“Abandoning the castle? That’s crazy,” the Widow said. “This is the only safe place we have.”
“Not anymore. If the Hand isn’t on their way, they soon will be, and they will find this castle because we have a traitor in our midst,” Sabrina said, turning to Chicken Little.
The hen stepped forward and Sabrina bent over to face her eye to eye. “You are the traitor.”
“What?” the chicken squawked.
“You told your old friends in the Hand what we were planning,” she said.
Uncle Jake snatched her by the neck and lifted her off the ground. “What you did cost us some dear friends.”
“I had to!” the bird cried. “They forced me.”
And then Uncle Jake tossed Chicken Little through the iron gates, where she landed with a thud on the drawbridge. She dusted herself off and walked indignantly back into the woods.
The crowd broke into worried chatter, but Sabrina called for their attention. “We have to prepare to go. We leave for the forest as soon as possible.”
“And what are we going to do in the woods?” Goldilocks asked.
Sabrina smiled. “We’re going to lay traps, build cages, and create every obstacle we can to make the Hand’s lives miserable. We’ll attack in small groups, capturing one or two of them at a time; then we’ll slink back into the trees and disappear.”
Pinocchio nodded respectfully.
“But there are thousands of them,” Little John said. “We’ll never catch them all.”
“There won’t be thousands of them soon,” Sabrina said. “Where are the birds?”
“On patrol,” the Scarecrow said.
“When they get back, I want them to deliver a message, and Scarecrow, I want you to write it,” Sabrina said.
“I’d be honored. What would you like it to say?”
“It’s a final offer to the rest of the Hand to join us. Let them know this is the final time we will reach out, and after this there won’t be a third chance.”
“Do you think any of them will listen?” Beauty asked. She was obviously still holding out hope for her husband and daughter.
“If they don’t, they’re going to regret it.”
Henry eyed Sabrina curiously. “What are you two planning?”
“We’re going to save the world,” Daphne crowed.
As the hours slipped away, the small, tired army packed. Sabrina instructed everyone to keep weapons both magical and normal on their bodies, no matter how cumbersome. Carrying food was also encouraged.
Sabrina sat with her sister and watched as the army limped off to bed. It had been a long day, and tomorrow promised to be even harder.
“Can you get your coven to pull it off?”
Daphne rolled her eyes. “Daphne’s Fabulous Ladies of Magic can do anything. I just need to get the spell from Uncle Jake. Apparently, you have to hold it in your hand to make it work.”
“We can’t screw this up,” Sabrina said.
“You worry too much,” Daphne said. “My girls got the right stuff. They put the pow in powerful.”
? ? ?
That night Sabrina waited up for hours for the Widow to return from delivering her message. The more time that passed, the more nervous she got. At around midnight, Henry drifted out of the castle and joined her at a picnic table in the yard.
“Responsibility is hard,” her father said.
Sabrina nodded. “I don’t know how you do it. You must go out of your mind worrying about us.”
Henry nodded. “That’s probably the best way to describe it. There are times I’ve been so angry I wanted to pull my hair out, and other times so scared I’ve had to go somewhere and cry.”
“We haven’t made it easy.”
Henry laughed. “That’s the understatement of the year.”
“I’ll do better,” Sabrina said.
“You’re doing fine. Just do me a favor and every once in a while remind yourself that your mother and father love you.”
Sabrina nodded. “You do the same. Oh, here she comes.”
The Widow flapped into the courtyard and landed on the picnic table. “Well, I spread the word, but it doesn’t look good. Most of them laughed. They like to remind me that they are winning the war.”
“What did you say?” Henry asked.
“I reminded them that they’re fighting the Grimms. That gave them something to think about. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to get too many takers this round. They’re pretty confident. Want to tell me what you plan to do?”
“Not yet, Your Majesty, but soon,” Sabrina said. “Why don’t you go and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”
The Widow hopped off the table and wobbled toward the castle, only to stop for a moment to look back at Sabrina. “Hey, kid. We’re all behind you.”
Just then, Daphne raced toward Sabrina eyeing her father warily.
“Uh, Sabrina, I need to talk to you,” the little girl said.
“About?”
“It’s . . . um . . . about our messy room,” Daphne said.
“Huh? Daphne, this is important stuff we’re doing. If our room is a mess, then just clean it up.”