The Inside Story

by Michael Buckley

  “Um,” Daphne said.

  “I’m not supposed to know that! Now it’s part of the story. I have to go in there and turn her into a swan too. If I don’t, my motivations won’t make any sense, but if I do, how will the boys get rescued?”

  “You could pretend you didn’t hear it,” Sabrina suggested.

  The queen shook her head. “Guards, these three children have brought the Editor to our story. The revisers will be here at any moment.”

  At the word “revisers,” the guards raced into the woods as if running for their lives. The queen followed them, dropping her end of the ball of yarn in her flight.

  “We’re sorry!” Daphne shouted to them.

  “Messing up these stories is kind of fun,” Puck said. “I hope we run into Ms. Muffet. I’ll give her something to be afraid of . . .”

  Sabrina’s gaze fell on the queen’s ball of yarn. She snatched it up and immediately felt the uncomfortable sensation she always experienced when handling magical items. If she held it for too long, she’d be overcome with the urge to use it. So she shoved it into her sister’s hand.

  “Wow! The magic in this thing is strong, even more than Dorothy’s slippers. Let’s give it a try,” Daphne said as she held the yarn ball to her mouth. “Take us to Mirror.”

  At once, the ball of yarn fell out of the young girl’s hands and rolled into the woods. Sabrina watched it with amazement. “Is it possible? Could it really take us to him and our baby brother?”

  Daphne shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

  The children chased the rolling ball of yarn through the woods, collecting the loose strand and re-wrapping it as they went. The faster they ran, the faster the yarn seemed to roll, until it zipped down a small embankment to a dry creek bed, where a door materialized. The ball of yarn stopped in front of the door and hopped around as if eager to keep moving.

  “So there are doors inside the stories.” Sabrina smiled. “We can stop worrying about going all the way to the end before we find one.”

  It seemed as if something was finally going their way. She opened the door and the wind that came out smelled like burning wood and leather. It was oddly familiar. The yarn rolled forward into the void and disappeared. Sabrina took her sister by the hand and snatched Puck by the collar and together they followed the yarn.

  The first thing Sabrina heard was a crackling fire and the sound of someone flipping through the dry pages of an old book. When she blinked, she found herself lying on her back in the Editor’s library. Above her, sitting in his leather chair, was the man himself. He looked down and cocked a curious eyebrow.

  Sabrina scampered to her feet and prepared to fight.

  “Calm down,” the Editor said.

  “You sent those monsters to eat us,” Sabrina said. She helped Daphne to her feet. Puck was already behind her.

  “If that were true, why would I send a door and bring you here?”

  “Maybe you want to try and kill us yourself,” Puck said.

  The Editor sighed. “I do not want the three of you dead. I want to hire you.”

  The trio stared incredulously at one another as the Editor got up from his seat and poked at some dying embers in his fireplace. A dozen of his revisers scurried out from underneath his chair and scuttled across the floor. They clambered up the shelves like fat spiders and seemed to melt into the shadows on the far-distant ceiling.

  “You want to hire us?” Sabrina said.

  The Editor placed his hands together and lightly tapped his fingers as if in serious thought. “You are detectives, correct? The last member of your family I had in my book claimed it was a family business.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “The one who called herself Trixie Grimm,” he said.

  “Great-Aunt Trixie,” Daphne said. “She was Grandpa Basil’s sister-in-law.”

  “I find myself in a most peculiar situation that requires your kind of skills,” he said.

  “What do you want us to do?” Sabrina asked.

  “I want you to find a missing person,” the Editor said. “Detectives do such work all the time.”

  “A missing person? Who?” Sabrina asked suspiciously.

  “Pinocchio,” the thin man said as his face tightened into a scowl.

  “Pinocchio! I almost forgot he was here,” Daphne said. “He jumped into this book right before we did.”

  “And not unlike the three of you, he is causing a great deal of trouble for the Book,” the Editor replied. “While you three are running through one story, he’s causing mayhem in another. I’ve been working overtime trying to make sure these stories are put back the way they were meant to be before they can change history. Then it dawned on me—why not hire you three to chase him?”

