My Epic Fairy Tale Fail (9 page)

As I left the village behind, the witch's words kept echoing in my head. Before I knew it, tears were dripping down my face.

I brushed them away. No. I wouldn't let her get to me. So what if my parents had been about to come back to me forever? That didn't change anything. Not really.

My mother's bracelet felt hot around my wrist, like it was trying to remind me of just how much I'd lost.

“Shut up, bracelet,” I muttered.

I shook my head and kept going. I just had to focus on completing my mission. That was all I could think about. The sun was starting to sink toward the trees, which meant I had to hurry. As desperate as I was to complete the tasks, I wasn't about to go charging up a mountain in the dark.

Finally, I spotted a glass peak in the distance. It sparkled in the late-afternoon sun like a huge diamond. The closer I got, the more impossibly tall the mountain appeared. Its transparent sides went almost straight up toward the clouds. How on earth was I supposed to climb it?

At the base of the mountain, I reached out to touch the glass, expecting it to be freezing. It was surprisingly warm to the touch. Now that I was up close, I could see that the mountain's face wasn't completely smooth. There were a few crags here and there, spots that I might be able to use as handholds.

I spit on my hands, rubbed them together, and got to work. After a couple tries, I managed to jump up and catch hold of a tiny ledge with my right hand. Then one with my left. I kept climbing until I was about twenty feet above the ground. Suddenly, I couldn't find anywhere else to grab on to.

As I hung from my fingertips, scrambling to find a handhold above me, my brain refused to focus on what I was doing. Instead, I found myself thinking about my parents again.

If my mom and dad were here, they would know how to climb this mountain. They'd been the best adventurers in history, after all. Past tense. Because no one knew where they were. No one even knew if they were still alive. What if Ilda was right? What if my search for my parents was hopeless?

My legs started to slide under me, and my hand was getting so cramped that I didn't think I could hold on much longer.

I clenched my teeth until they felt like they were about to break. Somehow, I managed to lift myself up just a little higher until—success! This time, I found not only a crevice but an actual ledge wide enough to stand on. I crawled onto it and pressed up against the glass, trying not to look down.

But my excitement was short-lived as I realized that above me, the rest of the mountain was now completely smooth. Not a single crack or crevice in sight. Unless I sprouted suction cups on my hands, I was stuck. Now what?

Then I heard screeching.

At first it was faint, but soon it grew louder and louder.

Skree. Skree. Skree!

I glanced over my shoulder and almost screamed.

An enormous black bird was charging at me, its giant wings blocking out the sun. Its razor-sharp beak was easily the length of my entire arm.

As the bird got closer and closer, my brain was frozen. I couldn't climb. I couldn't jump. I just stood on the ledge, not knowing what to do. For some reason, all I could think about was how disappointed my parents would be if I got myself killed by a prehistoric bird.

Skree!

The bird was only inches away. Its beak was aimed right at me. I had to do something! Finally, I convinced my legs to jump.

I tumbled off the ledge and dropped through the air like a lump of clay.

When I hit the ground, it took me a second to realize I wasn't still falling. My body felt numb, almost weightless, and my eyes were swimming with black dots.

“Anthony,” I mouthed, but no sound came out.

I tried to blink the spots away, but they just got bigger and bigger, until finally my vision blurred completely and all I could see was blackness. Then I was dreaming of witches and trolls and giant birds playing mini-golf.

When I opened my eyes, it took me a minute to remember why I was sprawled on the ground with a shining glass mountain towering over me, and why my body felt like someone had used it for batting practice. Then I tried to remember why Jasmine was kneeling next to me with a careful smile on her face and a buffalo-shaped yarn necklace around her neck. She hadn't been there before, had she?

I struggled to sit up, but my head was throbbing and my body tingled like all my limbs had fallen asleep and were slowly waking up.

“Don't try to move,” said Jasmine. “Once Anthony gets here, he'll fix you up and take you home.”

“Home?” I whispered. “No. I have to finish the tasks.”

A pained expression spread across Jasmine's face, and suddenly I realized the truth. There was no finishing the tasks. I'd attempted the third one, and I hadn't even gotten halfway up the mountain.

