“We’d be happy to help,” Veronica said. “But I don’t want the girls involved in anything dangerous.”
The family spent the entire day instructing the Everafters in the proper use of magical gizmos. Sabrina did her best to help without actually touching anything, and so she eventually found herself instructing people on how to direct the flying carpet. Its magic had never fed her addiction, so she helped several people learn to steer, fly straight, and build speed. It was nice to be treated like a hero by the soldiers, but helping them felt like she was betraying her father. Henry had not accompanied them to the hall. Instead, he was sitting in the courtyard of the fort grumbling. Sabrina thought of all the times she had sulked rather than helped, and for the first time she could clearly see how annoying she could be.
Daphne quickly became the go-to expert on many of the items. Sabrina knew her sister had a knack when it came to wands and rings, but she was surprised to see the respect the Everafters had for her. Sabrina couldn’t help but watch her with a mix of pride and regret for treating her like a child. It was clear Daphne was growing up.
Granny Relda trained a number of Merry Men in the art of flicking a fairy wand to turn on its magic. It didn’t come naturally to the burly men, who were used to clubbing villains and shooting arrows. A wand took a bit of delicacy, so there was a lot of shouting and frustration. Little John was so furious he punched a nearby marble wall and broke his hand. Veronica assisted as Nurse Sprat set the broken bones and Uncle Jake lent her more of the magical healing salve. After treating Little John, the two women were kept very busy with other minor training injuries.
Uncle Jake, who had quite a bit of experience with magical creatures, saddled the unicorns and did his best to calm the nervous beasts. They were stubborn animals and their single pointy horn made them particularly dangerous. Elvis was frantic when they were around and hid behind Veronica whenever one was loose. Despite the obvious pain he was in from heartache and his wounded shoulder, Jake never took a break.
Sadly, at the day’s end, Sabrina worried that the army was a lost cause. Most of the soldiers were hopelessly inept and a few were showing signs of an unhealthy addiction to magic. Worse, there were just too many Everafters to teach and it was clear that time and practice were the only ways to master the new weapons. Snow told Sabrina that there were nearly three hundred more soldiers back at the fort waiting for their training the next day.
“Sabrina, could you show me how to fly this?” Snow White asked, pointing at the carpet.
“It’s really simple,” Sabrina said. “You just tell it what to do and it does it.”
“If it’s so simple why does it look so awkward?”
“That’s me, I think,” Sabrina said. “I can’t seem to get it to work as well as Daphne. Even Uncle Jake says she’s the best. She’s busy teaching the Merry Men how to use a genie’s ring but she shouldn’t be too long if you want to wait for her.”
“I think I’ll stick with you,” Snow said, stepping onto the rug. “So, how do we get it into the air?”
Sabrina joined her. “Well, you just tell it to go up.” Suddenly, the rug rocketed into the air and came to a screeching halt with Ms. White’s head just a few inches from the Hall’s ceiling. Sabrina cringed. “Sorry—like I said, I’m not the best driver.”
“Perhaps it’s easier if we sit?” Snow said, easing herself down. Sabrina did the same. “So if I want it to go down the hall?”
“Just say the word.”
“OK, rug, let’s move,” Ms. White said. The rug shook and dipped a little but sailed forward. It reminded Sabrina of the time she and her family had flown to Mexico on a family vacation. The plane had flown through some clouds and bounced around in midair. The pilot had called it turbulence. Sabrina had almost lost her lunch.
“I’m sorry you and your family can’t seem to get out of town,” Snow said. “I know how much you would like to leave.”
Sabrina nodded. “It’s causing a lot of fighting between my mom and dad.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“My parents are a little obnoxious, huh?”
Snow laughed.
“They weren’t always cranky.”
“I know. I met them as a couple before you were born. One look and you could see how much they adored one another. I’ve only seen one other couple who looked at each other the way they did.”
“Oh, who?”
“Charming and me,” she said wistfully. “What if I want to fly in a circle?”
“You can explain it to the rug. If you’re just cruising along it tries to follow your directions but when things get crazy, like if you’re being attacked, it sort of has a mind of its own. I guess you could say it wants to save its own butt just as much you want to save yours.”
Snow explained a route she wanted to take and the rug followed her every command.
“So if you two were so happy why aren’t you getting married? You said he proposed, right?”