Free Once Upon a Beanstalk by Kate Avery Ellison

ajar. The princess was still huddled in the corner, though, her ragged jacket hugged tight around her body.
    “How’d she get it open?” One of the guards muttered aloud, and together they stepped inside the cell to investigate.
    The door slammed behind them, and when they turned in outrage a smirking, yellow-haired young man was laughing at them. In his hands were the keys to the cell.
    “It’s like taking wishes from a fairy godmother,” he said with a grin.
    “Come on, Hansel,” someone called, and the guards saw a dark-haired fellow and girl dragging the princess towards the stairs. They grabbed the bars and shook them, but it was no use.
    They were trapped.
     
    ~
     
    The Grimms and Jack ran up the stairs, Princess Alana dragging along. Gretel glanced over her shoulder in time to see Hansel kick the door shut against the guards’ yells of outrage and sweep Alana up in his arms. Alana hugged his neck, her own face hidden. She looked about to faint—probably from lack of food and water.
    Jack and Gretel reached the hall and ran across it for the stairs to the turret. The staircase twisted around and around, and the running was making her dizzy. Jack grabbed her hand to help her climb.
    “Come on!”
    They reached top of the turret, catching the guard by surprise. Jack’s swift uppercut made him drop like a sack of rocks.
    “All right,” he gasped. “The beans.”
    As Gretel fumbled with the packet, Jack helped Hansel carry Alana to the windowsill. Gretel reached into the bag, and found far less than she’d anticipated. Where were the rest of them?
    Horror drenched her with sudden coldness. She’d probably dropped them along the way without thinking.
    There was no time to regret it. No time to hate herself for the stupid, stupid habit she’d cultivated. She thrust the magic beans at Jack.
    “Are there any more?” He asked when he saw she held only two.
    Gretel bit her lip. “That’s it.”
    Their eyes met.
    If this didn’t work ... they’d be dead.
    “Hurry, will you?” Hansel lowered Alana to the ground but kept one arm around her so she wouldn’t fall. His face was taut with terror. The sound of the guards beating against the door on the floor below reverberated through the tower.
    Jack took one bean in each hand, rolling them between his fingers. He dropped them carefully over the sill, and everyone leaned forward to watch them fall.
    Just before the beans reached the ground, a massive crocodile burst from the water and snapped them up with a snarl.
    The wind whistled around the thieves and the half-rescued princess as they stared in shock at the crocodile, which devoured their only way of escape before slipping back into the water and sinking into the depths.
    “Dragon dung,” Princess Alana whispered, leaning against Hansel’s arm. Her face was very white. “That’s it, isn’t it?”
    No more beans. No more escape routes. It was her fault.
    They were going to die and it was her fault.
    “We’re not giving up yet,” Jack muttered, as if he could hear her thoughts. “There’s got to be another way out. Back downstairs, everyone.”
    The thieves and the princess stumbled back down the stairs at a run, reaching the hallway where they’d played their instruments for the steward. Gretel’s breath burned in her lungs from so much castle-climbing, and her heartbeat throbbed in her ears. Any moment now the guards could be breaking free from the dungeon, or the steward could be waking up in the closet and banging on the door for someone to hear. Any moment now Agathar Black could be remembering where he’d seen Jack’s face—
    The door to the hall exploded open, and Agathar Black himself burst into the room, blocking their exit. Jack skidded to a stop, Hansel, Gretel, and Princess Alana behind him.
    “Leaving so soon?” The giant’s voice made the windowpanes shiver. “You’ll miss the ceremony.” His eyes moved to Princess Alana. “My dear ... I didn’t give you permission to