Sleeping Beauty Dreams Big

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  — JH and SW

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  1 Riding a Unicorn

  2 The Danger List

  3 Taking a Leap

  4 Evil Editing

  5 Looking for Loopholes

  6 Joust Between Friends

  7 Eggsactly

  8 Cry Pie

  9 Candlesticks

  10 Wicked

  11 Cursed

  12 Dream Come True

  Preview

  About the Authors

  Also Available

  Copyright

  It is written upon the wall of the Grimmstone Library:

  Something E.V.I.L. this way comes.

  To protect all that is born of fairy-tale, folk-tale, and nursery-rhyme magic, we have created the realm of Grimmlandia. In the center of this realm, we have built two castles on opposite ends of a Great Hall, which straddles the Once Upon River. And this haven shall be forever known as Grimm Academy.

  ~ the brothers Grimm

  Rose galloped her white unicorn over hill and dale trying to outrace her worries — and her parents, too. They were no more than half a mile behind her in the family coach.

  Her long, glossy brown hair streamed behind her, whipping in the wind. Before they’d all left home that morning, her maidservant had arranged it carefully in curls and waves, all held in place with jeweled clips and fancy sky-blue ribbons that matched the stripes in her blue-and-white dress. One of the jewels was carved with the initials BR, for Briar Rose. Because of a certain Grimm’s fairy tale, she was also known as Sleeping Beauty. But she had always preferred to simply go by her middle name, Rose.

  She held on tight as she and her unicorn soared over a low stack-stone fence. “Good boy,” she murmured when they reached the other side. “Almost there. We’ll make it before sunset.” A curl blew into her face and she shoved it back. After a long day of riding, her hair was now a wild tangle, and the pins and ribbons all askew.

  Up ahead she spotted a magnificent turreted castle, which stood at the heart of the realm of Grimmlandia. All around it were trees, gardens, and rolling hills of lush green lawn dotted with colorful objects, which were still too far away for her to make out clearly.

  Slowing, Rose pulled up on a grassy bluff. Equal measures of excitement and trepidation filled her. That castle was Grimm Academy, and it was to be her new school from now on. Her home, too, because it was a boarding school, which meant she would live there.

  Her tutors back at the palace had explained that the Academy was really two castles in one. Its middle section was a long, four-story stone building that spanned the sparkling blue Once Upon River like a tall bridge that was connected to Pink Castle on one end and to Gray Castle on the other.

  She counted three turrets at the top of each castle. Brightly colored flags flew from poles that extended high from the turrets and also from the outer stone walls.

  Leaning forward, Rose lay her cheek along her unicorn’s soft, snowy mane. “There it is, Starlight,” she murmured to him. “So what do you think of it?”

  Her unicorn tossed his head, as if in approval. She’d named him Starlight because at night his horn gleamed almost as bright as a star. He’d been a gift to her from a fairy on the day she was born. Thirteen fairies had attended the party held at her family’s palace for her christening that day. Only twelve of them had been invited, though. The thirteenth fairy, angry at being overlooked, had crashed the party and put a curse on her. Which was so not her fault!

  Yet that had been the start of all of her problems. And it was the reason she’d been sent to this school. Her parents hoped that being here would protect her from that dratted curse. It was supposed to go into effect on her twelfth birthday — just five days from now, on Friday.

  She raised her head from Starlight’s mane. A shiver swept through her even though the day was warm. Not wanting to think about that curse right now, she started riding for the school.

  The closer she got to it, the more details she was able to see clearly. Like that those dots on the lawn were actually people. Grimm Academy students, by the look of them. When she drew nearer, her eyes lingered on a group of four interesting-looking girls dead ahead. They stood in a cluster near a beautiful garden, laughing and talking.

  Hearing a whoop, her gaze swung toward a bunch of boys on the lawn. They were wearing armor and holding lances, swords, and other weapons. Were they knights? Ooh! How grimmtastic! She’d dreamed of becoming one herself many, many times.

