The Awfully Angry Ogre Read online

  Princess Power 3

  The Awfully Angry Ogre

  By Suzanne Williams

  Illustrated by Chuck Gonzales

  To Rosemary Brosnan and

  Rachel Orr, with heartfelt thanks

  Contents

  1 Princess Tansy

  2 The Ogre

  3 The Princesses Arrive

  4 Gone Hunting

  5 The Old Woman

  6 Statues

  7 The Ogre’s Story

  8 Back to the Castle

  9 Trouble

  10 Fire!

  11 Good News

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  1

  Princess Tansy

  PRINCESS TANSY WOKE WITH A START. SOMEONE was knocking on her door. “Just a minute!” she called out, pushing back the bedcovers. Tansy shivered in the chilly morning air that seeped through the cracks in her family’s castle. Grabbing her faded robe, she wrapped it around herself tightly, then hopped across the cold stone floor to open the door.

  Tansy’s room was at the top of a tower. She’d recently chosen the room to get away from her six brothers. Before she moved, they’d made her life miserable, teasing her and playing practical jokes, such as putting frogs and snakes in her bed. Fortunately, none of them liked climbing the narrow, winding staircase to her room and only came up to fetch her for a meal or to deliver a message. Edward, her oldest brother and worst tormentor, refused to come up for any reason. That suited Tansy just fine.

  Tansy scraped her door open. “Good morning, lazybones,” said her brother Jonah. At fourteen, Jonah was five years older than Tansy. Even though he could be just as mischievous as the others, he was Tansy’s favorite. Jonah painted the most beautiful pictures—especially of Mount Majesta, which towered over the family castle. A dozen of Jonah’s paintings hung in Tansy’s room.

  Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Tansy said “What are you talking about? It’s early!”

  Jonah grinned. Like Tansy, he was slim and freckled, with ginger-colored hair. Only he was about ten inches taller than Tansy, who hadn’t yet reached five feet. “Early for you, maybe,” said Jonah. “I’ve been up since dawn.” Jonah often rose early. Sunrise was his favorite time to paint Mount Majesta.

  “So, what’s up?” Tansy stifled a yawn.

  “Besides you and me?” asked Jonah. “No one else in this family, that’s for sure. They’re all still snoring away.”

  Tansy frowned. “Then why did you get me up?”

  “Maybe I just wanted some company,” Jonah said with a smile. He paused as if remembering something. “Oh yeah. And someone’s trying to reach you through the crystal ball.”

  “Why didn’t you say so right away?” Tansy pushed past him and started down the steps to the Crystal Ball Room. “Did you see who it was?” she called back over her shoulder.

  “Some girl with wavy blond hair.”

  Princess Lysandra! Tansy hadn’t seen her friend in a couple of months, though they’d chatted a few times. The last time they’d been together—along with the princesses Fatima and Elena—they’d stayed with Fatima’s sister and brother-in-law in their fabulous marble palace. She could still picture the rich silk tapestries lining every wall, and the gorgeous lake and gardens. The visit had turned out to be quite an adventure.

  Tansy wound down the steps to the ground floor, then raced to the Crystal Ball Room and squeezed inside. No bigger than a wardrobe, the room was mirrored on three sides to make it seem larger, and a fake fireplace had been painted on the fourth wall. Tissue flowers, vaguely resembling roses, sat in a vase on top of a fake marble-topped table. Anyone looking in on her family through the crystal ball would see this room, so her family tried to make it look nice. Still, Tansy doubted their efforts hid how poor they really were.

  Lysandra’s image floated in the ball. She was bent over a piece of paper, writing. Tansy had visited Lysandra’s palace, so she knew nothing was fake about her family’s grand Crystal Ball Room.

  Lysandra glanced up. “Oh, hi,” she said. “I didn’t think you were in, so I was going to leave you a note.”

  “My brother Jonah saw you. He came and told me.”

  Lysandra’s face moved closer to the ball. She squinted at Tansy. “You’re in your robe, aren’t you? Did I get you out of bed? I forgot about the time difference. It’s two hours earlier where you live, isn’t it?”

