Wren to the Rescue

Wren to the Rescue

1990 Harcourt edition cover
Author	Sherwood Smith
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Wren series
Genre	Fantasy novel
Published	1990 (Harcourt Books)
Media type	Print (Hardback 1990 & Paperback 1993, 2004)
Pages	216 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	(first edition, hardback)
Preceded by	A Posse of Princesses (2008)
Followed by	Wren's Quest (1993)

Wren to the Rescue is a fiction novel by Sherwood Smith, which she first wrote in high school in the mid-1960s. In that period Smith titled the story Tess's Mess. Described are the adventures of the title character, Wren, a female human orphan whose best friend Tess is revealed to be the princess of a neighbouring country. When Tess is kidnapped, Wren races to her rescue, making friends with students from a Magic School and learning about her own talents along the way. As part of her adventure, Wren is transformed bodily into a dog, and must decide whether to abandon her quest or try to turn her new shape to the advantage, at great risk of losing her human identity in the process.

Wren to the Rescue tells the story of an orphan girl who learns her best friend and purportedly fellow-orphan Tess, is in fact Teresa Rhisadel, princess and sole heiress of the neighbouring country of Meldrith. Tess proceeds to reveal her reason for remaining in hiding these many years: a curse. Namely, that of Andreus self-styled king of the nearby and ever-menacing nation of Senna Lirwan. In hopes that after twelve years Andreus has lost interest in his threat of revenge, and out of their ceaseless desire to be reunited with their daughter, Tess’s regal parents have sought her return home to Cantirmoor, capital of Meldrith, and have given Tess permission to invite Wren to accompany her.

The plan backfires, however; when the girls are resting in Cantirmoor, the subterfuge of a Lirwani agent succeeds in abducting Tess. In the ensuing confusion, Wren is largely forgotten by the Cantirmoor officials. In frustration and wanting to help Tess, Wren slips away to the Cantirmoor Magic School, which already had been a waypoint of the trip to the palace from the orphanage. There Wren meets a magic prentice, Tyron, whose own plan to rescue Tess she joins.

The pair rides to the Free Vale, a magically-protected Free Haven located south of Cantirmoor. Tyron intends to seek the aid of Idres Rhiscarlan, an inhabitant of the Free Vale, to rescue Tess. Idres’ reluctance due to past animosities between her and Tess’ father prevails, however, and the most she aids them is to discuss an approach to Andreus’ mountain-encircled land. At the next major stop on their journey of rescue, Horth Falls Town, Wren and Tyron encounter another prominent sympathizer to the Princess’ plight, Connor Shaltar, also technically a prince of another land, whose provisions breath new hope into the mission.

The international scope of the conflict becomes clear as debate over a retaliatory invasion against Senna Lirwan heightens in Cantirmoor, ad interim Wren’s rescue party faces an escalating variety of threats as they make their way into, in to, and through, the border mountains. Once on the Lirwani side, some transmogrification (conferred in the rear dust-jacket text in most editions of the print volume of the story) is the only thing which saves Wren from the ambush-laden land’s defenses. This magical intervention proves to be provided by an unexpected ally, whose previous rescue of the rescuers went anonymous.