“Harry!” he shouted as he wrung his hands. “C’mon, Harry!”
It was then that Harry appeared. Charming slipped his hand through the portal and took from Harry a small black box just large enough to hold a ring or perhaps a small necklace. “Here you go, boss.”
“Hurry, Harry,” Daphne said. “You need to step through now.”
Harry flashed a melancholy smile. “I’m sorry, little one. But I’m afraid that’s not part of my design. I can’t leave my mirror.”
“But if you don’t you’ll die!” Sabrina cried as a ripple of cracks rolled across the glass, distorting Harry’s face.
“It was fun, boss,” Harry said to the prince.
Charming nodded. “Indeed it was.”
A fiery-red handprint appeared at the center of the cracked mirror. It was identical to the one Sabrina had seen the Wicked Queen create when she had threatened to “fix” Mirror not long ago. It burned bright and then the reflection shattered. A million tiny pieces spilled to the floor. The Hotel of Wonders was gone forever; its guardian, the ever-smiling Harry, went with it.
Charming stared at the broken shards for a moment as he stuffed the black box into his suit jacket. His jaw was clenched, hard and cold.
“I’m sorry,” Sabrina said to him. “I know Harry was a friend.”
Charming shook his head. “Harry was not real. I can’t mourn him.”
“But—”
Charming walked away. Moments later she could hear him barking orders to his soldiers out in the hall as if nothing at all had happened.
“What about Puck?” Sabrina asked, but no one answered.
The crowd was on the verge of a panic. Many were wrapped in bandages Nurse Sprat had hurriedly applied. But there were too many injuries, even with Granny and Veronica’s combined help. Worse still, it was clear their numbers had dwindled again. More than a few had perished in the dragon attack.
Charming stepped forward. He raised his hand for attention and the crowd turned to him.
“Today we suffered,” he shouted. “But such is the nature of war. Battles are won. Battles are lost. But for the sake of those who fell we fight on. I know that as you look around you a feeling of discouragement wells up in your throats. But you need to spit that feeling out on the floor. Stomp on it with your feet. Smash it into dust. It has no place here. You will fight again and I will lead you and we will show the Master and his Hand how discouragement feels.”
The crowd did not look convinced. “We’ve heard enough of your pep talks, Charming,” Mr. Boarman cried. “People died today and a lot of pretty words aren’t going to make us feel better about it.”
“This was foolish,” Little Bo Peep said. “We cannot beat the Scarlet Hand.”
Charming tried to speak but he was booed into silence. It was then that Mr. Seven stepped forward.
“We are already beating them!” the little man shouted over the crowd. A grin came to his face. “You want to know why those dragons were sent after us? The Master is furious that we beat his army at the marina. He rages because we cut off his supply line and we did it all while a spy told him our every move.”
“A spy!” Rapunzel cried.
“Yes, we were all under surveillance by a member of the Scarlet Hand and we still managed to fool the Master. He sent dragons after us because we are a threat and he knows it. You see, people … we scared him. Listen to what I’m saying. We scared the Master. Even though we’re outnumbered, we struck a fear so powerful he sent his most vicious weapons to wipe us out. And they couldn’t get the job done. He took some of our friends but we took out four dragons, not to mention the two Jake Grimm killed earlier. Plus, I’m told Sabrina Grimm wiped out five hundred of his soldiers all by herself. That is astounding, people. We did what the Hand thought was impossible.”
The crowd roared. Many danced and sang; others hugged and kissed one another. Sabrina was stunned. Even her sister stood with her mouth open in surprise.
“Perhaps Mr. Seven is the charming one,” Granny Relda said.
“So, friends, are you going to quit now when we have the Master on the run?” Mr. Seven shouted.
The crowd shouted and shook swords, wands, and fists in the air. They snatched Seven off the ground and marched him around on their shoulders.
As they watched the celebration, Charming approached the Grimms.
“I’m told Geppetto’s boy was responsible for the sabotage.”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Granny replied. “Worse yet, he escaped. The last we saw of him was right before the attack. I fear he may have been killed by the dragons.”
Charming looked around at the huge impromptu celebration. “Or he’s hiding in this crowd. I’ll spread the word to the others. We’ll catch him eventually.”