“Okay, see you tomorrow, then,” Joe said. “And your costume was great.”

“Yeah,” said Anand. “Hope it didn’t get too messed up. It looks kind of ripped.”

“Nothing I can’t mend,” Rose said.

Susan and the boys turned the corner and walked in the opposite direction. Rose decided to walk up Delaware Street to Forty-Sixth Street, then cut across Forty-Sixth to her grandmother’s house. Then, ten minutes later, just as she turned, she felt something hard hit her shoulder. “Try this on for size, Ms. Know-It-All fashion blogger.”

A rush of footsteps came toward her and she began running. She heard the sound of more rocks hitting the pavement, just missing her. Don’t look back. Don’t look back. That was what her mom always told her when she competed in swim meets. It takes too much time to look back at who might be closing the gap. She didn’t need to ask who. She knew. Her own homegrown Mean Queens. She swerved quickly into the alley behind Gran’s house. The cupolas of the greenhouse poked up into the starry sky. She heard the girls closing the distance and shoved an empty trash can that clanked down the alley toward them. Maybe it would slow them down. She heard someone take a hard fall and gasp as if the air had been knocked out of her. There was the sound of shattered glass and at the same time a high-pitched screech. September sailed over her head, her claws spread in attack mode.

Chapter 22

“Shame on You, Princess!”

Rose was inside the greenhouse. She was panting hard, trying to catch her breath. She looked down at her feet. There was shattered glass all around. Her dress was torn. It was unbelievable how vicious these girls were. She curled her hands into fists. She wanted to smash their faces. Her heart was racing. Then she felt September brush against her foot and tug lightly on the lace of her shoe. Lucky I wore my running shoes. Jane the Bald’s feathered footwear wouldn’t have gotten her out of that mess. She chuckled lightly and looked down at the toe of her shoe. September was having a fine old time playing with the lace. It was curiously soothing. Then she noticed the shards of glass beginning to dissolve. She found that she was walking on a wide-plank wooden floor, into the presence room. There were young women who attended Princess Elizabeth in the royal court, not for work but to share gossip, take refreshment, play games. Since the princesses joined the king, who was in residence at this palace of Greenwich, other women were here in the royal court.