An Author Request

Hello, lovely writing ladies!!

This is your admin speaking.

I have a request to set before you all.

There has been another request for an author.

I know that we've turned down all other requests, so I'm asking you guys, since it was your idea to have a limit on the number of authors.

She really wanted to do it, so I thought I'd bring it before the rest of you. However, I'm not sure we can, as we've turned away other hopeful young authors....

But it's all up to you guys.

What shall you choose?

Please get back to me on this!!!

Thanks!! :)

Chapter two of the new story

Chapter Two

I swam swiftly towards the surface after the dragon. If we got away from me.... let's just say that I didn't want to lose my head. Yeah. It's serious.

"Gideon's going to kill me," I thought to myself as I swam as fast as I could through the water towards the dragon. Which was, I admit, pretty fast, considering that I was always swimming to keep my strength up. Not only that, but I ran five miles each morning and did a number of sit-ups and such to keep in good shape.

I reached for the dragon and... caught it. I quickly stuffed the dragon in my pouch and started back down towards the portal. I hadn't gone far when an arrow flew through the water right next to me. Starting, I nearly let go of the dragon.

It squirmed and I thrust it inside my pouch, diving through the portal. I felt the rush of wind, water dripping off me and flying in a thousand directions. The lights were too bright for my eyes and I screwed them shut.

"Well, well, well, that was quite interesting," came the sarcastic voice.

I opened my eyes to see the dark curly-haired dreamy-eyed boy who stood in front of me, his arms crossed and a glare on his face.

"What?" I was sopping wet, the water dripping in a huge puddle around me. "I got the dragon eggs, right?" I handed them towards him.

He nodded. "Good. Now go change."

I glared and sulkily went off to do as I was told.

The first chapter of a new series

Chapter One

I knew there was a dragon here. I could smell him. You can always tell when it's a dragon, because they smell like rotten eggs and... well... dog #2. (If you don't know what that is, please don't ask me to explain.)

I ran across the courtyard and launched myself over the wall, landing stealthily like a cat on all fours before taking off running across the cobbles and rushing up the stairs to the outer wall. I was glad that Gideon wasn't here, because otherwise he'd be telling me how stupid I looked.

I heard guards rushing through the castles, looking for "the invisible intruder!" that that fat old lady who called herself Lady Ulmidady had called me--right after I'd stolen her collection of dragon eggs, of course.

Which was why I was getting nervous about the dragon smell. There shouldn't be a smell!! I only had eggs! Right? I glanced down at my leather pouch. It looked like oozing egg mush on the bottom outside of it. I groaned. Great. I probably had a baby dragon inside of my pouch that was probably going to burst me into flame any second.

I jumped off the wall and landed without a sound in the water of the moat. I let myself sink to the bottom, staying still so that the creatures in the water wouldn't be disturbed. My feet touched the ground, and I started to move through the water towards what looked like a dark hole. What was it really?

It was a portal, of course.

Something squeaked, and I looked up.

My eyes grew wide in horror.

A baby dragon was swimming towards the surface!

Special sneak peek of the second Time Travelers book from my blog Dragonmaster

I know lots of you guys have read the first book of The Time Travelers series on my blog Dragonmaster. Here is a sneak peek of the first chapter of the second book.

1

The Time Quest

The girls woke up all at the same time. The oldest sister, Jennifer, flicked her hazel eyes open, staring around the room. She flicked a piece of long brown hair over her shoulder and got off the couch she’d been lying on.

   The second oldest, Victoria, opened her blue eyes and looked around. She blew a strand of long blonde hair out of her face and got off the sitting chair she’d been sleeping on, coming to join Jennifer in standing.

     Katherine, the second youngest, burst awake, her fierce green eyes staring around at her sisters in disbelief. Lying on her lap, almost hidden in her piles of black hair, was the Book—the huge, aqua colored book that contained the secret of Time Travel.

     And the youngest, Elizabeth, screamed and then burst out of her sleeping state, huge gray eyes blinking around and bright red hair flying as she cried,

  “Where is he?! Where he is he?!”

    “Relax, Elizabeth,” Jennifer smiled gently. She shrugged lightly, a wan smile on her face. “We’re home.”

