“No,” Sabrina said.
“Then what are we doing out here? Let’s go in there and grab that pointy-nosed loser,” Puck said. He marched up to the door and threw it open, only to be drowned in a flood of filthy children squeezing out of the door and running into the woods. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands. It was hard to tell, as they just kept coming and coming like the bubbles in a shaken bottle of soda. The dodo snatched the puppy and flew into the air while the rabbit straddled the cat and was carried high into the branches of a tree. Sabrina and Daphne had to leap out of the way to avoid being trampled.
A frail old woman appeared in the doorway. “Have fun!” she called. “And don’t be late for supper. We’re having broth.”
She spotted the group of interlopers, eyed them angrily, and whispered, “Go away,” before slamming the door closed.
The girls rushed to help Puck to his feet. The poor boy had been trampled and had little shoe prints all over his body.
“Are you OK?” Sabrina said.
“I would have preferred a monster,” Puck said, much the worse for wear.
“He’s using the children to escape,” Daphne said. “He’s hiding in the crowd.”
“I’ll get him!” Puck said as his wings sprang from his back. They flapped a bit, but he didn’t seem to have the energy to get off the ground.
It was pointless anyway. A door appeared across the clearing and Pinocchio raced toward it from the woods. Before anyone could stop him, he had slipped through and slammed it behind him. The door then dissolved before their eyes.
Sabrina sat down beside the shoe. She was tired, hungry, and angry. She knew everyone was looking to her for answers. But besides her sister and Puck, she couldn’t have cared less about any of them.
“I beg your forgiveness, but what do we do next?” the White Rabbit asked. “Shouldn’t we go after the boy?”
“We eat,” Puck said. Sabrina wondered if the boy’s sudden leadership was his way of taking some of the pressure off of her, but then she shook her head. Puck was incapable of being so sensitive.
The rabbit and the cat groused a bit but said nothing that would start an argument. The puppy sniffed the air and claimed he could lead them to wild berries. Sabrina wasn’t sure it was wise to step outside the boundaries of the story again. The last thing she or the others needed was another encounter with that . . . that thing that lurked there. Still, everyone was famished. There was no point in putting everyone in danger, so she insisted that Puck and Daphne and the others stay behind.
She and the puppy searched for the fruit and came across a bank of walnut trees and an abandoned garden filled with carrots and cucumbers. Sabrina filled her pockets with all she could carry and headed back to the camp. While they were gone, Puck had built a fire. It was far bigger than they would need, but once they got it under control they sat and shared the food with the others.
“Please tell us of the real world,” the Cheshire Cat begged as he munched on some berries.
“Yes,” the puppy dog yipped. “What’s it like?”
“Well, that depends on who you ask,” Sabrina said. “Most people live pretty uneventful lives.”
“But not you?” the White Rabbit said.
Puck laughed. “Not at all.”
“Yeah, our lives are nonstop excitement,” Daphne said. “We’re always fighting monsters and saving the world.”
“Monsters!” the White Rabbit cried.
“Just in our hometown,” Sabrina said. “The rest of the world, for the most part, is happily dull. Unfortunately, once you step into Ferryport Landing, you’ll be as stuck there as you are in this book. There’s a spell that traps Everafters within the town limits.”
The animals shared uncomfortable looks and were quiet for a moment.
“I’ll happily trade this prison for another,” the dodo said. “At least there is no one watching your every move and making sure you do as you’re told.”
“You mentioned that I was different from your White Rabbit,” the rabbit said sheepishly.
“Yeah, he’s a jerk,” Puck said, his face smeared with purple juice. “Evil, too. Not that being evil necessarily makes you a bad person or anything.”
The White Rabbit gasped. It was easy to see he was offended.
“See, the real White Rabbit is a member of a very mean group called the Scarlet Hand. They’re trying to take over the world,” Daphne explained.
“This boy you’re chasing, Pinocchio . . . Is he their leader?” the Cat asked.
“No, but he’s a member,” Sabrina said. “Their leader is traveling through this book too. His name is Mirror. He’s the magic mirror from Snow White’s story. He was a friend of ours, or at least we thought he was. But he betrayed us and kidnapped our little brother. He wants to steal his body for himself so that he can be a real person.”