Beauty Queen Page 4

  “Abby? And Jonah?” Beauty says with wide eyes. “Wow. I’ve never heard those names before! So original!”

  I almost laugh. “Thank you. Well, see, we stopped by a palace owned by a guy named Mr. Beast. Have you ever heard of him?”

  She shakes her head. “No,” she says.

  I need to continue this story carefully. I can’t let it slip that Mr. Beast is secretly a handsome prince. That would mess everything up. “We stopped at the palace and met Mr. Beast. But my brother picked one of the flowers, and Mr. Beast …” I debate whether I should tell her that he threatened to kill my brother. Probably not. No need to scare her unnecessarily. “Mr. Beast insisted on keeping Jonah. But he can’t keep Jonah, you see. We don’t live anywhere near here. We have to get home. And he’s only seven! Mr. Beast said we could trade Jonah if we could find someone else who was willing to stay there. He lives in an amazing castle. It’s gorgeous.” I pause. Now I have to ask her if she’ll trade places with him. But how can I ask her that? It’s a crazy thing to ask. But I have to. I have to just do it. “So …” I begin.

  “Okay,” she says suddenly.

  “Okay what?”

  She nods. “Okay, I’ll take your brother’s place.”

  Huh. “You will? But I didn’t even ask you to!”

  “I know. But you were going to, weren’t you?”

  “I was! I was going to beg!”

  She smiles as we reach Grumpy Great-Grandma’s stoop. “You don’t need to beg. You need help. And I volunteer.”

  As pleased as I am that Beauty is so willing to take his place, I’m kind of shocked. Why is she so willing? She doesn’t even know Jonah. She doesn’t even know me!

  “Let’s go!” Beauty says, putting the bags down by the door.

  “You’re not going anywhere before you finish putting away my bananas,” Grumpy Great-Grandma orders.

  I peer inside the bags. All I see are bananas. “You didn’t buy anything else?” I ask.

  Beauty lowers her voice. “Bananas are all she eats. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Let’s drop these off and then we’ll go save Jordan, ’kay?”

  “Er, Jonah,” I say.

  She smiles. “Right. Jonah!”

  After we drop off the bananas, we return to Pony, who’s still waiting outside Cheese Shop.

  “Pony is pretty strong. He can take both of us,” I explain to Beauty. “Will you just hold Prince?”

  “You know a prince?” Beauty looks around in wonder.

  “Oh. Um. Prince is my dog,” I explain, gesturing to him. He barks. I don’t mention that Mr. Beast is an actual prince in case that messes up the curse.

  “Ah. I see.” Beauty bends down, scooping up Prince.

  “Do I need to stop at my house to pick up clothes?” Beauty asks as we all get on Pony.

  “I don’t think so,” I say. “They have tons of clothes at the palace.”

  I don’t want Beauty to stop at her house in case her family talks her out of coming. But that’s selfish of me, isn’t it? If she wants to say good-bye to her family, I shouldn’t get in the way of that.

  “But we can stop at your place if you want to,” I add.

  She hesitates. “My dad just left on a business trip last week. And my sisters …” Her voice trails off. “My sisters don’t really like me.”

  “How come?” I ask.

  “I don’t know,” she admits. “No matter what I do, they get annoyed. I try so hard to be nice, but I can tell they don’t really want me at home.”

  I remember what the original story said. Beauty’s sisters are infected with the green-eyed monster. They’re jealous of Beauty. Which I kind of understand. Beauty is pretty perfect.

  “So maybe staying at Mr. Beast’s castle for a bit isn’t a terrible thing,” Beauty goes on. “How long will I be there, do you think?”

  “Well, um …” Cough, cough. Forever? “Not too long,” I say instead.

  Beauty sits up straight. “Okay, then. Take me to Mr. Beast’s.”

  As we trot back toward Mr. Beast’s palace, I can’t believe how well everything is working out. It’s still late afternoon and I’ve already found Beauty and gotten her to agree to trade places with Jonah. In a few minutes, we’ll be at the castle. I’ll drop off Beauty, and Jonah and I will be able to go home through the castle’s magic mirror. Easy peasy! I bounce in my saddle. Maybe my brother’s memories came back, too!

