

‘Oh. Er, right,’ replied Ella. ‘Well, there’s nothing wrong with creative names! I mean . . . wouldn’t it be boring if we were all called Sally or something!’ She paused and looked at Red. ‘Your middle name’s not Sally, is it?’

Red smiled and shook her head.

‘Thank goodness!’ said Ella. ‘So anyway, welcome to our humble home. It was nice of you to drop in.’ She looked up to the hole in the thatched roof and grinned.

Red laughed.

‘It looks like the dragon didn’t see you,’ continued Ella. ‘She’s going a bit blind in one eye, poor thing.’

‘Poor thing?’ exclaimed Red.

‘She’s a prisoner of the witch too!’ said Ella. ‘We all are. I haven’t been able to leave the castle in ages. Anyway, I know that she’s up to something – for the past few months she’s been sending Wilf out to hunt down magical creatures.’

‘Who’s Wilf?’ asked Red.

‘The huntsman,’ explained Ella. ‘Nice bloke, quite chatty, very big, a bit smelly, you know?’

‘I know . . .’ replied Red, narrowing her eyes. ‘He kidnapped my friend’s mum, and now I’m all on my own and I’ve got to rescue everyone. But I’ve got no idea where they are – it’s going to be impossible.’ Red tried to blink away the tears that threatened to tumble down her cheeks.

Ella placed an arm over her shoulders. ‘Well, most of that might be true,’ she said gently. ‘Apart from one thing . . .’

‘What’s that?’ asked Red sadly.

‘You’re not on your own!’ Ella smiled. ‘Plus, I’m pretty sure your friends aren’t in the dungeons. I heard the witch moaning that the dungeons were already full. So we know we don’t have to look in there.’

She looked away from Red and called out, ‘Hey! Cole! Fancy playing some tricks on the guards? You can be as silly as you like, I promise I won’t shout.’

‘Promise?’ asked Cole’s voice from thin air.

‘Promise!’ replied Ella. There was a crackle of magical smoke and the room filled with blue light as Cole reappeared.

‘You won’t be cross if I get things wrong?’ he asked.

‘Of course not!’ said Ella.

‘Even if I make it rain rabbit poo instead of unlocking a door, or something like that?’

‘Even if you do that,’ said Ella. ‘Listen, Cole, I’m sorry I shouted at you earlier – I didn’t mean it.’

‘That’s all right!’ exclaimed Cole happily. ‘I’d forgotten anyway. So . . . who are we rescuing?’

Red smiled. Suddenly, the world seemed a little bit brighter.

‘But gosh! Just look at the state of me!’ gasped Ella, looking down at her ragged clothing. ‘I can’t meet your friends like this! I have to get changed!’ She hurried off into the next room.

Cole had one finger stuck firmly up his nose when he looked over at Red.

‘Sorry!’ he mumbled, removing his finger and wiping it on his trousers.

Red grinned at him. ‘Do you want to know a secret?’ she whispered.

The Fairy Godbrother’s eyes lit up and he nodded.

‘Sometimes I pick my nose too!’

Cole’s eyes grew wide with delight.

‘But you mustn’t tell anyone!’ continued Red. ‘Especially my friend Rapunzel. She’d think it was gross!’ Cole nodded, suddenly serious. ‘Of course not!’ he said solemnly. ‘A secret’s a secret!’ He paused for a moment. ‘Do you want to know my secret?’ he asked.

Red nodded.

‘I think my magic’s broken,’ said

Cole. ‘All of the other fairies tease me – none of my spells ever come out right, and they never last very long either.’

‘I’m sure you’ll get better at it when you’re a bit bigger . . .’ said Red.

‘Maybe,’ said Cole sadly. ‘Promise you won’t tell Ella! I’m her Fairy Godbrother . . .’ He sniffed loudly. ‘If she knew my magic was broken she’d swap me for a better one!’

He looked so upset that Red ran over and gave him a hug. ‘Come on, Cole, cheer up! Ella would never do that!’

‘What are you two whispering about?’ asked Ella as she walked back into the room. Cole stared at Red in a ‘You promised!’ sort of way.

‘Oh, nothing . . .’ said Red casually. ‘Wow! I love that dress!’

‘Thank you!’ beamed Ella. She patted down the collection of rags she was wearing. They looked even dirtier than the clothes she had just changed out of.

‘This is my very best dress, for special occasions!’ Ella swept her hair back elegantly, leaving a grimy smudge across her face.

‘Very nice!’ said Red with a slight grin. ‘So . . . how do we get out of here?’