Beneath the Sugar Sky

"'Sugar, flour, and cinnamon won't make a house a home, so bake your walls with gingerbread and sweeten them with bone. Eggs and milk and whipping cream, butter in the churn, bake our queen a castle in the hopes that she'll return.' -Children's Clapping Rhyme, Confection"Beneath the Sugar Sky is the third book in the Wayward Children series.

Description
Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third book in McGuire's Wayward Children series, returns to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children in a standalone contemporary fantasy for fans of all ages. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the "real" world.

When Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, the last thing she expects to find is that her mother, Sumi, died years before Rini was even conceived. But Rini can’t let Reality get in the way of her quest—not when she has an entire world to save! (Much more common than one would suppose.)

If she can’t find a way to restore her mother, Rini will have more than a world to save: she will never have been born in the first place. And in a world without magic, she doesn’t have long before Reality notices her existence and washes her away. Good thing the student body is well-acquainted with quests…

Beneath the Sugar Sky  is a tale of friendship, baking, and derring-do.

Warning: May contain nuts.

Extracts
That was when the girl fell out of the sky and landed in the middle of the turtle pond with an enormous splash, sending turtles skyward, and drenching both Cora and Nadya in a wave of muddy pond water.

The girl in the pond rose up sputtering, with algae in her hair and a very confused turtle snagged in the complicated draperies of her dress, which seemed to be the result of someone deciding to hybridize a ball gown with a wedding cake, after dyeing both of them electric pink. It also seemed to be dissolving, running down her arms in streaks, coming apart at the seams. She was going to be naked soon.

The girl in the pond didn’t seem to notice, or maybe she just didn’t care. She wiped water and dissolving dress out of her eyes, flicking them to the side, and cast wildly about until she spotted Cora and Nadya standing on the shore, mouths open, gaping at her.

“You!” she yelled, pointing in their direction. “Take me to your leader!”

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In their place was a long hall, the sort that belonged in a palace or a museum, its walls lined with statues, all of them standing beautifully still in their frost-white draperies. No, not statues - people.

Rini shuddered, stepping a little closer to Kade, like she thought he could protect her. “How can they hold so still?” she whispered, voice horrified and awed. “I’d twitch myself into pieces.”

“That’s why this was never your door,” he said. “We don’t go where we’re not meant to be, even if we sometimes get born the wrong place.”

“There was a boy,” said Rini. “When I was small. His parents mined fudge from the northern ridge. He didn’t like the smell of chocolate, or the way it melted on his tongue. He wanted to be clean, and to follow rules, and to understand. He disappeared the year we all started school, and his parents were sad, but they said he’d found his door, and if he was lucky, he’d never come back, not ever, not once.”

Kade nodded. “Exactly. Your mother and I were born in the same world, and it wasn’t right for either of us, so we went somewhere else.” He didn’t ask what sort of lessons would be taught at school in a Nonsense world. His own world had been Logical, and what made perfect sense to Rini wouldn’t make any sense at all to him.

_______________________

"I love baking," she said. "It lets you make the world you want, and it makes everything delicious."

She was in her element: she knew exactly what she was doing, and was content to continue doing it until the job was done.

Part I: The Empty Spaces
Autumn arrives at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, and Eleanor, while walking around the school to make sure everything is still safe, runs into the newest student, Cora, who returned from a mermaid world called the Trenches. Cora seems to settling in fine, and is going to the pond with Nadya; Eleanor tells her to remind her friend to bring a jacket.

Cora meets up with Nadya at the porch, and Nadya teases her a little for her abnormal hair color. Cora reminds her to bring a jacket, but Nadya refuses, instead rushing to the pond to see the turtles. Nadya jumps into the water, but Cora stands off, not liking Fresh Water as opposed to Salt Water. However, at that moment, a girl falls from the sky and lands in the pond. She stands up, and her ball gown dissolves in the water, leaving her naked. She demands to be taken to their "leader", Onishi Sumi, who she identifies as her mother. Nadya informs her that Sumi is dead, and the girl- Onishi Rini- responds by throwing a turtle at her head.

Cora rushes off to find Eleanor, and instead runs into Christopher at the door, who joins her when she explains what's going on. He explains that Sumi was exiled from Confection for pissing off the Countess of Candy Floss, and was murdered by Jill Wolcott. They reach Eleanor, who is painting with Kade. When they explain what's happening, Kade leaves with them to bring Rini to Eleanor's office.

Back at the pond, Rini is now naked, as her candy dress dissolved in the water; however, she is unperturbed by this, and instead demands to be brought to Sumi. Kade avoids mentions of his deceased friend and instead offers to get Rini some clothing. Rini shows them her hand; two of her fingers had disappeared, fading from existence. She says she doesn't have much time, and the students hurry to dress her and bring her to Eleanor.

