Day 11. Newspaper Article

JUSTICE FOR THE BOREALIS FAMILY

By Willie Ann Winkie-Horner

What have we ever done to them? That’s the outcry on the streets of the former town of Castle Something, now known, in an outrageous affront to the royal family, as Malificent Ville.

Not only did the public rename the town in honor of the witch /dragon who literally held the royal family and their servants hostage for 100 years, but they also actively discouraged any princes from attempting to wake the princess and the other occupants of the castle. And now they have all lost 100 years. All their friends and family who they knew before are dead. And Princess Aurora has a sore back.

Is it any wonder that the royal family seeks justice? The truth is that the entire town has no defense against this pitiful tale of woe. The town is guilty.

"Have you seen this drivel?" Goldilocks held the newspaper in my face, shaking it back and forth. i didn't even try to look at the paper, instead I was just wondering how she got her hair so perfect, even at this time of the morning.

"Unless it's been in my dreams, no, I haven't." I hadn't expected to be woken up at the crack of dawn by an irate sister in law, but then again, I hadn't expected the Big Bad Wolf to try to blow my house down the night before. Why he wouldn't believe that I wasn't hiding the three little pigs, I'll never know. Like my husband wouldn't have tried to barbeque them!

"How can she be on their side?" Goldi asked. She handed me the paper and I skimmed over the short article.

"Well, she was on The Evil Stepmother's side at first." I'd been annoyed at the flattering interviews Willie Ann Winkie'd had with her, even though it had not been that much of a surprise, what with the Evil Stepmother owning the newspaper. "And so were you, if I recall correctly."

"Can you keep it down? I don't have to get up for another hour," my husband said grumpily.

"Sorry." I got out of bed and followed Goldi out the door. "What are you doing up at this hour anyway?"

"I couldn't sleep. Still on Enchanted Forest time."

"Is Jack up?" I led Goldi to the kitchen. Darn, the kitchen elves hadn't shown up again. When were they going to show up and clean the kitchen for me during the night? The shoemaker next door had some of them actually doing his work for him and not getting paid. You'd think cleaning a kitchen would be child's play compared to stitching a shoe. But then again, maybe not. Those I baked on crusted pots and pans I hadn't even started soak might be quite a challenge.

"No, your brother is still sleeping. He's got no sense of time anymore."

"The coffee will be ready in a minute," I said, turning on the pot. It was one of those new fangled modern ones, that doubled as a post office.

I really liked my kitchen, even though I hated to spend too much time in it - like cleaning up after dinner. Instead of wall paper, I had real ivy vines growing against the cream colored walls. From time to time I had to trim them, or they 'd start taking over the place. And if I forgot to water my wall, I'd have all sorts of yellow leaves dropping onto the floor, but since it was a magical self cleaning floor, I didn't care. I also didn't care that we'd be paying extra for the magical self cleaning bit for the rest of our lives. It was worth it.

Now if only they'd invent magical self cleaning dishes. And clothes.

And magical, self making meals.

"Hello?" Goldi said. "Are you listening to me?"

"I guess not. What were you saying?"

"Only that you've got to quit your job."

"I've just started." I poured two cups of coffee and brought them over to the kitchen table. We'd bought it at a flea market, so it was kind of small, but not so small as to be originally just for those fleas. That would have been ridiculous.

"Three sugars," Goldi said in response to me picking up the sugar bowl. I counted out three sugars, plopped them in her coffee and handed her a spoon. "You got any poison proof cow cream?" Snow White had started a trend with her poison proof apples. Now everything had to be poison proof, from produce to peonies.

"No, just regular cow cream. Sorry."

"That's okay. I'll risk it." She poured some into her coffee. "No, really, you have to quit. You're on the wrong side."

"You were on the wrong side before, too." I sipped my coffee. Too hot.

"That was different."

I snorted. I didn't mean to. Generally I tried not to make embarrassing noise, but this time I just couldn't help it. Wrong side. Sure, I was on the wrong side. Or was I? Did Willie Ann Winkie-Horner have a point? We really hadn't been in any hurry to wake any of them up. We had sent several strong, stalwart princes away, and let the other ones ride to their deaths. Hadn't we? Well, I hadn't. I hadn't personally spoken to any of them.

"How are we going to talk about the case?" Goldi looked genuinely sad. Her long lashes drooped over her blue eyes, and her perfect bow of a mouth pouted.

"We can still talk about the case. Up to a point." I took another sip of my coffee. Too cold already. Was the coffee maker on microwave time again?

"Which point?" Goldi looked at me, her eyelashes drooping not quite so much and her mouth forming a sly grin. "The one where the queen sabatoged the mattress so that the princess wouldn't be able to sleep comfortably?"

"That was the princess and the pea," I said. If I sipped my coffee again, would it be just right? I doubted it. "Besides, that was just a rumor."

"Okay, fine. What about the one where the queen deliberately put the last remaining spindle in the attic where she knew the princess would eventually find it, prick herself and cause the whole sleep to happen?"

"You mean, the queen...?"

Goldi nodded. "It's a fact. I have proof."

"I think you may have a point."

"About what? Their guilt?"

"No, about the difference between rumor and reality."