Mr. Canis, Red Riding Hood, and Daphne appeared with Elvis, Granny Relda, Henry, and Veronica.
“Agreed,” Granny said,
“But what about . . . ?” Daphne trailed off anxiously, pointing to the dragon still fighting Arthur’s knights in the center of the camp. It was blocking the entrance to Charming’s cabin.
Puck’s wings unfurled. “I’ll handle it,” he said.
“I thought you weren’t the hero type,” Sabrina challenged.
“I’m not, but you make it impossible to stay a villain,” Puck said, then turned to Granny Relda. “Old lady, if I die, I’d like you to do one small thing for me. I want you to build a one-hundred-acre museum dedicated to my memory. Have at least three hundred marble statues erected of me in my most dashing poses. One of these statues should stand one hundred feet tall and greet ships as they float down the Hudson River. One of the wings of the museum should house an amusement park with the world’s fastest roller coaster. None of the rides should be equipped with safety devices. You can rent some of the space to fast-food restaurants and ice-cream parlors, but nothing should be healthy or nutritious. The gift shop can sell Puck dolls packed with broken glass and asbestos. There’s a more detailed list in my room.”
He flapped his wings and rose into the air.
“Puck, I absolutely forbid this!” Granny cried.
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” Sabrina said.
“I have this covered, Grimm. I’ll be fine,” he said, waving his wooden sword in the air.
“That’s a toy!” she shouted.
“Don’t disrespect the sword!” he cried, and then he shot toward the dragon. He jabbed it in the ear, and the monster roared. It turned its massive body toward Puck and exhaled. A ball of fire as big as a car rocketed toward him. He dodged it, but only narrowly.
“Missed me, ugly?” Puck taunted, soaring up higher into the sky. The angry dragon growled and followed.
With the path clear, the Grimms hurried into Charming’s cabin. Once inside, they found the magic mirrors leaning against the wall. Harry and Reggie were waiting in the reflections, looking alarmed.
“What is all that racket?” Harry asked.
“Sounds like war has broken out,” Reggie said.
“Yes, it has. Harry, we’re coming through. Tell Mirror he’s going to get some visitors,” Henry explained.
“Oh, dear. Hurry, folks, you’ll be safe inside,” Harry promised.
Henry and the family helped the elderly Everafters through the reflection first and then the very young and the smaller animals. One by one, the frightened refugees stepped through, but more continued to arrive when they heard Snow’s call for retreat. Geppetto was one of them, racing into the cabin in a panic.
“Have you seen my boy?” he begged.
Granny bit her lip. “He’s already in the mirror,” she lied.
Geppetto thanked her and raced through the reflection.
Granny sighed. “I just couldn’t tell him the truth.”
Prince Charming rushed into the cabin, dragging Snow with him.
“Ms. White! I won’t hear another word of this. Get through the portal, now!”
Snow stomped her foot. “Mr. Charming, as you may know, I am not seven years old. I can take care of myself.”
“Fine, you want to be difficult?” Charming threw up his hands in frustration. “This is a direct order from your commanding officer. Sergeant White, you are to get into the Hall of Wonders at once.”
Snow looked up at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. Her anger melted away, and she did as he asked.
“If you don’t come through in five minutes, I’m coming back for you,” she promised.
“Boss, why aren’t you housing the refugees in the hotel? We have plenty of rooms available,” Harry asked.
“My hotel?!” Charming growled. “These mongrels would destroy the place. The sheets are five hundred thread count.”
Reggie looked nervous. “I suppose the Island of Wonders is out of the question, too, then? All well and good, but Beauty lent me to you with the belief that you would keep me safe. I’m fragile, you know.”
“Yeah, boss. You can’t just leave us here,” Harry said. “Wait, do I hear dragons?”
“Can I take a magic mirror into a magic mirror?” the prince asked.
Reggie shrugged.
Harry scratched his head. “There’s nothing in my instruction book about it, I’m afraid.”
“Has it ever been tried before?” Charming asked impatiently.
“No, sir,” Harry said.
