Do Not Disturb: Echidna's Darlings, #3

By Marianna Palmer

Gina Daniels is heading back to year number two at Echidna's School for Monsters. Thanks to help from a wolf god, she is better than ever at controlling her troll self. She's ready for new classes and new challenges. Unfortunately for her, these challenges include her missing father, custody battles, and an evil organization that wants all monsters dead--but they aren't Heroes! Gina will need all her skills to deal with these new issues.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marianna Palmer
• Release date: May 27, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224791163

Marianna Palmer

Marianna Palmer is a creative force who has been crafting captivating stories from the depths of her imagination since she first learned to dream. Encouraged by a dare from her sister, she bravely embarked on a journey into the world of writing, which became her sanctuary during years of solitude, personal challenges, and overcoming deep-rooted fears. With an unwavering passion for storytelling, Marianna pursued her education and proudly earned her BA degree. However, she didn't stop there. Preferring the enigmatic allure of privacy, she briefly disappeared from the public eye, resurfacing intermittently in the company of her sister before once again retreating into her world of words. Currently residing in the vibrant city of Tacoma, WA, Marianna draws inspiration from the beauty of her surroundings while reveling in the safety of her sister's presence. Determined to live life to the fullest, she fearlessly confronts the unknown, defying the daunting obstacles that once hindered her path.

Book preview

1 Rumpelstiltskin

The carpet was old , very thick, and colored a brilliant green. It reached the wall paneling which was a thick wood. Each grain and knot stood out as Gina Daniel’s glazed eyes scanned it for the umpteenth time. Then, as graceful as she tended to be, she nearly trod on the feet of the monster in front of her. The monster gave her a dirty look and then turned back to waiting. The long line moved slowly towards the one room at the top of this landing. She had already been in this line for about an hour and a half, just waiting.

What are we doing here again? she whispered to Betty who stood behind her, followed by her parents, Darren and Mina Wendell.

Visiting the Gold Giver, Mr. Rumpelstiltskin.

"Yes, that’s what your parents said an hour ago. If you recall, I was sick of this whole thing then! There is no reason why we have to wait this long!" she moaned.

Now, Gina, Mina spoke up with an important tone to her voice. Betty’s mother was a psychiatrist. And she acted the part. Patience isn’t just a virtue. It also helps attune the mind to achieve discipline. In this day and age of instant gratification, it’s more important than ever to enjoy the little things. Lines are a perfect time to reflect on who you are...

Mom! Betty groaned, and the two had a stare off. Both were equally beautiful with soft, dark skin, and the snakes that elegantly curled down both heads were as yellow as a daisy. She gets it. Look, the line’s moving.

Oh, thank goodness, Mina muttered.

As Betty said, the line was shuffling forward. Betty poked Gina. I should have warned you, she said in an undertone. "Never complain in front of Mom. Everything is a lesson. Every struggle is a chance to learn. I can’t tell you how many lectures I receive on a given day."

It doesn’t seem to have stuck, Gina teased.

I’m incorrigible! How’s that for a big word, Gina? It means unteachable.

It’s wonderful! Gina then looked at the hundreds of backs in her way. I just don’t get it. Why are there so many people here?

Betty shrugged. I know. It seems kind of weird that everyone only gets to come on the last week of August and meet an imp that makes gold for us, but it’s a tradition. He doesn’t like visitors, so he set it up that we all can only come once a year. Even the president isn’t allowed any special favors.

The president of the United States knows about Rumpelstiltskin? Gina asked.

"Oh, not him. Our world has a president! That’s right, you are still new to this. When you take Government, you’ll learn all about it. But I knew from early on. It sure is different for someone who didn’t grow up in the monster world. I pity you."

Gina wrinkled her nose, which anyone could tell was a sight to see as it was so large. No need for pity. It sounds infinitely boring. So, we have a different president? How does that work?

