Unlocking the Spell by E. D. Baker Page A

doing here? We don’t get many humans coming this way.”
    â€œWe just wanted directions,” said Annie. “We’re going to see the fairy Moonbeam, in the Moonflower Glade.”
    â€œAh!” said the ogre. “I can give you directions, but you do know that the way is long and fraught with danger?”
    Annie sighed. “Everyone keeps telling us that.”
    â€œAll right then. Pay attention. Take the road out of town, go right at the pasture where Midas keeps hiscattle, then go over the rainbow bridge, under the waterfall, turn left, and you’re there.”
    â€œAre there any special dangers we should expect to find?” asked Annie.
    â€œI don’t know,” said the ogre. “I’ve never been there.”
    â€œAnnie, is everything all right?” Liam asked, hurrying across the street.
    Annie nodded. “This nice gentleman was just giving us directions to the Moonflower Glade.”
    â€œGood, because no one in that tavern would talk to me. I’ve been waiting this whole time for someone to notice that I was there.”
    â€œI’m sure they noticed you,” said the ogre. “They just didn’t want to talk to you.”
    â€œThank you for the directions,” Annie told him.
    â€œGood luck getting there,” the ogre said, and walked away.
    â€œWhy does everyone keep warning us about the way to the Moonflower Glade?” Liam asked as they started down the road. “We have yet to see anything dangerous.”
    â€œI thought that ogre with the terrible tongue looked dangerous,” said Gwendolyn.
    Liam scowled at her. “I thought I told you not to talk to anyone.”
    â€œThey talked to us first,” Gwendolyn said, shrugging.

Chapter 10
    Beldegard didn’t rejoin them until they were out of sight of the ogre’s village. Although he gave Gwendolyn an affectionate lick on her cheek, Annie thought he looked worried. Liam must have thought so too, because the first thing he said to the bear prince was, “What’s wrong?”
    Beldegard glanced back into the forest behind him. “I think someone is following us. I noticed it in the woods after you left.”
    â€œMaybe it’s the boy with the cat Annie and Liam told me about,” said Gwendolyn. “Maybe he discovered who I was and wants to start courting me.”
    â€œI doubt it was him,” said Annie. “I don’t think he ever saw you.”
    â€œWhat boy?” growled Beldegard.
    â€œIt might be one of the men from the ferry,” said Liam. “Some of them seemed awfully interested inGwendolyn. But don’t worry,” he told the girls. “Now that we know someone is there, we’ll watch for him. It would be hard to hide from all of us.”
    â€œWhere do we go now?” asked the bear prince.
    â€œWe stay on this road until we reach a field where some man keeps his cattle,” said Annie. “Then we turn right and cross over a rainbow bridge and go under a waterfall. It didn’t sound as if it was too far from here.”
    â€œSo when do we encounter all these dangers everyone keeps telling us about?” Gwendolyn asked.
    â€œNo one seems to know,” Annie told her.

    The day grew hotter as they walked, so when the road eventually drew close to a stream, Gwendolyn cried out with delight and started for its banks.
    â€œWait!” shouted Beldegard as he lumbered after her. “You never know what might lie in wait in places like this. Remember, we’ve had all those warnings about danger.” He padded around the clump of birch trees shading the water to snuffle the inviting moss edging the stream. When he bent down to taste the clear, sparkling water, he drew back suddenly and shook his head. “Don’t drink this!”
    â€œWhy? Is it poisoned?” asked Liam.
    â€œNo,” the bear prince said. “But cattle have fouled the water near here. This stream