“But listen, man, you’re messin’ wit’ serious mojo here,” Reggie cried. “You don’t want to play around wit’ t’ings you don’t understand.”
Charming took Reggie off the wall and pushed his mirror into Henry’s hands. “Hank, take this with you.”
“Oh, I get to mess with the serious mojo?” Henry asked, looking skeptical, but Charming had already bolted out of the cabin and back into the fray before he could argue.
“What about me?” Harry cried.
Sabrina heard the popping and snapping of burning timber. Smoke drifted into the cabin and irritated her nose and eyes. The camp was burning.
“We need to get everyone into the hall now,” Veronica cried. She did her best to hurry the steady stream of refugees through Harry's reflection, but a bottleneck of panicked Everafters clogged the portals and slowed everything down. Still, Veronica got them through, sometimes shoving roughly to get them moving. One after another, they disappeared through the reflection until the only people left were King Arthur’s knights, a few brave princes, and most of the Merry Men.
“Where’s Jacob?” Granny Relda cried.
“He’s at Briar’s grave,” King Arthur reported. “He refuses to leave.”
Henry gave Reggie to Arthur, and, before anyone could stop him, he darted out of the cabin after his brother. Sabrina raced after him. They zigzagged across the courtyard as bombs exploded left and right. One eruption was so close that it knocked Sabrina off her feet and rattled her brain. Her father helped her to her feet, and they kept running until they found Jake standing over Briar’s grave.
“You have to come, Jake,” Henry said.
“I won’t leave her,” Uncle Jake said.
“You have to. Do you want to join her?”
“Maybe I do, Hank.”
Sabrina gasped. “That isn’t what Briar would want,” she said.
“What would you know about what she would want?” Jake snapped. “You didn’t love her, Sabrina. You don’t know anything about her.”
“I knew her!” Sabrina shouted over the noise. “She wouldn't want you to stay here and die. She was a fighter. She would want you to fight, too.”
Tears escaped her uncle’s eyes.
“You’re not alone, Jake," Henry said. “I’m here. Mom’s here. The girls are here. We’re going to help you get through this, but right now we have to go!”
Uncle Jake leaned down and picked a rosebud from the magical bush and put it into one of his many pockets, right over his heart.
“OK,” he said, sounding defeated. He turned, and together the three Grimms raced back to Charming’s cabin. They arrived just in time to see Mr. Canis and Red Riding Hood stepping into the mirror. Arthur handed Reggie back to Henry, who followed Veronica through the reflection.
As if on cue, Charming returned.
“What are you waiting for? Get into the hall, now!” Charming shouted. “The Hand has broken through the gate. They’re swarming the camp.”
Everyone tumbled into Harry’s reflection and raced through the portal. Mirror was waiting for them in the Room of Reflections.
“I’ve got to go back for Harry,” Mirror said. He was leaping into action, when there was a massive crash. Sabrina turned back to the portal to the Hotel of Wonders and saw Sheriff Nottingham on the other side. He was holding a heavy sledgehammer high above his head. He swung it down as hard as he could, s
lamming it into Harry’s reflection.
Harry appeared, looking terrified.
“He’s trying to break me,” Harry said.
“Uh-oh!” Daphne said.
“Didn’t you say that when a mirror is broken, everything inside it is cut to ribbons?” Sabrina asked Mirror.
“Boss, what can I do?” Harry called to Charming, desperately.
“Harry, there’s a box in room nineteen. It’s in the bureau and very important. Can you fetch it for me?”
“Of course, sir. In a jiffy,” Harry said, then vanished.
“Let’s go out there and help him,” Arthur said, but as if on cue, a mob of goblins and trolls stormed into the cabin. They were wielding horrible weapons and eager for a fight.
“They’ll kill us,” Henry said.
“We have to do something,” Sabrina shouted as Nottingham pounded on the reflection again.
“Billy?” Snow said. “What should we do?”
Charming said nothing. He stared into the reflection, watching the sheriff do his ugly work.
“We can’t just stand here,” Daphne cried.
Another blow hit the mirror, and a tiny crack appeared in the reflection.
