like making her Belle costume for Halloween or transforming their living room into a desert oasis for her Aladdin-themed birthday party She’d helped build a beautiful set too Still something about this production nagged at Maddie I was just thinking she said Wouldn’t it make sense if Snow White made herself ugly Huh Tasha said Well the Wicked Queen wants to kill her for being beautiful But Snow White’s not vain She should just eat some fried food let her skin break out Then the queen would leave her alone right Tasha shrugged But that’s not how the story goes Maddie couldn’t stop herself though And what happened to the huntsman If he really wanted to help Snow White shouldn’t he have told the King what the Queen was trying to do I mean Snow White has a dad right I know my dad would notice if I ran away to live with seven strangers because my stepmom was trying to kill me Well I get a little annoyed when you don’t clean your room Carol said with a smile But I’ve never considered murder Sorry Maddie said I don’t know why I keep thinking about these things Maybe you miss your stepbrother after all Carol replied He always had a lot to say about fairy tales You do sound like him Tasha agreed Don’t say that Maddie insisted The very thought that she was becoming like Holden made her blood boil He’d been gone for the last week and it was pure bliss for her For his birthday Carol got him a plane ticket so he could visit his dad in Germany He wouldn’t be back until after the show was done Ugh if he were here he’d be going on nonstop about everything that was wrong with Snow White Come to think of it that probably was why Maddie kept obsessing over the plot holes herself I do wish he could be here to see the show Carol said Tasha nearly fell over at the thought Are you kidding Yeah no offense Maddie added I know he’s your son But he does not like fairy
tales Or plays Carol shook her head gently Well he may not admit it but I’m sure he’d enjoy seeing his stepsister as Snow White No way Maddie assured her She sat down in the makeup chair and as Carol applied foundation to her face she began to wonder what Holden was up to in Germany He’d probably found a million new things to complain about Holden was literally holding on for his life The uneasy grip of his arms around his dad’s waist was the only thing keeping him from flying off the motorcycle and going splat on the Autobahn a crazy German highway with no speed limit They weaved between lanes past weird European cars as a majestic wooded valley unfolded below them far down the side of a sharp unforgiving cliff Holden peeked around his dad’s side just long enough to get a look at the speedometer 110 Whoa Germany was awesome A few minutes later they arrived at his dad’s favorite spot an outdoor restaurant Tons of German people sat at long tables in a grove of trees and the whole place smelled like pine and salty meats His dad took him to the counter to place their order and Holden decided to play it cool Guten Morgen my good man he said to the cashier Eine chicken nuggets por favor The cashier broke out laughing Holden’s dad chuckled along with him He spoke to the cashier in German to explain his son What Holden asked He could feel his face turning bright red Well let’s see his dad replied You said good morning for starters and it’s 8 p m Then you ordered chicken nuggets and they only serve sausage At least you were polite and said please although in Spanish Guess my German is nein good His dad grabbed their food then led him to a couple of open seats I can’t believe we were just going 110 miles an hour on your motorcycle Holden said
His dad laughed again Probably because we weren’t They go by kilometers here Oh Holden said disappointed It’s still pretty fast his dad assured him Holden gazed around him Strings of lights dangled from trees twinkling like fairies Just up the hill from where they were was a beautiful castle It almost felt like yuck it almost felt like a fairy tale What’s wrong his dad asked him You’re rolling your eyes Just when I start to like this place it reminds me of Maddie Oh right She loves fairy tales doesn’t she Holden nodded Her whole life is fairy tales If only his dad knew just how true that was He felt like he could tell his dad almost anything but the one thing he couldn’t share was how he and Maddie had been getting sucked into fairy tales lately All Holden had to do was point out the plot holes in one of Maddie’s annoying stories and then the two of them would get pulled into his tablet Then they’d become characters in the story and have to fix it so it still had a happily ever after That was the only way they could get back home Well you know his dad said this is the village where the Brothers Grimm grew up Holden groaned Of course it is I can’t escape fairy tales Definitely not here you can’t There’s fairy tale junk all over this town He pointed to the castle on the hill They say that castle is what inspired the Grimms to write Snow White There’s even a magic mirror inside You can tour it if you want Me Holden said No way I hate fairy tales They don’t make any sense Holden’s dad snickered Tell me about it I mean why did Snow White just wait around the dwarfs cottage for the Queen to come kill her Why didn’t she train the dwarfs in karate or something Seven dwarfs against one stuffy old Queen They could’ve kicked her butt Holden smiled He had so much in common with his dad They always had so much fun when they hung out He wanted to tell him how he felt but he didn’t want to sound
sappy So what he said was Dad I love Germany Well his dad said then you should move here Holden was so shocked he nearly spat out his sausage What Yeah my company’s transferring me here permanently Maybe you can come live with me Holden checked his dad’s face to make sure he was serious This was huge He never thought his trip to Germany might last forever That would be Holden wasn’t sure what to say It’d be an adventure Dude we’d have so much fun I’d enroll you in an American school buy you some lederhosen What’s lederhosen Holden’s dad laughed They’re these goofy German overalls You’d look hilarious in them Maybe I’ll skip the lederhosen Other than that though I could get used to this place Well we’d have to talk your mom into it Wow Holden said overwhelmed by the thought Could he really see himself living in Germany Could he really move away from his mom his stepdad and Maddie His dad walked to the cashier to order dessert and Holden looked around him again Germany was so cool yet so different from Middle Grove New Jersey Would he actually want to live here
