(A/N) It's the middle of March… almost spring… and it's SNOWING! What is WRONG with the world?!! We now have a 1 day April vacation (which will go down to 0 days if we get another snow day!… oh god, no… please I'll die if there's another snow day…) so anyway… I've been sooooooo busy lately… and I recently decided to start pitching again for softball (well actually my friend dragged me into it… it's not like I'm inexperienced though… I have pitched before) so I have EVEN LESS time now… sorry sorry:(

I'll still try to write as often as I can though, I promise

Disclaimer: I don't own Ella Enchanted. Gail Carson Levine owns Ella Enchanted. I do however own Forever Elly and any characters in it that aren't in Ella Enchanted. Oh and Hyralt is mine (new kingdom… not very prominent in my story, but whatever)

And without further ado…

Forever Elly

Chapter 5

When I mentioned that I wanted some kind of delay in getting to Frell, I was thinking something along the lines of a broken carriage wheel, or going the wrong way and getting lost. Even a storm coming and causing the roads to be unmanageable would have worked.

But no.

'Be careful what you wish for,' they say. 'You might just get it.'

Well, I guess I forgot about that. And now I'm stuck in some building, away from Mandy and all those footmen accompanying us to Frell.

Confused? Let me explain…

Flashback

It was about the third day. We were out of Ayortha, in Hyralt (a/n, a new kingdom I made up that's somewhere between Frell and Ayortha), I believe the footmen were saying. There were a few more kingdoms before Frell, but we were about halfway there.

It was past midday but before dinner, and we had just stopped to let the horses drink from a nearby stream quickly… Meaning they were unhooked from the carriage.

So when a cloud of dust arose behind us, traveling steadily in our direction, we were at a loss what to do.

It would take too long to reattach the horses, but if we didn't, what would we do? These were not regular commoners…

These were unsavory people. Those you hope never to meet up with.

They were bandits.

As they drew closer, we had nothing to do. The footmen shoved me in the carriage and told me to stay there. There was no time to try and find something to defend ourselves with. There was also no time to run away.

Watching through the small window in the carriage, I saw that all of the footmen decided to run anyway. They should not have made it. The bandits could easily have overtaken them. Yet they were all spared, and dispersed into the forest.

I turned my head. I couldn't watch as the subjects who were supposed to protect me with their life deserted me. Yet I didn't think much of it. I just assumed them to be cowards. Plus, I was a bit more preoccupied with a getaway. I needed to be alert and open to an escape route.

Hiding in the carriage, I watched as the bandits drew closer to my carriage. It was only a matter of time before I was found.

I had watched them capture Mandy and bring her to one of their caravans. At least she was safe… Plus, I knew she could protect herself with her fairy magic. She was one less thing I didn't have to worry about.

When the last of the footmen had disappeared, I braced myself for the worst.

The carriage shook as someone climbed the steps and opened the door.

"Ahh, there she be's," said a scruffy-looking man with a rugged beard shadowing his face.

"Miss Elly I presume… You'll be coming with me." He smiled, showing teeth that hadn't been brushed in many years. Teeth so black and cavity filled that you could smell them rotting.

And smell them I could when he grabbed me and whispered in my ear to do as he said and I wouldn't get hurt.

I had no intention of doing that however, and as he (literally) dragged me out of the carriage, I was screaming my lungs off.

It didn't do anything, however, because we were far from civilization. Nobody could hear me now. Nobody could save me now.

They shoved me in one of their caravans and drove off, stirring up a cloud of dust.

At least I was with Mandy, I thought, as I looked around the caravan. She was up at the front with a few of the men. They had tied her to a chair. Apparently she'd been trying to escape. She stopped, however, when she saw me there.

"Elly!" she cried.

I hustled over to her.

The men cleared away at my evil glare and I spoke to her.

"Mandy, what's going on?!"

"Oh, sweet, I don't know. I'm just glad you're okay."

I gave her a hug, while discreetly untying her knots.

A man came over, and seeing that I'd freed her from the chair, he grunted.

"We dun care if ye goes free handed or tied up. But prove as trouble and we'll tie ye up like that. Try and escape and ye may never see daylight agin."

With that said, he turned and walked away, settling down on the other side of the caravan, oblivious to the glares he was receiving from me and Mandy.

A while later, after dark had fallen, they stopped, and the same rugged-looking man who had shoved me in the caravan, pulled me out.

He dragged me along into an old, dusty building that was falling apart.

I was without Mandy, but before they had stopped, we had been talking. She told me to find some way to escape… Any way. She could leave whenever she felt like it because of her magic, but she couldn't save me without big magic, which she would not do, even in our situation. So I was to escape by myself. She would find me later.

I was shoved into a dark room with what looked like a bed minus the mattress on it. Instead of a mattress was a bunch of straw. Dirty straw. I shuddered involuntarily. I'd never sleep on this. It was so disgusting. I had to escape tonight.

End Flashback

And that's where I am now. I have yet to come up with an escape plan, and I'm starting to worry.

Looking around the room, I don't see anything that will help me.

Then, my foot got stuck in a crack in the floor.

I tripped, and in the second that it took me to fall, I realized two things.

One, when I fell, I fell on my side, onto something hard and lumpy. The fairy book, I realized. Well that's one good thing. At least I didn't lose this. It had been in a bag I had around myself.

And two, as I fell, my eyes got caught on a crack in the wall. Following the crack, I saw the outline of the shape of a small window.

Well, well, well. I just figured out how to escape.

I had no tools. Just the straw from the disgusting bed.

Well, that won't do, I thought to myself.