“Harry!” Charming muttered as he wrung his hands. “C’mon, Harry!”
Several long seconds passed; then Harry reappeared. Charming slipped his hand through the mirror and took the small black box. It was tiny, barely large enough to hold a ring.
“Here you go, boss. Did I do OK, boss?”
“You did very well, Harry,” Charming said.
“Harry, can you step through into our mirror?” Daphne asked.
Harry flashed a melancholy smile. “I’m sorry, little one. But I’m afraid that is in the instruction book. I can’t leave my mirror.”
A ripple of cracks rolled across the glass, distorting Harry’s face.
“It was fun, boss,” Harry said to the prince.
Charming nodded. “Indeed it was.”
“Aloha, my friends,” Harry said, just as Nottingham’s sledgehammer smacked the reflection one final time. A fiery-red handprint appeared at the center of the glass, identical to the one Sabrina saw appear when the Wicked Queen had threatened to “fix” Mirror not long ago. It burned bright and hot, and then the reflection shattered. A million pieces spilled out of the frame and onto the floor. Harry and his Hotel of Wonders were gone.
Charming stared at the broken shards for a moment as he stuffed the black box into his suit jacket. His jaw was clenched, hard and tight.
“I’m sorry,” Sabrina said to him. “I know Harry was a friend.”
Charming shook his head. “Harry was not real. I can’t mourn him.”
“But—”
“What about Puck?” Sabrina asked, suddenly remembering he was still out in the camp fighting the dragon.
Granny looked worried. “I’m sure he’ll be all right, Sabrina.”
Sabrina wasn’t sure she believed her.
Meanwhile, the crowd was on the verge of panic. Many were injured. Nurse Sprat was busy dressing their wounds, but there were too many for her to handle. Even with Granny, Veronica, and Goldilocks’s combined help, people continued to suffer. Worse still, it was clear their numbers had dwindled. More than half the camp did not make it into the hall.
Charming raised his hand for attention, and the crowd turned to him.
“Battles are won. Battles are lost. But for the sake of those who fell, we fight on. I know that as you look around, a feeling of discouragement wells up in your throats. But you need to spit that feeling out on the floor. Stomp on it. Smash it into dust. It has no place here. We will fight again, and we will show the Master and his Hand how discouragement feels.”
“We’ve had enough of your pep talks, Charming,” Mr. Boarman cried. “People died today, and a lot of pretty words aren’t going to make us feel better about it.”
Little Bo Peep stepped forward. “We cannot beat the Scarlet Hand.”
Charming tried to speak again, but he was booed into silence.
Then, Mr. Seven stepped forward. “We are already beating them!” the little man shouted over the crowd. Everyone turned to find Mr. Seven standing with Morgan La Fay. His face was determined and strong. “You want to know why those dragons were sent after us? Because we’re a threat! The Master is furious that we took the marina. He’s enraged because we cut off his supply line. And we did it all while a spy told him our every move.”
“A spy!” Rapunzel cried.
“Yes, we are all under surveillance by a member of the Scarlet Hand, and we still managed to beat them. Even though we’re outnumbered, we scared the Master so badly, he sent his most vicious weapons to wipe us out. And they couldn’t get the job done. He took some of our friends, but we took out four dragons. Plus, I’m told Sabrina Grimm wiped out hundreds of his soldiers all by herself. That is astounding, people. We’re doing what the Hand thought was impossible. We’re surviving! Do you hear me? We’re surviving! And the next time we see his ugly army, we’re going to beat them again!”
The crowd roared. Many danced and sang; others hugged and kissed one another. Seven was so caught up in the celebration, he kissed Morgan on the mouth. The woman looked surprised but happy.
Sabrina was stunned as she watched the refugees.
“Perhaps Mr. Seven is the charming one,” Granny Relda said.
The crowd shouted and shook swords, wands, and fists in the air. They lifted Seven off the ground and marched him around on their shoulders.
As the Grimms watched the celebration, Charming approached them. “I’m told Geppetto’s boy was responsible for the sabotage.”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Granny replied. “He escaped when we confronted him. I fear he may have been killed by the dragons.”
