“I could never tell Red about this,” Conner said. “She’s already got a huge head; I can’t imagine how she’d act if she knew she was painted on the buildings of the Otherworld, too.”
They were delighted to see how well represented fairy tales were in the center of town. There were statues of trolls and Humpty Dumpty, shops were filled with toys and trinkets and puppets of all the classic storybook characters, and there was even a small inn called Hotel Wolf, where Conner and Bree chose to eat.
“I feel like we’re eating in the Red Riding Hood Kingdom,” Conner said over lunch.
“If these people only knew what we knew,” Bree said.
Conner looked down at his food. “Yeah…,” he mumbled sadly.
“What’s the matter with you?” Bree asked.
He was hesitant to tell her what was on his mind. “I would never want anything to happen to my sister or my grandmother or anyone in the Land of Stories,” he said. “But there’s a part of me that hopes the portal does open, so I can see them all again.”
Bree smiled gently. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” she said. “We’ll just try to think of the situation as a win-win. If the portal is closed, your friends are safe, and if it’s open, at least you’ll get to see them again.”
“Yeah, while they’re being attacked by thousands of French soldiers,” Conner said.
“Maybe the soldiers changed their minds while they were in the portal,” Bree said. “Two hundred years is a long time for self-reflection; they could have re-thought their whole universe-domination thing.”
“Maybe.” He shrugged. They both knew it was a slim chance but Conner appreciated the optimism nonetheless. He wished he could live a life where there wasn’t always a cost or a choice—he wished for once that when someone said, “And they lived happily ever after,” they meant it.
They finished eating and continued their journey to the castle. It was impossible to keep track of time since the sun was hidden by the clouds. A few hours later, just as their bums and feet started aching from biking all day, they arrived in the village of Hohenschwangau.
Conner and Bree could see the tips of the towers belonging to Neuschwanstein Castle hidden by the trees in the hills above the village. It felt like a giant was peeking at them.
“We made it!” Bree said cheerfully. “And it only took us nine and a half hours!”
“Only?” Conner asked, groaning as he dismounted his bike. “I think I’m going to have a bicycle-seat-shaped dent in my butt for the rest of my life.”
Hohenschwangau was an incredibly tiny place and mainly consisted of restaurants, inns, and souvenir shops for tourists visiting Neuschwanstein. The village was also home to another, smaller and older castle that sat on a hill across from Neuschwanstein. It was square and golden and almost completely forgotten by the travelers roaming the village.
Glass kiosks lined in the center of the village sold tours of Neuschwanstein. A long line of tourists waited outside for buses that took them up the path into the hills and to the castle.
“Okay, I think I’ve got a plan,” Conner said. “We’ll go on a tour of the castle and stay in the very back of our group so we’re easily forgettable. When no one is looking, we find the perfect place to hide. Then at night, when all the guides and guests have gone, we give ourselves a tour of the castle and try to find the portal.”
“That sounds like an excellent plan!” Bree said.
They chained their bikes to a bike rack and went to purchase their tickets. But just as they walked up to the kiosks, a sign written in many languages was placed in the window:
ALLE TOUREN VON SCHLOSS NEUSCHWANSTEIN SIND FüR DEN REST DES TAGES AUSVERKAUFT
ALL TOURS OF NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE ARE SOLD OUT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY
TOUS LES BILLETS POUR LES VISITES DU CHTEAU DE NEUSCHWANSTEIN ONT ETE VENDUS POUR LE RESTE DE LA JOURNEE
TUTTI I TOUR DI NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTELLO SONO ESAURITI PER IL RESTO DELLA GIORNATA
“Oh no!” Conner exclaimed. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“Let’s see if we can get a better look at the castle,” Bree said. “Maybe there’s a window or something we could sneak into.”
They walked down the road a little ways away from the village, and more of the castle’s towers came into view.
“It’s no use looking at it from down here, we’ll have to go up the hill and get a closer look,” Conner said.
He tried his best to fight the disheartening thoughts creeping over him, but the situation wasn’t looking great. If the street below the castle was that crowded, the castle must be packed with people. It would be impossible to snoop around without looking suspicious.
Conner closed his eyes and prayed for a miracle. They just needed a way inside the castle, that was all! The fate of the fairy-tale world depended on what they might find inside. Luckily for Conner, there was still a bit of magic in his blood and it must have been listening to his request.…
“Hey, Conner,” Bree whispered. “That kid over there keeps staring at us.”
Conner turned in the direction she was referring to. A few yards ahead of them beside the road was a tiny cottage-like house. A boy sat on its front steps unapologetically watching them. He was very young, no older than ten, and had dark hair and very pale skin. He was skinny although his cheeks were plump and rosy, making him look like a puppet that lived in a cuckoo clock.
“Hi,” Conner said, and waved awkwardly at their observer.
“Hello,” the boy said in a cute German accent. “Are you guys American?”
“We are,” Bree said.
A big grin stretched between his rosy cheeks and he giddily sat up.
“Do you like the United States?” Conner asked him.
“Yes!” the boy said with an animated nod. “That’s where all the superheroes are from!”
“Have you ever been there?” Bree asked.
The boy’s shoulders sank. “No,” he said. “I go to school in Füssen down the road but other than that I’ve never been very far from here. But I’m saving all my money so I can visit Gotham City one day!”
Conner and Bree looked at each other like he was a precious puppy they wanted to keep.
“What’s your name?” Conner asked. They walked up closer to his house to visit with him some more.
“My name is Emmerich,” he was happy to tell them. “Emmerich Himmelsbach. What are your names?”
“I’m Conner and this is my friend Bree.”
