Sleeping Beauty Dreams Big Read online

  “You said ‘knightly,’” Jousting Boy informed her, coming over. “And that’s my name. Knightly.”

  “It is? And you want to be a knight?” A giggle escaped her.

  “I know, I know,” he said good-naturedly. “For a long time I was confused as to why my parents always repeated my name three times right before I went to sleep. But they were actually saying, ‘Nighty night, Knightly.’ ”

  She giggled again.

  “Okay, no more special treatment,” he promised her. “Right, guys?” he said, looking around at the other students. They nodded, going back to their practice.

  “One thing, though.” Knightly adjusted the lance she held to a different angle for her. “There. You’ll probably have more luck with it in that position.”

  “Thanks,” she told him gratefully. He’d obviously guessed she didn’t have much training. They got back into jousting stance again. Her confidence somewhat restored, Rose charged her target again and again, making a series of strikes that had some students applauding her with new respect. She was pretty surprised at how well she’d done, too!

  “Good job!” Knightly called out to her when class was over.

  “You, too,” she called back, for she’d sneaked peeks now and then and knew he was skilled. She headed over to the equipment area where she’d gotten her armor.

  “If Knightly’s giving you pointers, he must think you’re good. He’s the best on the jousting team and can spot raw talent,” one of the girl jousters murmured to her as they took off their armor. When the girl removed her helmet, Rose saw it was Little Bo Peep from Threads class. “He wins the tournament every year,” the girl went on.

  “Uh, thanks for telling me,” Rose said. She liked that Knightly hadn’t boasted about himself to her.

  Little Bo Peep’s brow knit and she glanced around, that familiar confused expression crossing her face. “Oh, peepers, has anybody seen my blue slipper?” she called to the students who were getting unsuited nearby. When someone called out that they’d spotted it, the girl took off toward them just as Knightly came over to Rose. He’d taken off all of his armor except his helmet. Removing it now, he placed it in the box with the rest of the class helmets.

  “Can’t believe it’s sixth period already. What’s your last class of the day?” he asked Rose.

  “History,” she told him as she started to leave. Behind them, she could hear Little Bo Peep asking around about her handbook now. She’d apparently lost that, too.

  “Want me to walk you?” Knightly offered, falling into step with Rose.

  “Thanks, that’ll help,” she replied. “Because, honestly, I have no idea how to get to the classroom from this side of the school. Is it on your way?”

  “No. But it’s the code of the knights to help anyone in distress. And since you’re new and might get lost, I’m avoiding the possibility of distress before it happens. Okay?”

  He grinned and she laughed, saying, “Sure.”

  Together, they walked across the lawn in silence, before crossing the drawbridge and entering Gray Castle. “Your parents must be really proud of your skill. You’ll make a fine knight someday,” she told him as she studied the halls in the boys’ side of the school. Here, the walls were a pale gray marble, but the columns and layout looked pretty much the same as the girls’ side.

  The walls were hung with lavish tapestries showing scenes of feasts and pageantry. And there were flowers, birds, and gargoyles carved at the top of the hall’s tall, stone support columns. It all reminded her of home, for she’d grown up in a palace almost as beautiful, though much smaller than the Academy.

  He shrugged in response to her question. “I guess.”

  “You don’t sound very excited,” she said in surprise. “But how can you not be? I’d jump at the chance to become a knight if only I could.”

  “Mostly I’m doing what my parents expect. See, I come from a long line of knights. My two older brothers are jousting grand-prize medalists in the annual Grimmlandia tournaments.” He shot her a quick look, then paused to open the door to the Great Hall for her so they could cross through it over to Pink Castle. “Guess what their names are?”

  She pretended to think hard. “Sorry,” she said after a few seconds. “I give up.”

  “Prince Midknight and Prince Goodknight.” He spelled the names out for her.

  She laughed as they entered the girls’ hall. “Seriously?”

  He nodded, grinning, too. “Dead serious.”

  “You and your brothers are lucky to have parents who support your dream,” she said.

  He sent her a strange look, then said something that sounded like, “Yeah, I wish.” Then he added, “Why are you so interested in knighthood?”