  The sisters all looked around the room—she was right. They were home, in the girls’ own special sitting room upstairs. There was Katherine’s pile of books, and Jennifer’s table full of scientist goo, and Elizabeth’s pile of balls and play swords, and Victoria’s wrap lying on the couch.

     “We’re actually back,” breathed Victoria in disbelief. “But remember what the person said? About the question for the four original Time Travelers?”

    Jennifer narrowed her eyes and stared off into space, clenching her teeth. “I bet my life that that was Father Time.”

   “Jolly mean fellow, wasn’t he?” snorted Elizabeth, staring out the window over the rooftops of London. “I say, wouldn’t the four original Time Travelers be our parents and grandparents?”

   Katherine sent Elizabeth a look. “Snap out of your snooty accent, Elizabeth. And, yes, I think you may be right.”

    “So maybe the book will guide us,” whispered Victoria. She looked up at her sisters, her eyes bright. “Maybe all we have to do is touch it again, and the Book with take us to where we need to find the person. We’ll still have to find the person and bring them to Father Time, of course, but still…” Victoria started pacing. “The possibilities….”

     “Victoria is right,” Jennifer nodded. “It’s time our Time Quest began.”

   Victoria nodded, carefully taking the book from Katherine and placing it on the floor. She looked up at her sisters. “Grandmother’s obviously not here. If she was, then she’d be yelling at us to get up. Come on—we’ve got to get started.”

   The other sisters nodded, and they arranged themselves in a circle around the book. At the same moment, they pressed their four hands together on the book.

    Everything seemed black, at first. Then all of them could see a dim light, like a tunnel appearing out of the never-ending darkness. The light seemed to swirl all of them into its light, taking them from the clutches of the dark.

   Then there was a blast of light, and then they saw something that never before had been seen by the human eye.

  They were in space. But they were moving forward, and rapidly. Moving towards a thing that none of them knew what it was. It looked like an eye, to them, at least.

   There was a blast of light as they drew closer to the thing that looked like an eye. It had in their first journey, too. And then there they were, standing on the stone platform that hung weightlessly in space.

   The stone was black, just as it had been before. They looked towards where the door that had led them to Greece had been. Instead of the huge door that they’d seen, they now saw a wooden door.

   Surprisingly the rest of them, Victoria stepped forward first.

  “Wait!” cried Jennifer. “What if…”

   “Remember last time,” Victoria smiled. “We’ve got to go. We’ve got to find everybody and bring them back to Father Time.” She shuddered. “Who knows what will happen if we don’t.”

        Victoria turned to the door, reached out, and touched it. Light sprayed out and blinded them.

Allegra Anderson Has More Adventures...

I believe that I left you guys off on my I-wrote-this-when-I-was-lots-younger story Allegra Anderson in a pretty exciting place. :) So, here's more!!

Chapter VII

Newlands Valley

I practically ran down the stairs and into the courtyard, but quickly stopped my stampede whenever somebody was around. I walked VERY quickly into the stables, opening the book.

   “Surely there must be something about where Sean is…” I murmured to myself. “Come on, come on!”

  I flipped through the pages, trying to find something about his location. And then I found it in chapter 7. It read:

Sean had, after saving the lives of the beautiful girl Rowena and the feisty Princess Aspen, decided he needed to visit his old mentor, Dr. Phillip Factator. He headed along the bright Newlands Valley and followed the black, mucky currents of the river Thames. Soon, the dark caves of Speedwell Caverns appeared, and Sean could see the Peak Cavern, belonging to Dr. Factator. He urged his horse on, riding up the steep cliffs, making sure to stay out of the way of the serpents.

   Huh. Well, I knew where I was going—to the Peak Cavern.

       I stuffed the book under my arm, and hurried back into the castle. I went up to “Rowena’s” room, and checked all of the dresses—nope, none of them would do. I checked under the bed, thinking maybe she kept a spare thing of clothes there. And to my surprise, I came across one of those girl archery outfits—you know, pants, leather boots, vest, shirt—complete with a little belt. I quickly pulled it out—it was just my size! I quickly changed, and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. Grabbing a warm, “normal” cloak from the wardrobe, (and grabbing a bag, which I stuffed the book, food, water, rope, a dagger, firestone, and a compass) I peeked out of the door, making sure that nobody was there. I quickly hurried out, making my way to a side stairway I had seen maids use before. Hurrying down it, I snuck through the kitchens and out back.