  But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. First I’ll introduce Beauty to Mr. Beast and let the story unfold. It will be sweet to watch them fall in love and see Mr. Beast’s curse reversed.

  I look behind me at Beauty. Hopefully, she won’t freak out when she meets the beast. I didn’t really give her much information about him. Maybe I should warn her about what he looks like? Yes. I definitely should.

  “Um, Beauty,” I begin, “about Mr. Beast …”

  “Yes?” she asks.

  “Well, he’s called Mr. Beast for a reason.”

  “Is it because he’s hairy? My grandfather was very hairy. That was his name actually. Hairy.”

  “Well, Mr. Beast is hairy. But that’s only part of it. See, he looks like … a beast.”

  She cocks her head to the side. “How so?”

  I gulp. “He’s scary-looking. Not like a monster, but …” I clear my throat. “Well, kind of like a monster.”

  “Oh!” Beauty pulls a curl tightly around her finger. Then she lifts her chin. “That doesn’t change anything. I said I would switch places with your brother and I will. I don’t go back on my word.”

  “Okay,” I say, heaving a sigh of relief. “I just wanted to warn you.”

  We trot for a few more minutes until we turn onto Rocky Path.

  She points up ahead. “Is that the castle?”

  “Yup. Pretty, huh? I hope you like it. Thank you for coming!”

  “I’m happy to help,” she says. “I’m always happy to help.”

  Pony stops before the moat, and Beauty and I dismount. “Follow me!” I say brightly, taking Prince from Beauty. I am trying to keep my voice extra light and fluffy so Beauty still thinks she’s walking into a great situation.

  We cross the drawbridge, and I knock on the front door. “Hello!” I call. “It’s Abby. I’m back! Before dinnertime. And I brought the girl I was telling you about! Beauty!”

  Mrs. Butler opens the door.

  “Hello,” I say serenely. “We’d like to talk to Mr. Beast.”

  She holds a hand to her ear. “You’d like to have a feast?”

  “No, no, no,” I say. “I’d like to talk to Mr. Beast. Although I’m not opposed to a feast if you have one ready. But Mr. Beast is more important.”

  “Speak up, deary!” she says, pointing to her ear.

  “Mr. Beast, please!” I yell.

  “Oh, one second,” she says before turning and bustling away.

  I wait anxiously, chewing my nails. I hope Jonah is okay.

  “You’re back,” Mr. Beast booms a second later, stepping into the doorway.

  Beauty gasps.

  I shoot her a look. That’s exactly why I warned her! So she wouldn’t gasp!

  I grab Beauty’s hand and squeeze it hard.

  “Hi, Mr. Beast,” I say. “This is Beauty. She volunteered to stay here instead of Jonah. Right, Beauty?”

  Beauty nods even though her eyes are popping out of her head.

  “Yes,” Beauty squeaks. “I’ve come to switch places with Jason —”

  “Jonah,” I correct.

  “Jonah,” she says.

  Mr. Beast studies Beauty with narrowed eyes. Then he sighs.

  “I changed my mind,” he says with a shake of his head.

  “Excuse me?” I ask. What does that mean, he changed his mind? I must have heard wrong. Am I becoming like the Butlers?

  “I changed my mind,” he repeats. “I know I told you Beauty could trade places with Jonah. But I’d rather keep Jonah.” He nods. “Yeah. Jonah stays.”

  I don�
�t understand.

  “Huh?” says Beauty.

  “Jonah stays. I don’t want Beauty.”

  “But I’m here to help,” Beauty says.

  “I don’t want your help,” Mr. Beast snaps.

  “You can’t do this!” I exclaim.

  “I can, too,” he says.

  “I have to take my brother home to Smithville,” I say, starting to panic. “You’re not allowed to keep him.”

  “You can’t stop me,” he barks. “I make the rules.”

  This can’t be happening! Mr. Beast needs to fall in love and get engaged or his curse will last forever!

  “Can we speak in private, please?” I hiss.

  “No,” he says. “We have nothing left to talk about.”

  “But … but …” I have to talk to Mr. Beast, but I can’t risk Beauty hearing what I need to say. “Um, Beauty, would you mind blocking your ears?”

  She shrugs and sticks her fingers in her ears.

