Page 48 of Switched

“How could I forget them?” I ask.

“Be ready, guys!” Jocelyn says, running back over. “If this works, everyone is going to need to pitch in to carry this thing,” Jax, AG, and Jocelyn gather around the harp.

“I’m sure the harp can be heard all over the city,” Jax adds. “He’ll know we’re here and send everyone after us. We’ll have to get to the beanstalk fast.”

“I’ve brought a few extra hands.” Ollie, Kayla, and Maxine are back, and they’ve got a group of twenty kids who have definitely seen better days. Many of them look familiar. They’re still in their FTRS uniforms, but their clothes are tattered and their faces dirty. Porter looks thinner than I remember, and the twins from the village look like they haven’t slept in weeks. They all file around the harp. Erp’s eye comes back into view. Jack rushes over to me in a panic.

“My mum and cow weren’t there,” he says. “Where could they be?”

“We’ll find them after we do this,” I tell Jack. “We won’t leave without them.”

“Gilly.” Jax sounds like he’s going to argue.

“We have to help them,” I insist even though the stakes are piling high against us. How are we getting all these kids down the stalk and the harp too? “We’ll be okay.”

Anna takes my hand again. Her brow furrows worriedly, like it would when I’d bring her a present that she knew had been stolen. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be.” I place one hand on the harp and take a deep breath. I’m not really a singer—and I’ve certainly never sung in public—but I know the words to this song backward and forward. I look at Anna as I begin to sing:

When the sky has gone from day to night,

I tuck my little ones in tight.

Soft and snuggled in your beds,

I hope that warm thoughts fill your heads.

I don’t hear any sound at first. But around the third line, I feel a rush through my bones. My body starts to tingle, starting at my head and spreading quickly to my toes and to my fingers like an electric charge is shooting through my veins. My eyes widen in surprise, and so do Anna’s.

“Something is happening!” Maxine cries as the harp strings begin to come to life creating the song’s melody. “Keep singing!”

I love to sit and watch you dream,

While lacing shoes and sewing seams.

I’d sew one hundred thousand shoes

To make all of your dreams come true.

And if I had to start anew,

I’d do it all again for you.

My children, my heart, my dearest ones,

Sleep well until the night is done.

The tingly melodic sound is breathtaking. The harp matches me note for note, as if it always knew what I would sing. Even though I know the music means Stiltskin isn’t far behind, I feel very calm, like I’m meant to be here right now. Around us, everyone’s eyes brighten at the lovely melody. Even Erp is listening. I’m doing it!

With Anna by my side, and the harp playing the melody of my heart, I feel happier than I have in months. I hold the final note as long as I can, knowing it’s the moment of truth. Everyone closes in on our circle to help move the harp. Jack touches it again, and it easily lifts off the ground as if it weighs next to nothing.

Jax starts to cheer as we lift it off its pedestal. “Let’s get out of—”

KABOOM!

The door to the atrium bursts off its frame, flying across the room and almost taking out half the kids. People dive out of the way as smoke bombs and spells fly everywhere, clouding the air with fire and smoke. In the haze, I see Stiltskin and his squad running, their wands raised. I reach for my bow and arrow, but slowly realize their wands aren’t trained on us; they’re aimed at the harp.

Before any of us can react, the Stiltskin Squad channels their power together. The harp begins to glow bright red as if it might burst into flames and sparks rain down on us as I pull AG and Anna behind my back. Stiltskin runs forward and points his wand at Alva’s statue. It begins to glow red too, and a cold fear washes over me.