    I then snuck into the stables, glancing at all of the horses—and then I saw the horse I would need. He was a dark bay (good for hiding in dark places, not like a white horse), with black mane and tail. He had deep, trusting brown eyes, which he stared right at me with. I glanced at the nameplate on the stall. It read Trusty. I smiled—so true. I quietly tiptoed over, and was glad to see it was already saddled and bridled, though I couldn’t see any sweat, betraying Trusty had been ridden lately.

  I swung on his back, opening the paddock door. I then kicked him, and to my surprise he shot off at a canter. I was surprised at how smooth the gait was compared to the gallop.

   Okay, so first it said he went through the Newlands Valley. Where on earth was that? I should have brought a map! 

  Good going, Allegra.

We hurried down the streets of the town, and out into the countryside. I knew that all of the places mentioned were actually in England, but I hadn’t ever visited them.

A while later, another smaller village came into view, and I stopped Trusty for a moment, and hopped off.

  “Excuse me,” I asked a woman. “Do you know where the Newlands Valley is? I need to get there.”

   The lady nodded and pointed. “That way.”

I nodded. “Thank you.” Then I mounted Trusty again and we were off. We cantered a very long time, and I was starting to wish that Trusty would slow, but he didn’t. I was definitely getting riding lessons when I got back to the real England.

Soon, a bright and beautiful valley came into view. Little cottages dotted here and there along the slopes gave it secludedness.

  We raced down the hill, Trusty enjoying every bit of it—me, not so much.  As we rode through the valley, I wondered where to go next—not to mention it was getting dark out and I didn’t know where to stay…but could I just go up to one of those cottages doors and knock on it, asking for shelter? I doubted it.

   I stopped Trusty right by an abandoned hut. It was more of a lean-to, but I knew that it would work for the night. After tethering Trusty, and eating some food and a sip of water, I took the blanket off Trusty’s back (which just happened to have been on him) and lay facing the opening.

My eyes started to close, and weariness overtook me.

I woke with a start, and saw sunlight streaming through the opening. It was late! I scrambled off the ground, grabbed my bag and blanket, and jumped onto Trusty, who was peacefully nibbling the lush green grass of Newlands Valley.   I kicked Trusty, and immediately he started off at a brisk canter.

Chapter VIII

The River Thames

Trusty was still hurrying when I heard the pounding hooves of another horse—and I glanced back. A rider was about several hundred feet behind me. I kicked Trusty faster, and he broke into a gallop.

  “Allegra!”

I turned back again—how did the person know my real name? Unless, of course, it was Alan Noodletire. Which it was. I slowed Trusty down to a walk, and Alan stopped the horse he was riding.

  He looked at me. “I know you don’t know how to get out, but if you won’t try and look for a way out until we find Jennifer, well, then, I’m going to help you find Jennifer.”

   I nodded. “Good. Come on, we have to get to the River Thames. Have you ever been to London?”

 Alan scoffed. “I live in London.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Great. Then you can get us there.”

He coughed. “Well, uh, okay. This way!”

   I shook my head. “You mean this way?”

“Oh, yeah, of course. I was just testing you. I thought you said you didn’t know how to get there?”

  “If you have forgotten, I live there, too. I just wanted to test you.”

     “Well, Father always drove me—it’s not like I paid attention or anything.”

   “Hmm.”

We rode out, heading toward what was London in our world.

A few hours later, the smell of smoke and the stench of the Thames reached us, and I knew we were close. Unlike Alan, I always paid attention to the different landmarks.

   “Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” asked Alan snootily.

I nodded. “Yes. Smell the stench.”

   Alan smelled and wrinkled his nose. “Okay, so maybe we are close.”

I sighed, and urged our horses onward.

  “So,” I asked, “where did you get your fine horse?”
Alan looked away. “Oh, you, know, from the stables. I didn’t enjoy it, but I was sure it was the only way home.”

   “Oh,” I said, “truly.”

Silence. Only the soft padding of the horses hooves betrayed that we were there at all. Trusty had finally gotten tired, which was why we were walking to London instead of cantering. I supposed Alan’s horse was tired, too.

