The Fairy's Return and Other Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine Page B

But the hedge was now up to his neck. He could still climb it, but he’d never get the driver out, and he’d get caught inside too. He stood before the hedge, panting. In his last glimpse of the drawbridge, Elbert saw one of the oxen switch its tail to brush away a fly. The ox was alive! It was—it was—asleep!
    The hedge zoomed up, taller than Elbert. Taller than twice his height. Tall as the old maple in front of his cottage. Tall as the church steeple.
    Elbert turned back to his sheep. Now herding was going to be completely boring, without the drawbridge and courtyard to watch.
    The queen’s last wide-awake thought was: The child will spend the next hundred years lying on a cold stone floor.
    The king’s last thoughts were: Our headache’s gone. We feel sleepy. We could sleep for a hundred years.
    The prince’s last thought was: I could take a nap. Sleep is good for you. My father told me that . . .
    Sonora’s last thought was: Oh no, I’ll have to marry him. Aaaaa!
    The fairy Adrianna appeared in the courtyard. The hedge looked good. It was high and dense and prickly, with thorns as long as her wand.
    In the castle she stood over the sleeping forms of Sonora and Queen Hermione II. I can’t leave them on the floor, she thought. She waved her wand, and the queen floated to the bed in the royal bedchamber, next to the king. Then she moved Sonora to her room and arranged her gracefully on the bed. She placed a wooden sign on Sonora’s stomach. In flowing script it said, “I am Princess Sonora. Kiss me, prince, and I shall be yours forever.”
    Sonora wouldn’t have liked that, not one little bit.
    Prince Melvin XX was sneezing in his sleep, stretched out in a bed of clover. The fairy moved him to a wooden bench. Then she left without making anybody else more comfortable. They weren’t royal, and they could make the best of wherever they happened to be.
    In the next hour she appeared here and there throughout Biddle. She told everyone she saw that the royal family had gone on a journey. She said she had created the hedge to keep things safe while they were away.
    Everyone believed her—everyone except Elbert the shepherd.
    That night Elbert started building a very tall ladder, the tallest one in Biddle. A week later, when the ladder was finished, he dragged it to the hedge and climbed up.
    The peaches were brown and rotten. The dead lamb was covered with flies. But everything else was the same. The oxen stood on the drawbridge, their heads drooping. The butcher leaned over his chopping block, the knife still in his hand. While Elbert watched, the butcher lazily reached up with his other hand to scratch his nose. They were all still asleep!
    But why? Elbert wondered. Princess Sonora knows, he thought, but don’t ask her. He laughed. Don’t ask her because she’s sleeping.

Seven
    S onora dreamed it was her wedding day. The great hall was filled with guests. Prince Melvin XX stood next to her. The Chief Royal Councillor was reciting the wedding ceremony. The prince hadn’t moved once the whole time. He’s like a block of wood, Sonora thought.
    The ceremony was almost over. The Chief Royal Councillor said, “Prince Melvin XX, will you say a few words?”
    The prince began to speak. Sonora saw a hinge at the corner of his mouth. She looked at his arm next to her. It was carved of wood! He was a big wooden puppet.
    â€œWeddings are good. Everybody has fun at a wedding. There’s always . . .”
    Everyone clapped. Prince Melvin XX kept right on talking. Sonora screamed, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa . . .”
    When Prince Melvin XX didn’t return to Kulornia, King Stanley CXLIV sent a messenger to Biddle. The messenger came back and told the king about the journey the royal family was thought to have made. King Stanley CXLIV reasoned that the prince must have left with them. He wondered where they’d gone