  “Beast — sorry — Mr. Beast, the curse says that someone who doesn’t know who you really are has to accept your marriage proposal so you can change back!”

  “I know,” Mr. Beast says. He looks down at his feet. “But Jonah is like the kid brother I always wanted! We’ve been having a good time playing games. I’d rather do that than have to convince some unsuspecting girl to fall in love with me. I’ve tried it before, and it never works. I’m done trying. Jonah’s my friend. And he doesn’t make me feel bad about myself. I’m not trading him for some girl who will. Jonah stays. Beauty goes.”

  Behind Mr. Beast, I see a figure in the hallway. It’s my brother!

  “Jonah!” I cry out. “Do you hear what’s happening? He’s going back on his deal! This can’t happen. We have to do something! Run, Jonah, run!”

  Jonah ambles over to the door and stares at me quizzically. “I’m not running,” he says. “Why would I run? This place is amazing!”

  I gaze at him in shock. “What?”

  “You were right, Abby — fairy tales are the best!”

  “B-but we have to go home!”

  “No way! I’m having the best time! I’m in a castle! I taught Mr. Beast how to play flying crocodile!”

  He’s got to be kidding me. “You can play flying crocodile at home!”

  “Mom and Dad don’t let me play at home! They make me read! Mr. Beast doesn’t care if I read. And he has the best snacks. Ketchup-flavored chips! Have you ever heard of such a thing? They’re delicious.”

  “But … but …”

  Mr. Beast shrugs. “Sorry, but as you can see, your brother wants to stay.”

  And with that, Mr. Beast slams the door in my face.

  Great, just great. What am I supposed to do now? Obviously, Jonah can’t stay here forever. That’s insane. As if I could go home to Smithville without him!

  Sorry, Mom and Dad, but Jonah moved into a palace to live with a beast. I tried to bring him home, but he just doesn’t want to practice his reading. Happy birthday, Mom!

  Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. What is wrong with my brother?

  I turn back to see Beauty, who seems equally upset. Her lower lip is quivering. “Abby, why didn’t Mr. Beast want me to stay? Did he not like me? Does he not think I’m beautiful on the inside? I really want to be beautiful on the inside! I try really hard!”

  “It’s not you,” I say. “It’s him. He doesn’t even know you.”

  “But he looked at me! He saw me! He must think I’m ugly or a horrible person or something.”

  “No,” I say. “There’s no way he thought you were ugly. And I’m sure he doesn’t think you’re a horrible person. It sounds like he’s had his heart broken before and he doesn’t want it to happen again. I think he’s just protecting himself.”

  I walk up and down the drawbridge, trying to think. I need a plan. A really good one. I need to change Mr. Beast’s mind. What will change his mind? What can I do to get him to send Jonah home?

  Hmm. He needs to fall in love with Beauty.

  Yes. That’s exactly it. If he falls in love with Beauty, then he’ll want her to stay.

  I thought I’d have to convince Beauty to give Mr. Beast a chance. But instead, I have to convince Mr. Beast to give Beauty a chance!

  I bet it won’t even be that hard. He fell in love with her in the original story, didn’t he? And he would have fallen in love with her if Jonah and I hadn’t shown up. So it will happen eventually. It has to.

  She’s Beauty and he’s the Beast. They’re the title of the story! They’re made to be together. They’re like ketchup and French fries. They’re going to fall in love for sure.

  Okay, sometimes in the other stories, the characters got new happy endings, but the Cinderella story wasn’t called Cinderella and the Prince, now, was it? No, it was not.

  “He’s going to like you,” I tell Beauty. “I promise.”

  “But how?” Beauty asks. “He locked us outside!”

  Good point. I knock on the door again.

  “Go away!” Mr. Beast yells. “Your brother is happy here!”

  “Exactly,” I yell back. “My brother! Not yours!” I take a deep breath. “But I’ll make you a deal, Mr. Beast!”

  Beast opens the door a crack. “What’s the deal?”

  “Jonah can stay,” I say. “For a bit. But not without us.”

  He looks confused. “You want to stay here?”

  I nod. “I can’t leave Jonah alone. He’s my little brother. It’s my responsibility to watch him. I shouldn’t have left him alone before, but I didn’t have a choice. No way am I leaving him again. I’m sure you have enough rooms. This place looks huge.”

