Page 46 of Switched

“I don’t know…” Jax hesitates. “My gut is telling me things could go really wrong.”

Anna bares her teeth. One of her teeth gleams gold like Stiltskin’s. I wonder if she’s had so much candy with him that she’s had to get a tooth replaced. “You have a better idea, royal?”

Jax raises his right eyebrow.

“Anna,” I say in surprise. “Don’t talk to Jax that way. He’s my friend.”

“Sorry.” Anna holds her head. “I don’t know what’s come over me. I have these outbursts… I guess I’ve been around him too long.” She grabs my shoulders. “You have to get me out of here.”

I hold her tight. “I will, but first we need to rescue the others and steal the harp.”

“And figure out how to get back down the beanstalk,” Jocelyn says. “Once he knows we’re here, it’s going to be tough.”

“A magic bean would do the trick,” Anna says. “They’re useful for getting out of sticky situations. If you have a bean, you just throw it down and it will grow or expand on the spot, taking you wherever you ask it to go.” Her eyes widen. “Did you know stalks can grow up, down, sideways, or even open doors to other lands? The places I’ve seen…” I hate that she still sounds somewhat fascinated by Stiltskin.

ROAR! WAAH!

The giant next to us startles everyone by bursting into tears again. I almost forgot he was there.

“Erp, these are my friends. They won’t hurt you.” She looks at me. “And this is my sister.” She smiles. “I can take you guys to headquarters. Alva’s statue was brought there too. He’s usually holed up in there spinning gold, but he should be gone right now. He likes to take dinner on a cloud overlooking Enchantasia’s royal court castles. He likes to tell the squad stories of what he’ll do once the kingdom is his to rule.”

I shudder at the thought.

Anna looks at a giant clock on the city wall, then unties Erp, who continues to sniffle. “We should hurry though.” She snaps her fingers at Erp. “Take us to Rumpelstiltskin’s castle.” Erp doesn’t move. “Erp,” Anna says sternly, her voice and face becoming hard. “Now.”

“Geez, talk about a one-eighty,” I hear Jocelyn say. I give her a look.

Erp starts quaking. The Stiltskin Squad must have really done a number on him.

Anna stomps her foot on his palm. “Erp, I’m warning you!”

“Hey,” I say softly. “It might work better if you’re nice to him.” I stare into Erp’s big, brown eyes. “If you help get us to headquarters, we will let you go. Then you can try to escape.”

Erp slowly lowers his hand so we can all jump in.

“Thanks, Erp.” I feel pleased and look at Anna. Her frown is quickly replaced by a tight smile.

“You’ve saved the day again,” she says quietly.

Now I feel bad. AG is looking at us. I don’t want Anna to always feel like she’s in my shadow. “Not true,” I start to say. “You’re the one who helped Erp in the first place.” Anna doesn’t look convinced.

“You’re so lucky to have each other,” AG blurts out as Erp starts to move.

Anna seems to notice her for the first time. “And you are?”

AG blushes. “Beauty and Prince Sebastian’s daughter.” I watch Anna’s face dawn with recognition. “Gilly has helped me so much since I’ve gotten to school.”

“That’s so nice for you,” Anna says, and I can detect a hint of bitterness.

I pull Anna closer. “We’re going to get out of here together, and things will be different when you’re back. You’ll see.” Anna manages a small smile.

In the palm of Erp’s callused hand, it feels like we’re barely moving, but clouds and buildings fly by. I squint my eyes at the bright light growing closer in the distance. As it comes into view, I realize it’s a human-sized building washed in a gold color. Stiltskin’s headquarters. The jeweled R on the center of the door lets everyone know whose place this is. The sun bounces off the gold on the building, making it impossible to look at it straight on without sunglasses. It’s strange to see something so tiny in the middle of a giant city.

AG frowns. “This place is kind of elaborate for temporary housing.” Erp places us gently on the ground.

“Says the girl with the pop-up castle,” Jocelyn quips.

“Stiltskin had the giants build him these headquarters when we came up here,” Anna explains. “He’s been ostracized in every kingdom we’ve visited, so we finally put down roots in the clouds. He hated how big everything was when he was so, um, small in stature so he had them build this beautiful castle. He says it will do for now.” Anna steps off Erp’s hand and walks to the front door, which is, surprisingly, silver. She presses her hand to a lock. It opens. “Follow me.”