The king's brave, bedraggled, loyal messenger and Francis came around to the front of the fortress and crossed its moat bridge. Staring up at the enormous stone wall, Danny scratched his head causing the loose chain that had once linked his iron cuffs to clonk him on his brow bone.

"Frederic should really invest in a doorbell," he said.

Francis called for Sir Fred, once, twice then a third time before the man appeared to look down from his high place atop the wall.

"Who goes there?" he shouted.

"Sir Frederic it's us! We've got something urgent to tell you about the princesses!"

"I'm sorry, but your three days are up."

"You said we had till noon."

"I did? Well, go on then, but unless you can tell me how those shoes are worn through, there's no point in my letting you in just to throw you out again."

"We can! You see we waited outside the girls' room at night until we saw a light..."

"Get a move on!" Danny interrupted. "You want it to be noon before you finish this story and lose our 10 sovereigns?"

"Minus room and board," Fred called down.

"Listen, Fred," Danny shouted. "Those girls have a secret passageway they sneak out of so they can go to these barn dances, see? Only they're not just dancing. That string-bean sorcerer Ivan's got them hypnotized. Got them trained to attack anyone Robert the Rotten wants, and that includes the King, you dig?"

"Oh dear," Fred said. "Wait right there."

Sir Fred's small head disappeared for a moment. Danny said to Francis, "I'll catch the money when he throws it down. You've got an embarrassing catch-face."

The next thing they knew, all of their belongings were being dumped on them from above. Danny yanked a tunic off his head. "I'm getting pretty tired of this."

"Frederic, don't be a fool!" Francis begged. "It's true! The princesses are in real danger and so is King Victor."

"Would you be willing to repeat this ridiculous story with your arm in the wall?"

"I would," said Francis without hesitation. It was only when he tried to place his arm in the hole which exacted a bloody price from liars, that he realized the opening in the stone would not accommodate the iron still cuffed to his wrist, no matter how he positioned it.

"I'm wait-ing!" Fred called.

"Step aside, let me try," said Danny. He struggled but his arm wouldn't fit either.

"A-HA! Just as I suspected," Frederic scoffed. "If we're in danger from anyone, perhaps it is from charlatans like you. Nice meeting you, boys. Entrance denied."

The sudden sound of a horn blowing somewhere off in the distance announced the arrival of the Royal Caravan might take place any moment. Fred gave a startled jump.

"Goodness gracious! The King! Winifred! WINIFRED!"

With that, Frederic disappeared leaving Francis and Danny gaping at each other.

"We've got to get in there," said Francis, giving the air a tight uppercut. "We've got to warn the princesses."

"Oh, oh, so now you want to warn them," Danny said, picking his belongings up from the ground, accidently kicking his spare socks-ball into the moat. "Yes, let's wait until we have no possible chance of doing the thing I said we should've done yesterday."

"Yesterday we didn't know how to break Ivan's spell."

"I still don't know."

"Didn't you hear Ivan? The princesses just have to sleep it off."

"I'm sorry, I was busy."

"Well get busy thinking of a way for us to sneak in."

"The fortress is impenetrable."

"Okay so we don't go through it. Maybe we can get over it. Help me find something we can use to make a pole and vault our way in."

"How about we don't die and just meet the King on the road?"

"That could work too," Francis agreed. A second later they were both off and running.

Just where the rolling country greens began to sprout trees again, they came to fork in the road. Rather than split up, Francis decided to climb a tall poplar to get a better view of which path would carry the caravan. No sooner had he reached the high limb he was striving for, did the first carriage of the caravan roll into sight. Danny waved him down, waiting at the roots. Francis was halfway through his careful descent when, through the other trees lining the road, a familiar purple jacket caught his eye. He squinted to sharpen his sight of the latter half of the caravan, bright lights from the sun glinting off what he made out to be the brass of horn instruments. Royal musicians, he assumed, but large for the type. And that purple jacket, much like the one...

Ivan!

It had to be.

Francis scrambled down further and nearly yelped when he bumped into Danny scrambling up.

"Did you see them?"

"I see them. That's the plan then. Sneak in as musicians for the celebration feast and get the girls to attack when they least expect it. "

"What'll we do now?" Danny asked, his cheek scraping against bark as he tried to look up at Francis.

"I don't know how we approach without getting spotted."

"So let the guards seize us. Victor will let us go when he hears what we have to say."

"If we get the chance to say it. There's more to Ivan than just mind control. He could just zap us silent. Or worse."

"What was I thinking? He could hit us with lightning or turn us into toads. Magicians live for that kind of stuff. I'll look awful in warts! But once they make it into the fortress, they're in and we're out. This is our only chance."

Now Francis' mind went to work measuring angles and looking for loopholes. "Once they're in, we're out," he repeated, working through the puzzle.

"That's what I said," said Danny as he glanced down to see the procession now passing below.

"The fortress is protected by the White Witch."

"What do you suppose they did to the real musicians?"

"We can't get in. The Witch protects the King," Francis mumbled.

"Uh-huh." Danny looked up, concerned his friend was losing his figurative grip.

"The Witch is on Victor's side."

"Come on, Francis, don't go squirrely on me."

"Ivan's magic let the girls out but other than Fred, only the Witch can let someone in."

"Geez, you're cracking up aren't you? Ok, soldier, why don't we climb down the nice tree and hide in the nice bushes and watch the nice parade."

"I'm not crazy you dope. I'm thinking."

"Well, warn me next time."

"Quiet," he shushed Danny.

The wagon carrying the disguised enemy rolled on slowly beneath them, like a snake slithering amongst picnickers seen only by creatures helpless to call it out.

