Free The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer Page B

Alex.
    “Very well,” Grandma said and looked to the other guards she had entered the house with. “I’d like you to take the first shift watching the inside of the house. The rest of you, please follow me outside so I may place you.”
    Grandma and Xanthous quickly led the soldiers outside to the front lawn. The twins followed closely behind them, with Sir Lampton at their feet, and watched from the porch. Even though they knew she was a veteran leader of the fairy-tale world’s Happily Ever After Assembly it was still strange watching their small grandmother give orders to the large soldiers.
    “Take your places,” Grandma instructed.
    The soldiers positioned themselves on the perimeter of the Baileys’ front yard. Their house looked like a miniature Buckingham Palace. The Fairy Godmother waved her crystal wand and one by one turned each soldier into a lawn gnome with a bright flash. They all had pointed red hats and white beards.
    “They look just like the gnomes in our neighbor’s yard,” Conner said. “I almost tripped over one today.”
    “That was a soldier, actually,” Sir Lampton said down byhis knee. “He’s been watching the outside of the house for a couple of months.”
    “Creepy,” Conner said.
    “What’s going on out here?” said a sweaty and green-faced Bob, stepping out of the house. “Where’d all the soldiers go—and where’d all those gnomes come from?”
    “You just answered your own question, I’m afraid,” Alex said.
    Bob’s eyes darted around the front lawn as he understood. The twins felt sorry for him; in less than an hour he had discovered his girlfriend had been kidnapped and had ties to the fairy-tale world. But overall, they thought he was handling it well.
    “After the fourth time I vomited, I realized I wasn’t dreaming,” Bob said. “I have no history of mental illness in my family, so my best self-diagnosis is that it’s just one of those nights. ”
    “Don’t worry, Bob, the shock wears off eventually,” Conner said to him. “I think—Alex and I have only known for a year and we’re still waiting.”
    Grandma walked back to the porch with Xanthous, giving him careful instructions as they went.
    “The soldiers may be an eyesore for the neighbors, but at least they’re disguised,” she said. “I want you to stay here and watch over the twins. No one is to enter or leave this house without my permission.”
    Alex and Conner only heard the tail end of their conversation but it was enough to infuriate them.
    “What do you mean no one can come or go?” Conner said. “We’re going to be stuck in our own home?”
    “Until it’s safe,” Grandma said.
    “But I have to work,” Bob said. “I have patients and surgeries to attend to. People need me.”
    Grandma thought on this for a few moments. “You may come and go as you wish,” she said. “With all due respect, it’s my grandchildren I’m worried about.”
    “What about school?” Alex asked.
    “You can go back as soon as everything has settled down and we figure out where your mother is, but for right now we can’t risk it,” Grandma said. “The less contact with the outside world, the better off you’ll be. I’ll write to the school and tell them you’ve both fallen terribly ill.”
    “You can’t lock us up!” Conner yelled—loud enough for the whole street to hear.
    “We haven’t done anything wrong!” Alex shouted. “Why are you punishing us like this—”
    Their grandmother waved her wand at each of them and they went silent. They tried speaking but no sound came out; she had magically muted them.
    “Please obey my instructions,” Grandma said. “Even with several soldiers, Xanthous, and Sir Lampton watching over you, I’ll be worried sick.”
    Grandma looked down at Sir Lampton.
    “I’d like for you to stay a dog for the time being,” she said. “The gnomes will attract enough unwanted attention as it is.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Sir Lampton said with