  “Of course I have enough rooms,” he says gruffly. “But no one has ever asked to stay here before. No one has willingly wanted to spend time with me. I pay Mr. and Mrs. Butler to be here.”

  “You can’t be that bad,” I say.

  I hear my brother shout, “Wahoo!” from the other room.

  “Jonah seems to be having a fun time,” I add.

  Mr. Beast smiles and I can see his fangs. “He is having a fun time. But most people are scared of me.”

  I straighten my shoulders. “Well, I want to stay! And Beauty does, too. And Prince.”

  Mr. Beast bends down and motions to Prince. “Hello, little dog. Do you want to play? Come play!”

  Prince leaps onto Mr. Beast and licks his face.

  Mr. Beast laughs. It’s actually a nice-sounding laugh, not scary at all. Then he turns around and goes back into the palace. He leaves the door open behind him.

  “He won’t even look at me,” Beauty whispers. “Maybe I should leave.”

  “No,” I say. “Please, Beauty. You need to get Mr. Beast to like you. Just be your awesome self.”

  She hesitates. “Okay,” she says, and follows me inside.

  The foyer is all white marble. There are chandeliers everywhere, too. It’s very castle-like.

  In front of me I see the dining room that I spied earlier. To my right I hear laughter. I follow the sound until I spot Jonah and Mr. Beast playing a card game. Mr. Beast is sitting on a brown couch, and Jonah is sitting on a small chair opposite him.

  Jonah waves. “You have to play this, Abby! It’s so much fun. It’s called trump. Whoever has the highest card wins! Mr. B taught it to me.”

  “Great,” I say, and step inside.

  Now how am I going to get Mr. Beast and Beauty to fall in love?

  I think back to the original story. How did they fall in love?

  Hmm. Technically Beauty only fell in love with him when she thought he was dying.

  But let’s forget that part.

  They spent a lot of time together. Which means they got to know each other.

  Okay. We can do that.

  “Beauty,” I say. “Why don’t you sit down on the couch?”

  She nods and takes a seat beside Mr. Beast. She fans her white dress out around herself.

  “Hello,” she says to him. “I’m Beauty.�
��

  “Hello, Beauty,” he says without looking up from his cards.

  I need Mr. Beast and Beauty to chat without Jonah and me distracting them.

  “Jonah, can I talk to you alone?” I ask.

  “Now?” he sputters. “I’m in the middle of a game!”

  “You can play after,” I snap. “It’s urgent.”

  Jonah sighs. “Okay, okay. Be right back, Mr. B,” he says, and follows me out into the marble foyer. “What’s up?” he asks.

  First I throw my arms around him. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m great. I’m having fun! Mr. B is the best.”

  “Have any of your memories come back?”

  He shakes his head. “No. But we haven’t been here that long. I bet they will.”

  “You know you can’t stay here forever, right?”

  He shrugs. “I know. I wasn’t going to stay here forever. Just a week or so. Like a vacation?”

  “Jonah, we can’t stay here for a week! We have no idea how long that is at home! You know how time is different in every fairy tale.”

  He stomps his foot. “I don’t know, actually! I don’t remember the other fairy tales! I wish I did but I don’t! This is all I know! And I don’t want to go home yet. It’s not a big deal!”

  “Jonah, it is a big deal! Now Mr. Beast doesn’t want Beauty to stay. You messed up the story!”

  He twists his lower lip. “I did? But how?”

  “By being so much fun to hang out with!”

  His makes a quizzical face. “Huh?”

  “You were so much fun that Mr. Beast doesn’t want you to go. He wants you to be his little brother,” I say. My voice sounds a bit bitter. Jonah is my little brother. Mine. My head hurts and I rub my temples with my fingers.

  “Oops,” Jonah says. “It’s not my fault I’m so much fun to be around. And it’s not my fault you kept knocking on the mirror night after night!”

  “I did that because going into fairy tales is fun! And because I wanted your memories to come back. Not because I wanted you to move in with Mr. Beast and mess up the story.”

  “But you said we mess the stories up all the time, right? Can’t we just fix it?”

  “Yes, Jonah, but it’s not so easy. We have no control over what’s going to happen. We could get hurt.”

  BANG!