The line was moving forward again. Rumpelstiltskin must have been going through his greetings at a rapid rate. Each step led more towards the room, which Gina guessed had another exit out, because people went in, but they didn’t bump into the long line on the way out. The line just steadily disappeared into that door.

If she didn’t know that a gold producing monster lived here, she wouldn’t think it was anything special. The house was a simple two story with old furniture throughout it. Anybody could live here.

Well, it’s very much like the Fragiles’ one. Our president is chosen by election. Last year, Ms. Penny Duchess, the Sweet Pea of the South, won over her archrival Fredericka Flannery of Oregon. We have two parties that have survived over the years: the Queens and the Knights. President Duchess is of the Queens’ group, and her rival was of the Knights. After a stunning campaign, they were chosen by their parties to go head-to-head.

I’m so sorry I asked, Gina muttered. I guess Ms. Duchess won the Electoral College’s vote?

The what? No way! When our two are chosen, then they step into the arena!

The arena... where they give speeches?

No, where they joust.

You’re putting me on.

Betty stared at her in utmost seriousness. Of course not. Our president needs to be strong. The two parties chose monsters from the equine group. President Duchess is a centaur. Her rival at the time was a kelpie in her horse form. So, jousting was chosen as the contest. Sometimes it’s fencing; others it’s boxing. This time it was the contest of kings between, um, two monsters. It was awesome! Dad got us tickets, and we were, like, in the front row. I got totally splattered by the mud kicked up by their hooves!

And...? Suddenly this seemed much more interesting than Gina’s normal understanding of politics.

Well, whoever loses, loses the presidency. It doesn’t usually end in death, but it can. About a hundred years ago, death decided the contest, but that was changed under the thirty-third president and a great monster, Pauline Lansing, who thought it a barbaric practice. We are in civilized times now. President Duchess only kicked Ms. Flannery in the face until she yielded. So, she rules this part of the monster world for the next six years. After that, she is ousted and that’s it. New blood, sometimes quite literally.

Gina was now totally interested in monster politics. She wondered if she would get the chance to see the next election. I take it you support President Duchess.

Totally! She has already changed a few laws. The last president was way harsher. One of President Duchess’s changes was the very controversial Illegal Blood Law. See, one of our former presidents, Carter Warner, had the severest punishment for anyone who illegally transformed someone into a Made Monster.

Actually, it’s better known as Created, Gina said quickly. She remembered too well her friends from Frankenstein’s school she met at summer camp earlier this year. They took great offense at being called what even Gina’s textbook called them. Wait, illegal?

Yeah. The line stopped again. Gina heard Mina Wendell grumbling. Okay, well, you know Ryan, right? He was made...

"Created."

"Whatever. They’re just words. Okay, fine don’t go full troll on me. Ryan was created within the laws of our land. What happened to him, when he was only, like, four, was he and his parents were traveling in their car. It was totally dark and spooky."

Please try not to exaggerate.

Okay, fine. It was a dark and stormy night.

Better, Gina noted.

It was so dark that their headlights only showed the crashing lightning and the darkened road. Suddenly, flash!

Nearby monsters turned to stare at Betty’s gesticulating hands. Betty, oblivious, continued.

"The lightning shot straight down right in front of them and forced the car off the road. All were mortally injured. But a vampire saw the accident and went to see what she could do to help. But it was almost too late. Within the laws, she could change them into vampires, because they weren’t going to live. I personally think she should have bypassed Ryan, but whatever. The creator took all of them into her family, and they live as vampires with the vampire history and lore. Essentially, the creator made them her family—okay, okay, created them as her family. The previous family that the Adams had was forgotten. To the Fragile world, Ryan and his parents were killed, but they now live on as the undead.

