Escape from the Isle of the Lost (Descendants 4)

Collect a shard from Cinderella’s glass slipper.

Pluck a flower from Aurora’s rose garden.

Cut off a lock of Rapunzel’s hair.

Steal a banana from Terk.

Bring back one of Rajah’s collars. (Jasmine’s tiger had quite a collection.)

Pick an apple from Snow White’s orchard.

Take a slice of birthday cake from Mad Hatter’s tea party.

Grab a thingamabob from Ariel’s collection.

Bake a beignet using Princess Tiana’s recipe.

Kiss a prince.

Hum “Be Our Guest” when you get to the finish line.

“I think I hear something. They’re here!” said Jane excitedly. She stood up and craned her neck.

Mal and Ben burst out of Ben’s carriage. Mal was holding up a fork while Ben was balancing a plate of beignets in one hand and carrying his backpack in the other. The two of them were humming loudly to the tune of “Be Our Guest.”

At the same time, Evie and Doug raced to the goalpost from the other side. Evie was holding up a rose while Doug held a satchel of scavenger-hunt objects. They were humming just as loudly, with Evie occasionally bursting into giggles.

It looked like first place would come down to these two teams, but at the last minute, Jay and Lonnie burst from the hedges. Lonnie was carrying a basket with all the items on the list, apples and bananas piled high on top.

All the teams reached the goal line at the same moment, and Mal noticed Evie and Lonnie bolting toward Ben, which reminded her that she too needed to fulfill the second-to-last item in front of the judges: Kiss a prince. All three girls hurriedly leaned in to kiss Ben on the cheek almost at the same time. Almost, that is, because Mal kissed him first. “We win!” said Mal, cheering. “Yay, us!”

Carlos shook his head. “Nope, you all lose.”

“What?” they chorused. Mal did a double take, Evie looked affronted, and Lonnie frowned and looked as if she were about to go into battle.

But Jane only laughed and motioned to Chad, who was right behind them. Chad was kissing his own hand. “DONE!” he crowed.

“Ben is a king,” said Jane. “The quest is to kiss a prince. And well, Chad is kissing a prince, all right.”

The group groaned in unison, and Carlos handed Chad the trophy and the gift certificate. “Try the gray stuff. It’s delicious,” he joked.

“I don’t think they serve that at Ariel’s Grotto,” said Jane. “I think that’s Mrs. Potts’s recipe.”

“Oh, right,” said Carlos. “Congratulations, Chad!”

Chad screamed in delight and danced around the goalposts, hoisting the trophy up in the air as they all looked on with amusement. The rest of the teams arrived, singing and showing each other the treasures they’d scored.

“Congratulations, everyone!” said Jane. “You are all winners!”

“Midnight eats from Snow White’s Snack Shack?” Carlos suggested, as his stomach was growling now.

A cheer went up from the crowd of seniors, and they all piled back into their carriages, laughing and high-fiving as they went.

Over the late-night meal, they relived the highlights of the quest. Evie and Doug showed off the scratches on their arms from the thorns from the rose garden, while Jay and Lonnie laughed about how loudly Jay screamed when Rajah caught him sneaking away with one of the tiger’s jew

eled collars.

When the laughter died down and the crowd at Snow White’s trendy new restaurant began to disperse, Mal cleared her throat and leaned in toward her friends. “So, the Royal Council said we can go back to the Isle of the Lost next weekend to talk to the kids there. Sound good to everyone?”