Spelled by Betsy Schow Read Free Book Online

trying to get up.
    Once standing, I surveyed the plastic and metal debris around me. The Dust Devil was grounded—permanently. One of the clanking sounds I’d heard had probably been the wire thingy falling off. With my handbag inside. All my stuff, gone.
    The godmother of luck hadn’t totally abandoned us though; the food basket lay a few feet away. Grateful, I scrambled over to check the contents, to see what, if anything, had spilled during the flight.
    When I opened the basket, I did not see bread, cheesecake, or even my emergency stash of Chocolate Wands with fudge and caramel centers. I saw tufts of fur and a pair of ice-water blue eyes. I was really starting to hate the color blue.
    Flipping the basket over, I unceremoniously dumped Kato out on his horny little head. I shook the basket a few times, but only a couple of wrappers fell out.
    Stunned, I plopped down in the muck. “You. Ate. Everything.”
    He burped.
    Rexi pulled herself out of the mud with a slurping sound. “I’m gonna kill you!”
    Looking like a swamp monster, Rexi chased Kato, trying to beat him to a bloody pulp. After a minute, she gave up and collapsed back to the ground. “Just so you know, when I get hungry, I have no qualms about eating you.”
    Kato answered by taking care of some business on a golden leaf fig tree.
    Yet another item for his list of negatives. “Ugh, so disgusting.” I shuddered and looked away.
    Wait. Emerald Kingdom got its name from trees with green gems. We didn’t have golden ones.
    I jumped up, even though every muscle in my battered body protested. My head whipped around frantically while I tried to get my bearings. Not a trace of the springy green meadows of my home. In the predawn hours, the sky brightened with purple and orange. Logos, the first sun, was just about to rise over the mountain range to the east.
    We didn’t have any mountains.
    â€œDear Grimm, we’re not in Emerald anymore.” I started to hyperventilate.
    Rexi remained sprawled on her back. She barely opened an eye at my hysterics. “Duh.”

“Who needs parents when a land of adventure awaits? Once you find a fairy or two, you’ll never never miss ’em.”
    â€”Neverland Orphanage Handbook
7
It’s a Big World After All
    Sometimes the body works its own kind of magic. Take adrenaline, for example. In the heat of battle, a mortal wound feels like a scratch. A mother whose child is threatened has the strength of ten ogres. And a princess chased by a witch can abandon the only home she’s ever known.
    Adrenaline had kept me going and put a big piece of tape around the things that were broken. Now the rush was gone, and so was the stuff that held me together.
    I fell apart.
    My parents were gone. There was a good chance my home was a glittering green crater. I was out in the middle of nowhere with no food, water, or wardrobe change. Oh, and I was stuck with a snarky servant and an unwanted furry fiancé.
    Through my tears, I gave Kato a look that would have done my mother proud. “I hate you. This is your fault. I only made a wish to escape you. My life was just fine before you showed up with your freaky black fingernails. Now everything’s ruined. All my stuff is gone with the wind.”
    â€œTypical.” Rexi stood up and brushed off the seat of her pants. “We’re probably gonna die, and you’re worried about losing the new spring fashions and blaming everyone else for your troubles.”
    I stood, infuriated at her uncaring attitude. “Excuse me? You can’t talk to me that way.”
    She whirled around, hand on hip. “And why not? Are you going to throw me in the dungeon? Oh wait, you don’t have one anymore.”
    I got in her face and looked down on her. “What is your problem with me?”
    Her eyes got wide, her nostrils flared, and she pushed her finger right into my chest. “I don’t have a problem