“I’m fine,” the girl said quickly.
“It’s just, I mean, you probably feel very sad and you can talk to me if you want,” Sabrina said.
Daphne rolled over so her back faced Sabrina.
Sabrina sighed and stared up at the vaulted ceiling of the Hall of Wonders. She was tired but too restless to sleep. She thought about Briar Rose, who had always been so kind. Snow White had been right about Briar; despite her soft-spoken personality, she had been a fighter. Sabrina liked to think of herself in the same way, though she had to admit most of her battles had been selfish in nature. Can I be a hero, too? she wondered.
As she lay there in the dark she heard someone rustle in a sleeping bag. Sabrina turned and watched her mother stand up, slip on a pair of flip-flops, and pull a sweatshirt over her head. Sabrina’s father was sleeping deeply and it was clear to Sabrina that her mother was trying not to wake him up. She tiptoed down the hallway toward the Room of Reflections. Curiosity piqued, Sabrina shook her sister awake.
“Iiiiiiiidoooooghwannnnagiiiiiiiitupppffff,” the little girl grumbled.
“Wake up,” Sabrina said.
“Didn’t I tell you I’m mad at you?” Daphne muttered.
“Mom just snuck out of here. Let’s follow her,” Sabrina said.
“Maybe she’s just getting a drink of water,” the little girl complained.
“I am the queen of the sneaks and I know sneaking when I see it. She was sneaking,” Sabrina said, pulling the little girl out of her sleeping bag. “C’mon!”
Daphne grumbled but followed Sabrina down the hall to the Room of Reflections. They passed without disturbance into the Hotel of Wonders and then through the portal that led to the fort. Outside, the night had grown chilly and damp.
“It’s cold,” Daphne complained. “Let’s go back.”
“Sssh! There she is,” Sabrina said, pointing toward their mother. Veronica rushed toward the medical tent and disappeared inside.
“Why is she going into the medical tent?” Sabrina wondered aloud.
“Maybe she’s got a bellyache,” Daphne said, nearly asleep on her feet.
Sabrina grabbed her sister’s hand and dragged her to the back of the tent. There they got on their hands and knees and tucked their heads underneath a loose section of the canvas. Lying very still, they watched Nurse Sprat take their mother’s blood pressure.
“Thanks for meeting me so late,” Veronica said.
“Not a problem,” the nurse replied. “But I do think this is something you want to discuss with Henry.”
“I can’t. Not until I’m sure.”
Sabrina looked over to her sister. Daphne was mouthing the words, “What are they talking about?”
Sabrina shrugged and turned her attention back to her mother.
“I’d go to a human doctor but we’re kind of trapped here,” Veronica said. “And this particular problem might be a little difficult to explain.”
The nurse nodded. “Have you been feeling funny since you and your husband woke up?”
“No,” Veronica said, “which is what worries me. I should be tired. I should feel nauseous. But I feel better than fine. I’m worried that the spell might have done something terrible.”
“Well, I have to admit it’s the most unusual case I’ve ever heard. I mean, I don’t think anyone who’s ever been placed under a sleeping spell happened to be pregnant at the time.”
“Pregnant!” the girls cried, then clapped their hands over their mouths. But it was too late. Nurse Sprat and Veronica were already standing over them, hands on hips, with looks of disapproval on their faces.
eronica snatched the girls by the pajamas and pulled them into the tent.
“You’re going to have a baby?” Sabrina cried.
“I’m going to be a big sister, finally!” Daphne crowed.
“Girls, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This is very early. All kinds of things could happen,” Veronica said.
“She’s right, girls,” Nurse Sprat said. “The miracle of life is the most unpredictable magic there is, so we don’t want you to get your hopes up just yet.”
“You knew you were having a baby before you and Dad were kidnapped?” Sabrina asked.
Veronica nodded. “I invited your father to meet me after work so I could tell him the good news. We met at the carousel in Central Park. Last thing I remember, my friend Oz was rushing down the hill toward us, and then we woke up in Ferryport Landing.”
“Oz! If I could get my hands on him,” Daphne said, stepping into her warrior stance. “He’s not your friend at all.”