Free The Awfully Angry Ogre by Suzanne Williams

1
Princess Tansy
    P RINCESS T ANSY WOKE WITH A START. S OMEONE was knocking on her door. “Just a minute!” she called out, pushing back the bedcovers. Tansy shivered in the chilly morning air that seeped through the cracks in her family’s castle. Grabbing her faded robe, she wrapped it around herself tightly, then hopped across the cold stone floor to open the door.
    Tansy’s room was at the top of a tower.She’d recently chosen the room to get away from her six brothers. Before she moved, they’d made her life miserable, teasing her and playing practical jokes, such as putting frogs and snakes in her bed. Fortunately, none of them liked climbing the narrow, winding staircase to her room and only came up to fetch her for a meal or to deliver a message. Edward, her oldest brother and worst tormentor, refused to come up for any reason. That suited Tansy just fine.
    Tansy scraped her door open. “Good morning, lazybones,” said her brother Jonah. At fourteen, Jonah was five years older than Tansy. Even though he could be just as mischievous as the others, he was Tansy’s favorite. Jonah painted the most beautiful pictures—especially of Mount Majesta, which towered over the family castle. A dozen of Jonah’s paintings hung in Tansy’s room.
    Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Tansy said “What are you talking about? It’s early!”
    Jonah grinned. Like Tansy, he was slim and freckled, with ginger-colored hair. Only he was about ten inches taller than Tansy, who hadn’t yet reached five feet. “Early for you, maybe,” said Jonah. “I’ve been up since dawn.” Jonah often rose early. Sunrise was his favorite time to paint Mount Majesta.
    â€œSo, what’s up?” Tansy stifled a yawn.
    â€œBesides you and me?” asked Jonah. “No one else in this family, that’s for sure. They’re all still snoring away.”
    Tansy frowned. “Then why did you get me up?”
    â€œMaybe I just wanted some company,” Jonah said with a smile. He paused as if remembering something. “Oh yeah. And someone’s trying to reach you through the crystal ball.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you say so right away?” Tansy pushed past him and started down the steps to the Crystal Ball Room. “Did you see who it was?” she called back over her shoulder.
    â€œSome girl with wavy blond hair.”
    Princess Lysandra! Tansy hadn’t seen her friend in a couple of months, though they’d chatted a few times. The last time they’d been together—along with the princesses Fatima and Elena—they’d stayed with Fatima’s sister and brother-in-law in their fabulous marble palace. She could still picture the rich silk tapestries lining every wall, and the gorgeous lake and gardens. The visit had turned out to be quite an adventure.
    Tansy wound down the steps to the ground floor, then raced to the Crystal Ball Room and squeezed inside. No bigger than a wardrobe, the room was mirrored on three sides to make it seem larger, and a fake fireplace had been painted on the fourth wall. Tissue flowers, vaguely resembling roses, sat in a vase on top of a fake marble-topped table. Anyone looking in on her family through the crystal ball would see this room, so her family tried to make it look nice. Still, Tansy doubted their efforts hid how poor they really were.
    Lysandra’s image floated in the ball. She was bent over a piece of paper, writing. Tansy had visited Lysandra’s palace, so she knew nothing was fake about her family’s grand Crystal Ball Room.
    Lysandra glanced up. “Oh, hi,” she said. “I didn’t think you were in, so I was going to leave you a note.”
    â€œMy brother Jonah saw you. He came and told me.”
    Lysandra’s face moved closer to the ball. She squinted at Tansy. “You’re in your robe, aren’t you? Did I get you out of bed? I forgotabout the