The Wicked Queen stepped forward and her hand grew red once more.
“You may want to set the boy on the ground,” she said. Mirror did as he was told and she placed her hand on Mirror’s head. He screamed in agony as the hand burned his skin, and then a black glob, just like the ones in the jars, seeped out of his mouth and hovered before the man’s blank eyes. When the Queen let go of him, Mirror’s body collapsed to the ground, dead and empty. A moment later, it liquefied into a silver, reflective fluid, like mercury.
“Bunny, you don’t have to finish this,” Granny said.
The Queen shook her head. “If I don’t, he’ll take someone else in this room. Maybe even me. You don’t want him to have my power.”
She stood the boy up, waved her red hand just over his face, and the black blob shot into his mouth. If it hurt or distressed him, the baby showed no sign. The only change was the expression on his face. His youthful smile and glittering eyes were replaced with an ageless intelligence. The boy looked down at the silver puddle and studied his face in its reflection.
“Fascinating,” he said. The single word told Sabrina that Mirror’s plan had succeeded.
“No!” Veronica cried, bursting into tears. Henry’s head fell in exhaustion.
The little boy turned to the Grimms. He lifted his little hands and his fingertips crackled with magical power. “Very good. My abilities work just as well.”
“The Editor will fix this,” Sabrina said. “He’ll change you back to what you were.”
“Oh, I’m afraid he’s going to have his hands full with other problems,” the boy said. “You see, while I was traveling through these books I learned that the Snow White history has been completely rebuilt from the ground up. Apparently, it was much different once—I don’t recall what actually happened because someone changed it in this book and it wiped my memory. A troubling phenomenon, but one I intend to exploit. There’s someone or something that is caged up in the margins. I can feel it. And if I can have my freedom, I suppose I can give it to someone else, too.”
“How are you going to do that, Mirror?” Granny Relda said.
“By killing a main character,” the child replied, his eyes glowing with power. His little body lifted off the ground and he flew through the castle window out into the sky. Sabrina and Daphne rushed to the window and saw him soaring like an eagle down toward the Seven Dwarfs’ cottage.
Suddenly a door materialized and the Editor appeared in the doorway. His face looked panicked. “He’s after Snow White! Queen, if he manages to kill someone that important, he will surely rip everything apart. We all have to stop him at any cost. You must help the Grimms!”
10
ome with me,” the Wicked Queen said, then hurried everyone down the many flights of stairs and into a stable where several saddled horses waited. Henry and Veronica helped the children and Granny Relda onto their mounts. They took two for themselves while the Wicked Queen mounted a frightening black stallion with angry eyes. Seconds later they were bolting down the path at a heart-racing speed.
“Revisers!” Daphne screamed, pointing to the side of the path. Hundreds of creatures were eating the trees and shrubs.
“Pray they work quickly,” the witch said.
“Pray? Those things are monsters,” Sabrina said.
“Those things may be the only way of keeping the story intact. If the bindings and rewrites the Editor established fall apart, then something far worse than a reviser will be let loose.”
“Could you fill us in on what everyone’s talking about? What’s so important about this story?” Sabrina asked.
The Wicked Queen turned to the girls. “There was a time when Snow White’s tale was much different—much more tragic.”
When they got to the cottage, they found the dwarfs battling with Mirror, who zipped around in the air like a mosquito. Mr. Seven broke from the fight and rushed out to help the family off their horses. When she was on her feet, Sabrina saw two glass coffins resting on a platform in the garden. The lovely Snow White was resting in one. In the other was Puck. Despite all the excitement around them, neither of the slumbering people woke up.
“We spotted revisers over the hill,” the Queen said.
“We’ve got a bigger problem. Prince Atticus is coming,” Mr. Seven said.
“Who is Atticus?” Daphne asked.
A man on a great gray horse galloped out of the woods. Moments later, he leaped to his feet and sprang into action, joining the fight to stop Mirror.
“Atticus is my brother,” he said, swinging his sword with all his might. Even with the odd, fake-looking colors of this world, Sabrina immediately recognized the Book’s version of Ferryport Landing’s former mayor, William Charming.
“Your brother?” Granny Relda said. “You don’t have a brother!”