  As she watched them, one of the boys lifted his sword. After pointing it straight ahead, he made quick jabbing motions with it, pretending to fight an invisible enemy. The other boys looked on, shouting encouragement and advice to him.

  “Hey, Starlight. That looks like a jousting team. I wonder if they allow girls in. I bet Mom and Dad would just love that, right?” She laughed, but even to her own ears her laughter sounded hollow.

  In fact, her parents would be horrified at the very idea of her joining such a team. Lances and swords were definitely on the Danger List. Which was a real, actual, annoying list they had made of things she Must Avoid once she turned twelve. Because of that dumb curse.

  She carried the list, which her mom had insisted she put in her pocket that morning, with her always. And just about every sharp thing you could think of was on it. Forks, knives, hairpins, ink pens, you name it. And most certainly lances and swords.

  Rose barreled onward, not slowing. She was determined to beat the coach carrying her parents and her luggage, and make a grand entrance the whole school would remember! Thinking of that, the daredevil side of her kicked in, and she dropped the reins, letting Starlight speed up as he wished. Knights needed to be able to ride hands-free, so they could hold swords and lances, and even carry people they were saving. She’d practiced this move before and knew it could be dangerous. But it was also thrilling!

  When she hit the lawn, the students all heard her approach and turned to stare curiously in her direction. She’d been so busy looking from side to side at her stunning surroundings, however, that she wasn’t looking at what was right in front of her.

  “Yikes!” she yelled as a boy holding a jousting lance loomed large. At the last minute Rose grabbed the reins and tried to pull up. Too late.

  “Hey! Watch it!” yelped the boy, who had wavy dark brown hair. He leaped out of her path just in time.

  “Sorry!” she called over her shoulder. Looking back at the boy, she now didn’t see the girl in her path.

  “Eek!” yelled the girl. There was a flurry of pink skirts as the candle-flame-haired girl scrambled to get out of her way.

  “Sorry! I’m so sorry!” Rose called to the girl. Finally, she managed to rein in her unicorn. After bringing him to a complete stop, she slid from Starlight’s back.

  She meant to run over to help the candle-flame-haired girl she’d almost, er, run over. However, she paused, seeing that three other girls were already helping her up. Rose noticed that the girl wore a pair of sparkly glass slippers. Interesting.

  “You okay, Cinda?” one of the girl’s friends asked her. This girl had short black hair and wore a tiara with sparkly blue-green gems.

  “No cuts or bruises?” a
sked another of the friends. This one held a cute nut-brown wicker basket over one arm. She wore a red cape and her long curly hair had red streaks in it.

  “I’m fine,” said the girl named Cinda. “I was just startled, that’s all. No harm done.”

  “Thank grimmness for that,” said the third friend. A goth-looking girl, her dark eyes were lined in black kohl and her lips were glossed a deep red. She wore her blue-streaked black hair in loose, thick braids that were so long they almost touched the grass.

  Rose knew that these four girls and all the students on the lawn must be characters from literature. Her own family’s origins could be traced to the tales of the Grimm brothers. And all of the students here were connected with the books of either the Grimms or famous authors like Andersen, Perrault, Lang, Dulac, Baum, Carroll, and many more. Still others might even be from nursery rhymes.

  All families in the magical realm of Grimmlandia had been brought to this land by the famous Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm. To keep them safe from something mysterious and dangerous that lurked on the other side of a huge wall that surrounded Grimmlandia. And needless to say, she’d always been curious about exactly what that could be.

  Rose was so busy thinking about this she failed to notice that her parents had almost caught up with her. Their coach was rumbling toward the school.

  “Look!” said the red-cape girl.

  Everyone on the lawn gazed in the direction she was pointing. Rose hunched her shoulders. She knew exactly what they’d see. A fancy white coach with silver wheels. A driver in front and a footman in back, both dressed in white and silver. Her three leather traveling trunks strapped on top.