Rini tells her story to Eleanor, and is confused at the fact that they can't just tell Sumi to stop being dead. Cora asks Rini how she got to Earth, and Rini shows her a bracelet, given to her by the Fondant Wizard, that would transport her between worlds. Kade is upset that she didn't come sooner to save Sumi, and Rini says that her Mom never told her that she had a bad time at school. Christopher then has an idea on how to fix Rini's problem, and he takes them to the basement, where he now lives. There, he shows them Jill's jars of people-parts, including Sumi's hands, that he unburied after having nightmares of her skeleton being incomplete. Christopher says that if he can get Sumi's skeleton, he can give her her hands back and then they could potentially return her soul to her, if they go to the Halls of the Dead and get Nancy to help them. Eleanor gives them permission to go.

Part II: Into the Halls of the Dead
Kade drives the school minivan towards the graveyard where Sumi is buried, with Cora, Rini, Christopher and Nadya. Though the road trip is pretty rocky- there are too many kids, who all have trouble figuring out the reality of their situation- they make it to the graveyard in one piece. Rini is fascinated by the stars, as they don't have them in Confection.

Christopher plays his bone pipe, raising Sumi's skeleton from the ground and re-joining her to her hands. Rini is shocked to find that her Mother is, indeed, dead. Rini takes the bracelet, and tells them that she can go to any world if she knows who she wants and what sugar the world has. Kade, Christopher and Nadya describe Nancy to her, and Kade tells her about the sugar that they mix with pomegranate juice. Rini eats one of the beads, and opens an invisible door, revealing the pomegranate grove. They all walk into the Halls of the Dead.

Kade tells them that Nancy spent most of her time as a statue in the hall of the Lady of Shadows, so they head that direction. Nadya asks if they'll be welcomed, and Cora fears that they won't be due to having made a door instead of found one. Christopher, however, is very happy in this world, as he is surrounded by death, the closest to Mariposa he had been in a long while. He also says that he can't wait to be a skeleton, as then Mariposa won't be able to force him to leave. The group then reaches the end of the pomegranate grove, and they approach a high marble wall with an open door.

They enter the Halls of the Dead, and encounter the Lady of Shadows, who asks how they have arrived. Kade explains that they are trying to save Rini from vanishing, and the Lady of Shadows calms to them once she realizes that they're Nancy's friends. The Lady allows them to enter, so long as they do not eat or drink anything and speak to nobody except for Nancy, the Lady and the Lord of the Dead. After walking through a hall of statues, which terrifies a fast girl like Rini, they enter the throne room and see Nancy, working as a statue. The Lady gives her permission to move, and she greets her friends. Rini bluntly explains the situation, and Christopher asks if Nancy would know where her ghost is. She takes them out of the throne room.

Nancy explains to Nadya about what being a statue entails, and Kade tells her about what's been happening at Eleanor's school. They enter a room filled with shimmering dots of light. Several of them collect around Sumi, and Nancy tells them the room is full of souls who dance their restlessness away before reincarnating. Christopher plays his flute, and lights form around Sumi until a translucent image surrounds her; however, the image is of Sumi before the went to Confection. Nancy explains that the image is her ghost, not her heart, and they will need to return her wildness to her. However, before they can leave, the Lord of the Dead arrives, informing them that they need to exchange one soul for another.

While Kade initially refuses, the Lord of the Dead insists that the price for one soul is another. Nadya then asks if they have turtle ponds in the Land of the Dead, and the Lord, faintly baffled, says that they do, and they also occasionally get portals to Belyyreka. Nadya asks if he would release her if she stayed and her portal came, and the Lord of the Dead agrees. Nadya agrees to stay, and leaves for the pond with Nancy. The Lord then allows them to let Sumi's shade go with them, and Christopher asks where Sumi's nonsense went. He tells them that it went home, and Rini opens them a portal to Confection.

The Travelers fall into the Strawberry Sea, and while Rini is excited to be home, Cora realizes that Christopher did not resurface. She dives under the water to rescue him, dragging him onto the cake-crumb shore. She performs CPR to wake him up, while Rini seems confused and horrified at the idea of drowning, which doesn't happen in Confection. Kade explains that the travelers may have brought a bit of logic with them, and after Rini explains that Confection is a Nonsense World with consistent internal rules, Kade tells them not to deny their reality. They start to walk towards Rini's farm, which is a day's journey away (as is everything else).

Rini starts to explain more about Confection, which confuses the very logical Cora. However, they stop upon seeing an army approaching, and though the travelers try to run, they are quickly caught and arrested for crimes against the Queen of Cakes.

Part III: Bake Me a Mountain Frost Me a Sky
The Knights of the Army take them to the Queen's castle bound in spun-sugar rope, confiscating Rini's bracelet and Christopher's bone flute. Rini explains to the others that since her Mom started disappearing from the timeline, the Queen of Cakes returned. The group is then brought before the Queen, who thinks herself the rightful monarch due to her ancestry of Bakers. Rini, however, argues that Confection should not be ruled. Cora manages to deduce that the Queen of Cakes is a traveler. The Queen tells the travelers that if they tell her how they made Sumi a Shade, she will let them go. When they refuse, the Queen brandishes Christopher's flute. Christopher panics and launches himself at the Queen, trying to get the flute back. The Knights drag him back, and the Guards take the travelers to the dungeon, leaving Sumi's skeleton to her.