See, anyone who’s a vampire, werewolf, or the like can’t have babies naturally. They can only share their heritage through blood contact. Well, they can’t be allowed to go around stealing people’s lives, so even before my parents came along, a law was made that was very strict of Legal Blood and Illegal Blood. Like in Ryan’s family’s case, they were past the point of living, so that vampire had free range. Had she, say, just attacked them all, she would have been arrested. As it was, there was a lengthy court hearing to make sure she was within her rights. My dad defended her for three years. But it was decided that Ryan’s family would have all died if not for the vampire, so she was let off the hook. Now, she’s Ryan’s grandmother. He went with her to Romania over the summer.

Gina gave Betty a suspicious look. You seem to know an awful lot about Ryan’s summer escapades.

We shared some texts about our summer vacations. No big deal. I still hate him.

Uh-huh.

"Anyway, the Illegal Blood Law was pretty strict. If someone violated it, a lifetime in prison was automatically the sentence. But when President Duchess took over, she made it so ten years was enough of a sentence if the prisoner showed signs of changed behavior. She has sympathy for the... created monsters because she was orphaned and raised by someone whose line died out, as there just wasn’t anyone available to continue it."

Gina’s head spun with all this new information. Who knew that monster law was so complicated? To think of Ryan and Jack being born differently and then changed into something new based on someone else’s choice... It was all so confusing.

But there was no time to dwell on it. The line finally moved Gina and the Wendells into the room where Rumpelstiltskin dwelled.

At first, Gina had trouble spotting the imp as there was so much gold in the room. There were golden miniatures of everything one could imagine: little horses in golden gallop, dollhouses with shimmering walls, racecars with glittering spoilers, soldiers in dazzling uniforms, and more. All were placed to overflowing on shelves, tables, and glass cabinets. Among all those miniatures was a bed the size of a six-year-old’s. Under thick knitted quilts of patchwork was a tiny creature. He had bright red, bat-like wings spread out under him, stretching across the bed. His head was a gray round ball that ended in a cat’s snout with no fangs, while his ears stuck out like car doors and were deep and rounded. Two horns stuck out, but one was out his chin while the other was out his cheek. Salt and pepper hair was spattered across his head, and he had big soulful eyes, blue and also cat shaped. What she could see of his body was boney and as gray as stone.

There were two doors in the room; one that Gina’s group had just entered and another that the monsters ahead had just exited through. As Gina’s group surrounded the bed, he stared at them with interest as if they were the first ones, not the most likely hundredth of the day.

Well now, well now, gorgons! Ooh, and a troll! He wiggled his thin legs under the blanket in excitement.

Hello, Mr. Rumpelstiltskin, Mina started.

Hello. Mina, wasn’t it?

You know him? Gina asked. Mina just shook her head.

I remember all monsters by name. I love names! And Darren, it’s always nice to see you. Oh, I can’t forget little Betty. My, you’ve grown. But I don’t know you. His eyes turned on Gina. Come here, yes, you troll girl.

Gina nervously stepped closer to his bed, and he stared at her. There were hidden depths in his eyes, sparkles of laughter of years gone by.

Hi.

I hear things... These ears aren’t just for show. And I, as bedridden as I am... He paused to moan mournfully. Have nothing else to do but listen. They tell me tales of battles. Hercules... Thor... Troll. I know how you started at Echidna’s School for the Gifted only a year ago and stopped Hercules from destroying your school. And then over summer vacation prevented Thor from destroying your people at Troll Mountain. But those tales don’t bring names.

I’m Gina Daniels. And what I did wasn’t anything big, Gina said quickly. And that was the truth. Hercules, after trying to destroy Echidna’s School for the Gifted, had gone after Gina who had thwarted him. But she hadn’t done well, and only Ms. Monroe’s talents as a genie had saved the day. And with Thor, he had defeated himself by smashing through the ground.

Mr. Rumpelstiltskin just weakly waved her objections away. No, they were great battles. You... Monsters like you are the reason I give over my talents so easily for the betterment of the world! His stony face crinkled in joy.

