Francis and Danny tip-toed towards the mysterious light glowing from beneath the princesses' door, keeping quiet in the hallway to be sure the girls had enough of a head start. After several minutes, Francis reached for his magic key and watched it shrink to the right size for the lock.

"Go, go go!" Danny said, wanting to burn rubber with the wheelbarrow holding the cake. Francis cautioned him to slow down at the top of the dark stairs to avoid destroying their bribe before they could deliver it.

The narrow steps proved tricky and Danny hands began to shake.

"Careful," Francis warned him.

"Easy for you to say. Why do I have to get this thing downstairs?"

"Because I'm holding the torch."

The flame licked a bit of web waving from the stone wall, and it blackened and fell to Danny's hand. In his eagerness to brush the tickling soot away, he jerked the barrow and nearly tilted the cake out over the edge. Its cherry topper rolled off, but thankfully was caught in the rocking scoop.

Francis gave Danny a mean side-eye. He called out hoarsely. "Rupret! Hey Rupret!

"Com-ing!" the dragon yodeled merrily.

They heard the slithering shift of his body before he set the lair lights ablaze with his mighty breath. The beast reclined on his tail, sucking a skewered boiled potato off of each of his talons.

"Gentlemen, how nice to see you again. And what's this?" he said, his tongue darting out in the direction of the cake. "A surprise for me? Oh, you shouldn't have!"

"Aw shucks," Danny said coyly. "We wanted to live, so it was nothing,"

Francis was all business. "Which way did they go?"

"Uh-uh-uh," Rupret tsked. "What do we say?"

"Pretty please don't burn us," Danny said. He found the cherry at the bottom of the barrow and plopped it back on top of the cake.

"Very well. Come on down then. That's it. Hang a left behind my hindquarters and untie the boat still docked by this stream. There's a very narrow exit through which the stream flows to the village. Let the boat take you to where the water is so shallow it first runs aground. That's as much as I can say as far as where it goes and where those silly gigglers went."

"Thank you, Rupret. Come on, Danny."

"Say, Rupes, you want to take this now, or do you want me to park?" Danny asked, struggling with his cart.

"I'll take it from here," the dragon said, clapping his hands greedily. He plucked his cake with pincer claws, placing it on the palm of his paw where it seemed no bigger than a tea biscuit.

As Danny caught up to Francis, who was already untying the boat, Rupret inspected his dessert and scowled when he found the dish rag.

"Hold it!" he bellowed, causing the rocks of the cave to tremble. "What. Is. This?"

"Oh, heh, heh," Danny chuckled nervously. "It's the surprise inside. A napkin for you."

The dragon's fierce grimace relaxed. "Well, you boys just thought of everything, didn't you?" He neatly tucked the rag under one of his neck scales and said distractedly, "Be back before the princesses are, or you'll be locked out."

And with that warning, Francis and Danny pushed off towards the cave's exit.

*****

The small boat ran aground just as the dragon said it would. With a little effort it might have continued further into the village, but Francis and Danny dragged it up the bank in a heavily wooded part of the countryside and rested it next to three others just like it. They could hear faint music coming through a cluster of trees, and several feet in that same direction they were able to see lights from the windows of a remote barn cottage.

They followed the cheerful notes until they stood at either side of one of the cottage's windows. On the count of three, they looked inside and saw through the stained glass the blurry figures of couples dancing. What they presumed correctly, as they next climbed a conveniently placed ladder to the top of the barn, was that the princesses were attending a party. What they had no way of knowing, as they entered an opening and crept along the hay store, was that the gentlemen leading the ladies in the dance were no gentlemen at all. Robert's remaining men did their best to keep time without bursting the seams of their spiffy doublets and fancy hose.

"Wow, look at 'em go!" Danny said as the pairs spun in circles on the floor below.

"Buddy, this is it. A few hours of this jive a night would burn holes in anyone's shoes."

"Those fellas are kind of large for country squires, don't you think?"

Francis did think so, and he wasn't too happy watching Rita being twirled around by a roguish looking partner with arms as big cannons. Danny, meanwhile, spied Ginger with strapping redhead twice her size. He thought about dropping a bale of hay onto his head if he got close enough, but figured it would only tickle him. Their envy spared little attention for the man leading a small group of musicians. He wore a velvet jacket of deepest purple with busy gold trim, and waved his baton so enthusiastically that the flames of the candles surrounding the band's small stage jumped along with the music.

Now if you're thinking, wait a minute - dry barn, drier hay, open flames - that sounds like a fire hazard, you'd be right. And when you're right, you're right. Maybe if Francis and Danny hadn't been so busy comparing their boot sizes to the other gentlemen in the room, they might've noticed the other things amiss, like the conductor's sour-yellow eyes, and the fact that when the next dance required a brass section, two candles tipped over at the behest of his wand, spilling wax which solidified and transformed into two horn players.

