Jonah and I hold our breath.

Mr. Beast closes his eyes for a second. Then he opens them. “All right,” he says eventually. “You have until dinner. Or your brother gets hurt.”

My heart starts to hammer. Mr. Beast isn’t really going to KILL my brother, right? In the story, he doesn’t actually kill the merchant, he just threatens to, so I’m sure he won’t do it here. He’s a nice person underneath all that fur. He really is. He’s a big softie. His bark is way worse than his bite. I gulp. Isn’t it?

“What time is dinner?” I ask.

“Nine.”

Okay. That’s a ridiculous hour to eat dinner, but I’m not complaining. I need the time. But it’s so late. How does he do it? I’d be starving by then!

“We can do it,” I say. What choice do I have? “We’ll be back by nine. What time is it now?” I look up. It’s a perfect day. It’s sunny, but there are a few fluffy clouds in the bright, blue sky.

“Eleven o’clock in the morning.”

I nod and motion for my brother and dog to follow me back around to the front of the castle. “Come on, Jonah, Prince, let’s go!”

“Nooooooooo.” Mr. Beast shakes his head. “Your brother stays here.”

Jonah turns white.

My heart stops. “No way,” I say.

“Way,” Mr. Beast says.

Jonah looks at Mr. Beast and then back at me. “Abby, I’ll be okay here.”

“No,” I cry, grabbing my brother’s hand. “The last time I left you alone in a fairy tale, you got turned into a frozen zombie.”

His face lights up. “I did? Really?”

“Yes! I can’t leave you with someone who just threatened to hurt you.” I turn to Mr. Beast. “Take Prince instead. You guys are already friends!”

Prince barks twice.

“No,” Mr. Beast says. “How do I know you’ll come back for the animal? People don’t care about animals.”

“I care about my animal!” I protest.

Mr. Beast leans against the stone castle wall. “Clearly not that much if you were willing to trade him for your brother.”

Touché.

Jonah steps closer to me and lowers his voice. “Abby, I’ll be fine. Mr. Beast is the hero of the story, right? He doesn’t actually hurt anyone. He’s just trying to scare us to get his way. You saw how sweet he was with Prince. And maybe spending more time with him will make my memories come back.”

“But … but … but …” Argh! I guess he’s right. And it’s not as though I have much of a choice.

I lift my chin and face Mr. Beast. “Do you promise not to hurt my brother?”

“I promise not to hurt the boy,” Mr. Beast swears, squaring his shoulders. “Just be back in time for dinner.”