  “So,” I asked, breaking the silence, “what’s your horses name?”
I glanced over at the dapple-gray mare.

   “I think her name’s Monica,” he said. “I’m not sure, really.”

I laughed. “She looks more like a Stardust, to me.”

   Stardust whinnied, as though in agreement. And so I dubbed her Stardust. I was kind of royal, after all.

  And then I saw it—the Thames. I urged Trusty into a canter.

“Allegra, wait up!” yelled Alan.

  But I’m afraid I didn’t.  I didn’t pause until I reached the edge of the Thames. I glanced at a washerwoman who was washing her clothes.

  “Excuse me,” I asked, “did a young man pass by here not too long ago?”

She nodded. “Yes, an old friend of mine named Sean. Do you know him?”

  I nodded. “I am Rowena.”

    She gasped. “You’re Rowena? Take off your hood, child, let me see your face! Sean has told me a lot about you. You see, you’re like the little sister he never had.”

  I nodded, and took off the cloak. “Please, in which direction did he go?”

She pointed. “That way.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

And I urged Trusty into a gallop—we had to find Sean and have him help us find Jennifer—and soon. I didn’t know how much more I could take of being Rowena.

  Or Jennifer as being Princess Aspen.

More of my story

Here's some more of my "little kid" story. ;D

~Storyteller

Chapter V

Where’s Jennifer?

I cut a little hole, just to see my surroundings. I saw that only one nomad was guarding me…but where was Jennifer? Surely she was here tied up in a sack, too. She probably was.

   Just then, five other nomads came walking up the dusty hill. Great—there went my chance of escaping. Nice going, Allegra.

    They walked up to the other nomad.

“Devin, untie the sack,” commanded the leader of the group.

  I hurriedly stuffed my dagger back into my sash, just as I was dumped out of the sack. They all laughed at me as I tried to run away.

   Devin, though, had grabbed me by the collar. “Where do you think you’re going? You think your father can save you?”
  Just then, I thought of something—there were no nomads in England. Well, at least not ones who dress like that.  I glanced at one of the guy’s clothes, and saw a French army uniform underneath his costume.

  My mouth dropped.

“Surprise, surprise,” laughed the main man. “You didn’t expect beloved Duke Rubian to be a spy for France, did you?”

  So Rubian was a person in the book? And he’d kidnapped me? And I knew him? But why?

  “Why would you do it, Ru?” the name “Ru” came out of my mouth before I could stop it, as though this were part of the book, or as if I had known this man for a long time. I could feel that he had been a kind of uncle-like person to me.

  He laughed. “Why? For power, of course!” he laughed again. “And besides, everybody knows that you’re the most favored girl at the castle. Everybody would do anything to save you.” He chuckled evilly. “Even give up the throne.”

I kicked him in the shins, and elbowed Devin painfully in the stomach. Grabbing a horse nearby, I dug my heels into its sides—HARD.

   I had never ever ridden a horse before, so all I could do when it broke into a dead gallop was hang on.

  I kind of wished it were a dog, so I could just yell, “find the castle”! or something like that.

  Instead, I held on and hoped the horse would go the right way.

Hopefully.

I clung on, and the horse kept on going and going. I wished I had learned more about horses when we had been back in England. Wait, this was England—just not my England…this was one out of a book.

  As I rode, I glanced behind me to see if anybody was following—not yet, thank goodness. I wished I could somehow have had the book—then, I could find out what happened, and prevent anything happening to me—like secretly getting kidnapped by Duke Rubian or something.  

  I sighed, and reached into my pocket—and felt something that almost made me fall off the horse. I pulled it out into the sunlight, unsure if it really could be…

  “The book!” I shrieked in happiness.

I opened it up, and saw the part about how we had been kidnapped and everything. It said I got kidnapped, got away and…then the writing disappeared. I couldn’t believe it—why? Why had it disappeared? Great. Not good at all.

  Just then, I saw the towers of a castle looming ahead, before me. The horse ran over the drawbridge into the town, and into the village. All of the people were shouting and yelling. The horse rode on, going towards the castle. We hurried through the gate, and a boy took my horse.

  I second I stepped off, I was swamped by nobles.

“Excuse me!” I yelled. “Where’s Princess Aspen? I must speak with her!” Aka Jennifer, of course.