The livelier music of the next dance set Danny's shoulders to wiggling.

"Gosh, I've missed dancing. With girls, I mean."

He almost stood from his crouch, wanting to sway to the beat.

"Down, boy. Let's not get busted just yet. We need to figure out how they found this place and who those swingers are."

"Right, so let's get down there and cut in."

"Not yet," Francis said, grasping Danny's leg to get him to sit.

"Where's the harm?"

"Why is this such a secret? If the White Witch's magic let them out, why wouldn't Fred know about it? Who hired this band? Who set up this cottage?"

"Gold diggers looking to marry into the family, of course."

"Again, why would the witch permit it?"

"Look, I know you don't want Rita to get mad at you, but let me tell you, friend, you can't have it both ways. That's why nature made you handsome, but..."

"But what?"

"Well, I only say this out of brotherly love, but you're a bit of a nag. And a very loud knuckle cracker. And your posture could use some work. And you've got a crooked back molar."

"Crooked? How would you know?"

"Cause you also sleep with your mouth open. I figure it's in case you want to nag someone in your sleep."

"Oh yeah?" Francis said with a loaded eyebrow raise.

"Don't shoot the messenger. Your loud knuckles will give us away. You can't have it all. Believe me, I know. I try all the time. For example..."

Francis rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. He slouched but straightened up just as quickly not to give Danny the point.

"It's like the time I entered a Hemmerheggen contest."

"Gesundheit," Francis grumbled.

"No, the Hemmerheggen is a dance. First, you rock back and forth like this."

Francis had to stop Danny from getting up again.

"Fine. But then you sort of bounce at the knees and move in a circle, first clockwise then counter. Then you and your lady step, step, dip, spin, spin, tap, dip. Get it?"

"Sure, it's one of those square dances."

"Every Friday night back home, we used to have these kind of barn dances. One night, the baron who hosted decided to hold a Hemmerheggen contest. It was all the rage, and since I was the best, I just knew I was going to win. The first prize was ten sacks of fertilizer and my Aunt's farm was going bald. Anyway, before I could choose my partner, the baron's daughter Maisie insisted we pair up. Now don't get me wrong, Maisie was beautiful. Everybody loved her. She was a real doll, a dream, but two left feet like a couple of irons. I didn't want to lose, but I couldn't say no. So I said, 'What's that over there?' and hid behind a cow."

"Can't say I'm surprised."

"Like I said, I couldn't say no. So there I was, crouched behind ol' Bessie, when suddenly the straw around me started moving and who popped up next to me? No Neck Ivy! I don't want to say she was fast or homely, but that's because I'm a gentleman. Her moles had moles. She winked at everybody and she had no eyelashes."

"And wait, let me guess, she had no neck?"

"She had a neck like a goose! Her nickname was more of a warning because she had breath like swamp fog. You should've seen that cow's face when she said, 'Hhhhhiiii there.'"

"So what happened?"

"I'm getting to it. The baron ordered the contest to start, so Maisie toasts the dosey-does and I'm crammed up with Ivy."

"What'd little Ivy do?"

"She tried to smooch me! Do you know how hard it is to hold your breath and scream at the same time? I got out of there as fast as I could. Maisie found me and we danced the Hemmerheggen."

"Don't tell me. You won anyway."

"Nope. Came in dead last."

"Is there a point to this story?"

"Besides not being able to have it all? Yes. When the boss's daughter asks you to dance, don't have a cow. You'll only make it worse."

The dancers below clapped for the last number. Francis watched Rita carefully. She smiled radiantly, even as she held her side as though a bit winded. She seemed to suggest to her partner that they take a break, as did her cousins, but the band leader instructed his musicians to play a new song, this one louder and faster than the last. Francis did find it curious that there seemed to be even more musicians, if not fewer candles. The song drew a squeal of delight from the princesses who seemed to be familiar with it. They abandoned thoughts of punch to swarm the floor with their partners again. Ginger dragged Big Red so fast he nearly tripped.

The magician Ivan, (because by now you must know it was him in disguise), set the music's unusually bouncy pace with his baton and then turned to face the dancers and sing:

"When the band jumps up there's nothing better

For a girl and guy to get together

And burn that old shoe leather to a crazy song

And when the bass slaps set that floor on fire

And when the horns blow throw your baby higher

And when she says she's tired and can't go on

I'm going to prove her wrong

Because when I say jump, you jump

And when I say jive, you jive

And when I count five show me your stroll

'Cause good girls do as they are told

When I say swing, you swing

And when I say slide, you slide

And when I say good, you're good as gold

'Cause good girls do as they are told..."