  “That’s okay,” said Tansy. She hoped Lysandra couldn’t tell how faded her robe was. She didn’t like to ask her parents for a new one with the royal treasury at an all-time low. “What’s up?”

  “I’m bored out of my skull,” Lysandra said with a sigh. “Things are so dull around here that I almost wish Gabriella hadn’t gotten married and moved away. Even listening to her nag was something to do.”

  Tansy laughed. Gabriella was Lysandra’s older sister. If given the choice, Tansy would take one nagging sister over six annoying brothers any day, but she didn’t say so. Instead, she said, “We need to get together again soon.”

  Lysandra’s face brightened. “Exactly what I was thinking. In fact, I already talked to Elena and Fatima, and we’d like to come visit you, if that’s all right. We could even be there in a few days. Fatima’s offered to fly all three of us on her carpet.”

  “Fantastic!” Tansy exclaimed, panicking at the same time. Her family’s small castle was an embarrassment compared with the grand castles and palaces of the other princesses. What would the girls think of the way Tansy lived? Still, she couldn’t very well tell them not to come. That would be rude! Besides, she really wanted to see her friends. Tansy bit her lip. “I’d love for you to visit.”

  “Great,” said Lysandra. “I’ll contact the others. See you soon!”

  As she sat in the Crystal Ball Room, Tansy hoped having everyone come wouldn’t turn out to be a mistake.

  2

  The Ogre

  WHEN HER PARENTS CAME DOWNSTAIRS FOR breakfast, Tansy joined them at the long oak table. “My friends want to visit in a few days,” she said. “I told them it was okay, but if you don’t think this is a good time, that’s fine.” Tansy paused, half hoping her parents would say they couldn’t possibly host anyone right now. Then she could suggest that the princesses meet somewhere else. Maybe they could all go to Elena’s home instead. They’d never been there either.

  But Queen Charlotte, a cheerful, plump woman with dimpled cheeks, just smiled. “I think that sounds like a lovely idea,” she said, pouring herself a cup of tea. “Your father and I would enjoy meeting your friends, wouldn’t we, dear?”

  King Albert glanced up from his copy of The Majesta Daily. Though his long, crooked nose and dark, shaggy eyebrows gave him a rather stern appearance, he was quite reasonable most of the time. “Sure. Why not? The more the merrier, I suppose.” He turned back to his paper.

  Well, that’s that, thought Tansy. She hoped her friends wouldn’t be too disappointed when they saw what her house was like.

  Shouts and heavy boots sounded on the stairs, and Tansy’s brothers Edward and James clomped into the room. “Scoot over, squirt,” growled Edward. He jabbed her with his elbow as he plopped onto the bench beside her.

  “Watch it!” Tansy jabbed him back.

  Edward only laughed and reached across the table to grab a platter of sausages. At nineteen, he was strong and muscular, with the same dark, shaggy eyebrows as King Albert but a much straighter nose. Edward was very interested in girls, and it puzzled Tansy that they seemed to like him, too. She found him hotheaded and rude.

  James sat down heavily on Tansy’s other side, squishing her between himself and Edward. Short and compact,
with their mother’s sandy hair and freckles, James was two years younger than Edward. When Edward wasn’t around to influence him, he could be good-natured. But if Edward was present, James followed his lead.

  James grabbed a large plum from the fruit bowl, stuffed the whole thing in his mouth, and started chewing. Juice spurted from the corners of his mouth and ran down his chin.

  “Really, James!” scolded Queen Charlotte. “Your table manners are atrocious!”

  “Sorry, Mother,” James apologized. But as soon as she looked away, he grinned at Edward.

  Tansy glared at them. They—along with her other four brothers—might turn out to be a worse embarrassment than the castle!

  “Anything interesting in the news today, dear?” Queen Charlotte asked, sipping her tea.

  King Albert frowned. “There was a fire in the Three Foxes Tavern last night. And two sheep have gone missing from one of the villagers’ fields.”