  “I’ve wanted to be a knight, like, forever,” she confided. “But my parents vetoed that idea. Not because they don’t think I’m capable of becoming one. They know girls can do anything boys can. No, it’s because of that stupid curse in my fairy tale. I’ve heard objections like this all my life: ‘Knights can find themselves in all sorts of peril involving sharp objects. Blah, blah, blah.’ ”

  That curse had always stood between her and what she wanted. Still, she felt pretty happy right at the moment. She’d gotten some jousting practice, and now this nice boy was walking her to class. Plus, she’d made lots of other friends already at GA.

  “Don’t give up,” Knightly told her, as they paused together in the hall. “If you really want to learn everything there is to know about knighthood, Coach is the best. And if you need any pointers or have any questions, I’ll help you anytime.”

  “Really? Thanks!”

  He nodded, then pointed at the classroom door behind her. “Well, this is History,” he told her. “And now I’m history!” So saying, he flashed a grin and loped off back the way they’d come. But after just a few steps, he looked back at her and called, “See you!”

  Rose smiled and sent him a wave, then he was quickly swallowed up by the crowd of students moving through the hall. “Bye,” she murmured softly, even though he was too far away to hear by now. With a small smile still curving her lips, she turned and entered the classroom.

  Once inside the Grimm History of Barbarians and Dastardlies classroom, Rose was surprised to see an enormous egg walking around. Turned out, he was the teacher. He was about a foot taller than she was, with skinny legs that ended in very pointy shoes, which were twice as long as normal-size feet.

  When the egg stepped toward her, she noticed that his shell was cracked in a few places. And that he wore an orange tunic and held a snazzy walking stick that he tapped on the floor now and then.

  He smiled at her in welcome, causing the faint cracks in his cheeks to show a little more. “And eggsactly who might you be?” he asked.

  “Rose. I’m new.” She curtsied prettily. Her tutors at the palace had spent hours teaching her the art of various curtsies. So she knew just the right way to do it when meeting a person of authority.

  “I’m Mr. Hump-Dumpty. With a hyphen,” the egg-teacher informed her. He waved his walking stick toward the rows of chairs in the room. “Take any seat. They’re not assigned.”

  As Rose scanned the room, Bo Peep waved her over. Glad to see someone she knew, Rose went and sat behind her.

  “Looks like we have three classes together,” Little Bo Peep said to her. “You’re Rose, right?” When Rose nodded, Bo Peep asked, “Do you see my folder of homework peepers, I mean papers, by any chance? I had them two seconds ago out in the hall, but I now I can’t find them.” She leaned over to check under her chair.

  “No, sorry,” Rose said, after also looking around. This girl seemed to have a real problem keeping track of her belongings.

  Bo Peep sighed, then grinned. “That’s okay. I think maybe I left them in my trunker after all.”

  Both girls turned to face front as the teacher spoke up. “Today we will study the Wall,” Mr. Hump-Dumpty announced. “As you all know, Grimmlandia includes the Wall, the
Academy, Once Upon River, the outlying villages, and —”

  He swung about suddenly and pointed the tip of his walking stick at Bo Peep. “And Neverwood Forest,” she answered easily. “So called because you ‘never would’ venture into that forest. Not if you had half a brain, anyway.”

  “Correggt!” Mr. Hump-Dumpty praised her. He continued circling the room. “And what separates Grimmlandia from the Barbarians and Dastardlies?”

  He swiveled suddenly to point his walking stick at Red Riding Hood. Rose hadn’t even noticed she was in the class till just now.

  “The Wall. And beyond that is the Dark Nothingterror,” Red supplied. Catching Rose’s eye, she sent her a tiny wave, and Rose waved back.

  “Eggsellent!” said Mr. Hump-Dumpty. “What an eggsceptional group of students you are!”

  Now his walking stick whipped around, and he pointed to Rose. “And what is the Dark Nothingterror?”

  “It’s where the Barbarians and Dastardlies hang out,” she answered. You didn’t need to learn that in school. Everyone in Grimmlandia already knew it. However, the casual way she said it made a few students giggle.

