Sabrina ignored the boy. She was too busy fighting off a panic attack. Without that ball of yarn they might never find their way out of the Book. They would never find Mirror and the baby, either. If the revisers appeared, as they should at any moment, they would be in even more trouble.
“I’ve got an idea,” Puck said. He spun around on his heels and in a very troubling metamorphosis his head transformed into a bloodhound’s. He got down on his hands and knees and snorted at the ground. Then he hopped back up and ran down the path. Sabrina spotted a bushy tail poking out of the back of his pants. It wagged back and forth like an excited windshield wiper.
“I think he has picked up a scent,” Daphne said, running after him. Sabrina abandoned the horse and shoved Pinocchio along ahead of her. Puck darted off into the woods, racing along the bubbling creek, under the bridge where the ground was thick with mud, and then up an embankment littered with slippery leaves. They spotted a door not far ahead, but they also saw something that made her equally nervous. The White Rabbit was chasing after the ball of yarn as it rolled toward the magical door.
“I thought it was broken,” Sabrina said.
“I did too!” Daphne exclaimed.
The rabbit glanced back at them and doubled his speed, and soon he had scooped up the yarn and was opening the door. The wind blasted leaves back into his little face.
“I’m sorry!” he called when the children approached. “I have to take this chance while it’s in front of me. You are slowing me down and I won’t end up like the others.”
“We need that ball of yarn,” Sabrina said. “It’s the only way we’ll find our baby brother. And maybe the only way we’ll find our way out of this book.”
The White Rabbit shook his head. “I wish you luck.” And then he darted through the open doorway. It slammed shut and vanished into thin air, taking him and the magic ball of yarn with it.
They sat still, trying to be patient.
“I’ve got to find somewhere to go to the bathroom,” Daphne said. She was prancing around and looked distressed.
“Daphne, it’s too dangerous.”
“But I have to!” Daphne cried. “It’s an emergency.”
She looked to Puck. The fairy laughed. “Don’t look to me for help. I’m having a great time watching your silly dance.”
“Please! If you don’t let me go, something bad is going to happen,” the little girl begged.
Sabrina sighed. “Don’t go far and come—”
Before Sabrina could finish the little girl darted off like a roadrunner.
“—right back!” Sabrina called after her.
“She can go and I can’t!” Pinocchio fumed. Puck had taken the liberty of tying him up using a tree and a roll of duct tape he carried in his pocket. Sabrina couldn’t get him to explain why he had duct tape, but then realized the boy’s pockets were probably full of emergency prank supplies.
Puck laughed at the little traitor. “You can suffer, ugly. Besides, I’m not sure I can even get you out of your bindings. The marshmallow told me I was using too much tape, but it was so funny I couldn’t stop. We’re probably going to have to leave you here.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” the boy seethed.
“You don’t know him at all,” Sabrina said to Pinocchio.
“So,” Puck said, turning to Sabrina. “You dropped like a rock back in Pinocchio’s story. I thought you had died.”
“You wish.”
Puck shook his head. “No way! You can’t die. I’ve already sent out ‘save the date’ cards for the wedding, and I’ve registered for gifts. If you croak, I’ll never get that mayonnaise cannon.”
“What store sells a mayonnaise cannon?” Sabrina said, and then shook her head. She didn’t really want to know.
“You’re not lost,” he said suddenly.
“Huh?”
“I know you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing. All your decisions seem to be wrong. You feel like you’re lost, but you’re not.”
“My decisions seem to be wrong because they are wrong,” Sabrina said. “I gambled with my baby brother’s life. I trusted the White Rabbit and his stupid army. I turned the Editor against us. I lost the magic yarn. I got us hopelessly lost. Worst of all, I wasted all our time and energy on this idiot—”
“You don’t have to be rude,” Pinocchio said.
“You’re right. You make lousy decisions,” Puck said. “But you’re supposed to. You’re the hero.”
“Huh?”
“Listen, I’ve been told tons of stories and there’s one thing that they all have in common—the hero has a terrible time. It’s what that Lampwick kid said when we were in Pinocchio’s story. The hero has to go through all kind of obstacles so that he or she can overcome them. Like me: I have to overcome your smell!”
“My life is not a fairy tale,” Sabrina said.
“But you’ll have a happy ever after when we get married,” Puck said.