“I failed.” The words came out weak and strangled. I'd let the Land of Tales down. I'd let little Jack and his brothers and everyone else down. All the promises I'd made had been for nothing.

Jasmine reached out and squeezed my hand. “It's all right, Jenny. I saw how hard you tried.”

“What do you mean? You just got here.”

She shook her head. “I've been here all along,” she said. “I've been following you.”

“That was you?” All this time I'd thought Ilda had been stalking me, and Jasmine turned out to have been the one watching me from afar. “But why?”

“To deliver your elephant earrings?” she said with a weak smile that told me she was attempting a joke. Then her face grew serious. “The Committee members asked me to. That's why they sent for me when I was at your house. They wanted me to keep an eye on you.”

“You mean they wanted you to spy on me.”

Jasmine started to object. Then she seemed to think better of it. “Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it. They were concerned, that's all. This place is dangerous. They wanted to make certain you were safe.” Her smile faltered. “I'm afraid they won't be too happy to hear about your fall. I should have acted sooner, done something to help you.”

“It wasn't your fault. Besides, I'm fine. And I'll be a whole lot better once I find a way to get rid of Ilda.” Slowly, I managed to get to my feet, trying not to wince as my muscles screamed.

Jasmine jumped up to help steady me. “That's not your job anymore, Jenny.”

“Of course it is. I can't let that witch keep messing up this land.”

“You made a promise, remember?” said Jasmine, finally letting go of my arm. “You told the people here that if you failed the tasks, you'd leave right away.”

I swallowed. Yes, I'd made that promise, but I'd also made one to Jack and to so many others.

“Princess Nartha contacted the Committee after you were at the palace and insisted that you leave her kingdom immediately if you failed,” Jasmine added.

“But why?”

“Because that's what her people wanted and that's what she promised them. There's nothing else you can do.”

My insides felt like they were deflating. Maybe it really was over. I'd tried the tasks and I'd failed. I'd tried to find my parents and I'd failed. What more could I do?

An urgent
Pop
! rang out and Anthony appeared. For once he wasn't holding any type of food, not even a diet snack. He just rushed over and pulled me into a hug.

“Are you okay?” he said.

“I'm fine.” I tried not to yelp as he squeezed me tight. It didn't feel like I'd broken anything, but I probably resembled a bruised pear.

After Anthony let me go, there were actually tears shining in his eyes. “When I heard you were hurt…all I could think about was that day when your parents…” He wiped his eyes.

Just then, the most unwelcome sound I could imagine echoed above our heads:
Skree! Skree!

The bird with a capital B was back.

“We need to get out of sight,” I said, glancing around for somewhere to hide.

“Let's get you home,” said Jasmine.

“No! I can't—”

Before I could even finish the sentence, Anthony grabbed my hand. With a
Pop
!, the Land of Tales faded around us. After a moment of psychedelic spinning, we were back in my bedroom.

Normally, I got a rush of comfort whenever I came home, but this time I felt empty. I stumbled across the room, pulled off my adventuring bag, and sank onto my bed.

“You need to rest up,” said Anthony. “After the fall you had, some sleep will do you good.”

“I don't want to sleep.” The truth was, I didn't want to do anything. I'd never felt like such a failure. I'd let an entire kingdom down. I'd let my parents down. I'd even let my friends down. Maybe the Committee had been right to doubt me.

“Here,” said Anthony, taking a pill out of his pouch of medicines. “Swallow this.”

“I'm fine.” I tried to push his hand away, but I was suddenly so exhausted that I could barely lift my arm.

“You're not fine,” said Anthony.

I wanted to argue, but I felt woozy. Either that, or the smiley-face stickers on my ceiling could actually dance. Maybe closing my eyes for a second wouldn't hurt…

Before I knew it, Anthony had slipped the pill onto my tongue. I tried to spit it out, but it had already started to melt. Surprisingly, it tasted like caramel.

“Trust me, Jenny,” I heard Jasmine say as everything started to fade. “You'll feel better when you wake up.”

But I knew she was wrong. My bruises would heal, but I wouldn't feel better. Not tomorrow, and probably not ever.