Christopher starts to freeze and shake, and Kade explains that he needs his bone in close proximity to him in order to survive; it had been replaced in Mariposa to save him from cancer. Cora decides it's time to plan an escape, and asks Kade about what he did in Prism. When he reveals he was a soldier, Cora realizes it means he can use a sword. She then makes noise until soldiers arrive, rushing into the room to shut her up. Kade then knocks out one soldier with some edible masonry, while Rini grabs the other, offering to watch him. Kade takes the sword, and him and Cora rush out.

Kade poses as a Knight, and takes Cora to the Queen. Cora claims to the Queen that she thinks Confection needs to be Logical, and she wants to follow in her footsteps. The Queen allows her to come closer, and once they're close enough, Kade puts his sword to the Queen, allowing Cora to take the flute. Before Cora frees Sumi's shade, she asks the Guards why they aren't trying to help the Queen, and they reveal that they aren't sure this is real. Cora gets them to leave, and her and Kade drag the Queen back to the prison cell with them, letting Sumi's shade follow them. Upon entering the room, Rini, now missing an eye to the nothingness, ties her up, as Cora returns Christopher's flute. Kade asks Christopher if he wants him to kill the Queen, and Christopher decides that he'd rather not see her dead, because he doesn't want to see her in the afterlife. The travelers then leave the Queen in the prison, rushing out of the castle.

The travelers head towards Rini's farm, hoping that her Nonsense could be found there. Upon reaching the farm, Rini rushes forwards with Sumi to find her Father, and Sumi's husband, Ponder. However, while talking, Cora realizes that they left Rini's bracelet back at the castle. Kade assures her that they would figure out how to get home, though he admits that he's probably lying, which actually makes Cora feel better. Kade explains a bit about the intersection of worlds, until they reach the farmhouse. They greet Ponder, who admits that he doesn't know how to return Sumi's Nonsense to her. However, after Christopher's suggestion, he does say that the Baker may be able to help, and directs them towards her.

Part IV: This is Where We Change the World
Ponder gives the travelers some gifts before sending them off, though Rini doesn't think they'll help. Rini admits to the others that she's never seen the Baker, and she's a little scared to meet her, before explaining that the current Baker arrived while she was a little girl. Cora starts to get nervous, too, not having expected to meet a God. Kade argues that the Lord and Lady of the Dead were probably functionally divine, too, and they were possibly also travelers, long ago. Rini also worries that, due to her Mother's age at death, fixing her might not save Rini.

Upon reaching the Baker's Oven, the travelers meet the Baker, who greets them happily. Rini asks if she can heal Sumi, and the Baker believes that she can't pull back Sumi's Nonsense. Cora asks if she can create more, and when the Baker expresses confusion, Kade asks where the Baker found her door. The Baker reveals she used to live in Brooklyn, and asks worriedly if they're trying to take her back, believing that she'll live in Confection forever. She agrees to try and make some Nonsense for Sumi.

The Baker builds up Sumi's limbs around her skeleton with candy and sweets, before putting her in the oven to bake. While talking with the others, the Baker reveals her name is Layla, and she's not a God; she only bakes for Confection. Layla also suggests that, to fix the timeline, they should bring Sumi back to their world, so she can find her door correctly. Christopher asks if he'd be able to find her on Earth, since their timelines are different, and Layla asks that he doesn't, so that he doesn't mess up her timeline and prevent her from becoming a Baker. The timer goes off, and they all go to see Sumi.

They pull Sumi out of the oven, finding that she has returned to normal. Rini begs for Layla to awaken her, but Layla tells her to let her cool first. She also explains that she's returned to life because Confection wanted her back, though she doesn't know if her Nonsense has returned. Once Sumi has cooled, Layla asks the group how to awaken Sumi, as she doesn't know. Rini moves to the table, telling her Mother about her adventure and begging her to wake up. Sumi's hands begin twitching, and soon, Sumi wakes up, asking why she's alive (and naked).

Part V: What Came After
Sumi doesn't recognize Rini, but she agrees to go through the door Layla baked with the other travelers. Layla makes them promise to leave her alone. Rini hugs Sumi, and Sumi says that she doesn't love her, because she doesn't know her, but she thinks she will. After they leave (while Sumi is asking where Nancy is), Layla tells Rini to go home. Rini, overjoyed, runs back to the farm. The travelers arrive outside of Eleanor's school, where Sumi runs to hug Eleanor.

Nadya sits on the bank of the River of Forgotten Souls, staring at the turtles around her. She thinks of Belyyreka, and how she arrived there looking for Love. She then realizes that her water prosthetic- which only worked in Belyyreka- has returned, and sees a portal in the river. She takes a turtle with her, and dives in.

Characters

 * Eleanor West
 * Kade Bronson
 * Angela (briefly)
 * Christopher
 * Cora
 * Nadya
 * Onishi Rini
 * Onishi Sumi
 * Countess of Candy Floss (mentioned)
 * Jill Wolcott (mentioned)
 * Jack Wolcott (mentioned)
 * Lady of Shadows
 * Nancy Whitman
 * Lord of the Dead
 * Queen of Cakes
 * Ponder
 * Layla
 * Burian (mentioned)

Worlds

 * Earth
 * Confection
 * Halls of the Dead

Trivia
To be added