   “Princess Aspen?” asked one of the nobles. “Wasn’t she with you?”

Chapter VI

Remembering Sean

 

I was hurriedly ushered into the royal castle by the nobles who had swamped me in the first place, and I had a hard time trying not to step on anybody (or trying not to get stepped on). Soon, I could see bright torchlights ahead. We turned to the right and came into the throne room.

   We all bowed.

“What is this?” asked the King, joylessly. “The beloved Rose of Darrellby castle has been restored! Come, girl!”

  I walked tentatively up to the throne and bowed. “Your Majesty.”

He nodded. “How art thou doing, Rowena?”

    I nodded. “I am fine. Hast thou seen thy daughter, Aspen?”

He laughed. “Aspen? No, I haven’t, and I don’t really care. You will probably take over the castle, anyway—you are betrothed to my son…”

  I choked, and just barely had time to hide it. Betrothed? I was going to die!

 “Thy servant has to go now!” I said hurriedly.

I bowed again, and hurried out of the throne room.  I had no idea where my room was, so I just hurried down the halls of the castle and tried to stay out of the way, such as hiding the shadows of the dark halls, where the torches cast no light.

     Just then, I saw that I was going toward the main door. I speeded up my steps—surely they had a stable, right? Then I could get some fresh air! I hurried along and out the door, making a beeline to the barn. I breathed in the deep, soothing scent of hay.

  “Psst!”

I looked around and saw Alan hiding behind the door. “Alan?”

  He sighed madly. “Yes, Alan. I just managed to get out of the way of that weirdo and I heard from a villager that you were back here. So, I’m here to make you get me back to England. Come on, how do I get back?”

  I looked at him. “Well, frankly I don’t know. But you’re smart, you should find out how by yourself.”

   Alan fell onto his knees. “Please take me back to England! I’ll to anything! I’ll never be mean to you again! Just PLEASE get me home!”

  I sighed. “I’m sorry. Oh, by the way, have you seen Jennifer? She disappeared in a night attack by some weird Duke and nobody’s seen her.”

  Alan gawked. “YOU were in a battle?! Why didn’t you tell me?! Don’t you think I would have liked to know?”

  I shook my head. “It wasn’t like you think it was.”

Then I remembered the Duke—I had to tell the King!

A while later (after already telling the King about the duke) I had finally managed to find my room. I sat on the bed, thinking—and I was starting to think that the Duke wasn’t the real bad guy. Sure, he had tried to kidnap me (which he kind of succeeded in, but anyway…) but he just wasn’t the type—he wasn’t evil enough.  Who could be the Mastermind behind all of this?

   I know I should’ve probably have been trying to find a way out of here and back to the real England, but while I was here, I might as well try to help the people, right? Well, that was my point of view. And then we had the case of Jennifer having disappeared. I already knew where Alan was, but I couldn’t leave without my best friend.

   I glanced out the window, at the courtyard, the stables, the village behind…how come there wasn’t some riddle to follow to find the answer to all of my questions like in all of the books? How come there wasn’t some guy who came and helped me to find out who the bad guy was? And where on earth was someone who could help me find Jennifer…?

  Wait! The main character! Sean! Where on earth was he? And what was I talking about? I had to the book for goodness sakes!

   I quickly grabbed it and hurried out the door.

The labels can be kinda interesting.....

I know I haven't written anything in like foooooorrrrrrreeeeeeevvvvvvveeeeeeerrrrrrr on here, and this is even my own blog!!!! So I thought I should post something today. :) Something extra special...... ;)

Signed,

OK, little warning--I made this a longgggggggggg time ago, so it might seem a little bit more little kiddish. Hope you guys enjoy!!!! :)

Chapter I

The Strange Box

Allegra Anderson. Allegra. What kind of name was Allegra? I mean, it’s nice and all but nobody else has the name Allegra. I mean, in my expensive school we have two Hannah’s in our class, and two Sarah’s, and I think we had three James, and the list went on and on. But nobody else had the name Allegra. Anyway, I was 12 and life wasn’t getting better.

  I sighed and looked at my history textbook. I lived in England, and it was during World War II.  This was a country school, so nobody worried about it being bombed.