  “How does that help you?” Daphne asked warily.

  “Setting you on Pinocchio’s trail will mean that all four of you will be in the same stories at the same time, cutting my work in half. Plus, you can help me prevent the boy from reaching his ultimate goal, which is to change his history.”

  “What does it matter, really?” Sabrina asked. “Anything Pinocchio changes you can rewrite with your little pink monsters.”

  The Editor shook his head. “The revisers work like white blood cells, seeking out an infection in the body. In this case, the Book is the body and you intruders are the infection. Unfortunately, they won’t recognize him as a problem if he finds his way to his story—in some ways he belongs there. They won’t be able to tell what’s wrong and what’s meant to be. They’ll erase everything but what he changes, so I’ll have to rebuild a new story around his alterations. I fear that despite the best intentions of the Everafter who used magic to manipulate this book, the spell isn’t foolproof. Certain deleted elements struggle to make it back into her story. The slightest change could cause the whole tale to fall apart. Who knows what could happen in the real world.”

  “We’re not interested in your offer,” Sabrina said. “While we’re hunting down that little traitor, Mirror might get to his story—and if what you’re saying is true, he can make whatever changes he likes in his story and there’s nothing the revisers can do. We can’t risk missing our chance to stop him.”

  “Don’t be so hasty, sugar bear,” Puck said with a devilish grin. “He wants to hire us. We could use that money for the wedding. Ice sculptures of minotaurs and cyclopes are not cheap! Plus, don’t forget about the poison ivy for your bouquet.”

  Sabrina scowled.

  “I can assure you Mirror will never reach his story,” the Editor said. “His particular story is off-limits, bound by powerful magics few could break. He will never attain whatever goal he has, thus you three have all the time in the world to find the puppet for me. Afterward, I will take you to Mirror and help retrieve your brother.”

  Daphne said. “Is Mirror’s story the one that’s falling apart? Is that the story the Everafter altered to change her history?”

  “That is none of your concern. Do we have a deal?”

  Sabrina looked to her sister. “What do you think?”

  “If what he says is true and Mirror can’t change his story, I think we can help. It would be nice to not have to worry about those things anymore,” Daphne said, pointing to one of the pink monsters hovering by the Editor’s leg.

  “Children, my revisers are beautiful creatures, but they are not immensely intelligent,” the Editor said. “They will eat everything they can get their teeth into. If you see one, it would be advisable to run in the opposite direction.”

  “So you can’t stop them?”

  The Editor shook his head. “When an intruder makes a change, I open a door and send them through. When they get to their destination, they do things their way.”

  Daphne and Puck looked to Sabrina for guidance, but she felt too paralyzed to make a decision. Having the Editor’s help with Mirror could be just what they needed to stop him, but could they trust the Editor? She used to think she could read people, but now she wasn’t
so sure. What if he was leading them on a wild-goose chase?

  “I’m in,” Puck said, interrupting her thoughts. “If it gives me a chance to punch Pinocchio in his stupid, pointy nose, then I’m all for it.”

  Daphne nodded. “He should be easy to find, too. We know he’s eager to change his past. He wants to convince the Blue Fairy to let him grow up. We snatch the little toad before he changes the story and bring him back here. Sounds like a piece of cake.”

  “And you swear you will help us stop Mirror?” Sabrina said. She eyed the strange man closely. She wanted him to see her gaze. She wanted him to feel as if she could see through him.

  “You have my word,” the Editor said. “Stop Pinocchio and I will do everything in my power to help you with the magic mirror and the boy.”

  The Editor waved his hand and a door appeared. With another wave, the door opened and a gust of wind blasted Sabrina’s hair into her face. The air was sweaty and pungent, like a landmark case of bad personal hygiene.

  “Use the ball of yarn to move quickly through the stories,” the Editor said, handing it back to the little girl. “When you find our enemy, shout for me. I can hear you and open a door. Don’t forget his annoying marionettes, either. They are just as damaging to the Book as their master.”

