Page 25 of Switched

“Anna Cobbler, right?” Jack asks. “I saw her with him. Back when he stole my mum and Milky Way. He called her by name. She’s the one”—his voice chokes up—“that handcuffed my mum.”

My stomach begins to hurt. “She’s not evil,” I insist. “She’s just confused! He promised her so much, and she believes him. At least, she did before. I haven’t spoken to her, so I have no idea how she feels now.”

“We have to find them,” says Jack, his breathing growing shallow. “Rescue them, talk sense into them. Do whatever it takes to get them away from Rumpelstiltskin. What are we waiting for?” He stands up quickly, and I grab his wrist.

Something is holding me back. It’s like I can hear Jax’s voice in my head. It’s a wild-goose chase. “As much as I hate to admit it, Jax is right. We need more information before we bust out of here and try to find them. We have no clue where to look.”

Jack sits back down. He grabs my hands and holds them tight. “Gilly, there is something I should mention about your sister…”

I squeeze his hands. “Tell me.”

“She might have gone with him willingly, but I don’t think she wants to stay in the squad anymore,” Jack whispers.

“How do you know that?” I ask, scared to hear the answer.

“Anna was the only one who fought back when Stiltskin wanted my mum,” Jack tells me. “She tried to stop him. It made me think she didn’t agree with his ways.”

That’s the sister I remember, I think with pride. “Did he hurt her?” I ask.

Jack shakes his head. “No, but he was mad. He said she’d pay for disagreeing with him.”

My stomach begins to twist and turn. I can feel the anger bubbling up inside me.

His brown eyes look at me sadly. “Don’t you see? It’s time we get them all out of there before it’s too late.”

CHAPTER 8

The Newest RLW

So then I said to myself, ‘What would a princess do?’ And I knew immediately if I called to the songbirds, they’d fly to my tower window and bring me the pink scarf I dropped. And they did!”

This is the story Raza is telling a group of rapt RLWs when Maxine and I walk into the meeting. A dozen girls in pink sashes are sitting on the floor listening as she tells her tale from the fluffy, pink armchair reserved for our club adviser, Rapunzel. The girls—and Ollie—are hanging on her every word.

“I actually saw the scarf fall,” Ollie brags, his RLW sash flashing the word lad in bright-yellow letters.

“See?” Raza says brightly, giving Tessa a sharp look. “My story is true.”

“So I grabbed a magic carpet and raced up to deliver it,” Ollie adds.

“No,” Raza says sharply. “A songbird brought it up. We have a connection since my magical fairy pet is a flier as well.”

“Your fairy pet is a bat,” Tessa points out, and a few girls gasp.

“It has wings,” Raza sneers. “Same difference.” She looks at Ollie. “And the bird brought it to me. Not you.” Ollie opens his mouth to protest. “Anyway,” Raza says loudly, “I clearly have princess talents since a songbird flew to my vicinity when I was in need.”

I roll my eyes. “Why do I have to stay in this club again?”

Maxine puts a meaty arm around me. “So we can hang out together more.”

“We’re already roommates.”

“But this is the only club I’m in with you! You know I can’t do fencing with these hands.” She motions to her large fingers. “I can barely grasp the sword. And you’d be pretty bad at Castle Storming. It requires major upper-body strength.”

I nod. The last thing on my mind right now is clubs. All I can think about is what Jack said about Anna. She’s good! I knew she was! And she wants to get away from Rumpelstiltskin. Now that I know that, I have to get to her. I’m dying to tell Maxine what Jack said, but I’m not sure she’ll believe him. I know Jax wouldn’t.

“What’s wrong?” Maxine asks, her brow crinkling. “Are you thinking about Rumpelstiltskin again?” I hear a chorus of gasps.

“Maxine?” Tessa marches up to us, her uniform skirt unusually swishy and large, and whispers so that only we can hear. “Could you please not mention the former headmaster who tried to corrupt our entire school in the RLWs’ presence? You know how much it upsets us.”