  She was supposed to have ridden inside the coach with her parents. But she’d insisted on riding Starlight instead. Even though he was a no-no on her parents’ Danger List (on account of his sharp horn), she hadn’t been able to bear leaving him behind. She needed at least one friend here.

  As the coach pulled to a stop in front of the school, one of her trunks tumbled to the ground. Rumble! Bumble! Thonk! It landed on its top corner and sprang open.

  “Oh, toadwarts,” Rose groaned quietly. It would have to be the one trunk that her overprotective parents had packed for her. She watched in dismay as pairs of thick gloves, chain-mail armor, and all kinds of protective gear spilled from the trunk. An iron helmet rolled out, bounced down an incline, and across the lawn. Finally it came to a stop by the jousting boy she’d almost run down only minutes before.

  Meanwhile, the two coachmen scrambled down to right the trunk. Rose sprang forward to help.

  “No, Princess. You must let us do it,” insisted the footman, wagging a finger at her. “Your trunks have pointed corners. Dangerous.”

  She let out a huff. “It’s only Monday. The curse doesn’t go into effect for another five days,” she told him in a quiet voice so no one would overhear. If these students weren’t yet aware of the curse hanging over her head, she didn’t want to broadcast it. From the corner of her eye, she saw her parents alight from the coach.

  “Nice helmet,” someone said from behind her. “Yours?” She looked over one shoulder. It was the brown-haired boy. He held out the helmet that had rolled to his feet. Nestled on top of his wavy hair, she now noticed, was a crown. Which meant he was a prince. There were lots of those in fairy tales, of course.

  “Um. Yeah. Thanks.” She smiled at him as she took the helmet. “Sorry I almost trampled you a minute ago.”

  “S’okay. I’m fine.” He stepped back a pace, looking down at the ground like he’d suddenly turned bashful. Or like he feared she might jump back on Starlight and try to run him over again!

  She finger-combed her tangled hair, figuring she must look frightful after her wild ride. “You sure you’re okay?”

  Glancing back up at her, he nodded. Then his cheeks flushed and he rammed his hands in his pockets. “See you later, Princess Unicorn.” Grinning now, he took a few more steps backward, then turned and jogged off to his friends.

  “Hey —” She started to ask about the jousting team, but stopped when her mother’s gloved hand took hers.

  “Come along, Rose,” she said, tugging her away. The footman scurried forward and took the helmet from her. After stuffing it into her trunk, he slammed the lid shut. He and the driver stacked the trunks three high, hefted them, and then started toward the school, balancing the weight between them. They would take the trunks to her room, she supposed, wherever that might be.

  Still holding on to her hand as if Rose were a very small child, her mom started to lead her into the school, too. But when Rose heard a nervous whinny, she stopped and pulled away. “Starlight?”

  A servant dressed in a fancy gold-and-purple suit with the GA logo on the chest had reached for her unicorn’s reins to lead him off. Starlight gave another startled whinny and reared back a little.

  “Wait! Where are you taking him?” Rose asked anxiously. She hitched up her blue-and-white dress a little so she wouldn’t trip on its hem, and ran over to her unicorn.

  “To the stables,” the servant explained. Except for not being dressed in green, he looked sort of like a leprechaun, and his bushy mustache wiggled when he spoke. “Don’t worry, milady. He’ll be well taken care of. While you’re in yon castle, he’ll be brushed. And then he’ll feast upon lush green grass and delicious grain, and afterward sleep in a fine stall with the Academy’s ponies.”

  She nodded reluctantly. Although she didn’t like having to part with her unicorn, she doubted very much that Starlight would be allowed to sleep in the castle with her. And she couldn’t exactly sleep in the stables with him. She lay her cheek against his, wrapped both arms around his neck, and gave him a hug. “It’s okay, Starlight,” she reassured him. “I promised Mom and Dad I’d come here. But we won’t stay long if we don’t like it.”