  “We’ll do our best,” Daphne said.

  “I’m confident. One last thing. The Munchkin told you to stay inside the margins of the story, and he was correct. Don’t run about in the parts that aren’t in the tale. The margins are filled with loose memories and things that have been forgotten by history. Something lives there that you do not want to encounter. You experienced it, didn’t you, Sabrina?”

  Sabrina nodded. Something had grabbed that reviser in The Jungle Book—something she could not see.

  “The invisible thing that killed my reviser will do the same to you if it gets a chance. Stay inside the events of the story,” the Editor said. His face was grave with worry.

  On the other side of the door, Sabrina found herself sitting in a milky fog. As she turned to look around, the fog danced and swirled. There was so much of the stuff that she could barely see her hand in front of her, but it was quiet and the fog was beautiful so she took a moment to calm her nerves.

  When her breathing slowed and her heart stopped threatening to pound out of her chest, she stood up and looked at her new surroundings. She had never seen anything like it. The fog was thick and came up to her kneecaps. It glided around with the slightest movement or breath. There was nothing else but crystal blue sky as far as she could see. The ground beneath her was strange as well. It felt spongy, like she was standing on a giant slice of angel food cake.

  “Uh, are we in heaven?” Daphne said, sitting up in the fog.

  “No chance,” Puck answered. “I highly doubt they would let me in.”

  They got to their feet and joined Sabrina, bouncing on the mushy ground beneath them.

  “It’s like we’re walking around on someone’s belly,” Puck said.

  Knowing Puck’s joke was completely possible, Sabrina snatched her sister’s hand and pulled her to her side. “Stay close.”

  Daphne shrugged. “It’s more like I’m walking on the moon. This is one small step for man, one giant leap for Daphne.”

  “Cool it!” Sabrina said. “The less attention we draw to ourselves, the better off we’ll be.”

  The little girl jumped one last time and came down with a jingle. “Ouch!”

  “What happened?”

  “I just landed on something,” she said. Daphne reached down into the fog and pulled up the end of a heavy burlap sack tied with twine. She untied it, dipped her hands inside, and pulled out a fistful of gold coins.

  “We’re rich!” Puck said. “I say if we have to be stuck in this book, we should at least get to keep the treasure we find. We’ll use it for our wedding reception, dear.”

  Sabrina turned pink and struggled to come up with a suitable insult.

  Puck bent over and farted, then scratched his rear. “I’m no detective, but I’m sure that bag is a clue.”

  “And all this fog?” Daphne added. “Does any of this sound familiar?”

  Just then, there was an enormous crash and the ground shifted, and all three of them toppled over like bowling pins.

  “What was that?” Puck cried, but his words were drowned by another monstrous thud and shake.

  “I don’t think we should stick around to find out,” Sabrina said.

  As they helped one another up, an angry bellow filled their ears. It sounded almost human, only it was louder than anything the children had ever heard. The hair on Sabrina’s arms stood at attention and shivers raced along her spine.

  “OK, we can relax,” Puck said. A grin spread across his face.

  “Relax? What about all that noise?” Daphne asked.

  “You didn’t hear what he said?” Puck said.

  “He? All I heard was a roar,” Sabrina said.

  “Nope, those were words.”

  “Well, what did he say?” Sabrina said just as another thud rocked the ground. This time the children managed to keep their balance, but just barely.

  “He said, ‘Fe, fi, fo, fum.’”

  Fear rose up in Sabrina’s throat like a bad shrimp. She knew what kind of monsters said “fe, fi, fo, fum.” Giants! She’d met about a hundred of them her second day in Ferryport Landing. And she and her family had nearly been killed.

  “We’re not standing in fog,” Daphne said. “We’re standing on a cloud.”

  “Run!” Sabrina shouted, and they all took off at a sprint just as a shoe the size of a battleship came crashing down. If the children had stayed just one second longer, they would have been squished into paste by the creature’s heel.

