Puff the dragon dropped Lance and Org off at Henny Penny's farm and then set Gwen and Howard down outside Cinderella's palace. They bid him a fond good-bye, and he soared away towards his home.

The palace stood on a hill at the center of town. The local citizens did not seem surprised when a dragon landed in their town. In fact, they scarcely noticed. Hundreds of people, dressed in their fanciest finery, were hurrying across the square and down the streets.

Gwen and Howard heard a woman say to her husband with a sigh, "Another ball! Why can't she just once give a picnic or something? This is the 37th ball so far this year! And every one of us is required to go! Just because Cinderella used to be poor, and dressed in rags and do chores--now all she ever wants to do is throw parties."

Gwen and Howard followed the crowd to the palace.

"Wait!" Howard said, grabbing her arm. "Aren't you forgetting something? We're not exactly dressed for this."

Gwen looked over their clothes. He was right. They both wore grubby jeans and T-shirts. Gwen's were even stained with bean-juice.

"I'll make clothes for you!" exclaimed a voice just below them. They turned to see a tiny little woman sitting on the bottom step. "Please let me help you!" begged the little woman. "I need a job! I used to work for Princess Cinderella, but she fired me." "You're her fairy godmother!" exclaimed Gwen in astonishment.

"I was," said the godmother sadly, "before she got married. Now she has all the fanciest dressmakers in the land working for her. That's gratitude for you. But I'll be happy to make yours-here!" The fairy godmother waved her wand and sent off a shower of sparks in Gwen and Howard's direction.

Immediately, Gwen's outfit changed to a magnificent ball gown, and Howard found himself clad in an elegant old-fashioned suit.

The front doors of the palace flew open, and a trumpeter appeared. "Here ye, hear ye, the royal ball is about to begin! Anyone left loitering in the streets will be punished by having to clean the palace bathrooms!"

"Hurry!" exclaimed someone, rushing by. "There are 26 bathrooms!"

"Let's go!" cried Howard, grabbing Gwen and pulling her up the stairs. "I never cleaned a bathroom and I don't want to start!"

They burst through the doorway just in time. The big double doors clanged shut behind them. The opening dance began.

Gwen said, "How do we find a clue with all these people here?"

Just then they heard a high-pitched squeal, and Rapunzel rushed up to them. "Howard!" she cried, "I knew you couldn't resist dancing with me!"

Gwen stared in surprise. Howard turned thirty shades of red. "Uh, Gwen, this is Rapunzel," he stammered. "Rapunzel, this is Gwen, my."

"His date," said Gwen. "How do you do?"

Howard looked relieved, but Rapunzel turned pale with rage, and threw a fit. "YOU BROUGHT A DATE??? HOW DARE YOU!! YOU-YOU-YOU TRAITOR!!" The dancers nearest them stared. "YOU COWARD!" she screamed. "YOU BONEHEAD! YOU CARBUNCLE!!"

Except for Rapunzel, the room had gone deathly silent. The musicians had stopped playing. Cinderella stalked angrily across the ballroom. "How DARE you interrupt my party?" she demanded coldly.

"We're terribly sorry," said Gwen. "I've never seen this woman before in my life," she added truthfully.

Cinderella turned to Rapunzel. "Take her off to clean the royal bathrooms!" she commanded her guards. "With a toothbrush!"

Rapunzel was dragged off, still screaming and kicking. Cinderella turned to Howard and Gwen. "Well, what are you standing there for? Dance!!"

Hastily Howard and Gwen began to dance. Howard stumbled over Gwen's dress, bumping into several other dancers, who glared. Howard sighed, "This is going to be a real long party."

Meanwhile, Lance and Org knocked on the farmhouse door, and it was opened a tiny crack. A long, thin beak poked out. "Who's there?" squawked the beak. "Go away!" Lance whipped out his badge. "Storyland Security."

The door was flung open suddenly by a very large white goose, who suddenly burst into tears. "Oh th-thank g-g-oodness, you're h-here!"

"Calm yourself, dear madam!" said Org. "We need the facts of the case. You, I assume, are Goosey Lucy? And this is Henny Penny's farm?"

"Ye-e-e-e-e-s!" wailed the goose. She was crying torrents of tears.

"Now, now, dear Madam," soothed Org. "Try to control yourself. We are here to help you. Sit down and dry your tears, that's better."

The goose wiped her eyes and blew here nose with a loud HONK!

Org said, "Tell us how Goosey Lucy."

