Sleeping Beauty, the One Who Took the Really Long Nap by Wendy Mass Page B

explain I did not have one, and how Father had said I could choose one years ago, but I had not felt prepared.
    The girls exchanged glances. Rose said, “Do not worry. We shall come up with one for you.” She thought for a moment. “Eugene? Raphael? Butavian?”
    Sara said, “Rufus? Timothy? Philip?”
    â€œHmm,” Rose said. “None of those feel quite right, do they, Sara?”
    Sara shook her head.
    â€œI can see I’m going to have my hands full with you two,” I said, throwing up my hands in mock exasperation. “I think we need to move on to something more pressing. Why don’t we see if Sara can pass the boundaries?”
    Rose sobered up. “That is a good idea, Prince … er … Zeus?”
    She and Sara laughed like that was the funniest thing either had ever heard. I was suddenly glad I’d never had sisters.
    We went outside and strode across the lawn. Rose walked two paces ahead of me and Sara, holding her arm out in front of her. She stopped when her hand bumped the wall. Sara took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Ow!” she said, rubbing her nose.
    â€œWell,” Rose said with a sigh, “I guess we’re stuck here together.”
    I noticed something odd on the ground and got down on my knees. “Look at this,” I said. They bent down and Ishowed them a ladybug that repeatedly attempted to fly from the grass but kept falling back down. It was hitting the wall, too!
    I stood up and brushed off my britches. “It appears that anything that was put to sleep along with Rose cannot leave these boundaries.”
    â€œForever?” Rose asked in horror.
    â€œI am certain it is not forever,” Sara said, trying to calm her. I was not so quick to make the same claim.
    I heard myself say, “I shall figure it out, I promise.”
    Rose said, “I know you will,” and gave me a hug. No one who wasn’t related to me had ever hugged me before. I could get very used to it.
    The problem of Percival had not been far from my mind. He was no longer outside, so the vines must have released him. I needed to get back to my own castle to make sure he had not alerted my parents to the existence of this one. Striking a prince on the head is not acceptable behavior. He would have to learn that.
    â€œI have to take care of some things at home,” I told them. “Will you be all right here? There is plenty of food in the pantry. Everything looks as fresh as if it had been brought in yesterday.”
    The girls nodded. Sara said, “I do not know if Rose told you, but she is an excellent cook. We will not go hungry.”
    Rose playfully punched Sara on the arm.
    â€œI will be back before dark. Perhaps before then you could try to reach the fairy to ask about the wall?”
    Rose nodded. “I have never called on one of my fairy godmothers before. They have always just shown up, usually when I don’t want them to. But I shall try.”
    She walked me to the door. There was an awkward moment where she tried to hug me and I tried to kiss her, then I tried to hug her and she tried to kiss me . But then we got it sorted out.
    On the walk home, the colors seemed brighter, the air seemed fresher. The love songs the troubadours were always singing suddenly made sense. With an extra skip in my step, I made my way through the woods. Even though the forest was much smaller now, it still effectively hid one castle from the other. In the winter it would be a different story. The skip quickly went out of my step. I had to figure out what was going on with the barrier right away. If the townsfolk learned of Rose’s return to life, she would be besieged with visitors — and if the barrier was still up, she would be trapped. In truth, Rose was in more danger now than before I awoke her.
    And on top of that, I had to figure out how to tell my parents about her, and how to tell Rose about my parents. I could hear the