  Sabrina scanned the horizon and spotted the top of an enormous beanstalk breaking through the clouds. She recalled the famous tale of Jack, who traded the family’s cow for magic beans that grew into a giant beanstalk overnight. “There!” she said, steering the group across the challenging terrain.

  “Who’s that?” Daphne said, pointing toward the mutated plant.

  Sabrina strained her eyes and saw a lone figure making his way down the beanstalk. He couldn’t have been taller than three feet high and wore bright blue overalls. He also had a pointy nose and a terrible overbite. “Pinocchio!” she cried.

  The little boy must have heard her, as he redoubled his efforts to escape. Sabrina took a deep breath and ran faster than she ever had before. The boy had betrayed her and her family. They had taken him into their lives, protected him, given him a home and a community, but the whole time he had been working for Mirror and the Scarlet Hand.

  When the children reached the beanstalk, Sabrina could no longer see her target. He had climbed down the enormous plant, which sunk into the misty clouds below. Sabrina grabbed on to a thick leaf and was surprised to find it so sticky. She realized that was a good thing—perhaps it would save them all from slipping or taking a foolish step out into nothingness. She lowered herself to the next leaf, then the next. Daphne followed, then Puck, and soon the three were steadily descending from the giant’s realm and into the open air. Far below there was a tiny cottage on an overgrown farm, but staring at it made Sabrina’s belly turn inside out. She had never been afraid of heights, but then again she had never been up that high.

  “Don’t look down!” she cried.

  “Then how are we going to see them?” Daphne said as she pointed down the beanstalk. Crawling up toward them at amazing speed were six wooden marionettes, each carved by a brilliant hand to look like members of Sabrina’s family: Granny Relda, Dad, Mom, Uncle Jake, Daphne, and Sabrina. They leaped from leaf to leaf like monkeys. When they reached the children, they attacked viciously with little hands and feet. Despite their size, their punches and pinches were painful and persistent. One lucky shot to Sabrina’s right eye left her momentarily dazed and blinded, but she managed to hold on to the giant leaf. With her free hand, she grabbed at
the one that looked like her and flung it off the vine. It fell silently past its comrades, who watched and shrieked. They began to retreat, but not before the one that looked like Uncle Jake stomped down hard on Daphne’s fingers. She lost her grasp on the branch, and like the marionette, fell into the open blue sky and plummeted toward the ground.

  4

  efore Sabrina could scream, Puck let go of the beanstalk and dropped like a skydiver. Sabrina watched him, her heart pounding. She didn’t breathe until she spotted his pink insect wings expanding and fluttering in the wind. He was too far away for her to see if he’d caught Daphne. She closed her eyes tight and prayed.

  “Here’s the piglet,” Puck said. Sabrina opened her eyes to find him hovering in front of her. Daphne was wrapped around the boy fairy like a baby monkey, clearly terrified. Her complexion was slightly green and Puck struggled to free himself before Daphne’s stomach rebooted itself. Sabrina snatched her away from him and held her like she might never let her go.

  “You have to be more careful,” Sabrina scolded.

  “I will,” Daphne whimpered.

  Just then, an enormous boot came down and dug into the beanstalk just above them. Its heel was smeared with the bodies of unfortunate animals and what looked like a few human skeletons. A horrible, rotting funk wafted into Sabrina’s nose, but as much as she would have liked to pinch off the stink, she needed both hands to hang on to Daphne and the violently shaking beanstalk.

  “I smell the blood of an Englishman!” the giant bellowed.

  “No! You don’t! We’re from the Upper East Side of Manhattan!” Sabrina cried, scampering down the vine as fast as she could. “Puck, take Daphne again. Get her out of here.”

  Before Puck could help, the giant’s big hand scooped the sisters up into its tight, sweaty grip and raised them so that they were eye to eye with his horrid, ruddy face. A tangle of overgrown hairs sprouted from his nose, and each of his broken teeth was a different shade of brown. A cloud of putrid air blasted out of his mouth that rivaled the smell of his boot.