“Get away from the window,” Sabrina scolded.
Daphne giggled and then bit down on the palm of her hand. It was a quirky habit that came out when she was very excited or very happy. From the look of the bite mark she now had, it appeared she was both. “We’re here. We’re actually here!”
“Where’s here?” Sabrina asked as she climbed down from the bed and slowly opened the front door again. A breeze swept into the shack, swirling a cyclone of dust on the floor. Standing on the stoop outside was a very short, very chubby old woman who resembled a baked potato stuffed in a white dress. Accompanying her was a trio of equally tiny men. Each had the face of a cherub, except for their bushy white beards and untamed eyebrows. None was taller than three feet, and all were dressed in matching blue suits and pie-tin–shaped hats. Behind them, Sabrina could see a town square lined with little round houses the same color as the tiny people’s suits and hats. The square had a road leading away from it paved with yellow bricks. A Yellow Brick Road.
“Welcome—”
Sabrina slammed the door in their faces. “We’re in Oz!”
“I know! It’s awesome.”
“No, Daphne, it’s not awesome. All the people from Oz are crazy!”
“I know how much people from Oz annoy you, but think about it. We’re actually in the Land of Oz, or I guess, we’re technically in the story of Oz. I didn’t believe it was possible when Mirror told us about the Book of Everafter, but he was telling the truth. We’re inside a book of fairy tales!”
Sabrina bristled at the mention of Mirror’s name, and a wave of sadness swept over her. She felt her throat tighten as she fought back tears. She never wanted to hear that man’s name again.
“I wonder when Dorothy will show up,” Daphne continued, still grinning.
“Try to focus,” Sabrina insisted. “The reason we’re in this story is to find Mirror and save our baby brother from whatever wicked plan Mirror has cooking in his stupid bald head. We don’t have time for some idiot from Kansas.”
Daphne frowned. “OK, so what’s the plan?”
Sabrina sat down on one of the creaky beds and stared at the empty wall. “I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry,” Daphne said, “but did the great Sabrina Grimm just say she didn’t know what to do?”
Sabrina understood her sister was teasing, but she couldn’t bring herself to smile. The few options they had felt murky and confusing. Should they chase Mirror in hopes of rescuing the baby, or stay put and hope the rest of their family would show up to help? She and Daphne knew next to nothing about the Book of Everafter. How did it work? What were the rules of the Book? Could they be injured—or worse, killed? The Grimm sisters had a hard enough time staying alive in the real world. Could they survive in a magic book? And then there were the others to consider: Pinocchio, who had betrayed them, and Puck. Both had stepped into the Book alongside them, but where were they now? Dead? Injured? Lost? Should she and her sister wait for them to show up, or start searching for them, too? There were too many questions and too much still unknown to answer them. What if Sabrina made the wrong choice?
Two years ago, Sabrina and Daphne had a simple, happy life on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in New York City, when their parents disappeared. Overnight, Sabrina was enrolled in a crash course on taking care of her little sister, being tough, and thinking on her feet in order to survive the foster care system. The sisters were bounced from one cruel and crazy family to the next, finally landing in the home of an eccentric old woman who turned out to be the grandmother they never knew they had.
Granny Relda, as they called her, lived in a tiny town on the Hudson River called Ferryport Landing. There was no point looking it up on a map, as it wasn’t on most—and for good reason. Most of the town’s inhabitants were the real-life people so many fairy tales were based upon. Witches ran the local diner. Ogres delivered the mail. The Queen of Hearts was the town’s mayor. With a population so strange and magical, it was best if everyone kept a low profile.