The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer Page A

said.
    “Fascinating stuff,” Bob said. He was eager to continue their conversation. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you and the other fairies have been around for hundreds of years traveling between worlds telling stories to children in need?”
    “That’s it in a golden eggshell,” Mother Goose said.
    “So you must be thousands of years old,” Bob said.
    Mother Goose shot him a dirty look. “Hold your horses there, cowboy,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m older than dirt, but I’m not as old as you think. This world used to run much faster than ours. You’ve had so many different eras and periods: the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Age, and now the Modern Age.… We’ve only had three or so that I can recall.”
    “What were they?” Alex asked, keen on learning a bit of the fairy-tale world’s history.
    “Let me think,” Mother Goose said. “We had the Dragon Age, the Age of Magic, and we’re currently in the Golden Age. Well, it used to be the Golden Age until all this drama happened.”
    “The Dragon Age?” Conner asked excitedly. “You mean there were dragons in the fairy-tale world?”
    “Tons of them,” Mother Goose said. “It was a mess! Disasters and barbecues left and right! They’re extinct now, kind of like your dinosaurs.”
    “Did you ever see one?” Conner asked.
    “I used to wrestle them, long before I took up magic and storytelling,” Mother Goose said with a boastful smile.
    Conner squinted at her. “Are you pulling my leg?” he asked.
    Mother Goose rolled up her sleeve and showed Conner a large burn mark on her forearm. “ This isn’t from cooking, kid,” she said.
    Conner just stared at her with an open mouth. He had never been so impressed by someone in his entire life, and Mother Goose milked the admiration for all it was worth.
    “You were around for the Middle Ages and the Renaissance?” Alex asked. “You must have seen so many people and places!”
    “I started the Renaissance, honey,” Mother Goose said, like it was a tea party she had thrown.
    The twins felt they were both being led on now.
    “I did!” Mother Goose said. “It was just me, your grandmother, Rosette, Skylene, and Violetta back then. We were so bored in the human world that one night I threw a big party. We had a great time. Next thing I know, we come back a few decades later and all of Europe had copied us.”
    “Our grandma was there?” Conner asked.
    “Oh, yes,” Mother Goose said. “She was a lot of fun back then. After she had your father she became so motherly . That’s how she got her title, the Fairy Godmother—from being so sweet and maternal to everyone.” Alex and Conner exchangeda look. However upset they were with their grandmother, she still became more amazing the more they learned about her.
    “You know,” Mother Goose continued, “Leonardo da Vinci and I had a bit of a fling.”
    Alex gasped. “I don’t believe you! Now you’re making things up!”
    Mother Goose rolled her eyes and looked directly into Alex’s, serious as can be. “Why do you think he tried building that flying machine? He was trying to keep up with me and Lester. Hey, Lester, tell these kids I dated Leonardo! They don’t believe me!”
    Lester appeared at the kitchen window. He nodded, confirming the news for the twins. They were astonished.
    “Of course, I didn’t go by Mother Goose back then,” she said. “My code name was Mona Lisa.”
    “You’re the Mona Lisa ?” Conner asked.
    “The famous painting?” Alex asked.
    “Why do teenagers always think people are lying to them? I’ve got no reason to be dishonest with you,” Mother Goose told them. “Leo, as I used to call him, made me laugh. But that’s apparent in my portrait.”
    Alex and Conner glared at her with their mouths hanging open. They didn’t know what to believe anymore.
    “Why did you have a code name?” Conner asked.
    “I told you, I’ve got enemies!” Mother Goose