  “Perfeggt! Now let’s talk more about them and the eggstreme danger they represent.” Mr. Hump-Dumpty’s expression went seriously serious as he began going on and on about the dangers of Neverwood Forest, the Wall, and the mythical creatures beyond it. He would definitely get along with that pesky yellow fairy in the mist that appeared to her now and then, thought Rose. Because he was a huge worrywart!

  After a while, some students got restless during his lecture, and started passing notes or doodling on vellum. They’d probably heard these cautions and descriptions many times before. However, Rose listened closely and took notes. She was fascinated.

  What an eggsciting, um, exciting thing it would be to ride to the Wall and back on Starlight, she thought. Did she dare eggscape, er, escape for a little while to make the journey?

  She’d have to travel through Neverwood Forest, though. And Bo Peep had said no one would venture there if they had half a brain. Rose did have a brain, and she liked to think it was a whole one. Maybe she could use it to keep her and her unicorn safe from harm on such a trip. She couldn’t think of anything more delightfully daring than going to see the Wall, a mysterious, legendary, dangerous place. It would be the very adventure she’d longed to have before her birthday brought that curse down on her head. The perfect, most grimmtabulous adventure of her life!

  Her hand shot in the air as enthusiasm for the idea swelled within her. “What’s the Wall made of?”

  “Magic,” Mr. Hump-Dumpty replied rather unhelpfully.

  “Has anyone ever seen it?” she prodded him.

  Unfortunately, this question sent Mr. Hump-Dumpty into a fearful tizzy. He fixed the entire class with his big, worried egg eyeballs. “One must absolutely never, ever venture close enough to look upon the Wall. For if someone were to go there, dare to sit on the Wall, and then have a great fall from it, there would be a fifty-fifty chance they’d tip out of Grimmlandia and into the Dark Nothingterror. And then all the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not put that someone together again!”

  This warning was followed at length by others, but Rose missed the rest of his lecture because she started to nod off — along with probably half the class. When the Hickory Dickory clock bonged, she jerked awake. She’d been having a dream that she was on a ride to the Wall with the wind in her hair. Just Starlight and her cruising through the forest. The smell of trees and flowers, the cool shade, and the fresh air had been so vivid. It had seemed so real. So magical. So possible. So grimmtastic! An excited hope filled her.

  And a little weariness, too. It was pure luck that she hadn’t gone sleepwalking or started snoring in the middle of class, she decided as she stood to go. Now that school was over for the day, she was really exhausted. She barely made it through dinner before she bid the others at her table a sleepy good night.

  * * *

  The next morning, Rose woke up in bed. Score! She hadn’t gone sleepwalking again. In a jiff, she was off to breakfast.

  It didn’t take long for her good mood to dim, however. As she walked down the hall, she couldn’t help noticing that whispers followed her. Students she hadn’t even met were staring when they didn’t think she saw. Was it because they’d all heard she was Sleeping Beauty?

  At breakfast in the Great Hall, Snow and her three Grimm girlfriends acted stiff with her, like she’d done something to offend them. Conversation among them was awkward, mostly things like “pass the salt” and “these knick-knack paddy-whack pancakes are delish.” And when a boy came over that Rose figured must be Wolfgang, Red didn’t even introduce him to her.

  Why were they acting so distant? She’d done nothing wrong! Feeling out of sorts now, Rose stomped off to first period, ahead of Red and Cinda.

  Yesterday, it had been such fun chatting with those two girls during Threads class. But today they barely spoke to her as they worked on their crochet projects. They didn’t exactly ignore her. They were polite as ever, just not as friendly as before. Something was definitely up.

  “Are you mad at me for some reason?” Rose asked them at last, stilling the movement of her crochet hook. Ms. Spider and Ms. Muffet were on the other side of the room, so it felt “safe” to chat freely about matters other than needlework. “Or maybe you think you need to whisper around me and be overly careful now that you know Rose equals Sleeping Beauty? But, look. That’s not a problem. Honest. It’s three days till I turn twelve. And who knows? Maybe the curse won’t come true, and I’ll be able to totally avoid the longest nap ever.”

  They smiled at her little joke, but didn’t laugh. “We understand,” Cinda said mildly, but Red looked away, busying herself with something inside her basket.

