The girls were unsure of what to do. Daphne reached up and curled her hand into her sister's. Sabrina squeezed softly and the two of them took a tentative step through the mirror. It was a cool sensation, almost as if they had been caught in a summer rainstorm, and when they finally opened their eyes, a brilliant glimmering light flooded their pupils. What they saw made Sabrina queasy. It wasn't natural. It just wasn't possible.
Sabrina had expected to walk into a reflection of the room they had been in. After all, the mirror was a mirror. But she couldn't have been more wrong. Instead she found herself in a long, wide hallway that reminded her of Grand Central Station. It was vast, with a vaulted ceiling and endless archways of glass and steel. Glowing marble columns held up the ceiling, which rose hundreds of feet above them. Breathtaking sculptures of men and monsters lined the hall. And along each wall were hundreds of doors of all shapes and sizes, some no bigger than a rabbit, others a hundred feet high. Some were wooden, others steel, and still others seemed to be made from pure light. Sabrina looked down at Granny Relda's key ring and realized what all the keys were for. Yet another of Granny's eccentricities had a legitimate explanation.
Even more startling than the gigantic room they were standing in was the man who lived in it. The face in the mirror was no longer a disembodied head, but a short, chubby little man in a black suit and tie.
"Keep your hands in your pockets, Jack," the man insisted.
"Mirror, I am shocked. Don't you trust me?" Jack said.
"I trust you about as much as the person who gave you that fat lip," said Mirror.
"What is this place?" Daphne asked.
"It's an arcane-powered, multi-phasic, trans-dimensional pocket universe," Mirror replied.
"A what-who?"
"Your grandmother calls it the world's biggest walk-in closet." The little man sighed. "It's a sort of holding area for dangerous and valuable items. I call it the Hall of Wonders, and you're not supposed to be in here."
"Oh, Mirror," Jack said. "We've learned one of your secrets. Don't worry, I'm sure you have a million more."
The little man's face flushed with anger. His fists clenched and he looked as if he might hit Jack, but the giant killer just ignored him.
"All right, Mirror, where are the slippers?" Jack asked impatiently.
"This way," Mirror said, gesturing for them to follow. He walked down the long hall past many doors. The plaque on one read FAIRY GODMOTHER WANDS while the next read TALKING PLANTS. As they continued down the hallway, they found more doors labeled: POISONOUS FRUITS, DRAGON EGGS, IMPOSSIBLE ANIMALS, WISHING WELLS, CRYSTAL BALLS, CURSED TREASURE, SCROLLS AND PROPHESIES, and on and on and on. Passing one massive door, the group jumped as violent pounding from within threatened to knock it off its hinges. Something on the other side wanted out, something named GRENDEL.
The group pressed on down the hallway where they finally stopped at a door that read MAGIC SHOES.
"Here we are," Mirror said reluctantly. "But I must once again remind you that magic is dangerous. There's a reason why the Everafters asked this family to look after all of these things. Magic in the wrong hands only leads to chaos."
"We'll be careful," said Sabrina as she knelt down to the lock. It was a simple one that would take a skeleton key, but Granny's key ring had dozens of skeleton keys. Sabrina tried the first one and it failed. She tried another; still nothing.
"Let me try," Jack said impatiently.
"I've got it," Sabrina snapped. She turned another key, and this time the lock opened. The door swung wide and everyone entered.
The room was simple, but its contents were amazing. Along the walls were hundreds of pairs of shoes: cowboy boots, woven sandals, wooden clogs, leather moccasins, and many more, all displayed on wooden shelves. Some of the shoes seemed as if they had been made for animals, while others were big enough for the entire group to stand in. One golden pair had downy, white wings that flapped as if the shoes were alive, and another glittering pair were made of pure glass.
Jack picked up the pair of shoes with wings, but the little man promptly smacked his hand and snatched them from his grip. After replacing the shoes, Mirror crossed the room, picked up a pair of sparkling silver slippers, and handed them to Sabrina.
"Try to take better care of these than you did the magic carpet," he said gruffly.
If these were the famous ruby slippers, they were more silver than red, though in the light Sabrina saw hints of a warm, rosy color. She couldn't figure out what they were made of, but if forced to guess, she would say they were tinfoil.
"Put them on, child," the little man said.
"They're way too small," Sabrina said as she eyed the shoes.
"One size fits all, duck," Jack said.
Sabrina yanked off her sneakers and slid her foot inside one of the slippers, which magically grew in size and fit her foot perfectly. Once she had the other one on, an odd energy crept up her legs and filled her whole body.
Just then, Jack darted out of the room and across the hall.
"Jack!" the little man shouted after him, but Jack didn't listen. When they finally found him, the giant killer was eyeing a door with a plaque that read MAGIC BEANS.