“So you were edited! It’s not like I made you into a fool. I gave you courage and strength. I made you the heir to a fortune and I gave you a girlfriend who is the most beautiful woman in the world. Was it really that intolerable?”
“This fighting is stupid,” Sabrina said. “We need a hero, and Billy, that’s you.”
“Bunny should open her magic book and write herself a new one,” William said.
“You know what? You’re not fictional at all and you never have been,” Sabrina cried. “Because you’re a jerk!”
“What?”
“She just said you’re a jerk,” Puck said. “I know because she calls me one all the time.”
“Bunny remade you into the ideal man: brave, strong, and clever. What she did not make is a grouchy, impatient, and arrogant crybaby.”
“She’s right, William. You really are an insufferable boor, which proves you are not a toy that I wound up and let loose. I wanted you to be dashing and romantic and ever-smiling. I wanted perfection.”
Charming slumped back onto his makeshift bed. “OK, I’ve heard enough insults for one day.”
“You don’t understand,” Sabrina said. “You constantly turn from perfect into a sour old lemon. So if Bunny didn’t write that into her daughter’s story, it must be coming from you. You’re a real person, William—warts and all.”
Charming sat up and looked them group for a long time. “This is the worst pep talk in the history of the world.”
Puck laughed. “It really is.”
“Is it working?” Bunny asked.
Charming nodded.
“So are you ready to put away the sad face so we can go save the love of your life?” Sabrina asked.
Charming snatched his sword off the ground. “I am.”
“Great, we got the band back together,” Puck said. “Now, where do we find Atticus?”
Once again, Sabrina’s mind was ripped open. She staggered and fell as visions of Atticus flashed through her mind. He was camped in a house that overlooked the river. It was perched on a rocky edge, probably the home of one of the humans who had abandoned the town when the trouble began. Atticus was hitting Snow White. She tried her self-defense techniques, but he was too strong. Nottingham stood nearby, watching as if amused.
Puck helped her to her feet. “What is wrong with you?”
“I know where he is,” Sabrina said. “We have to hurry.”
? ? ?
The road that led to Atticus twisted upward toward Devil’s Peak, running parallel to the choppy river below. To get to the house where he was camped Sabrina’s army had to take a steep path that cut back several times. Charming insisted on leading the group and demanded that everyone walk as quickly as possible. Canis stumbled forward as fast as his old bones would allow. Though his body was failing him, his eyes were confident, and for the first time in many days he was not depressed or beaten. He walked with purpose.
On the other hand, the Queen of Hearts wasn’t exactly in a hurry. Her wounded leg was still hurting her and she whined incessantly.
“This is a very steep road,” Heart complained. “Perhaps I should stay here and wait.”
“We’ve heard enough of your whining and wheezing, Mrs. Heart. If you don’t want to go, then stay here,” Pinocchio snapped. The boy now walked with determination, a simmering desire for justice keeping his feet moving forward.
Sabrina was sure her uncle would lash out at the mayor as well, but again he treated her with patience. “I would probably recommend you stay behind if Nottingham weren’t still around. I’d hate to be too far away if he were to show up. I know it is physically demanding, but I do think it’s safer if you stay with the group.”
Heart grumbled but continued the climb, wheezing like a tired pig all the way to the top.
And that’s when they heard the screaming.
“Snow!” Charming cried, and raced ahead.
“Charming, no!” Bunny said. “We need a plan!”
Sabrina’s brain buzzed with possibilities. There were so many different options, all laid out to her like the strands of a spider-web as big as the world. Each strand led to a possibility—some sort of final outcome—but there were so many. She couldn’t follow all of them to their conclusions. There were thousands of them and each one branched into another thousand paths.
So many ended in the deaths of people she loved. She followed one particular strand as far as she could—and found it ending in blood. Still, it seemed like the right choice, but there were so many others swirling and spinning her thoughts into mush. How did she know such things?
“We need to circle around, try to get behind Atticus,” Sabrina said. “It may be the only way to help him and save Snow.”
“How can you know?” Henry asked.
“I can’t explain it. I just do,” Sabrina said. “And we have to do it now.”
Everyone scurried through the bushes, circling around the house. All the while Sabrina watched Charming in her mind. Even though they were many yards away and hidden by foliage, it was as if he were standing right next to her.