  However, when Rose let him loose, he refused to go. He sidestepped the servant and thrashed his head as if to tell her, I won’t leave you!

  She stroked his muzzle. “Go make friends with the Academy ponies,” she whispered to him. “I’ll be fine.” Finally calming, her unicorn let the servant lead him away.

  Both her parents had come over when she wasn’t looking. Now her mom said, “Come along, Briar Rose. Let’s find the office so you can check in. Your father and I must get back to the palace soon.”

  They swept her away, and the three of them crossed a drawbridge over the sparkling blue river that ran beneath the school. Together, they pushed through a set of enormous wooden doors. And just like that, they were inside Grimm Academy.

  Moments later, Rose and her parents were on the fourth floor going through a door marked OFFICE. The minute they were inside, her father’s head drew back in surprise. Her mom put a perfumed handkerchief to her nose. Because it stunk like fire and brimstone in that office!

  “Something’s burning,” Rose whispered. She peeked around her parents and spotted the office lady standing behind her desk. There was a small sign on the desk with her name on it: MS. JABBERWOCKY. The lady smiled at them, showing enormous, sharp teeth. She was green. She was scaly. She was a dragon!

  Fascinating! thought Rose.

  Seeing them standing there, the dragon lady held up a jar full of red and green peppers. The label on the jar said, EXTRA HOT AND SPICY.

  “Callooh! Callay! Come closer, gimble family!” she called in a raspy voice. Using two clawed fingers, she pulled out three jalapeño peppers from the jar and offered them. “Snack?”

  “Um, no, thanks,” said Rose. Stepping between her parents, she bravely went up to the counter. “We packed finger sandwiches and berries and stuff to eat on the ride here.”

  “You don’t know what you’re missing.” With that, Ms. Jabberwocky tilted her head back and opened her jaws wide. She tossed three peppers up into the air. As they dropped down again, she angled her head in quick jerks to catch each one in her open mouth. Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

  Rose’s parents hurried forward as if to protect he
r from possibly being chomped by dragon teeth. She rolled her eyes. Really? It was bad enough that they’d insisted on holding her hands all the way up to the office. Oh, why did they have to treat her like such a baby?

  After munching the peppers, the dragon lady washed them down with an entire bottle of hot sauce. “Ahhh!” she said, exhaling a happy, fiery breath that scorched the papers on her desktop. “Nothing like a frabjous snack. So you must be Rose? And these are your parents. We’ve been expecting you. Welcome! Let’s get your classes set up.” Whenever she pronounced the letter P, cinders sputtered out of her nostrils and from between her teeth. Probably the reason the office smelled like smoke.

  “Yes, let’s get down to business,” her father, the king, insisted. “We only have a few minutes. I’m on a tight schedule.”

  “Rose? The list, please,” her mother, the queen, reminded her.

  With a sigh, Rose pulled a folded sheet of paper from her pocket. It was the Danger List. Among other dangers on it, her parents had listed all the classes that they considered too hazardous for her to take here at GA, along with the reasons why. The not-allowed list of classes began like this:

  1. Siege, Catapults, and Jousts (physical education class: sharp weapons)

  2. Threads (sewing class: needles)

  3. Calligraphy (writing class: pointy pens)

  4. Scrying (fortune-telling class: breakable crystals and mirrors, which might shatter and cause injury)

  And so on, et cetera, to infinity. If this school had offered a class called Wimping Out, her parents would probably have wanted Rose to sign up for it.

  She knew they only had her best interests at heart. The List was for her own good. To keep her safe from the curse written into her fairy tale in the great Books of Grimm. The one that foretold that she’d prick her finger one day and fall asleep for one hundred years. A kind fairy had told her family that this Long Nap would begin sometime after her twelfth birthday.

  She brushed off that unpleasant thought. She’d packed as much adventure as she could into her life so far. As much as she could get away with, anyway. But even mild adventures would have to come to a screeching halt five days from today.