Free The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer

“What is going on?!” he yelled. “Who are you people?”
    Grandma raised her wand in his direction. Xanthouspointed a few fingers at him and his whole hand suddenly lit on fire. Both were ready to fight if necessary.
    “Do you know this man?” Xanthous asked the twins.
    “Yeah, that’s Dr. Bob,” Conner said. “Don’t set him on fire! That’s our mom’s boyfriend!”
    “Boyfriend?” Grandma said and lowered her wand. “Well, I must have been gone for longer than I thought!”
    “Release him,” Xanthous ordered and lowered his hand. The soldier immediately dropped his hold on Bob.
    “This woman is your grandmother?” Bob asked the twins. “Is she a part of the circus or something? What’s with all the tricks and costumes?”
    “What on earth is a circus ?” Xanthous said, unsure whether he should take offense.
    Alex and Conner didn’t know where to begin.
    “Bob, it’s a long story,” Alex said.
    “In a nutshell, our grandmother is Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother from the fairy-tale world,” Conner said. “I know it’s a lot to process, so take your time—but we promise that’s the only baggage our family has got.”
    Bob’s eyes grew bigger and he glanced at the soldiers, at their grandma, and at Xanthous.
    “Uh-huh,” Bob grunted, not convinced.
    Their grandmother looked around the living room, gravely concerned. “Where’s your mother?” she asked.
    “We don’t know,” Conner said.
    “She was supposed to be home a few hours ago,” Alex said.
    “Grandma, what’s wrong?” Conner asked. “Do you know where Mom is?”
    Their grandmother didn’t answer, staying deep in thought.
    “Grandma, what’s happening?” Alex demanded. “We haven’t seen you in over a year—why have you suddenly shown up out of the blue? You have to tell us what’s going on. Where’s our mom?”
    Their grandma looked back and forth between them. “Children, what I’m about to tell you is going to seem very frightening,” she said. “But I need you to be strong and trust that many qualified people are handling the situation.”
    The twins nodded impatiently. Any news was better than no news.
    “I believe your mother has been kidnapped,” their grandmother informed them.
    They were wrong; having no news was much better than knowing this.



POSITIONING THE GNOMES
    Alex and Conner stopped breathing. They felt like their hearts had fallen out of their bodies.
    “What?” Alex asked.
    “Kidnapped?” Conner gasped. “What do you mean, ‘kidnapped’?! By who ?”
    Alex covered her mouth in horror. Conner frantically shook his head from side to side, not wanting to believe it.
    Who would want to kidnap a nurse who worked at a children’s hospital? How much danger was she in? The situation must be bad if soldiers and fairies from another world were standing in their house.
    Their grandmother closed her eyes tightly. “I don’t have time to explain,” she said softly.
    Conner turned bright red. “What do you mean you don’t have time to explain?!” he shouted. “You give us that information and expect us not to have questions?”
    Their grandmother looked down at them sternly. “I’m expecting you to trust that I am handling it to the best of my ability,” she said.
    “We’re not children anymore, Grandma! You have to tell us what’s going on!” Conner said. He had never had a reason to raise his voice to her before in his life.
    “I know that, and that’s why I’m being honest with you—you deserve to know the truth. There is much to discuss later, but right now, the less you know, the better. Is that understood?” Grandma said.
    They didn’t respond, because they didn’t understand or agree one bit.
    Buster barked up at the Fairy Godmother. Oddly, he hadn’t been fazed by the newcomers in their home.
    “Grandma, please, we need to know what’s going on—” Alex managed to say through her tears.
    “It’ll have to wait. Right now I need to speak with Sir Lampton,”