“She’s right, jitterbug,” Mirror said, pointing to a few others with the same sign. “Thirteen of the mirrors have been broken beyond repair. Two more are buried beneath the earth and who knows what’s crawled into them. Another is filled with a poisonous gas and yet another is, from what I can tell, at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Two others have been shattered. If you were to step into them, you would be cut to ribbons. In my free time I’ve been removing the shards so that no one can get hurt. If there is a sign below it that reads ‘out of service,’ then they are off limits.”
Sabrina did the math in her head. “That leaves six magic mirrors that are still working.”
“Do you think one of these will lead us to a doctor?” Henry said impatiently.
“If we pick the right one and we’re lucky,” Granny said as she turned to Sabrina and Daphne. “And that’s where you two come in.”
“Us?”
“Yes. I think it would be unwise to just step into one of these mirrors, especially since we don’t know who owns them, what kind of guardian might be inside, or where they might lead. You two have been in one, though, and know the guardian quite well.”
“The Hotel of Wonders,” Daphne exclaimed. “We were in it right after we got back from the future.”
“You girls are the only people I know that have ever been inside another magic mirror,” Granny said. “Do you think you can find the right mirror?”
“Sure,” Daphne said.
The girls went from one portal to the next. The first two were shattered and cracked. Another reflected nothing back at them. One revealed a medieval torture chamber, complete with a stretching rack and a bubbling cauldron of what looked like tar. Another mirror showed an old-fashioned ice-cream parlor and yet another revealed a huge warehouse filled with thousands of crates and boxes. In one Sabrina saw a tacky nightclub, with a disco ball and a guardian in a polyester suit and gold chains. Finally, Sabrina spotted a breathtaking sunset and swaying palm trees. She knew they had found the Hotel.
“Not so fast,” Henry said, stepping toward the mirror. “I’ll go first.”
“Dad, it’s perfectly safe,” Daphne said. “Harry is the guardian. He’s very nice.”
Henry ignored Daphne as if she were babbling. It was the second time he had discounted her opinion and Sabrina noticed her frustration. Henry took a step into the mirror then, half-in and half-out, turned back to his family. “Stay here. I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”
A second later he was gone.
“So, you want to explain this trip into the future?” Veronica asked.
“It was so cool, Mom,” Daphne said, shaking off her humiliation. “We met ourselves. Sabrina was married!”
“Daphne!” Sabrina cried. No one knew the complete truth about what the girls had seen in the future. Her marriage and, most importantly, the identity of her husband, were supposed to be carefully guarded secrets. If Puck ever found out …
“Married?” Puck laughed. “Who would marry you? He must be blind and lack a sense of smell.”
Sabrina’s fists clenched. She had never had a chance to ask her older self what she saw in the smelly, annoying fairy, though she had to admit, Puck’s grown-up version was very cute. Still, how did she get over all the insults, pranks, and mean-spirited jokes? Maybe there weren’t any other men in the future. That could be the only explanation.
Just then, Henry’s face appeared in the Hotel’s portal. “Coast is clear.”
Everyone piled through the portal and Sabrina found herself standing at the front desk of a very chic hotel. The floor was polished marble with beautiful Persian rugs scattered about. The walls were covered in tasteful contemporary art. Everything sparkled under the grand crystal chandelier. A bank of floor-to-ceiling windows revealed a tropical scene that looked as if it had been stolen from a postcard. Sabrina wondered if the beach was really there or if it was just a magical illusion.
Just then, a short Asian man in a Hawaiian shirt and lei appeared. He was carrying more leis in his arms and placed one around everybody’s neck, except for the bears who were far too big and tall for the little man to reach. “Aloha!” he cried.
“Aloha, Harry,” Daphne said.
“Sabrina! Daphne! Welcome back to the Hotel of Wonders. I wasn’t aware you’d be visiting us. No worries, you never need reservations. Are you here on business or pleasure?”
“Neither,” Sabrina said. “In fact, we’re in the midst of an emergency.”
“From what I understand emergencies happen quite frequently to you and your family,” Harry said with a knowing grin. “Can I be of any help?”
“We want to use the main portal. The one that leads to the real world.”
Harry nodded. “Oh, so you slipped in the back way. Interesting. Of course you can use the portal. This way,” he said, leading everyone through the hotel lobby. “The boss has been using the portal a lot lately. He’s pretty busy with his camp. I explained that he could have all the refugees stay here with room to spare but he said he didn’t want the riffraff to sully the sheets.”
“What does riffraff mean?” Daphne asked.
Sabrina opened her mouth to explain but remembered the girl’s reaction the last time she had tried to define a word. Instead, she decided to let someone else be the dictionary for a change.
“Riffraff is a mean word for people who are of a lower class,” Veronica explained. “It’s not a very nice thing to say.”