Read Unlocking the Spell for Free Online Page B

and want to talk to her.”
    â€œI’ll stay with you, my love,” said Gwendolyn. “I’m not dressed to go to such a public place.”
    The princess glanced down at the boy’s clothes she was wearing and plucked at a sleeve with distaste. For once Annie agreed with her sister’s decision. Gwendolyn might be dressed as a stable boy, but she still had the face and figure of a beautiful princess. If anyone got a good look at her, she was bound to draw attention of a different sort. It didn’t matter if Annie was dressed as a girl or a boy because people rarely spared her a second glance.
    â€œLiam and I will take care of this,” said Annie. “We’ll bring you something to eat.”
    The main street ran straight to the dock where the ferry waited to take on passengers and cargo. The street was lined with shops and cottages, most in good repair. While Liam found someone to take a message about Granny Bentbone to King Halbert, Annie studied the buildings, but didn’t see anything big enough to house a tavern until she reached the river’s edge. An old building to the left of the dock had a sign over the front door that read FERRY. Chickens scratched the ground for insects just outside the door and Annie spotted clothes drying on a sagging rope behind the back of the building. Apparently thebuilding was the ferryman’s home as well as his place of business.
    Across the street on the other side of the dock was another, newer building. The sign hanging over the door read THE GASPING GUPPY with a picture of a small fish, its mouth wide open as it gasped for air. Liam joined Annie as she approached the tavern. They had to step out of the way when a party of travelers arrived and swung down off their horses, handing the reins to boys who came running from the stable next door.
    â€œI hope no one recognizes me here,” said Annie. “We’re still close enough to home that they might know my reputation. Helping people with their magic problems is just as bad as having them hurry away when I show up.”
    â€œI wouldn’t worry about it,” Liam told her, cupping her elbow with his hand to guide her to the door. “No one is going to expect to see royalty here, and we both blend in better than most princes and princesses would.”
    â€œWhich one is Rose Red?” Annie said, peering into the darkened room where three tavern maids scurried from table to table.
    â€œI didn’t think to ask Beldegard what she looked like, so I guess we’ll just have to ask in here,” said Liam. “Why don’t we sit down and get something to eat? I don’t know about you, but I’d enjoy a nice hot meal.”
    Although it was still early in the day, there weren’tmany empty seats in the room. Liam finally found two by the back wall hidden from view behind a large man who spoke in a loud, boisterous voice. Once they took their seats, Annie was afraid that the tavern maids wouldn’t know they were there, but they’d been sitting at the table for only a few minutes when a man announced that the ferry was about to leave and most of the people in the room stood up. Annie was glad that the big man and his smaller companion were among them; the man’s booming voice was getting on her nerves.
    When everyone who was riding on the ferry had gone, there were only half a dozen people left in the room, including Annie and Liam. A tavern maid with long salt-and-pepper hair spotted them right away and came plodding over. “What can I get you?” she asked Liam.
    â€œIs your name Rose Red?” Liam replied.
    â€œRosey!” the woman called to a dark-haired girl about Annie’s age bending over another table. “This gentleman is asking for you.”
    As the older tavern maid walked off, Rose Red glanced at them and went back to talking to the man at the other table. A few minutes later she laughed at something he’d