“What brings you to Hohenschwangau?” he asked, and then quickly corrected himself. “Oh, that was a silly question; you’re here to see the castle, right? Everybody always comes to see the castle.”
“Yes,” Bree said. “Have you been inside it before?”
“Oh, many, many, many times!” he told them. “My grandfather used to give tours of the castle and my mother works at a gift shop in the village. So there isn’t anything I don’t know about the place.”
“Well, we were here to see the castle,” Conner said dejectedly. “We rode bikes all the way from Munich but the tickets are sold out.”
This completely blew Emmerich’s mind and he almost fell over just hearing it. “You rode bikes all the way from Munich?” he said with enormous gestures. “Why would you do that?”
An idea suddenly came to Conner’s mind. He looked at Bree and she could see the light in his eyes. She was prepared to go along with whatever it was he was thinking.
“Well, we would tell you but we wouldn’t want to endanger you,” Conner said.
“Yes, you’re far too young,” Bree added.
Emmerich’s eyes grew and his mouth fell open. “Tell me what?” he asked.
“I’m afraid we can’t tell you,” Conner said. “It would blow our cover if anyone were to ever find out.”
“What are you covering up?” Emmerich asked, desperate to know. “You can tell me—I don’t have any friends to tell!”
Conner and Bree looked at each other; they had him right where they wanted him.
“Well, we came to Germany to hide something,” Conner said. “We were hired by the United States government because no one would ever suspect kids of traveling with it.”
Emmerich put his hands on his cheeks; the curiosity was eating him alive. “What are you trying to hide?” he asked.
Conner pulled the panpipe from his jacket pocket and showed it to him. “This.”
Emmerich gasped before knowing what it was. “Wait, what is that?”
“It looks like a panpipe, but it’s actually a weapon,” Bree said. “And a very bad man wants to get his hands on it.”
“And you want to hide it in Hohenschwangau?!” Emmerich asked.
They nodded. “We were going to hide it in the castle,” Conner said. “That way no one would ever suspect it was anything but a historical item—but since there aren’t any more tours, we’ll just have to hide it somewhere else.”
“Sorry to bother you, Emmerich,” Bree said. “But we need to get going now. We need to be out of the country by nightfall so they don’t find us.”
They turned to leave but Emmerich ran to stand in front of them.
“No, wait, please!” he said. “I can take you into Neuschwanstein if you want!”
“But how can you do that?” Conner asked.
Emmerich looked around to make sure no one could hear him. “I know a secret passage into the castle,” he explained. “My grandfather took me there once.”
Conner’s and Bree’s spirits soared hearing this, but they had to remain calm to keep their cover.
“I don’t know, I would hate to put your life in danger, Emmerich,” Bree said.
“But I’m putting my own life in danger by offering!” he pleaded. “Please! I can even keep an eye on it for you after you leave!”
They took a few steps away and huddled with their backs to him, pretending to think it over.
“You’re a genius!” Bree whispered to Conner. “What are the chances we would find someone who could lead us to a secret passage into the castle?”
“Yeah, what are the chances?” Conner whispered back with a smile. He knew deep down there was a bit of fairy magic inside of him, although he would never have admitted it openly.
They forced their excitement to fade from their faces and went back to Emmerich.
“All right, Emmerich, if you promise never to tell anyone about this, we’ll let you take us to the castle,” Conner said.
Emmerich jumped up and down. This was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him in his young life. “I knew there was something special about you,” he said. “I’ve seen enough movies to know a secret agent when I see one! When do you want to go?”
“Sometime after dark,” Bree said. “So no one will see us there.”
“Great! I can meet you at Mary’s Bridge after dinner, in an hour or two,” Emmerich said. “My mom would kill me if I missed dinner, even if it was to help save the world.”
“Sounds good,” Conner said. “Where is Mary’s Bridge?”
“It’s up the path to the castle,” Emmerich said. “There are signs to guide you, you can’t miss it. It has the best views of the castle.”
“Terrific, we’ll meet you there,” Bree said.
Emmerich was bouncing and his cheeks were extra rosy. “I can’t wait!” he said, but then became very still when another thought occurred to him. “If I’m leaving after dinner, I better clean my room before my mother gets home!”
He hurried past them and ran up the steps into his house. Conner and Bree sighed with relief at the same time.
“So far we’ve run away from our principal, kidnapped an old lady, lied to a concierge, and tricked an innocent German boy into believing we’re secret agents,” Bree listed. “Does that make us bad people?”
“Nah,” Conner said, shaking his head. “Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reason. Now let’s go check out this bridge. I’m anxious to see this castle.”
They returned to the village and followed the road up to the castle. There were many signs pointing to the various things that could be seen in the hills, but they followed the arrows that said “Marienbrücke” (“Mary’s Bridge”).
The bridge was very long and narrow. It was wood with an iron railing and stretched from one cliff to another. Several tourists braved the bridge and took pictures of the mountains and forest around it. Conner and Bree faced mild cases of vertigo during their first steps onto the bridge—they weren’t expecting to see a waterfall and stream several hundred feet below.
When they got to the middle of the bridge they looked out and saw Neuschwanstein Castle in its entirety for the first time.
“Oh my gosh,” Bree gasped, and put her hands over her mouth.
“I can’t… I can’t… I c-c-can’t believe I’m seeing this right now,” Conner stuttered.
It was easy to believe Neuschwanstein Castle was referred to as one of the wonders of Europe. It was a massive white structure with thousands of windows, dozens of tall towers, pointed roofs, and sharp spirals the color of the night sky. The castle sat on a stone base surrounded by trees at the peak of the hill, which made it look like it was growing out of the mountainside.