My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison

Author:Janette Rallison [Rallison, Janette]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Historical, Juvenile Fiction, Love & Romance, Family, Fantasy & Magic, History, Magic, Adaptations, Juvenile Nonfiction, Fairy Godmothers, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Medieval, Middle Ages, Stepfamilies, Science Fiction, Time Travel
ISBN: 9780802722362
Google: rfmUFiEojGoC
Amazon: 0802722369
Publisher: Walker & Company
Published: 2011-04-11T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

I gulped and looked up at Rumpelstiltskin. He bent down and wiped the tear from my cheek, shaking his head slowly. “What a wicked man to treat you thus.”

“What?” For a moment I thought he’d peered into my mind and read my thoughts about Hudson. Could fairies do that?

“Giving King John a taste of gold has been akin to giving a wild dog a taste of blood. He won’t let go of a fine morsel like you.” His sor-rowful tone didn’t match the glint of pleasure in his eyes. He had wanted King John to make more demands of me.

Rumpelstiltskin’s hand was still on my cheek. I stood up so I could step away from him.

He gazed around the room at the towering stacks of straw and tsk-tsked. “He’ll have no straw for bedding if he keeps this up. No doubt about it. Does he plan to make you spin every night? What did he tell you?”

“He said I had to get the ability to turn the straw into gold myself, or he would execute me and my family. If I do spin the straw into gold, he’ll marry me. I consider the second fate only a little better than the first.”

Rumpelstiltskin laughed, but I wasn’t joking.

He walked around me with what I imagine was supposed to look like a thoughtful expression on his face. His motion reminded me of the way a shark circled its prey. “Has King John taken your family?”

“No, but he asked Haverton to find them.” Rumpelstiltskin stopped in front of me and pulled a small hand mirror out of his breast pocket. It sat in a decorative frame with such 182/356

lifelike gold leaves entwined around it that I knew it had to be magic.

“I can show you your family, if you’d like.” He placed the mirror in my hand. It felt light and warm as though it had been lying in the sun. I looked into it, but instead of seeing my reflection, I only saw smooth blackness.

Rumpelstiltskin leaned over my shoulder. “Say their names, and the glass will show you where they are.” I hesitated. It seemed dangerous to take gifts from Rumpelstiltskin, but I wanted to see my father and Nick and Sandra so badly—to know they were okay. I gripped the warm mirror and said, “Frank Miller.” Wherever he was, the others would be too.

The glass fogged with blurry shapes and colors flitting across it; then the picture cleared, grew sharp. And there was my father, his face painted a camouflage green, standing in front of Nick. My father still had the paintbrush in his hand and was painting Nick’s face too. A fire must have been going nearby because there was enough light not only to see them, but to see the trees around them.

I hadn’t noticed the words that appeared on the bottom of the glass until Rumpelstiltskin read them. “River Bend. That’s not far from here. I wonder why they’ve come so close to the castle.”

“Why are they painting their faces?” I asked.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.