Henry shoved him once more but then released him. The Editor brushed off his suit and eyed the family. “Do you, now?”
“Yes, indeed,” the old woman said as she stepped over to the magic door and whispered something into her ball of magic yarn. When she opened the door, the wind carried the smell of wheat into the room and howled over her voice. “If you think the children kept you busy, you have never had to experience me. Come along, family.”
“What are we going to do?” Daphne said as she stepped into the void.
“Some good old-fashioned troublemaking,” Granny Relda said with a grin, and then turned to Puck. “Why don’t we show the Editor here why they call you the Trickster King?”
Puck smiled and leaped into the void.
“What about me?” Pinocchio cried.
“Stay here,” Granny said with a smile. “I suspect we’ll be right back.”
She pushed the door open and her bonnet nearly flew off her head. Sabrina slipped her hand into her grandmother’s and, along with the rest of her family, she stepped through the open doorway and vanished.
9
he stately study was replaced with a dusty road framed by wheat so dry and white one could almost hear its cries for rain.
“Where are we, Mom?” Henry said.
“Henry, I’m disappointed.” The old woman smiled. “This is the setting for one of the most important fairy tales ever told. And if I’m correct, all the action is just over that rise.”
Puck ran ahead while the family followed. When they reached the top of the crest, they looked down on a little valley. Three tiny structures rested along the road: one made from hay, the second from twigs, and the last from brick.
Daphne bit her palm and squeaked, “Pucktastic,” but Sabrina’s little sister’s happiness was short-lived. A hulking, hairy creature lumbered in front of the grass house. It was the Big Bad Wolf and in his clawed hand he held a tiny whistle. When he used it, a magical wind as powerful as a tornado blasted the little house of straw, exploding it in every direction. When the house was gone, all that was left was a pig with a familiar face. The family’s friend and former sheriff Ernest Hamstead was desperately grasping at a patch of turf, close to succumbing to the terrible wind. Before long, he lost his grip and was sent squealing and sailing across the valley.
“Not cool,” Daphne said.
“And he’s headed to the house of twigs now,” Veronica said. “I never liked this story. It’s depressing.”
“I think it’s hilarious,” Puck said. “Really! I might wet myself if he does it again.”
“There goes the house of twigs,” Henry said. The wolf had unleashed his whistle on it with similar results. Mr. Swineheart had been hiding inside, but soon enough he was airborne as well, and disappearing into the clouds.
Puck was on his back, rolling around and giggling like a hyena. “Classic!”
“He’s going to have some problems with the next house, Puck. Why don’t you help him?”
“Relda!” Veronica cried.
“Really?” Puck said, wiping away happy tears.
“Go have fun,” the old woman said.
Puck ran off to join the Big Bad Wolf.
“Relda, that’s not nice,” Veronica said.
“That’s not our Mr. Boarman. He’s just an approximation,” Granny said. “The Editor will put this all back together the way it should be. If anything, we’re just inconveniencing him.”
Sabrina watched Puck encourage the Big Bad Wolf to huff and puff again, but he was unable to cause the well-built brick structure any harm. So Puck spun on his heels and his body inflated and two enormous ivory tusks grew out of his face. Soon he had become a prehistoric woolly mammoth. He dipped his head down and charged at the front door of the house, knocking it off its hinges. The Wolf hopped around happily, and he raced into the house with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. A second later Sabrina heard the growls and squeals of a horrible fight.
A door appeared before the group, and Puck rushed back to join them.
“I did good, old lady?” he said.
Granny nodded and mussed the boy’s hair. “You did very good, Puck.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sabrina spotted revisers rushing down the street toward the brick house. As if on cue, Granny Relda kneeled down and spoke to the ball of yarn. “We want to go to Rapunzel.”
She opened the door and everyone stomped through.