Henry peered into the house and waved the group forward.
The witch’s home was just as unsettling as it was the last time Sabrina had visited. Rusty cages big enough to imprison a child were stacked in a corner. Pots of strange, bubbling potions and jars filled with animals, some still living, crowded the floor, along with a bent tray scattered with what looked like fingernails. On the far wall a fireplace raged with an angry flame that flickered to reveal the suffering faces of shattered souls begging for release. A thick book with a cover made from what appeared to be human skin rested on a table. Sabrina wasn’t sure if it was all the magic in the room or the fear racing through her veins, but it looked like the book’s cover rose and fell as if it were breathing.
“Old Mother!” the Wicked Queen shouted. “We respectfully request an audience.”
The flames in the fireplace roared as if fed by gasoline and Daphne leaped into her father’s arms.
“Old Mother, this is Bunny Lancaster. I wish to speak with you.”
“Maybe she’s gone. We should come back,” Morgan said, heading for the door.
“She’s here,” Bunny said, scanning the room.
“Perhaps she is shy,” Puck said as he swaggered around the room. “I can be very intimidating to some people.”
Henry cringed. “Don’t taunt her, Puck.”
“You guys have got yourselves worked up over nothing. I mean, really—”
And then, quite suddenly, a figure stepped out of a shadow behind Puck. Baba Yaga had long gray hair that hung on her head like a rotting mop. Her one good eye spun in its socket and her nose was as pointy as a steak knife. Puck screamed like a little girl. Sabrina would have spent months ridiculing him if she hadn’t done the exact same thing.
Baba Yaga squinted as she examined each member of the group. When she got to Sabrina, she leaned in close. The air temperature dropped at an alarming rate. Sabrina’s teeth chattered and frosty breath escaped her lips.
“The last time I saw you, I told you I’d make a coat of your skin. You are either insane or have the courage of a lion,” the old crone said to her.
“Hello, Old Mother. I’m sorry if my girls have been a trouble to you,” Henry said. “My mother had her hands full while—”
“I know where you were, Henry Grimm!” Baba Yaga replied. “There is little that happens in this town that I am not aware of.”
Baba Yaga crossed the room to a table. She picked up an apron with the words VERMONT IS FOR LOVERS and slipped it over her filthy smock. Then she snatched a knife from the table with one hand and fished a frog out of a jar with another. Sabrina was grateful that the woman’s back blocked her view of what came next.
“Then you know why we’re here,” Bunny said, seemingly unfazed.
Baba Yaga opened a small tin, smelled its contents, then threw it on the floor. She peered into a jewelry box filled with spitting centipedes, fished out a fat one, and then ate it. “I do.”
“The fate of the world is at hand,” Morgan said.
“Oh, sweet girl, the world isn’t in any danger. It’s the people who live on it that are going bye-bye.”
“Not if you help us,” Daphne said.
Baba Yaga cackled and spittle covered her hairy chin. In her amusement she kicked a can of something into the fireplace and it exploded. “Take yourselves and leave while I’m still feeling inclined to let you.”
“Old Mother, you must reconsider!” Bunny cried.
Baba Yaga turned and soared across the room with lightning speed until she was within an inch of the Wicked Queen’s nose. “You should respect your elders, poison maker. What do I care of this world? The Old Mother will live on. Probably with far fewer interruptions.”
The queen stood her ground. “This isn’t a request.”
Baba Yaga chuckled.
“You dare laugh at me?” the queen cried, her voice like thunder. She stretched out her hand. Resting on her palm was a spinning ball of light and energy.
Baba Yaga had only a moment to register the light before it blasted her across the room and into one of her tables. She lay sprawled on the floor, seemingly dead, before an ancient and unintelligible chant came from her mouth. When it was complete, hundreds of pointy legs erupted from her body. She flipped over and scurried along the floor like a centipede, eventually scuttling up the wall and onto the ceiling, where she swung from a filthy chandelier.
From there, she leaped onto Bunny’s back and the two fell to the floor. The attack sent pots of bizarre potions splattering all over the room. Several monkeys locked in a cage in the far corner shrieked and pounded on the bars of their prison. There was a crash and the floor was immediately covered with creepy-crawlies by the thousands.
“You cannot turn your backs on the rest of us,” Bunny shouted. “Billions will die.”
“A dog feels no sorrow when his fleas are extinguished!”