  I had to stay here at the boarding school in the girls dorms.  I didn’t leave like the other children either on holiday. I only left when it was the summer break.

  Then, I stayed at a country cottage with my Uncle and Aunt. I led a kind of boring life.

 “Allegra!” my head jerked up, sending my straight, blonde hair flying.

“Yes, ma’am?” I asked, as the history teacher came sailing in, her brown curls bouncing.

  “May I see your history report? The principal confirms you have not handed it in yet.”

  I looked at her. Then I remembered how Alan had been smirking at me. He had probably stolen it and stuffed it in some garbage can.

  “Well, I turned it in. It must have been taken or something.”

“Or maybe,” piped up Alan, “she threw it into the trash can!”

He burst out laughing.

  The teacher came over to his desk. “And would you happen to know what trash can that may be, Mr. Noodletire?”

  He kept laughing, and fell into the trap. “Why don’t you try the cafeteria one!”

 Then, realizing he had given himself away, clamped a hand over his mouth.

  Ms. Trapass (the teacher) nodded with satisfaction. “How would you like the job of digging through the trash can?”

  He looked down.

“I expect it out before lunch. Now, as I was saying…”

And so began a long day of history.

Later that day, I was walking one the grounds, getting my daily exercise with the other children.

  Alan sulked with his buddies, but thankfully didn’t pay me any attention. Lila, one of the girls, walked over and started playing with him in a way you knew she was flirting.

  Disgusting.

I started doing knee-ups across the front lawn, and started wishing we didn’t always have to wear skirts. Oh, the freedom of pants!

  Not that I had ever put a pair on, but I imagined.

    Lucky boys.

Very lucky boys.

That evening, as I was about to go to my dorm, the doorbell rang. A moment later, one of the teachers came my way.

  “Hello, Allegra, this is for you. It was on the step, no sign of the sender.”

I took it. It was a huge box, and I wasn’t sure what was inside.

  “Thank you,” I said, and retreated to the safety of my dorm.

When I was inside, I opened it. It was full of books. Just what a twelve-year-old who has an enough books already needs.

  They looked like pictures books, with stories from different time periods. Then I noticed something else—a letter.

  I opened it, and it read:

Dear Allegra,

You might not think this is very important, but this box of books may save your life. Please guard them well.  Inside, you will find stories from all different time periods, including World War I. Guard well, and enjoy. These books hold more then you think.

Your Protector

Okay. Weird. Who on earth would send a school kid a bunch of books? And what did it mean by protector? Was this my guardian or something? Did Alan send this as a trick, just to be spiteful?

  I wasn’t sure, but sure was going to found out. Soon.

Chapter II

Sean and the Dragon

The next day, I sat in the library.

 “Hey Allegra, what are you doing?” called my friend, Jennifer.

I turned around. Jennifer’s long, brown, beautiful hair was, as usual, perfect. Not like mine.

  “I’m looking for a book on the civil war of the United States. We have to learn about it in our class. I think it was over slave rights. I wish they didn’t even have to have a war.”

  Jennifer nodded. “I know what you mean. Hey, I was wondering, Lila said you got a box of books. I was just kind of curious. What are they about?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. Do you want to come and look at them with me? My next period still isn’t for an hour. We got out early.”

  “I can see that,” commented Jennifer.

We then hurried out of the library, up the several flights of steps to the girl’s dorms.

  I opened my door, and took the box out from under the bed.

“Wow,” said Jennifer, “that’s a big box of books.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking that myself.”

Jennifer got down on the floor with me, and we stared at it.

  “So,” said Jennifer, breaking the silence, “which are you going to read first?”

  I started going through the books. There were dozens, but I saw one that really made me look again.

  It was covered with dragons, and a picture of a knight and maiden covered the front.

 “Do you think I should read this one?” I asked, pulling it out.

Her eyes went big. “Definitely.”

  “Come on, lets go out onto the grounds. I’m glad the next period is P.E.!”

Jennifer nodded, and we headed outside.

A few minutes later, we were outside. I just started to read the book. So far, it was about how a boy became a knight.

 “Uh oh,” said Jennifer. “Here comes Alan!”

I looked up, and sure enough, Alan and his bunch of buddies were coming toward us.

  “Hi,” I said cheerfully, “what do you all want?”

