Rumplestiltskin

PRAISE FOR JENNI JAMES

Beauty and the Beast (Faerie Tale Collection)

“Jenni James takes this well loved faerie tale and gives it a paranormal twist. Very well written and hard to put down, even on my cruise vacation where I had plenty to do. Looking forward to others in Jenni’s Faerie Tale series. A great escape!”

—Amazon reviewer, 5-star review

Pride & Popularity (The Jane Austen Diaries)

“This book was unputdownable. I highly recommend it to any fan of Jane Austen, young or old. Impatiently awaiting the rest of the series.”

—Jenny Ellis, Librarian and Jane Austen Society of North America

“Having read several other Young Adult retellings of
Pride and Prejudice
- I must admit that
Pride and Popularity
by Jenni James is my top choice and receives my highest recommendation! In my opinion, it is the most plausible, accessible, and well-crafted YA version of
Pride and Prejudice
I have read! I can hardly wait to read the [next] installment in this series!”

—Meredith, Austenesque Reviews

“I started reading
Pride and Popularity
and couldn’t put it down! I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning to finish. I’ve never been happier to lose sleep. I was still happy this morning. You can’t help but be happy when reading this feel good book. Thank you Jenni for the fun night!”

—Clean Teen Fiction

Northanger Alibi (The Jane Austen Diaries)

“
Twilight
obsessed teens (and their moms) will relate to Claire’s longing for the fantastical but will be surprised when they find the hero is even better than a vampire or werewolf. Hilarious, fun and romantic!”

—TwilightMOMS.com

“Stephenie Meyer meets Jane Austen in this humorous, romantic tale of a girl on a mission to find her very own Edward Cullen. I didn’t want it to end!”

—Mandy Hubbard, author of Prada & Prejudice

“We often speak of Jane Austen’s satiric wit, her social commentary, her invention of the domestic novel. But Jenni James, in this delicious retelling of
Northanger Abbey
, casts new light on Austen’s genius in portraying relationships and the foibles of human nature—in this case, the projection of our literary fantasies onto our daily experience.”

—M.M. Bennetts, author of May 1812

Prince Tennyson

“After reading
Prince Tennyson
, your heart will be warmed, tears will be shed, and loved ones will be more appreciated. Jenni James has written a story that will make you believe in miracles and tender mercies from above.”

—Sheila Staley, Book Reviewer & Writer

“Divinely inspired, beautifully written—a must read!”

—Gerald D. Benally, author of Premonition (2013)

“
Prince Tennyson
is a sweet story that will put tears in your eyes and hope in your heart at the same time.”

—Author Shanti Krishnamurty

Jenni James is the busy mom of seven rambunctious children ranging from the ages of 2-16. When she isn’t chasing them around her house in sunny New Mexico, she is dreaming of new books to write. She loves to hear from her readers and can be contacted at:
[email protected]
, or written to: Jenni James PO Box 514, Farmington, NM 87499. Jenni has several clean books for teens already published and many more to come, including:

Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection:

Beauty and the Beast
(2012)

Sleeping Beauty
(2012)

Rumplestiltskin
(2013)

Cinderella
(2013)

Snow White
(2013)

Hansel and Gretel
(2013)

Frog Prince
(2013)

The Jane Austen Diaries:

Pride & Popularity
(2011)

Persuaded
(2012)

Northanger Alibi
(2012)

Emmalee
(2013)

Mansfield Ranch
(2013)

Sensible & Sensational
(2014)

Prince Tennyson (2012)

Revitalizing Jane (2014)

The Eternal Realm Series:

Eternity
(2014)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Carola Dunn for her version of
Rumplestiltskin
I first read in a fairy tale collection of Regency authors titled
Once Upon a Time
. Her story was the first time I had ever seen the concept of Rumplestiltskin being the hero who was crippled. And so, the spark of my Rumple was born years ago. When Aaron Patterson asked me to write fairy tales for him, I knew I would have to do my own version of Rumplestiltskin, using this idea from Carola Dunn, that indeed Rumplestiltskin was the true hero.

I would like to thank the amazing StoneHouse Ink for their belief in me and Aaron’s constant pressure to keep writing and continuing on this journey to complete this Faerie Tale Collection.

And a huge thank-you to the wonderful Claudia Lucia McKinney, without her gorgeous artwork my covers for the Faerie Tale Collection would be nothing. I love you! You are wonderful.

And as always the divine inspiration given to help me create such amazing parables.

This book is dedicated to my own real life Rumplestiltskin, Layton Fredrick, who was paralyzed four years ago. Your constant cheerfulness and humor through excessive trials raise me up and give me courage I never knew I had. You are the true modern-day hero and I am blessed to know you and love you. Thank you for all of your words of encouragement. Thank you for your hours of laughter. Thank you for saving me.

But mostly, thank you for giving me the magic to turn my words into gold and share this message with the world. You are beautiful and you shine brighter than anyone I know.