Gina felt hot pink rush over her face. She wasn’t at all comfortable with being praised. To change it, she said without thinking, I heard about your deeds as well. Did the Heroes mess up your story too or are you into stealing firstborns?

Mina gasped behind her, and Darren quickly cleared his throat, but Betty just laughed. That’s Gina for you!

To her surprise, Mr. Rumpelstiltskin laughed as well. Truth is, little troll, I made up my own misdeeds. Do you know how many villagers demanded gold from me? Back in the old days, when everyone believed in my abilities, it made things simpler to tell the tale that I was an evil imp who’d steal their children if they asked for my favor. The Heroes had nothing to do with that. In fact, everyone fawned all over me. Sometimes riches are more important than beauty.

He sighed and leaned his head against his pillow. But I grow tired. Presents for all, and then I will have to be done for today.

Are you okay? Gina asked, quickly gripping his hand in concern.

Mr. Rumpelstiltskin smiled and patted her head. I tire easily. Making so much gold makes me bedridden, but I live to bring happiness! Speaking of which... Darren, here’s a golden trumpet for you.

Darren beamed as a little golden trumpet appeared in his hand, made of a pure and intricate gold weave. It glistened in the room and made all there go, Oh!

For Mina, a bird, Mr. Rumpelstiltskin continued, and the littlest, purest gold bird appeared as a necklace around Mina’s throat. For Betty, a violin. The said instrument appeared in Betty’s hand.

Thank you, Betty crowed.

Then Mr. Rumpelstiltskin looked towards Gina and smiled. I give you a special gift because it’s your first. It is a golden cat of fortune, a very popular item. I was in Japan, and I saw the loveliest store filled with hundreds of these cats. It brings luck.

Gina took the golden cat statue with a smile. At three inches tall, and very intricately designed, it was still very much just a golden cat. But it meant more—it was her first real tradition with the monster community. It would always remind her of this time.

Mina reached out and nudged Gina. Say thank you, she whispered.

But Gina had been about to thank him when she was so rudely interrupted! A bit offended, she muttered, and sounded extremely ungrateful, Thanks.

Mr. Rumpelstiltskin didn’t take offense.

Not at all. I don’t need thanks. It’s a small bit of joy I get every year when people come and take my gold. Still... He sighed with a little whimper mixed in. I get too tired. Please, leave me.

The Wendells quickly ushered Gina and Betty out the other door. Expecting to climb down some kind of back staircase, she was startled to see the front yard of Betty’s house, where they had set off from this morning. So, that was the reason no one had returned from Rumpelstiltskin’s room!

As the group of them walked inside, Gina took note of the beauty of the Wendell home. Working with the rain in Seacove, they had planted three weeping willows which hugged their circular driveway. The branches draped the lawn, falling down like the Wendells’ snakes did, shadowing the lush and perfectly cut grass. Having come here before, Gina had liked this yard better than her own overgrown and messy lawn, because this one had order and logic. In addition to the willows, there were sword ferns which made a great backdrop to the bright red cardinal flowers spread out under the windows.

Truth was, Gina had spent a lot of time daydreaming that this was her home and that Betty was her sister. Of course, even this place paled to the perfection of Valerie’s yard. After summer camp, instead of returning home to the cottage she and her father called home, Gina had moved in with Valerie, her father’s soon-to-be wife and her own soon-to-be stepmom. Her father was off learning how to be a mediator between monsters and Fragiles, and she hadn’t heard from him since.

Valerie had manicured lawns. Rows of trees formed an outside arcade of pure perfection across acres of pristine beauty.

All in all, Gina’s own messy yard now seemed much more preferable. In fact, there was a constant heartache whenever she thought about home. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t actually the cottage which always smelled like mold and was entirely too small to support her overenthusiastic book collection that she missed. She felt her father’s absence the most. She hadn’t seen him in almost a month’s time, and she hadn’t received any letters from him either. Not even a phone call!