When the end of the caravan was finally in sight, Francis tapped Danny on the shoulder with his foot, urging him to start moving down the tree. Once on the ground, they hid behind its trunk just as the last royal carriage passed. They watched and waited for the flanking guards on horseback ride by. Francis whispered to Danny, "Let's go."

"Let's go where?"

"Don't you see? It's going to take magic to beat Ivan at his own game."

"Magic we don't have."

"That's right, we don't."

Danny went as pale as the idea taking shape in his mind. "Oh, Francis, don't say it."

"She'd have to be willing..."

"Oh, if you say it, please don't mean it."

"We have to find the White Witch."

"This is gonna end with warts, I know it."

*****

"Girls! Girls!" Winifred called as she burst into the princesses' room to wake them. She threw open the drapes and clapped as loudly as she could, but the sleeping girls barely stirred.

"Good heavens! Not today!" she pleaded, moving bed to bed, trying to shake them awake.

"Is it an earthquake?" Lana yawned.

"Give us a break," Betty whimpered.

"Would somebody feed that dragon!" Ava groaned.

"Girls, please! Your parents are here. Do you hear me? I said your parents are here!"

Then, like some miracle, all her charges sat up at once.

"Here??!"

"So soon?!"

"I forgot to put my rollers back in!" Marilyn fretted.

"I don't even know where mine are," Dorothy gasped.

"We haven't even had breakfast, er, brunch – lunch! What time is it?" Rosalind asked, running to her wardrobe. "If we don't get down there fast enough, Danny will steal all of the raisins out of the bran!"

"You don't have to worry about them anymore," Winifred said. "How about I bring up some scones and preserves?"

"What do you mean?" asked Rita.

"Apricot, or strawberry. Would you rather cheese?"

"Where are Francis and Danny?"

"They've left. Unrewarded, I might add, just like the others. My, but you girls did give them a hard time. Well, they all deserved it. Anyway, what matters now is that we've swapped our old guests for new ones."

"Are they waiting for us now??" Betty asked.

Ginger jumped to her feet. "I've got to curl my lashes."

The room erupted in panic of girls running around as if their ship was sinking. All was a whir of face-splashing and hair-setting and wild indecision over what to wear.

"What in the world!" Winnie cried as dresses went flying everywhere. "We picked out today's outfits a week ago!"

"I guess a week ago I felt like looking ridiculous," Lucy said, getting stuck in a perfectly lovely dress as she tried to yank it back over her head..

"Why did I want to look like a fruit salad?" Judy asked in an orange dress with different coloured pleats. She was on the verge of crying.

"Can we go down now?" asked Katherine, still in her night shift.

"Surely not like that," Lena tutted.

"I was going to brush my teeth first."

"Ladies," Winnie clapped. The girls stopped their fussing and gave her their full, hysterical attention. "You're acting like a bunch of silly ninnies. Remember, you are charming, graceful, elegant princesses. Do you want your parents to meet you half-polished and half-crazed? "

"Well, this girdle started it," said Rosalind, struggling with having put her boning on backwards.

"Now everyone take a deep breath," Winifred said. Everyone but Rosalind was able to. "We have one chance to make a first impression."

"I guess it's really our second impression," Ginger said smiling nervously.

"How right you are. It's a very big day for all of you, my darlings. It also may be, that is, it likely is, also our last day together." Winifred's chin began to tremble and the lip above it quivered. As she blinked back tears, the twelve princesses rushed to hug her and each other tightly in a loving cluster. "I love you all so very much, you know that don't you?"

"We love you too, Winnie," her girls answered, and began talking over one another.

"Which one of us will you live with?"

"Yes, you must come live with one of us."

"Or take turns with all of us!"

"Yes!"

"I'm sure it will all get sorted," Winifred sniffed, the pride in her heart pushing her fears of being forgotten away. "But first, let us do things correctly. I'll bring up tea and we'll do each other's hair and go from there. We've plenty of time. Your parents also need to rest and wash up from their journey. They'll want to make a fine impression on you too when you are all reunited at the feast. Now, let the air and sunshine in and let yourselves wake up calmly. I'll be right back."

Rita splashed a little water on her face and let the breeze from the window cool her warm cheeks. Ginger joined her to give her a big hug.

"You don't look too happy, kiddo."

"She's just nervous like the rest of us," said Betty.

"I'm not nervous. Not nervous at all," Katherine said. She raised her chin defiantly, but they could plainly make out her anxious gulp.

"I'm too tired to be nervous," said Ava. "But I am very happy."

"We can be tired, we just can't look it," Marilyn said. "Quick everybody, pinch your faces awake."

The princesses followed Marilyn's demonstration, slapping and tapping and pinching their faces,

"Ow!" Rosalind howled, slapping Lucy's hand away. "She meant pinch your own face!"

"What's the matter, Rita?" Ginger whispered. "Is it Francis?"

"I don't understand it," Rita sighed. "He didn't even say goodbye."

"Neither did Danny. Guess I'm not such a good judge of character." Ginger, too, was disappointed. Poor kid.

"I dreamed of Francis last night. He found out about us going to the cottage and was going to tell. We fought, I think. Then he just disappeared."

"I've heard they do that, and not just because there's a time limit."

"Francis and I were just starting to get to know one another, but you and Danny had an understanding, didn't you?"

"I thought so. I was almost afraid he was going to ask me to run away with him."

"You would've said no, wouldn't you?"

"Sure, but he could've at least tried!"

"I am going to miss this place," Rita said, taking hold of Ginger's hand. "I'm going to miss seeing you every day. All of you."

"That's crazy talk!" Lana said.

"We're family," said Katherine.

Dorothy flipped her fringe up into a pin curl. "I'm sure we'll see each other all the time."

"Sure we will," Ginger agreed. "Even if we have to bribe dragons and sneak out of secret doors to do it."