The Wicked Queen promised that she would do her best.
By the time the moon was directly overhead, the boy fairy’s demented trips and traps were scattered throughout the woods. Everyone was exhausted and more than a few people were deeply troubled by some of the chores Puck had asked them to do. Rapunzel was particularly upset by having to collect ten pounds of skunk droppings. But, when all was said and done, Sabrina could sense that the army felt as if things were really changing. Even the Cowardly Lion admitted that it seemed they had a chance of beating Mirror.
That night Sabrina lay in her sleeping bag beneath a tree, with her sister cuddling beside her. Puck rested on a tree branch above them, looking out on the woods and fingering the wooden flute he kept with him at all times. The moon illuminated his proud grin.
“You should get some sleep,” Sabrina said.
Puck shook his head. “I’m too excited. It feels like Christmas Eve—like I’m going to wake up and find something big under the tree.”
“Except it might be something really big,” Sabrina said.
“I’m hoping for a troll,” Puck said. “Go to sleep, stinker. I’ll let you know if we catch anything.”
“Puck, you’re an awesome villain,” Sabrina said.
“Grimm, you say the sweetest things,” he said.
Sabrina sat there for a long time, contemplating what had just happened, when she heard someone crying. She climbed out of her sleeping bag and followed the sound into the woods, where she found Snow weeping next to a tree. When she spotted Sabrina, she grimaced.
“I didn’t want anyone to see me,” she blubbered.
“Worried about the prince?”
Snow nodded.
“Want to see if we can find him?” Sabrina asked.
A smile broke out over the lovely teacher’s tear-stained face. “Can we?”
Hand in hand, they crept into the camp where the magic mirror had been propped against a tree. Elvis lay on the ground in front of it, acting as guard dog. He opened a sleepy eye when the two women entered the reflection but did nothing to stop them. As soon as Sabrina and Snow were inside the Hall of Wonders, they rushed to the mirror room, where Snow quickly recited a poem to activate the guardians. “Mirrors, mirrors hanging there, where’s my prince with the awesome hair.”
The mirrors let out a combined chuckle and their faces faded. In each appeared an image of Charming sitting on the edge of a cliff looking out on the Hudson River. Sabrina had never seen him look so depressed. She wouldn’t have believed he was capable of such sadness.
“Where do you think he is?” Sabrina asked.
“Not far,” Snow said. “It’s called Douglass’s Peak. I used to go there when I wanted to be alone. I wonder how he knew.”
“He had a magic mirror too,” Harry said as his face reappeared in his frame. “He spent a lot of time checking in on you. Not in a creepy way. He just wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“I wish I could talk to him,” Snow said. “I love him. I want to help him with this.”
“We might get caught in one of Puck’s traps,” Sabrina said.
“Your parents would kill me.” Snow sighed.
“Then let’s make sure they don’t find out.”
? ? ?
“It was love at first sight for us—at least, that’s what we always thought,” Snow said as they stomped through the heavy brush. “He swept me away. I agreed to marry him after knowing him only two weeks, but when it was time to walk down the aisle, well, something wouldn’t let me. Back then I thought I was just headstrong and unsure of who I was, but now I know it was Atticus. His ‘echo,’ as my mom calls it, was still there and it made me feel like a damsel in distress all the time. I wanted to stand on my own and Billy is the kind of guy who—well, I didn’t want him to save me. I wanted to see if I could do it on my own.
“But he never gave up on me. His feelings survived three marriages. And now he thinks those feelings are inventions.”
“Invention or not, four hundred years is a long time to be in love with the same person,” Sabrina said. “It has to be real.”
“Last week I would have been sure you were right.” Snow said. “I just hope he thinks so too.”
They walked on until they found Charming sitting on the edge of a rocky cliff, just where the mirrors said he would be.
“What if he won’t talk to me?” Snow whispered.