  Rose sighed, not understanding. What had changed since yesterday?

  In second and third periods, things went pretty much the same. Students seemed to be avoiding her. No one talked to her or sat by her. She felt unwelcome. Like she was being punished for something she didn’t do.

  By contrast, Ms. Wicked was super nice to her in Scrying. “I have a feeling you and I are going to become good friends,” she gushed to Rose. And instead of having her look for loopholes in fairy tales like the rest of the class, Ms. Wicked sent her on an errand to buy some mirror polish from the school store. Last thing she needed was to become an evil teacher’s pet!

  Still, Rose went on the errand. What else could she do? The Academy store was called The Cupboard, and it was tucked away on the fourth floor.

  When she got there she saw that the door to the store was the kind where the top half opened separately from the bottom half. Right now, the top half of the door was open, probably so students could speak to the shopkeeper, who could then duck back inside to get whatever they needed. Rose stuck her head in. Immediately, a little dog in the shop started barking. It was small as a puppy, and totally adorable, all white except for a black circle around one eye and a corkscrew tail.

  “Hellooo!” an elderly woman greeted her briskly from inside the little store. “I’m glad you’ve come.”

  She was? How strange, thought Rose. The woman acted like she’d been expecting her!

  “I’m Mother Hubbard,” the shopkeeper went on, swinging open the bottom half of the door so that Rose could walk through. “And this is Prince Puppy,” she added, gesturing toward her dog. Then for some reason she stepped out of the store into the hall, shutting the bottom half of the door behind herself. Meanwhile, her dog jumped all around. Suddenly, it leaped high into Rose’s arms.

  “Whoa! You sure have a lot of energy, Prince,” Rose told him, laughing as he tried to lick her chin.

  She looked up again to see that Mother Hubbard had started off down the hall. “Wait! Where are you going? I need to buy something. And what about your dog?” Rose called after her.

  At the mention of her dog, Mother Hubbard paused and clutched her hands together below he
r chin, gazing back at the dog with an adoring expression on her face. Her eyes shifted to Rose, and she abruptly began speaking in rhyme:

  “That wonderful dog

  is my delight.

  Until I return,

  do keep him in sight.

  While I’m off to the hatter’s

  To buy him a hat,

  Just remember one thing:

  Keep him far from the cat!”

  She snapped her fingers, then clicked her heels. And just like that, Mother Hubbard was gone. She hadn’t walked away. She’d just disappeared right in the middle of the hall.

  “What was that all about?” Rose wondered aloud. Mother Hubbard might be magical, but she also acted a bit batty. Since when did a dog need a hat, anyway? Now that she was gone, Rose looked around, unsure what to do. Should she go back to class, or …

  She glanced around the store. It was smaller than her dorm room. There was a little desk with a chair off to one side. Aside from that, all four walls were covered with dozens of doors, each of a different size and shape, and each with a different sort of doorknob.

  She glanced at the dog. “Mind if I look around? My teacher wants some polish for her mirrors.”

  Of course she hadn’t expected a reply. But when she put the dog down, it immediately ran to a door set low in the wall and pawed at it. Hope rose in her. “Is that where the polish is?” Maybe she wouldn’t have to go back to Ms. Wicked empty-handed after all.

  Kneeling, she saw that the door the dog was sniffing around was cut in the shape of a cat silhouette. An irritated-looking cat with an arching back. Was there actually a cat sleeping inside?

  “Let’s not open that one, okay?” Rose murmured, remembering what Mother Hubbard had said about keeping this dog far from the cat. She wasn’t taking any chances. The pooch let out a disappointed-sounding snort, then trotted over and curled up in his basket to nap.

  Rose stood and began opening more doors along the wall, one after the other, hoping she’d luck into finding the polish. Some of the doors were so teeny-tiny that the cabinets they opened to held only one spool of thread or an eraser. Others doors were tall and skinny and held things like fishing rods or baseball bats. One door was round, with a single beach ball inside. There were even star-shaped and diamond-shaped doors. Who could guess what was behind them? Not her! But the really unusual thing about all these doors was that they constantly resized themselves after being opened and shut, so that the cabinets then contained something completely different than before. Weird!