Daphne looked down at the Wizard. His hands were bound tightly. “What’s his story?”
“His guards found me and locked me in a cell,” Puck said, giving the man a healthy kick in the rear. “The Wiz here figured out I was from the real world pretty fast and begged me to help him escape the Book.”
“Escape the Book? Oh, dear,” the Scarecrow murmured.
“That’s what he said,” Puck said. “I agreed to help, but knowing him like I do, I figured he would somehow double-cross me, so I decided to triple-cross him first. Then it dawned on me he might try a quadruple-cross so I immediately skipped the quindruple-, sexdruple-, and septdruple-, and went straight to the octdruple-cross. He never saw it coming! Once he turned his back, I tied him up and took over as the Great and Terrible Oz. The people either don’t know the difference or don’t care.”
“Yeah, they keep treating me like I’m Dorothy,” Daphne said.
“What about you?” Puck said, turning to Sabrina.
Sabrina’s face turned bright red. “I’m Toto,” she mumbled.
“Who?”
“I’m the dog! Are you satisfied?”
Puck burst into an obnoxious, horsey laugh. “I’ve been telling you that you were a dog since we first met. If we’re getting married, you’re going to have to go to the doctor and see what they can do about your face.”
Sabrina seethed. “What are you talking about?”
“Us . . . getting married,” Puck said. “You’re my fiancée.”
It took several moments for Puck’s words to sink in. Puck couldn’t have called her his “fiancée,” could he? But the look on Daphne’s face—an expression filled with thrills and romantic giggles—confirmed that her ears were not playing tricks. She was certain her own face was glowing as red as a stoplight.
“We’re married in the future, right?” Puck continued. “You told me we were. At first the thought of marrying you made me sick. I mean, really physically ill. I was barfing and fevered. I spent a few days in bed with the chills, but then I realized, hey! Getting married might be the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ll have someone to wait on me hand and foot. Having a wife is practically like having a slave, and I could really use the help. I hope you can cook, Grimm. I like to eat.”
“A slave?!” Sabrina cried. “Is that what you think a wife is?”
“Of course,” Puck said. “But before we get to that, we need to start planning our wedding and the reception. I was thinking we could have it in Pompeii, you know, where all those people were killed by the volcano—it’s very romantic.”
Sabrina thought she might explode like a volcano. She considered whether to strangle the boy now or in his sleep.
Daphne stepped between them. “We need you to fly us to the Wicked Witch’s castle. We have to kill her and get her flying broom. We think it’s our only way into the next story.”
“Stop! STOP! STOP!!!!!!!” the Tin Man shouted. “You people don’t understand what you are doing. You can’t just skip ahead. Lots of stuff happens in between. The Editor will know!”
“Are they complaining about this Editor person too?” Puck said. “The Wizard was crying about him before I shoved the gag in his mouth. Personally, if I was going to terrorize people, I’d come up with a better name than the ‘Editor.’”
“True, the ‘Editor’ is lousy as a scary name,” Daphne said.
“Stop saying his name!” the Cowardly Lion whined.
“Do we have to take them?” Puck asked as his wings popped out of his back. They were pink and enormous, and with just a few flaps they lifted his body into the air.
“We’ll finish the story on our own,” the Tin Man said.
The Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion nodded their heads in agreement.
“I have to warn you,” Daphne said. “The Scarecrow has his hay yanked out, the Cowardly Lion is chained up in a yard, and the Tin Man is thrown out a window of the castle. You could all skip that stuff if you come with us.”
“That’s what happens to these guys?” Puck asked as he snatched the girls up. “You Grimms sure you don’t want to go with them? It sounds hilarious.”
Sabrina shook her head, and Puck flew the girls toward an open window. “Well, I wish I could say it was fun,” Sabrina called back to the trio.