“Poor Donkeyface can never do anything for herself,” Puck said.
And then her aching fingers gave way and she fell. The air whipped through her hair and she saw the tops of trees pass her, and then a limb smashed into her leg. She opened her mouth to cry out, but the wind stole the sound. She was sure the next thing that slammed into her would be the ground, but then something had her—something warm and soft and strong. She looked up just as Puck set her on the ground. He looked angry.
“Don’t you ever do that again!”
“I told you I was too tired to hold on,” Sabrina said.
“Well—then—stop being too tired to hold on,” Puck said.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I could ask you the very same question,” Puck said. “In fact, I will. What’s wrong with you?”
Sabrina sighed. She didn’t have the energy to fight with Puck. She needed to get to bed. “Puck, just tell me. I’m exhausted.”
“What’s wrong is how you just gave up,” Puck said.
“Huh?”
“Every time I think you’re going to stop being pathetic you just throw in the towel and surrender,” he said.
“Sorry to be such a disappointment,” she replied as she dusted herself off. She looked around the woods, unsure of where she was or which direction to walk.
“Ever since you came crawling into my life you have done nothing but complain about your lack of control! ‘No one listens to me. No one pays attention. Everyone treats me like a child. Boo-hoo-hoo!’ Well, of course they treat you like a kid, because every time you get a chance to grow up, you choke.”
“Look who’s talking!”
“I’m a trickster! I’m supposed to act like a child. It’s in my blood! You, on the other hand, don’t want to grow up because you enjoy having everyone look after you.”
Sabrina wasn’t too tired to be angry. She picked a direction and stomped away from the boy fairy without a word. He followed close behind.
“Look at what’s happened since you came to town. You’ve come face-to-face with every kind of monster there is and—”
“And I’ve lived to tell the tale!” she shouted.
“Because someone else had to save you, Sabrina. It’s been me, or Canis, or your grandmother, or your uncle. But now, when you’ve got the chance to actually take control, you hand it over to those nutters Arthur and Hood!”
“I know you can’t possibly understand this with that tiny pea brain of yours, but we’re in the middle of a war and I need help from people who know what they’re doing. I can’t run around using your ‘fake it until you make it’ approach. People will die.”
Puck leaped over her and landed in her path. “I’m sorry, but you were at the whole mirrors speaking prophecy thing, right? They said that you would lead this army. Not the king. Not the thief. You! Hey, I don’t like it any better than you do, but the mirrors see the future and they say you’re the star of this show.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing!” Sabrina said.
“When it comes to saving the world, no one knows what they’re doing,” Puck said. “But they don’t pass it off onto someone else when it’s their responsibility. The old lady is out there in those woods, and you are going to place her life in the hands of people who don’t care about her? Sabrina, it is supposed to be you. If it wasn’t, the mirrors would have said so.”
Sabrina pushed past him and kept on walking toward where she thought the castle must be. “Well, I know one thing I don’t need help doing. Telling you to go jump in the river.”
“The old lady would expect more from you!” he shouted after her.
ctober 20
So the army leaves for the first attack tonight. The plan is fairly simple. The soldiers are going to encircle the town. When they’re in place, Robin Hood will command Baba Yaga’s chicken house to run toward town square. The noise and shock of seeing that house will get the attention of the Master’s thugs, who will run to it, and as they do, my army will surround and capture them. My father has demanded that no lives are taken. I’m just hoping that’s possible. Everyone who is taken prisoner will be tied up with the help of Mallobarb and Buzzflower and then brought back here to be locked in the Hall of Wonders.
Mr. Canis was preparing to go until Robin Hood told him to stay behind. He’s not happy. I just don’t know what to tell him. I know he wants to help, but I don’t want him to get killed, either. Red and Wendell are sticking around as well.
As I write this I’m sitting in the courtyard watching the preparations. I’m super-worried about this plan. Pinocchio’s words still ring in my ears, as do Puck’s. I don’t know what to do and because I don’t know, I think that putting the decision in more experienced hands is the right thing to do. My family and I are going to watch it unfold in the mirror room. I just hope that all these people—who have become my friends—return here when the battle is over.