A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories, #3)(33)

Clawdius immediately jumped off Alex. Clearly Red was the only one who could control him. Alex got to her feet and Clawdius put his overgrown head in her hand so she would pet him.

“Look how big you’ve gotten, Clawdius!” Alex said as she scratched under his chin. “You get bigger every time I see you.”

Clawdius retrieved Alex’s wand, but when she went to take it from his mouth he pulled away—he wanted to play.

“Oh no, Clawdius,” Alex said in a panic. “That’s not something we can play with!”

“Clawdius, drop the nice fairy’s wand right now!” Red ordered, but the wolf ignored her. “I said, drop it! Don’t make me shake the can full of coins!”

Clawdius sat down and set the wand gently on the floor in front of Alex. Even when seated he was almost as tall as she was. Alex collected her wand and headed to the back of the room where Red sat.

Red was perched on a raised throne and dressed to the nines in a red ball gown and a tiara; she was drenched in diamonds. To her right were two rows of raised seats where nine people and animals alike sat, although the seats weren’t raised as high as hers, of course. Alex assumed these must be the representatives Red had been talking about yesterday.

Alex immediately recognized the three sitting closest to Red as Red’s granny; the Little Old Woman who ran the Shoe Inn; and the third Little Pig. There were also three blindfolded white mice who shared one seat, a bushy-haired black sheep; a nervous and jumpy young woman; and an obese man who wore a guilty expression as he ate a pie.

“Everyone, this is my good friend Alex,” Red said. “Alex, let me introduce you to my House of Progress representatives: the Honorable Three Blind Mice, Sir BaaBaa Blacksheep, Lady Muffet, and Sir Jack Horner. And of course you know Granny, the Old Woman from the Shoe Inn, and the third Little Pig.”

They all greeted her with warm welcomes, except the Old Woman, who was infamously hard of hearing.

“Who’s complex?” the Old Woman asked.

“Not complex—Alex,” Granny said directly into her friend’s ear. “She’s one of Red’s friends.”

“Wonderful to meet you all,” Alex said. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Not at all,” Red said. “We’re just waiting for Charlie to arrive before we begin our weekly open-house meeting. I’m sure you saw all the townspeople lined up—they love coming to the House of Progress and voicing their concerns. I’ve become very good at figuring out ways to help the people; it’s like a little game.”

Just then they heard footsteps and saw Froggy entering the room carrying a large stack of papers. “Good afternoon, everyone,” he kindly greeted the representatives. “And hello, Alex! I wasn’t expecting to see you—huuuh!”

Clawdius tackled Froggy as soon as he came into the room. This was just how the wolf seemed to greet people. All of Froggy’s papers flew into the air.

“Clawdius, I just saw you not twenty minutes ago—you have to stop this madness,” Froggy grunted, pushing the wolf off him. “We need to start chaining him down!”

“I tried that but he ate through the chain.” Red shrugged. “Clawdius, come here, boy! Come to Mommy!”

Clawdius ran to Red’s side and happily plopped his big head in her lap. Froggy collected his papers but they were all disorganized now.

“Come sit by me, Alex,” Red said, and patted the armrest of her throne. “We have so much to talk about!”

“Are you sure it’s all right to visit during the open-house meeting?” Alex asked, taking a seat.

“Oh, it’s more than fine,” Red assured her. “Charlie leads the meetings while I supervise. They’ll get my attention if they need me.”

Froggy took his place at the front of the room and the meeting began. “Forgive me but the open-house forms you filled out prior to arriving are a little jumbled,” he apologized to the townspeople. “So when it’s your turn I’ll need you to step forward and state your name and the nature of the pressing matter that you’d like us to deal with.”

One by one, the townspeople stepped forward and told Froggy and the representatives about their dilemmas. Froggy and the representatives talked about the matter among themselves and then presented the villager with the best solution possible. It was a very nice process for Alex to witness; Froggy and the representatives genuinely seemed passionate about helping the townspeople.

“Wonderful, everything is going just splendidly,” Red said, and then allowed Alex to become her sole focus. “Let’s talk about your date this evening—have you picked out an outfit to wear? If not, I have a little pink dress somewhere in one of my closets that would look divine on you.”

“I was thinking I would just wear this,” Alex said, and gestured to the sparkling dress she wore every day. “I think he’d appreciate it if I just dressed as myself.”

“Be careful of that,” Red warned her. “Some of the best advice Granny ever gave me was never to be myself when meeting someone for the first time—you don’t want to scare them away.”

Alex thought about this for a moment. She was pretty sure Granny had meant that as advice for Red personally, not in general.

“He’s a farmer’s son,” Alex said. “I’m afraid doing or saying anything over-the-top may scare him away just as easily. I’d rather he feels comfortable with me than intimidated by me.”