“Wait!” I shout. “You’re making a huge mistake.”

“You’re the one who made a mistake trespassing on our land,” says the mouse with the red bandanna. “Tell us what you’re doing in our woods, or you’re going for a lovely little ride.”

The third mouse, who is wearing a blue bandanna, starts to cackle. Its voice is very high-pitched. “I wouldn’t call it lovely. Or little. That’s quite a long drop.”

“Olivina, save us,” Raina cries out.

Sasha rolls her eyes and gives Raina a sharp nudge with her elbow. “Don’t you get it? Olivina’s the one who sent us here. She wants us gone! She’s not coming to save us, and if she does, it’ll probably be to put us in a worse situation than we’re already in.”

“Wait. Did you just say Olivina?” asks the blue mouse.

“Yes,” Raina continues. “She’s the fairy godmother in charge of our school, but Devin accused her of being evil and go us all kicked out of Royal Academy.” She gestures to me.

“Don’t forget me!” Sasha interrupts and looks at the mice. “I’ve been secretly gathering intel on the fairy godmother and trying to find out more about the other students she’s banished.” She shrugs. “But Devin rubbed Olivina the wrong way from the start.”

“Thanks,” I say, feeling awkward as the blue mouse continues to stare at me.

“Anyway,” Raina continues, “Devin is the one who started this whole revolution at RA that we all got roped into.”

“We can’t trust them,” the red mouse says to the blue one. “This could be a trap! What if Olivina knows where we are? We need to get rid of them fast.”

The red mouse starts advancing on us and Raina shrieks. If we back up any more, we’ll be over the side.

“You know Olivina too, don’t you?” I ask, desperate for a way to stall them. “Then you may already know what she’s really like. Please. We’re just trying to find a way…”

“Home,” Logan supplies. “Were you banished too?”

The black mouse with the gruff voice looks down. “Yes. We—”

The blue mouse hits him in the head with its cane. “No, Corden! Say nothing. We stick to the plan.”

The mouse hits himself on the head. “You just said my name! We’re not supposed to do that either!”

“It was an accident!”

“An accident like that could cost us our lives!” says the blue mouse.

“Keep them talking,” Heath whispers to me as the mice bicker. He motions with his head to his bindings. He’s almost got them off!

“We’ve been out here a long time. Aren’t you tired of hiding?” Corden asks the blue mouse.

“We’ve got a good life here, don’t we? I don’t miss the village, do you?” the soft-spoken blue mouse is saying.

“I do,” says the red mouse.

Heath’s bindings fall to the ground. The mice don’t notice.

“Devin,” Logan says through gritted teeth. “Call for help. Now.”

“Call for help?” I whisper. Did he hit his head harder than I thought? Who am I going to call?