Then something underneath the bed caught my eye.

Ah, but that piece of metal, rusted practically off the bed might work. If I could pull it off, it would work as a crowbar.

I smiled. "Perfect."

The whole room seemed to be made of boards of wood, but I figured only the ones around the window would help me.

After jimmying off the metal piece, I loosened the boards, listening for any footsteps that might signify my captors returning.

In fear that they might catch me halfway, I loosened the boards only enough so I could easy pull them off when the time came. However, from a distance, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

And it was a good thing I did so too. I was about three quarters of the way done, and I heard footsteps. I quickly, but quietly flung the crowbar back underneath the bed, and promptly sat down in the middle of the floor and started playing with a piece of straw.

I looked up as someone entered the room. The same guy, with the beard, was bringing a tray of food.

Well at least they didn't seem to want to kill me, I mused, taking the tray. Unless they were looking to poison me.

I wasn't going to eat it though. After all, I would be leaving soon.

He didn't stay to see if I ate.

Incase he came back to return the tray, I decided to dispose of the food.

I pulled a bit of the straw off the bed, with a grimace, for I was loath to touch the stuff, and dumped the food on top. Then I put the straw back.

And I quickly returned to pulling off the boards.

When they were all loose, I sat back down. I had a feeling someone would check on me before retiring for the night.

And I was right. He came back, taking the tray, and told me to keep quiet. He said screaming would not help, since there was nobody around who wanted to help a poor little princess.

I just sat and endured his insults, figuring he'd get tired and leave sooner if I didn't' argue.

Fortunately, I was right, and he soon left.

I heard a key turn in the lock, and then footsteps leading away.

When they faded, I got to work.

I pulled each board off, quietly placing it underneath the window.

I could see the moon shining brightly outside. It was to both my advantage and disadvantage. It would prove easier to see where I was going, but harder to escape, since they would be more likely to spot me.

As I pulled the last board off, I took a deep breath. Fresh air. Thank god.

I knew I didn't have much time to spare, however, so I grabbed my bag with the fairy book, and, using the boards as a step, I climbed up and out of the window.

From the rooftop I could see that this neighborhood was not a place I wanted to be in at night. In the distance, however, I could see lights shining, and a nicely groomed park, with a clump of trees. There were guards in that part. I knew I would be safe there.

Seeing that the street was clear, I climbed down the roof, thankful I was only on the second floor, and since the building was old, there were quite a few places for my feet to go as I climbed down.

I steered clear of the windows, for fear one of my captors would look out them. It took longer, maneuvering around the windows, but I reached the ground eventually.

And then I ran, fearing an unsavory character would emerge from a dark alley. I ran as hard and fast as I could towards the park. The safe haven.

Looking behind me, I found that nobody was following me.

I slowed, reluctantly, and realized that I was out of breath.

Seeing that I had escaped, I slowed my run to a jog. I could see the park in the distance.

I had escaped. Now I just had to find Mandy.

Or, rather, she had to find me.

I ran into the park and towards the trees.

Near the trees were benches. I collapsed on one of them to wait for Mandy, and I swiftly blacked out.

(A/N) This actually took me a couple days to do… I started it in like the middle of last week and on the snow day (I was sick Wednesday, and Friday was a snow day-which means we only have 1 day of April vacation now which really really sucks)

Reviewers…

Babyjayy – Thanks! And thanks for reviewing… you've reviewed 4 out of my 5 chapters so far! R&R this one now ;)

ItakoDream –I think I can take that as a compliment… Since you want me to hurry up, it must mean you like my story ;) So thanks! R&R!

Dragonfirechick – Thanks soooooo much for pointing out mistakes… nobody has done that yet, and I really appreciate it! (I fixed the parts you pointed out) And the contest… sure it's still on… great job in it… half the connections you noticed I hadn't even realized. So you totally win too (I've decided there will be multiple new characters ;)… hehe) So in that case… lookout for Saipha and Reviere, coming to Forever Elly in future chapters! (By the way I love your story! It's great! Update soon!) So, thanks! R&R!

Anyway… I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to update next. This weekend is going to be wicked busy. (Yes I realize I just typed wicked… bad habit my cousins from Massachusetts stuck me with… all my friends make fun of me when I say that…

They also make fun of me when I say bagel… I used to live in Australia and they say it differently there, and I somehow always seem to say it wrong… what's the American way? Bay-gull or Bag-ull? I'll give somebody special thanks if they tell me the American pronunciation.) ß Just a little off topic there… Yeah so I have softball starting this coming Monday (if it doesn't SNOW that is)… Snow in spring, sheesh. Plus I have a truckload of homework, including reading about 8 books of the Odyssey tonight since I've been coughcough putting it off. Then we got me feeling sick… probably due to my lack of sleep which is due to my doing my homework at 2 in the morning (awful habit, never try it) and practically falling asleep in my classes the next day (if no caffeine is available, get very sugary gum… it gives you little tiny bursts of energy, which can help a little to stay awake;)…). But hey I'm not bad at getting 3-4 hours of sleep, I haven't gotten in trouble for it yet… well my science teacher makes fun of me all the time because he noticed, but he's basically cool so it's all good. Yeah well anyway, my friend's birthday is coming up which takes away my Friday and Saturday, and I have softball and go ice skating on Sunday, and have to do homework when I get back… so no weekend for me… not that that's anything new. I'm going to die of overwork and stress does a little dance GoInG cRaZy!! YaY!

Wow my authors notes are really wicked (oops) long. I wonder if anyone actually reads them.

R&R! I'm going to go have hot tea with honey to make my throat stop hurting.

Lauren