“To get back at you for yesterday!” growled Alan.

“Run!” cried Jennifer.

    The mad chase led us through the courtyard, around the hothouse, and into the garden.

  While I close the gate, I dropped my book. It flipped open to show a picture of the knight about to get eaten by a dragon! In the back round, were two maidens, and a pageboy.

 “Jennifer!” I yelled.

She came back.

Then several things happened at once—Alan opened the gate, Jennifer came running back, I got pushed to the ground.

  But instead of the gardens, when I got up I saw the scene of the picture. Alan and Jennifer were staring wide eyed in horror at what lay in front of them. A dragon!

   I got up (tripping over some long skirts that happened to be on me, but I didn’t really notice), grabbed a fallen sword, rushed up behind the dragon and stabbed it.

  It roared in pain, and turned toward me. I acted as though I did this everyday, and quickly rushed and stabbed it in the heart.

  I stopped, just realizing I had killed a living creature.

It’s just like killing a spider or a lizard, I told myself, except that was a very big lizard.

 The knight got up and walked painfully over to us. I could see blood rushing from his shoulder. Jennifer grimaced.

  Then I noticed the funny clothes Jennifer and Alan were wearing—Jennifer was dressed in a medieval ladies outfit, and Alan like a pageboy!

  Just like on the page in the book!

“It is kind of funny,” remarked the knight, which I knew was Sean (the main character), “that I came to save thee (with the help of my pageboy, of course), and yet thee saved me! How did thee do it?”

  I saw he was directing the question at me. “Oh…well…I just kind of stabbed.”

  Sean looked puzzled. “Thee are speaking strange, fair lady. Thee used to talk like thy, and yet thee now talk differently. Why is it so?”

  I groaned. We had become book characters! “Well, I don’t know. I just…you know, speak this way.”

 Sean shook his head. “I don’t understand thee.”

Chapter III

To the Horror of Jennifer

I sighed. “Look…”

   Jennifer looked at me, but I couldn’t do anything. I knew she was despairing.

  “Where are we, Allegra?!” Alan demanded hotly. “Where is England? What have you done to us?!”

  Sean looked with disapproval at Alan. “Pageboy, what makes thy speak so rude? Thy are lower then they are, and yet thy acts above.”

   Alan turned to Sean. “For your information, I’m not your pageboy! I am a free citizen of England, and I go to an expensive boarding school! So there!”

  I looked at Sean. “Where are we? England?”

 He nodded. He probably thought maybe the dragon had hurt our brains somehow.

  “Thought so,” I mumbled to myself.

Jennifer looked on the verge of tears. “What are we going to do? I want to go back!”

Sean looked puzzled. “Back where?”

I sighed. “We’re from a different time period, but you wouldn’t understand. We fell through a book—you’re a book character, as are we now.” I knew he thought we were crazy. “But you wouldn’t understand. Come on, Jennifer.”

 I pulled her by the hand, and was about to walk away when Sean started speaking.

  “Please, don’t go! I want to understand thee.” He sighed. “So I am only a lowly book character?”

  I nodded. “I’m sorry, really.”

Sean shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. But what are you going to do?”

  I wished I had the book. Oh well.

“I…well, I don’t know.” I thought for a moment, trying to recall the book…of course, I hadn’t got as far as the picture, but still…then it hit me—there was the lovely young princess Aspen, and the Duke Viscount’s young beautiful daughter, Rowena.

 (NOT the one from Ivanhoe.)

I groaned, as I knew who I was—Rowena. The beautiful Rowena. But I wasn’t beautiful, for goodness sakes!

  That’s when I noticed that I had a lot longer curly hair. I looked despairingly at Jennifer.

  “Jennifer, I have something awful to tell you…” I started.

Jennifer looked right at me. “Who am I? I’m someone, aren’t I?” she groaned.

  I cringed. “You’re the princess Aspen.”

She shrieked. “NO I’M NOT!”

  I nodded. “You are in the story.”

 Sean nodded. “Of course thee are. Thee were both taken by that horrible lizard.”

  I turned to Sean. “Look, we have to get out of here, because I’m not going back, and neither is Jennifer. She is not going to act Princess Aspen. Do you understand?”

  Sean nodded. “But I can’t do anything.”