  Edward stabbed at the air with his fork. “The ogre set that fire! And he’s responsible for the missing sheep, too. Everybody says so.”

  “That’s right,” James mumbled through a mouthful of food.

  King Albert raised an eyebrow. “Just because everybody says something doesn’t make it true. There are other explanations for fires and missing sheep.”

  Queen Charlotte nodded. “Careless mistakes and wolves, for example.” She rose from her chair. “Please excuse me,” she said. “I need to wake the other boys.”

  Tansy stayed at the table, listening eagerly. The ogre was camped halfway up Mount Majesta. He had first appeared in the kingdom eight years ago, when Tansy was only a baby.

  “Someone saw the ogre set the fire,” Edward insisted. “Said he came down in the middle of the night and hurled a burning log through a window.”

  “People see all sorts of things when they want to,” King Albert replied. “Did anyone find the ogre’s footprints near the tavern?”

  Edward wiped his hand across his mouth. “Don’t know. I didn’t hear anything about that.”

  “Maybe he erased them,” said James.

  The King snorted. “Rumors,” he said. “All rumors. Anything bad that happens, people blame it on the ogre—even failed crops and plagues. Yet there’s not a shred of proof he’s ventured into town even once.”

  “Still,” Edward said, “the kingdom would be a lot better off with the ogre gone.”

  Edward was right, thought Tansy. No matter what the ogre had or hadn’t done, people were frightened of him. And because of that, many townsfolk—including several of her family’s former servants—had moved away to other kingdoms. With fewer and fewer people to work and pay taxes, the kingdom had become poorer and poorer.

  “So how would you get the ogre to leave?” King Albert asked with a sigh.

  Tansy thought that was a good question. Anyone who had ever tried to approach the ogre was turned into stone. This had happened to some hotheaded young man every year for the past eight years. Eight granite statues now circled the well in the meadow where the ogre lived.

  Edward stroked his straggly beard. “I’m not sure, but James and I will find a way to drive him off.” He made a tight fist. “And if the ogre refuses to go, we’ll kill him.”

  James grinned at his brother. “Yeah.”

  King Albert shook his head. “And what makes you think you wouldn’t end up as blocks of granite too?”

  “We’re stronger and smarter than those other men,” said Edward, flexing his muscles. “Right, James?”

  “Right. And if we don’t succeed, you can always use us to mend the castle walls.”

  “Not funny,” King Albert said. “You’re talking foolishness. Leave the ogre alone, and he’ll leave us alone.”

  “You don’t know that,” argued Edward. “Even if the ogre didn’t do any of those things he’s been accused of, he could still strike at any time!”

  “I absolutely forbid the two of you to go anywhere near that ogre,” King Albert said firmly. “Understand?”

  Nodding sullenly, Edward stood to leave. James scrambled up from the bench to go with him. Before he left, Edward thumped Tansy on the back of the head. “Ow!” she said, though he hadn’t really done it very hard. “Cut that out!”

  The king frowned at Edward. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I don’t know what came over me.” Whistling, he sauntered off, with James right behind him. Tansy glared at Edward, thinking again how glad she was that he couldn’t be bothered to climb to her tower room.

  As usual, her brothers had left without cleaning up after themselves. With a sigh, Tansy began stacking the dishes. The kitchen maid who used to clear the table had moved away only a few days ago. Apparently the maid’s parents were convinced the ogre had caused their cow to stop producing milk.

  “If you ask me,” Tansy said to her father, “Edward and James only want to go after the ogre to impress girls.”

  King Albert gave her a small smile. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you could be right.”

  Tansy carried the dirty dishes into the kitchen. She agreed with her father that it was foolish to go looking for trouble. But she also understood her brothers’ excitement at the idea of fighting an ogre.

  As Tansy washed the dishes, she thought about how Lysandra and her other friends would arrive in a few days. If she’d told them about the ogre, would they still have wanted to come? Probably, she decided. In fact, she could just imagine Lysandra saying, “An ogre? Wonderful! I’ve never seen an ogre before!” The thought made Tansy grin.