CHAPTER ONE

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS FREDERIC Baldrich Layton’s little legs ran fast—faster than they had ever traveled before. Soon he would be at the meadow, the pretty one with the magic pond. If he could just get there before Nurse Crabtree did, he knew he could collect the strange small rocks and stuff them into his pockets before she would ever know.

She did not let him bring the pebbles back yesterday when they had played at the magic pond. It was now or never, while she was sipping her tea and talking to the Reverend Townesend, now was the time to dash to the pond and bring back those stones.

He could hardly wait to show his baby brother. Marcus was only three, but he sure did love rocks as much as Frederico did, especially strange rocks.

Frederico rounded the corner past the old willow tree and skidded to a halt. Glancing back through the hanging branches, he saw Nurse Crabtree all the way across the field still talking with the Reverend.

“Good!” She had not even noticed he was missing yet. Without another thought he rushed past the blackberry bushes over to the pond, to the special spot where he was told to set the stones down. “They are still here!” Quickly he collected all six of the odd shiny black and blue striped rocks and stuffed them into his coat pocket. Then just as he was about to rush back to Nurse Crabtree he heard a shuffling in the bushes. Turning toward the sound, he was surprised to see a crooked old lady step out of them.

“Do you live in there?” he asked before remembering it was not polite to speak until spoken to.

“No, I do not,” barked the old woman as she glanced around. “Where do you live, young man? And how old are you? You do not look old enough to be scampering about alone.”

Prince Frederico stood to his full height, his little chest puffed out like he had seen his father, the king, do many times and said, “I am five and I live in the castle over there.” He pointed to the large fortress.

“Do you?” the old woman seemed very interested. “Whose castle is it?”

“My father, King Albert, of course.”

The old woman’s eyes snapped to his and she looked long and hard at the young boy before asking, “Are you certain King Albert lives there?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Are you his heir, then?”

“Yes, I am!” he stated proudly.

She surprised him by spitting on the ground, some of the spittle landed upon his shiny kid leather boots. Frederico backed a few paces away.

“Well, it is a sad day indeed, because you seem like a nice hardy lad—however, your family is pure evil and I will not stand to have this land ruined, when just twenty years ago your grandfather ruled with kindness as a perfect example to all. Therefore, I am sorry to say, but they must be taught a lesson, and it will be through you I choose to do it.”

“Through me?” asked Frederico, not quite certain what she was speaking of.

“Yes, boy. Come here quickly, before they find you missing and come after their little jewel.”

“I—”

“Come, lad. Now.” She held her hand out and grasped his tiny fingers, pulling him sharply behind the bush she had come from. Before he even knew what was happening, she mumbled several incoherent words over him and watched, satisfied, as his face contorted with pain. “It is for your own good, my boy, for the good of us all, you will see.”

And that was that.

She shoved him out from under the bushes and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Confused, the young prince was scared as he attempted to head back to his nurse. He was hurting too. His fingers were all twisted and bent and so was his body. One foot would not even move anymore. All he wanted most was to return home and feel better again.

As quick as his crippled body could take him, dragging his unusable foot the whole way, he burst into the garden and interrupted tea time with the Reverend.

Nurse Crabtree screamed and shattered her cup upon the table as she jumped up to get away from him.

Reverend Townesend placed an arm over her and another out toward the young boy. “Do not come another step closer, do you hear? Do not do it.”

Big tears began to build within Frederico, he had been so brave until now. But when Nurse screamed, it frightened him. He did not know what was wrong, but he wanted to be better. “Help me.” He tried to walk closer, but she only moved farther away. “Help me.”

“You—you are cursed! You will make us all cursed!” Nurse Crabtree shouted.

“Help me, please.”

“Stay right there until I send someone for you.” The reverend took the nurse by the hand and began to walk toward the castle. On his way he hollered at a maidservant who was just exiting with her arms full of new refreshments for their tea. “Get the prince and take him to his room. Do not let anyone see him. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.” The maid curtsied and scurried over to Frederico.

He will never forget the terror in her eyes or the scream she let out when she first beheld his crippled form. The boy had no idea how awful he looked, but it made him cry so very much more to see all of their fear.

She stepped back a pace and pointed. “What happened to you? Your skin is all rumpled and stilted.”

“A woman hurt me. I do not know why. I did not do anything to her.”

“A woman?” She came forward. “A woman did this to you? Was she on the grounds here? Where was she?”

“Over by the lake. I came as fast as I could.”

“Just a few moments ago?”

“Yes.”

“Wait right here. I will be back. No one can see you like this!” The maid gathered her skirts and ran as fast as she could to the head gardener and told him she had seen a strange woman walking the grounds who needed to be caught and brought to the king. When she had got back, little Frederico was sitting upon the ground, his head in his bent hands, staring at the grass.

“Come on, you little one. Let us get you back to the palace and get you washed up.”

Frederico rubbed his eyes with a crooked fist, sniffled and looked up at the maid. She flinched a little but did not scream again. He became a little less scared and tried to scramble to his feet. “When can I get better?” he asked once he was standing.