Just then, there was the gallop of hooves, and several horses and riders appeared.

 Jennifer groaned. “They’re going to take me, aren’t they? Come on, Allegra, you know the story—do they separate us?”

  I felt guilty. “Jennifer, I don’t know—I hadn’t gotten very far into the book.”

  She groaned AGAIN.

And the horses stopped right by us. But, to Jennifer’s surprise, they didn’t run to her side, they ran to mine.

  “Rowena!” cried an older man.

I recognized him from the description of Rowena’s father. I smiled, and hoped I could remember to talk like they did, with ‘art’, ‘thee’, ‘thou’…you get the picture.

  “Hello, father, thy daughter is very grateful to thy servant, Sir Sean.” I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping Sean really was Duke Elbert’s vassal (Duke Elbert was my “father”).

  Elbert smiled. “I see thou art fine, and yes, I must reward our trusted servant, Sir Sean.”

  I smiled.

And inwardly cringed.

He turned to Sir Sean. “I will promote thee to knighthood. Is that what thou wanted?”

  Sean nodded eagerly. “Oh, thank you. Thy servant is forever grateful.”

   

Chapter IV

Nomad’s…friendly or not?

  Allan walked up to me and sneered. “Yeah? And about me?”

    Just then an angry looking man rode out from the middle of the group up to Jennifer.

 “Not so fast, my coddled pet. Thou art going back to thy castle, to face thy father, of course.”

  Jennifer gulped, and looked at me as to say, “help!” I wasn’t feeling jealous of her situation, I can tell you that.

  Elbert smiled down at me. “I am just glad thou art well. When I heard that thou and thy yonder princess had gone away (with the princess taking thy, of course, since thy are her loyal servant), I was much troubled. I am just so glad thy are safe.”

   He kept on hugging me. I smiled (fakely, of course).

     Jennifer didn’t look happy riding on the man’s horse, (I wasn’t sure what his name as, but I was sure I would soon find out) but my “father” seemed pretty nice.

   “Lord Guardian Crispin,” said Elbert, “what art thy going to do with yonder charge?”

   Crispin (which I now knew was the one Jennifer was riding with) grunted. “I told thou—I am taking the princess to her daddy!”  The way he said “daddy” sounded more like “datty”—not to mention him talking in an English accent.

  (As do I).

Elbert and Crispin urged their horses faster, and soon we lost sight of Sean. Not good.

Before he did, I watched as the hero of the book faded away, into the dust, into to falling night. And Allan, of course.

It was nighttime, and still there was no sign of the castle. The Lords all made it look as though it were perfectly normal, and soon were setting up a huge camp.

 Jennifer and I had our own personal silk tent, furnished with the finest things. Jennifer was sleeping in the same tent, as I was her attendant.

  I ate some of the finest things (including Turkish Delight), and went to bed early. I yawned and jumped into the bed, clothes and all.

In the middle of the night, the most atrocious yelling started. Jennifer and I woke with a start.

 “What is that?” asked Jennifer, already hiding under the bed.

    I didn’t answer her, but ran over to the wall and grabbed a sword. Surprisingly, it was strangely light weighted, and fitted my hand perfectly, as though made for it. Then I grabbed a dagger that was sitting on a trunk and stuffed it into the sash on my dress.

 I hid to one side of the tent flap. Soon, a nomadish looking man (that is, Arab dressed) poked his head through. I didn’t have the guts to kill him, so I silently knocked him over the head, making him unconscious.

   I wrinkled my nose at him, and threw him back outside. I heard Jennifer scream, and turned to see a nomad holding her, Jennifer struggling fiercely.

 He said something, and then started laughing.

Bonk!

 Nothingness.

I struggled to open my eyes, but they seemed heavily weighted. Finally, I won the battle and my eyes flew open. Surprisingly, I wasn’t tied up.

  Instead, I was just stuffed into a bag.

    Not that much better, mind you.

I started struggling, but was whacked.

 “Stop that!” came a voice.

I noticed it wasn’t English, and wondered why I could understand him. Then it hit me—young girls of my age, who might acquire the throne some day, were taught different languages.

    Through the sack, I could tell it was daytime. Since my hands were free, I could move them some.

  Then I remembered! The dagger!

I felt my sash, and it was still there. I was ready for action.