A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories, #3)(77)

An emergency Fairy Council meeting was called early the next morning to discuss the matters at stake. Since the Fairy Godmother was absent, Alex asked Conner to accompany her. The twins always thought best when they were together and they hoped they could help the Fairy Council assess the current situation. Alex took a seat in her chair and Conner leaned against its arm. Although their grandmother’s seat was empty Conner wouldn’t sit in it; he didn’t want to feel like it was available.

The meeting had already started and they could tell the conversation was heated when they walked in. All the fairies were standing at their respective podiums staring daggers at Mother Goose.

“Let me get this straight,” Emerelda said. “An army from the Otherworld has been trapped in a portal for two hundred years and now they’ve arrived and plan on taking over our world?”

“That’s it in a golden eggshell,” Mother Goose said. She shifted in her seat as the others glared at her.

“And why didn’t you bring this to anyone’s attention?” Tangerina said, absolutely infuriated. Her bees flew aggressively around her beehive. They would have attacked Mother Goose had she given them the word.

“I didn’t want to worry the Fairy Godmother,” Mother Goose said. “I thought I could take care of the situation myself and was too embarrassed to involve anyone else. The Brothers Grimm and I trapped them inside the portal and then, luckily, by the time their two hundred years were up, the portal had been permanently closed by the Fairy Godmother. I thought I was in the clear for good until she became ill.”

“So you didn’t tell anyone about this because you didn’t want anyone to worry or think less of you?” Skylene asked. “That seems like jumping into a lake to avoid the rain if you ask me.”

Mother Goose looked at the twins, especially at Conner, and then told the council something she had never told anyone before. “A very long time ago, before any of you were on this council, before the Fairy Godmother and I lost the color in our hair, gained the wrinkles on our faces, and when we were both much thinner—before Ezmia and Alex—I was the Fairy Godmother’s first apprentice,” she confessed.

All the fairies looked at one another, floored. Of all the things they involuntarily knew about her, Alex and Conner were impressed she had managed to keep this a secret.

“It only took me a few months to realize I wasn’t cut out for the job,” Mother Goose explained. “Sure, I was capable, but I just wasn’t willing. I was too much of a free spirit to take on that kind of responsibility. So I passed on the highest honor a fairy could have and became the laughingstock of the kingdom. The Fairy Godmother said she understood but I knew she was disappointed and it killed me. I promised myself I would never let her down again, so in the 1800s when I was careless enough to get caught by those greedy French fries, I tried to handle the situation the best way I could so I would never have to see disappointment in those eyes again.”

None of the fairies knew what to say so they just shook their heads. Conner felt sorry for Mother Goose. After growing up with a sister as precocious as Alex, he knew very well what it was like to constantly disappoint people. Now he understood why Mother Goose hadn’t been honest with him about the portal.

“Oh come on,” Conner said to the fairies. “Give Mother Goose a break! You’re all standing there shaking your heads as if you could have handled the situation better. Well, no offense, but at least she came up with a solution. I can’t remember the last time I saw any of you solve anything. Every time there’s a crisis it’s usually Alex and me who figure out what to do.”

“How are we not supposed to take offense at that?” Xanthous asked the others.

“My point is, glass people shouldn’t throw stones,” Conner said.

“The phrase is ‘People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,’ ” Alex corrected him.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Well, you get my point.”

Mother Goose smiled at Conner and mouthed, “Thank you, C-Dog.” Emerelda massaged her forehead as she thought about what to do next.

“There’s no use in blaming anyone for what has happened—we need to move forward to find a way to fix it,” Emerelda said. “Alex, what do you think we should do?”

She couldn’t believe Emerelda was asking her. “Me?” she asked.

“Yes, of course you,” Emerelda said. “Unless your grandmother miraculously recovers, you’ll be acting as Fairy Godmother.”

This was a heavy thing for both the twins to digest. When people referred to Alex as the next Fairy Godmother, she always assumed they meant someday in the distant future, not now.

Alex bit her thumb and looked at the floor while she thought it over. “We need to see this army first, so we know for sure what we’re up against,” she said. “The more we know about them, the easier it will be to find a solution.”

“The last thing I heard them talk about was an attack on Pinocchio Prison,” Conner said.

“Why would they be attacking a prison?” Rosette asked.

“The general said they were recruiting,” Conner said.

Suddenly the room grew very tense. All the fairies eyed one another and frantically whispered among themselves.

“I told you, that General Marquis is a smart man,” Mother Goose said.