Charming looked around at the impromptu celebration. “Or he’s hiding in this crowd. We’ll catch him eventually.”
Henry stepped forward. “You’ve got a bigger problem than that, Prince. Bringing the troops inside the Hall of Wonders might have saved their lives, but I’m afraid we’re all stuck in here. There’s an army blocking both exits.”
“We’re not trapped at all, Henry,” the prince replied. “We’re going to march right out the front door.”
Henry shook his head in disbelief.
Nurse Sprat appeared. “Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt, but I was hoping I could borrow Veronica and the girls.”
“Of course,” Veronica said, and then turned to Henry. “We’ll be right back. Will you save me a dance?”
Henry kissed her. “I’ll save them all for you.”
Veronica, Sabrina, and Daphne followed the nurse through the crowd. Once they were safely out of earshot, Sprat turned to the group and took Veronica’s hands in her own. Her expression was serious and troubled. “I have some bad news—”
“It’s the baby,” Veronica interrupted. Her hand glided across her belly.
“You are not pregnant,” Nurse Sprat confirmed, “anymore.”
A tear rolled down Veronica’s cheek, and she looked to Sabrina and then Daphne. “I’m sorry, girls.”
The girls hugged her tightly, as if they could fight back the sadness.
“Oh, now, wait! Veronica, you didn’t lose the baby,” the nurse said. “This is so confusing. I don’t even understand it, really. That’s why I brought in some help.”
Morgan le Fay approached. “Sorry I’m late. I got a little sidetracked.”
Nurse Sprat nodded. “Did you bring your magic?”
“I never leave home without it,” the witch said, waving her hands in the air. A blue mist materialized and swirled around Veronica.
“Nurse Sprat, what is this all about?” Veronica asked, startled.
“Just a moment,” the nurse replied. She watched the vapor as it changed colors from blue to red. Then, it vanished.
“Just as you suspected, Nurse,” Morgan le Fay said. “Something magical happened to Veronica.”
“Ca
n someone please tell us what’s going on?” Sabrina snapped.
“Veronica, it’s just a theory, but—”
“Just tell me,” Veronica begged.
“You were pregnant. Even though you were asleep at the time, the baby grew at a normal pace. It was healthy, and you took it to term.”
“I’m not sure what you’re telling me,” Veronica said.
“I found something unusual in your blood sample, a peculiar compound I have never seen before,” the nurse said. “But it was clearly magical.”
“That’s where I came in. Nurse Sprat let me take a look, and it’s definitely Donnoga Root,” Morgan said. “It was used back in the old country by women who were expecting difficult births—you know, human-giant infants, frog-princess hybrids, things of that nature. Beauty and the Beast used it, as did Ms. Muffet and the Spider. It makes would-be-impossible births possible.”
“And this Nooganar Root was in my blood?” Veronica asked.
“Donnoga Root,” Nurse Sprat said. “We found traces in the sample. Someone used it on you.”
Daphne stepped forward. “But, my mom wasn’t having an impossible birth. She was having a normal baby.”
“A normal baby,” Sprat explained, “but not a normal birth. Your mother was asleep and under a magical spell. She wouldn’t have been able to give birth if she was entirely unconscious, so the herb helped with the birth. Whoever did this—”
“They took my baby!” Veronica cried. Her voice shook with panic.
Sabrina wanted to tell her mother that was crazy, but she knew better. She remembered the crib in Red Riding Hood’s room at the mental hospital. She heard a child crying in the halls. The little lunatic called him her baby brother. Then, there was the Wizard of Oz, who said her parents were giving birth to a new future. There were hints and clues all around them, all along, and she’d never understood them. But why? What did the Master need with her baby brother, and where was he now? There was only one person who could tell her.
“Where’s Red Riding Hood?” Sabrina snapped.
“With Mr. Canis, I think,” Daphne said. “Why?”
Sabrina ran back to the crowd. “Let me by!” she shouted as she pushed through their celebration. “I need to get past!”
The Everafter War Page 16
