“I will,” Jonah assures me, hugging me back. Then he steps out of my embrace and waves to me. “Good luck! Oh, and take Prince. He can help you find her.”

I nod again. Prince is good at finding stuff. Last week, he found the TV remote, which had somehow ended up under my parents’ bed.

Although Prince was probably the one who put it there. Anyway.

Time to go to Town.

Chapter Seven: It’s a Beauty-ful Day in the Neighborhood

I climb onto Pony’s back, Prince in my lap.

For a pony, Pony is pretty big. But he’s also adorable.

I spread out the map and take a look.

Okay. This doesn’t seem that hard. I have to take Rocky Path to Winding Path to Straight Road to Highway to Boulevard to Main Street.

“Giddyup!” I say, which seems to work, because Pony moves, bumping down Rocky Path.

I bounce a bit from side to side. Prince grabs my leg with his paws.

I start to worry. Did I really just leave my brother alone with a beast? A beast who threatened to kill him? Am I seriously riding a pony into a forest I’ve never been in before? That does not seem very smart of me.

“I don’t know if this was my best decision,” I tell Prince and Pony.

Prince barks. Pony whinnies.

We continue trotting down Rocky Path.

“Not smart at all,” I add. “It’s not totally my fault, though, is it? I barely had time to think my decision through.”

They bark and whinny again.

“I know what you guys are thinking,” I say. “What if we can’t find Beauty? Or what if, when we do find her, she doesn’t want to come with us?”

Prince barks twice. I guess that means yes. Pony neighs. Obviously, they both agree with me.

Yep. I’m going to pretend Prince, Pony, and I are having a discussion, and that’s that.

“What should I say to her to convince her to come to Mr. Beast’s castle?”

“Neigh!”

“No, Pony,” I say. “I can’t just tell her the truth. Wait, Pony, turn here by that waterfall. It’s Winding Path.”

Pony turns and I pat him on the back. “Good job. Where was I? Oh, right. I can’t tell her that Mr. Beast is actually a gorgeous prince, because then she can’t break the curse. The curse has to be broken by someone who doesn’t know what he really looks like.”

Two barks.

“True, Prince, we can beg her to come with us. We can tell her that the beast is keeping my brother hostage and maybe she would want to help. She was willing to help her father in the original story, right? But that was her father! We’re not her family. She doesn’t even know us. Would you trade yourself for a hostage that you don’t even know?”

“Neigh.”