“I wouldn’t count on that,” Daphne said. “Our family isn’t known for its patience.”
They walked for hours until finally coming across a farm bordered by a picket fence. Not far from the road, mounted on a large pole, was a scarecrow. He had a friendly face painted on an old burlap sack, and he wore a goofy blue hat like so many of the Munchkins had been wearing. A crow was perched on his head, pecking at his face. Sabrina recognized the scarecrow at once. She knew his real-life alter ego. The Scarecrow was Ferryport Landing’s librarian, and he was also a walking disaster. His klutzy behavior and accident-prone nature drove Sabrina crazy. She expected no different from his storybook twin.
He sprang to life and shooed the pesky bird away, then smiled and waved at the girls.
“Good day,” he said as he lifted his head to speak to them.
“Just ignore him,” Sabrina said as she tried to usher her sister along.
Daphne stopped. “We can’t ignore him. We need to get him down. You heard the Munchkins. We’re supposed to stick to the story. He’s supposed to come with us.”
Sabrina shook her head. “Absolutely not! We’re not making a lot of progress as it is, and this idiot will slow us to a crawl. Besides, you know how he is.”
The Scarecrow looked confused by their conversation. “You’re supposed to say—”
“Yeah, we know what we’re supposed to say,” Sabrina said.
The Scarecrow’s painted eyes grew wide with astonishment. “Would you help me down?” he asked shyly.
Daphne gave Sabrina a pleading look, but she shook her head. The little girl frowned and stepped closer to the fence. “I’m sorry, Mr. Scarecrow, but we can’t. We’re trying to rescue our brother and you, well, how can I put this—”
“What?”
“You’re a royal pain in the behind,” Sabrina interrupted.
“Your dog is quite noisy,” the Scarecrow said.
“Toto says you’re a pain in the behind,” Daphne said.
“You dirty little fleabag!” The Scarecrow squirmed and struggled, but could not free himself from his post.
Sabrina took her sister by the hand and pulled her down the road. “You’re on your own, Scarecrow. Good luck!”
“Wait!” he cried. “I didn’t mean it.”
“See you later,” Sabrina said.
“You need me for the rest of the story,” he cried, but Sabrina was determined to put as much distance between them and the insufferable stuffed man as she could. His desperate cries lingered for another ten minutes, and then he was silent.
“We should have helped him,” Daphne grumbled.
“Daphne, he’s not real. This whole world and everyone in it is just magic. A spell.”
“Real or not, we weren’t very nice to him.” Her little sister was fuming. She crossed her arms in disgust and marched along in silence.
They moved away from the farmland and into a forest landscape. It wasn’t long before they heard a loud groan from the trees on the side of the road.
“Did you hear that?” Daphne asked, peering through the dense trees for the source of the pained cry.
Sabrina sighed. She knew the story well enough to know who it was. “It’s the Tin Man. I’m sure of it.”
Daphne put her palm into her mouth and bit down. “The Tin Man is my favorite.”
Sabrina shook her head. “Don’t even think about it. If we left the Scarecrow, we can leave this guy too.”
“We have to rescue him,” the little girl cried, and then raced into the woods.
“Daphne, no!” Sabrina chased after her and soon the two girls stumbled upon a cabin in the woods. Standing nearby was the Tin Man, stiff and rusting beneath a half-chopped tree with his ax in hand. He mumbled something unintelligible, but Daphne didn’t stop to try to listen. She raced into the cabin and reappeared with an oilcan in her hand. In a flash, she was squeezing black grease into the metal man’s joints, and soon he was moving about freely, if not a bit awkwardly. Daphne finished her good deed with a healthy squeeze into his jaw sockets.
“I might have stood there always if you had not come along,” the Tin Man said. “So you have saved my life—wait . . . someone’s missing. Where’s the Scarecrow?”
The girls shared a knowing look.
“Back on that pole, I suspect,” Daphne said.
“You left him?” the Tin Man cried.
“We can’t go through this again,” Sabrina groaned. “Let’s go.”
“Not before I get an autograph. Do you happen to have a pen?” Daphne said to the strange man. Sabrina snatched her sister by the hand and started back to the road.
The Tin Man followed behind them. “Uh, how did you come to be here?” he sputtered.
“We’re going to see the Wizard so we can kill the Wicked Witch,” Daphne said.
The Tin Man stopped in his tracks. “That’s not what you’re supposed to say.”
“We’re doing things a little differently this time,” Sabrina said.
“Come on, Tin Man. Come with us,” Daphne pleaded.