When I woke up, I was surprised to see Jasmine still sitting by my bedside. She was crocheting something that resembled a blue cockroach. I shuddered to think what it would look like as a piece of jewelry.

“Where's Anthony?” I said. My head felt heavier than a bowling ball, but the wooziness was gone.

“He went to fill Dr. Bradley in on how you were doing.”

“How
am
I doing?'

“You should take it easy for a couple days, but you'll be all right.” She looked up from her crocheting. “Oh, your aunt checked in on you a little while ago. I told her you'd sustained an injury during gym class.”

I didn't
feel
all right. My insides ached like I'd been trying not to cry for hours. “Anthony should have let me stay in the Land of Tales. Maybe Ilda would have let me try the tasks again.”

Jasmine leaned forward. Her face was full of pity, as if she felt sorry that I couldn't get the truth through my thick skull. “The mission is over, Jenny. They no longer want you there. Besides, what more can you do?”

“I don't know.
Something
. I can't just give up.”

“You're not. You're being realistic. That's something every adventurer must learn eventually. You won't be able to save everyone.”

“So I just let Ilda win?” I said.

She shook her head. “Don't think of it like that. You gave it a good try. What else were you supposed to do?”

Not fail. Not let myself get distracted. If only Ilda hadn't said all those things about my parents before I went off to do the third task, maybe I would have been able to keep my mind on climbing the glass mountain.

“I know you don't want to hear this, Jenny,” said Jasmine, “but the Land of Tales doesn't want your help. You promised you'd leave if you couldn't complete the tasks, and you kept your word. So let the fairy-tale folks figure things out on their own, okay?”

She gave my shoulder a squeeze and headed for the door.

I hated to admit that Jasmine might be right. For the first time in my life, I'd been fired from a mission. Even if I could find a way back to the Land of Tales, that wouldn't do any good.

I sighed and resisted the urge to hide under my covers.

Ilda's words started bouncing around in my head again.
Had
I been fooling myself in thinking I could find my parents? After all, I'd had no sign of my mom and dad, not even a clue, in seven years. Maybe that meant they weren't going to come back. Maybe that meant I needed to finally let them go.

A minute later, my bedroom door flew open, and Anthony and Dr. Bradley bustled in.

“Jenny!” the doctor said, hobbling over to me. “I'm so relieved you're all right.”

“I'm fine,” I said, ignoring the hollow feeling inside me.

Dr. Bradley shook his head thoughtfully. “Perhaps the Committee was right. Perhaps it was a mistake to send you to the Land of Tales when you had such personal ties to it.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

Anthony's mouth fell open. “Are you kidding? Who else were they going to send? You had to go, Jenny-girl. And now we have to find a way to get you back there so you can finish the job.”

“They kicked me out, remember?”

“Forget that,” said Anthony. “You need to get back to the Land of Tales before the seven years are up and Ilda gets total control over the kingdom. We can't let that crazy witch win.”

“Anthony, I already told you that is impossible,” said Dr. Bradley. “Princess Nartha has forbidden all adventurers from entering her land. If the Committee catches you breaking that rule, I'm afraid you might be out of a job.”

“So that's it?” the gnome said, his cheeks flushed. “We're just supposed to give up? What about Ilda? What about Jenny's parents?”

Both of them looked at me with such sad eyes that I had to look away.

“I'm sorry,” said Dr. Bradley. He gave my hand a gentle pat. “I'm afraid there's nothing more we can do.”

My breath leaked out of me in a long sigh. This was it, I realized. This was the news I'd been dreading for seven years: hearing that my parents really were gone and that no one could bring them back. Knowing that there was no hope left.

I knew I should be focusing on a way to get rid of Ilda and help the Land of Tales, but I was too exhausted to even think about it. So I pushed Jack and Princess Nartha and everyone else as far into the back of my brain as I could, until they were practically in my ponytail. Then I looked Dr. Bradley in the face, and I forced myself to smile.

“You're right,” I said. “We did what we could. It's time to move on.”

After all, I had my friends; I had my aunt; and I had my life. That would have to be good enough.