  3

  The Princesses Arrive

  THREE DAYS LATER TANSY WATCHED FROM HER tower bedroom for the princesses’ arrival. When she spotted a flying carpet skimming over the trees, she raced outside to greet her friends.

  Fatima landed the carpet on the grassy lawn in front of the castle, and the princesses all hopped off. After they’d hugged one another and exclaimed over how excited they were to be together again, Fatima rolled up her carpet and strapped it onto her back. She was beautiful, with dark skin and long black hair. At twelve, Fatima was also the oldest of the four girls.

  “What a fantastic flight,” Fatima said, brushing a speck of dirt from her pink blouse and smoothing down her purple pantaloons. “It was clear and sunny the whole way.”

  Lysandra looped her wavy blond hair behind her ears. She was ten, just a year older than Tansy. “We could see everything down below. We even saw whales spouting when we flew over the ocean. It was wonderful!”

  “And we passed by the most beautiful birds,” eleven-year-old Elena added.

  “Sounds great,” said Tansy, as she led her friends up to the castle’s front doors.

  She hoped the flight wouldn’t turn out to be the best part of their trip; her friends were bound to be disappointed by the drabness of her family’s castle. Tansy crossed her fingers that they wouldn’t be too uncomfortable there. And then there was the matter of her brothers. She could only pray they’d be on their best behavior while her guests were visiting.

  But no sooner had the girls entered the Main Hall than Cole and Ethan, Tansy’s two younger brothers, sprang out from behind a large potted fern.

  “Boo!” they shouted, making the princesses jump.

  “Bats and bullfrogs!” Fatima exclaimed.

  Cole grinned. “Scared you, didn’t we?” He was seven, and Ethan was eight, but the two of them looked so much alike with their red hair and blue eyes that they could’ve passed for twins. Laughing, the boys ran off without even waiting to be introduced.

  Tansy rolled her eyes. “Those were Cole and Ethan,” she said. “I’m sorry to say they’re my brothers. I did warn you that I have six, didn’t I?”

  Elena smiled. “You did.”

  Tansy’s parents rose from the couch when the princesses entered the Sitting Room. Raising his shaggy eyebrows, King Albert declared, “These must be the young ladies we’ve heard so much about.”

  “Please make yourselves at home,” Queen Charlotte said cheerf
ully. “We’re so pleased to meet you at last.”

  After some pleasant conversation, the girls bid Tansy’s parents farewell. As they climbed the narrow, winding staircase to Tansy’s room, Fatima said, “I like your parents. They seem very nice.” Tansy noticed her friend didn’t say anything about Cole and Ethan.

  “Wow, your room is really high!” Lysandra exclaimed halfway up the stairs. Elena didn’t say a word, but Tansy could hear her huffing and puffing behind them.

  “Sorry about the climb,” apologized Tansy. “I wanted to be as far away from my brothers as I could get.”

  At last they arrived at her room. Lysandra kicked off her shoes and sank onto Tansy’s bed. Stretching out her legs, she exclaimed, “Ah! That feels so good!”

  Elena walked around the room, examining every painting. “We flew over that mountain,” she said. “What’s it called?”

  “Mount Majesta,” said Tansy.

  “Did you paint these?” asked Elena. “They’re very good.”

  With pride, Tansy said, “My brother Jonah painted them. As brothers go, he’s not so bad. Better than the rest, anyway.”

  “What a fabulous view!” Fatima exclaimed suddenly, staring out the window.

  Tansy went to stand beside her. In the distance Mount Majesta rose tall and regal, clothed in a forest-green cloak and wearing a hat of snow. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?” she said. She felt glad that at least the view from the castle was grand. Perhaps to impress Fatima even more, she added, “You know, there’s an ogre living halfway up the mountain.”

  Fatima’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding!”

  “Really?” Lysandra and Elena exclaimed.

  Tansy grinned. “It’s true.” She plopped onto her bed next to Lysandra and invited the others to do the same. It was a good thing her bed was wide since they’d all have to sleep together during the visit!