“At least we know her fairy godmothers are here,” Daphne said. “Let’s go give them some help.”
Sabrina thought they should spend some time trying out the magical weapons first, but Daphne urged the carpet forward and soon they were barreling into the midst of the Scarlet Hand’s army. Everyone turned their attention from their attack on Briar’s home to the magic carpet. Swords slashed at them and wands launched deadly spells, each narrowly avoided as the nimble carpet banked and weaved through the crowd.
“Uh, you want to use one of those magic doohickeys?” Sabrina asked.
“I’m working on it,” Daphne said as she slipped on a huge ring with a stone scorpion set inside an emerald. “Abracadabra!”
The ring popped and sparked like a fork inside a microwave but did little else. Daphne shrugged and replaced it with a second ring, this one with a small tooth embedded in amber. “Gimme some magic!”
This time there was nothing. Sabrina was starting to worry, especially when the carpet hovered too close to an angry knight in full armor whose sword nearly cut her in two. Without even thinking she kicked the knight in the helmet and slammed his visor down on his nose. He staggered, finally falling into a rosebush and crying out when the thorns held him fast. The carpet veered away from the mob to a quieter patch of air. Once there, Sabrina turned to her sister, who was working her way through the magic wands. “Any luck? That knight almost gave me a haircut.”
“Hold your horses,” Daphne said. The wand she held was made of little red jewels fused together like a long stick of rock candy. Daphne waved it in the air and it started to glow. “Now we’re talking.”
“What’s it do?” Sabrina cried as Paul Bunyan’s gigantic ax came crashing down only inches from the carpet.
Daphne shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. OK, wand, shrink everyone.”
There was nothing.
Daphne frowned. “Set something on fire!”
Nothing.
“Freeze the bad guys!”
Zilch.
“Shoot everyone with electricity!”
Nada.
Daphne snarled and shook it as if perhaps its batteries were dead. “This thing is for the birds.”
Suddenly, an eerie hum came from the wand and a flash of light blinded Sabrina.
“No way!” Daphne exclaimed, her eyes big with surprise.
“What?”
“OK, don’t be mad. I didn’t know it would do that,” Daphne said.
“WHAT?”
“Take a look at your back,” Daphne mumbled.
Sabrina craned her neck over her shoulder and choked out a scream. On her back was a set of huge white wings. The feathers bristled and fluttered in the wind and when she tensed up they flapped.
“Oh no! Change me back. I can’t go through life with wings!”
“It’s not the wings that’s the problem,” Daphne said. “It’s the beak.”
Sabrina crossed her eyes and saw that her nose and mouth had been replaced with a hard, golden beak with a hooked tip. She screamed, but what came out sounded an awful lot like a squawk. “Fix it!”
At that moment Mayor Heart’s voice ripped through the air, courtesy of her electronic megaphone. “They’re only children. Attack the house until backup gets here!”
“I wonder who the backup is,” Daphne said, steering the rug out of the way of a flying spear.
“Who cares? I look like Big Bird,” Sabrina complained. She could feel feathers sprouting along her arms and legs.
“OK! OK!” Daphne cried. She flicked the wand at Sabrina and said “change her back” but nothing happened. “OK, let’s not panic.”
“Not panic? Listen, I’m starting to get a craving for worms. I think it’s definitely time to panic.”
Daphne steered the carpet back toward the crowd, flying low and buzzing the tops of their heads. With one hand she removed her sneaker and did her best to wallop a few as they zipped by. “I realize this is inconvenient but you need to focus. We’re here to rescue Briar Rose.”
Sabrina scowled as her feet ripped through her shoes, revealing tough, spiky talons. She stood up and realized her entire lower body was now that of a fat, pear-shaped goose. She looked down at her hands only to find they were no longer there—they had vanished inside the feathers of her wings. It was official. She was a bird.
“Excuse me if I’m a little distracted—honk!” Sabrina was horrified by the sound she had just made and hoped it had been her imagination. Daphne looked just as startled.
“Did I—”
“Yeah … you honked,” Daphne said as she smacked a few more trolls with her shoe. “Try to think of the bright side. At least Puck isn’t here to see this. He’d never let you forget it.”