Today’s escapade made his lack of presence more palpable. This yearly expedition to Mr. Rumpelstiltskin was something that all monsters and their families were supposed to take part in. Instead, Gina went with a borrowed family. George would have gotten such a kick out of meeting a fairy tale character. And yet not only was he not there, she also had no clue what he was doing or where he was.

What’d you think? Betty asked. Wasn’t Mr. Rumpelstiltskin wild?

Well, he was a bit too tired to be wild, but he was certainly generous and very sweet.

That thank you was a bit delayed, though, Mina scolded. The rules of decorum demand quick thank-yous. You can’t let it slide even for an instant or else you’ll get lazy. Soon, you will be dropping any kind of proper gratitude and even worse forgetting to excuse yourself. Always practice the rules, every day and in quick succession.

Gina shot a look at Betty who just giggled. Coming to Gina’s rescue, she said to her mother, Mom, what happens if you burp and then pass gas? Do you excuse yourself twice?

Mina turned towards Betty, who covertly waved Gina away. Gina took her escape. All the while she heard Mina starting a new lecture about interrupting. Hurrying into the house, she went to Betty’s bedroom and plopped down on the four-poster bed.

Escaping Mina Wendell’s lectures was becoming an art!

2 The Roaring Valerie

The room was almost disappointingly normal considering it was home to a girl who had snakes popping out of her head. It held a four-poster bed parallel to a matching dresser. Small mirrors with gilded edges and swirled metalwork hung on the walls. A luxurious red carpet filled the room. A red quilt was placed on the bed with a ton of pillows weighing it down.

There was also a bookshelf with a whole lot of books, none to Gina’s taste. These books were on music—history of violins, how to be a better violinist, Violin for Dummies, and more. And, sure enough, in prominent display on the red carpet was a stand that held a very expensive looking rosewood violin brightly polished to a mirror like luster. Another shelf held an assortment of gold knickknacks showing how long Betty had been visiting Mr. Rumpelstiltskin.

Gina held up her own gold cat that brought luck and compared it to the lines of figurines that Betty already owned. In a huge way, Gina envied Betty. To have this whole world of monsters at her fingertips from the moment she was born! Betty never had to wonder why she was so strong. Every year she had visited that interesting imp and got a present, while Gina had been more concerned with repressing every aspect of herself as she grew.

Gina sat in her best friend’s room and continued feeling sorry for herself. It was too easy when she was around Betty’s whole monster family with two monster parents who lived and worked in the monster world. If you had asked Gina right after she had defeated Thor a couple weeks ago, she would have said that she was lucky with or without having the same upbringing as Betty. But the time spent with Valerie and without her father had started dragging all the optimism out of her drip by drip.

Sure, life with Valerie wasn’t exactly horrible, but the reminders of how much Gina had missed were in every minute of every day. Gina was used to the Fragiles’ holidays. She had no idea how many monster holidays there were, and all of them seem to center in August! For the last two weeks, every single time a new holiday hit, Helen had given her a superior look and a condescending, Oh, you’re not used to that, are you?

And today only made it worse! To think that most monsters knew that every year on the last week in August the gold friendly Mr. Rumpelstiltskin entertained visitors and gave out gold presents like a little impish Santa Claus! It made a little worm wriggle into Gina’s heart. And there was of course more! Never a drizzle, always a downpour. Today Betty had informed Gina how ignorant she was on even the politics of monsters. She had to face it: she was an outsider, no matter where she went.

Valerie had allowed Gina to have weekend trips to Troll Mountain. Gina had spent part of the summer there with her mom. The home of trolls should have been where Gina could just let go and feel included. But no! She didn’t feel any more included there than with her new monster friends. The troll children couldn’t transform into what she could, and Gina had tried to get them angry with appearance in mind. Living between two worlds was bad enough, but she wasn’t even close to being like either side!

Argh! Gina groaned.

Uh-oh, Betty said as she entered. You’re groaning again. Bad sign.