The Curse Girl (17 page)

“I would dance with you myself, but…” Tom indicated himself with a sweep of his tiny hand, and Penelope smiled. One of the downsides of being best friends with someone the size of her middle finger, she supposed.

The tip-off about a band of notorious thieves couldn’t have come at a worse time, because she’d been looking forward to this wedding for months, and now she was going to have to be running around making sure that nothing was stolen. These guys were real professionals, too. They’d lifted thousands of dollars in wedding gifts from the last royal wedding they’d crashed, the one where the prince and princess had gotten married waist-deep in a pond, to celebrate the way they’d met. (Apparently the poor guy had been turned into a frog.)

“I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to Rapunzel. I’m her maid of honor. I have responsibilities. I don’t know why the job couldn’t have been handed to someone else who isn’t actually
in
the wedding.”

“Maybe your boss figured you’d be the best person to keep an eye on things,” Tom said.

“Maybe.”

Either way, it wasn’t worth fretting about now. She’d do her job and she’d do it well, of course. And maybe this was fitting, seeing as how she got into police work in the first place because of Rapunzel’s abduction during their childhood. Penelope had wanted to make sure no more little girls disappeared because of jealous witches or evil curses, especially after Rapunzel was rescued and recounted her horror story to the entire kingdom. Of course, nobody had thought Penelope would be capable of much when she’d first started with the police force (since she was
technically
a princess and all, and in some persons’ minds princess equaled spoiled) but she’d proved everyone wrong. She was the best undercover agent they had now. Just last week she’d broken up a corrupt fairy godmother crime ring that was scamming hopeful girls into arrangements that were supposed to let them fall in love with princes. Penelope wondered—how many princes did people think were wandering around the kingdom, looking for love with every girl who lost a shoe in front of them?

Tom climbed to the carriage windowsill to watch as they approached the castle walls. Flags in the king’s colors floated on the breeze to celebrate the wedding, shimmering like rainbows against the blue sky. Penelope stared at the family crest emblazoned across the flapping fabrics, and she remembered something else. Something rather unfortunate.

“Oh no.”

“What?” Tom asked.

“I forgot—Prince Greg’s younger brother Andrew is going to be there.” Greg was Rapunzel’s princely fiancé.

“Andrew?” Tom scratched his head, and then a smile broke across his face. “You mean that fellow that used to always flirt with you at finishing school?”

“Yes, and he didn’t flirt with me,” Penelope said, her voice coming out a little sharper than she’d intended. “He annoyed me, pulled my hair, stole my school books, and got mud on my dresses.”

“I seem to recall the mud on your dresses being your own fault,” Tom said with an arch of his eyebrow as he plopped down on the window’s edge and let his legs dangle. “Seeing as you were always climbing trees and running around in the fields.”

“Yes, well—Andrew got me in trouble constantly and made my life miserable, thank you very much, and we
never
flirted even once. Fought tooth and nail is more like it.”

Despite her vehement protests, she blushed as she spoke—hopefully Tom didn’t notice. Darn it, that horrible prince! He was still causing her problems. Well, with any luck at all he’d be married and stodgy now, with a potbelly and thinning hair.

The carriage lurched to a stop, sending Tom tumbling. Penelope smoothed her skirts and brushed tendrils of hair from her eyes. She needed to look presentable, professional, and—oh, hang it. She didn’t care if Andrew was going to be there. She had a job to do, and a friend to see married.

She didn’t have time for this nonsense.

Picking up her skirts and her bag, she descended from the carriage and found herself face to face with none other than the queen herself.

“Your Majesty,” she murmured, dropping in a curtsy. “My name is Penelope, and I—”

“Pen!” Rapunzel appeared from behind the queen, hugging Penelope so hard she staggered. “I’m so glad to see you!”

Over her friend’s shoulder, Penelope saw the queen mouth turn down, probably at the scandalous lack of decorum they’d just exhibited. Oh well. She’d never been good at impressing queens, especially not her own mother, so why should she care if this one didn’t like her either?

It was, after all, Andrew’s mother.

“Your Majesty,” Rapunzel said after she’d let go, letting Penelope recover a few shreds of her dignity. “This is my best friend, Pen.”

“I’ve heard a great deal about you,” the queen said with a sniff.

Penelope smiled. “Well, I’m sure Rapunzel has greatly exaggerated my escapades—”

“Not from Rapunzel,” the queen said, with another sniff. “From my son Andrew.”

Once Upon a Beanstalk
, a short story collection of fairy tale mashups by Kate Avery Ellison, is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords for $0.99.

Don’t miss Kate Avery Ellison’s next book,
A Sky Without Stars: Darkdweller
, coming Fall 2011!

Seventeen-year-old Kye has lived in darkness her entire life. Her grandmother tells her that a place called the Above exists, where there the sky has stars and the world is lit by the sun. The Council, who rules her world, says there is nothing but cold darkness outside their ceilings of stone. Kye doesn't know what she believes, and she doesn't really care. Her life is luxurious and she has the perfect boyfriend. What more could she want?

But when a boy is discovered unconscious in the outer tunnels—a boy who might be from the mysterious Above—Kye begins to question the life she's always taken for granted.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Avery Ellison lives in Georgia with her husband and two spoiled cats. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys watching NBC comedy shows, playing video games, and eating ice cream cake. While it’s true that she’s currently writing a zombie novel, don’t let that fool you. She is decidedly Team Unicorn. Check out her blog at
http://thesouthernscrawl.blogspot.com/
.

SPECIAL THANKS

I could never have made it this far without all the lovely, generous, amazing people in my life.

Scott, for providing support for each new project I start, for believing in me every step of the way, for being my first beta for every book I write, and for formatting this ebook. I love you!

Nikki and Amy, for reading and giving enthusiastic praise and feedback. You guys are awesome.

Rebecca, for being an amazing critique partner. You’re a superhero when it comes to editing, and I salute you.

Jaimie, for being my awesome beta and partner in crime and querying for all these months. You are awesome.