The goose sniffled. "Well, it all began a week ago on Wednesday night, when we got the invitation from the king--to dine at the castle, that very night. We were so happy! People have been so unkind to us since that little mistake we made a while back-you know, where we were sure the sky was falling? Such a simple misunderstanding-it could have happened to anyone, couldn't it?" She waited, and when they did not answer, she turned a bit red, and went on. "Well, anyway, since then we've been practically outcasts out here on this farm. So we were thrilled."

"But madam," objected Org, "the king couldn't have sent you that invitation. He's-well--very ill now, you know." To Lance, he added in a whisper, " Actually, he's gone quite dotty in his old age. All he's interested in any more is his pipe, his bowl, and these three fiddlers he picked up from somewhere. Dances around all day in his nightgown. Most embarrassing."

The goose looked sternly at Org and said, "Well, of course we thought this message meant he was better. So, anyway, we dressed up and we all headed for the castle - Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Turkey Lurkey and me. But it was all a mistake. The king hadn't invited us, and there wasn't any dinner party. And in the forest, they just disappeared!"

"Where were you?" asked Lance.

"I was with them at first-but I turned back because I forgot my hat!"

"I see," said Org politely. "And while you were gone.?"

"Someone kidnapped them--and I'm sure it's that nasty fox again, but the police won't believe me!"

"Did you get the invitation in the mail?" asked Lance suddenly.

"No," the goose said. "It was delivered by special messenger."

"What did the messenger look like?" asked Lance eagerly.

"I couldn't see him very well," she said, "because he wore a cloak, with a hood. But I saw his nose. It was long and pointy."

"Fur," said Lance suddenly. "Could you see the fur around his nose? What color was it? Was it red, like a fox?"

"No," said the goose. "It was gray. A nasty, dirty grey. Whoever he was, he didn't wash much. And he had bad breath, too. Horrible!" She shuddered. "It smelled like old rancid cheese."

"Cheese!" Lance stared at her. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," said the goose severely. "There's nothing wrong with my sense of smell, young man."

Lance turned to Org. "Org! It's just like what Howard found in Snow White's glass case, remember? Gray fur, and a piece of cheese!"

Org's eyes gleamed. "Yes, my boy. I think perhaps we're getting very close to solving our mystery." He turned to the goose. "Thank you, madam, you've been most helpful."

"You're welcome," said the goose, and added eagerly, "Will you be able to find them now?"

"I hope so," said Org. He said to Lance, "We need to contact the others and let them know what we found out." But when he tried to page Gwen and Howard on the walkie-talkie, there was no answer. Lance was worried. Had something terrible happened to Howard and Gwen?

Actually, the only thing that had happened to Howard and Gwen was temporary deafness. Princess Cinderella's orchestra was playing very loudly, and they did not hear the walkie-talkie. Besides, they were too busy stepping on each other's toes and tripping over the other dancers.

"Ouch!" said Gwen for the fifteenth time. "This is horrible! Let's get out of here!" As they danced past a set of open doors, she said, "Quick! Through here!" They ducked out on to a large balcony. "Thank goodness!" gasped Gwen, limping to a nearby bench.

"Sorry," apologized Howard. "I'm just no good at dancing."

"Me neither!" said Gwen. "You know, I could plan a much better party than that brainless Cinderella. For my last birthday, I planned a mystery party. It was great!" As they sat resting their toes, she told Howard all about the mystery party.

"Bet you never thought you'd solve a real mystery," said Howard.

"We haven't solved it yet," said Gwen. "And we won't, if we don't find the next clue. We've just got to find it. Org is counting on us."

"Pardon me," said a voice behind them. "Did I hear you mention Org?" They whirled around to see a butler standing nearby.

"Yes, Org-the head of security," said Gwen. "We work for him."

"Oh, thank heavens!" exclaimed the butler. "I'm supposed to give you this." He handed them a folded piece of paper. A quick look told them that it was indeed another secret code.

G T HT CLP RHW HT VNK LTS HT STRT,
DN TG TSL DSN HT NKRB TRH!

"Where did you get this?" demanded Gwen.

"A stranger-in the garden-a while ago," said the butler hastily. "He said to give it to someone at the party who worked for Org. Excuse me, I must go. Princess Cinderella will be wanting me."

"Wait!" cried Howard. "The stranger-what did he look like?'

"Don't know," the butler called over his shoulder. "He had on a big cloak-I couldn't see his face. But I'll tell you this-he had very bad breath-like old cheese." He disappeared inside the castle.

At that very moment, Howard's walkie-talkie crackled to life. "Howard, you there?" said Org's voice. "We have a description. Be on the lookout for a villain with grey fur, a long nose, and a fondness for cheese."

"Cheese!" cried Gwen and Howard together. Their eyes met. "If only we'd come out here sooner!" said Howard. Now, it's too late."