Francis and Danny both watched the jumping and jiving with jaws dropped.

"What'd he say?" Danny asked.

"Oh-ho, the princesses aren't going to like those lyrics."

"Yeah, they'll probably stop dancing any minute and storm out in protest," Danny said, even though his shoulders were wiggling again something fierce.

"Any minute," Francis confirmed.

But that's not what happened.

Their partners lifted and spun them around like rag dolls. The girls called back to the band leader when prompted, and roared with delight.

Danny puffed out his cheeks and tugged Francis' shirt. "C'mon Francis, if we're not going to join them we may as well head back and tattle."

"This isn't right," Francis said.

"Aw, don't tell me you feel guilty?"

"It isn't that."

In truth, Francis didn't know how to say what he was feeling without sounding like a heel. It was the feverishness of the girls in the dance, a lack of the decorum on their part unlike anything he'd witnessed so far. A little innocent rebellion was one thing, but their wildness was something else. There were so many ankles on display that Lady Winnie would've blown her stack.

Maybe, he thought, two days wasn't long enough to truly know the princesses at all. Who was he to judge, being so free to show his ankles to whomever he chose? And just as he was ready to cast his judgement aside, he zeroed in on the band leader's face, and the unearthly yellow eyes struck him to the core.

"Danny, look!"

"And when I say line, you form a row

'Cause good girls do as they are told."

"Haven't I seen enough?"

"Look at the singer, you fool. The eyes. Almost like... but it can't be!"

"Now when I say stomp you stomp on wood

'Cause good girls do as good girls should."

With the band leader's last line, the princesses froze. Their arms fell away from their partners' and became stiff at their sides. Then eerily, monotonously, they repeated, "Good girls do as good girls should," in unison, over and over until they marched, as though in a military drill, to form two rows of six facing each other.

"Good girls do as good girls should. Good girls do as good girls should."

"It's like they're in a trance," Danny said anxiously.

"They are on a trance! And who could put them under like that? Who else has that kind of power and those awful eyes?"

"Ivan?"

"Ivan," Francis said, drawing a little further back behind the hay that covered them.

Danny could feel all the blood drain from his body, leaving his dry heart to beat frantically in his sunken chest.

They watched as Ivan hopped down from his stage and strode slowly through the centre of the formation. He spoke to the ladies in a smooth yet still melodic command.

"When I say hold, you hold, because good girls do as they're told, and when I say bow, you'll bow to the ring. When I say hail, all hail the king."

"Hail King Robert. Love live the King!" the princesses responded, more forcefully this time, but no doubt under their spell.

And Francis was worried about their ankles! Imagine his and Danny's shock at the revolting sight of Robert the Rotten entering the room on cue. He seemed to be savouring the moment, wearing a gloating sneer for the princesses who brought closed fists to their hearts and bowed as he inspected them. He was so rotten he could curdle your milk just by looking at it, never mind your blood. Blood meant nothing to him anyway.

"Good evening, nieces. What a pleasure to see you all again."

"Attention!" Ivan ordered.

The princesses were joined by Robert's men, forming longer rows of stiffened backs.

"Now, where did we leave off in your training?" Robert asked, looking to Ivan.

"Knives, Majesty." Ivan said.

"Ooh, yes, for who could get closer to my brothers than their own daughters?" Robert laughed smugly. "They'll never see that coming. 'Are you my Da-da?' then pow! Right in the ribs, hey?" He allowed his soldiers their smirks and chuckles, but the princesses remained expressionless. "But knives can be lost, so I think a little hand to hand practice tonight."

"Very good, Sire," Ivan said. He clapped twice. "At ease girls. Rosalind and Williams step forward. Williams, grab her."

"What are we gonna do?" Danny whispered, covering his own mouth for the slip.

Francis shushed him, and watched the tall brute named Williams grab Rosalind from behind. Her arms were crossed and pinned to her chest, but she flattened her palms and brought them down hard on Williams' breaking his hold. She threw herself to the ground and then swiped him off his feet with one of her long legs. Rosalind scrambled to her feet as the girls behind her joined hands. Rosalind backed into them, using them like a rope from which she sprang to fly elbow-first down on Williams.

"Tag me in!" Katherine yelled.

"Not that one!" Williams grunted.

"Time to go," Francis said.

"You mean we're just going to leave them here?"

"Think, Danny. What can we do on our own? We need help. We need Rupret."

Francis used the distraction of Judy jumping onto another's soldier's back to shove Danny towards the ladder, and they sneaked out of the barn unnoticed.