“What are you so afraid of?” Daphne asked.
The Cowardly Lion dipped his voice to a whisper. “He oversees the Book. He insists we stick to the tale. If we make changes, he will revise us. Please, just take us with you.”
Daphne turned to Sabrina. “Maybe they’re right. Maybe we need them.”
Sabrina sighed. “Fine! But don’t get in the way, and do us all a favor—stop being so persnickety about every little detail.”
“He’s not going to like this,” the Tin Man mumbled, but still refused to explain more about the mysterious Editor. “Lion, put Dorothy and Toto on your back and jump across this ditch. When they’re safe, come back and get the rest of us.”
A moment later, the enormous jungle cat had jumped to the other side of the ditch and was on his way back for the others.
It was only the first in a long string of obstacles. Soon the group came across another ravine, only this one was guarded by creatures with the bodies of bears and the heads of tigers. Their claws were long and horrible, and they looked as if they could slice through a man with a flick of their wrist. The beasts followed them onto the log they used to cross the ravine, and they were preparing to pounce when the travelers shoved the downed tree over the edge, sending the monsters to their deaths.
Their next headache came in the form of a raging river. With so many people in the entourage, it took twice as long to cross as it should have. Worse, the Scarecrow insisted that he needed to strand himself on a pole in the center because that was the way it happened in real life. No matter how ridiculous and easily avoided the problems were, the three Oz characters felt compelled to follow the way things had gone the first time. Sabrina was frustrated and fuming. She knew the Scarecrow was hoping for a brain, but she was starting to think the Cowardly Lion and Tin Man might need one too. Even Daphne was irritated, and she never got angry.
But it was the poppy field that sent Sabrina’s patience over the edge. She remembered the vast field from the movie and knew anyone who stepped into it would fall asleep and eventually die.
“This is insane!” Sabrina cried. “The Yellow Brick Road is the only way to the biggest city in Oz, but it’s riddled with giant holes, vicious animals, a river without a bridge, and now these stupid deadly flowers. Where is the sanitation department to clean this up? You can’t have these kinds of dangers on a major road!”
“Taxi service would also be a plus,” Daphne added.
The Oz characters looked just as exhausted. “You and Dorothy ride on the Cowardly Lion’s back for as far as he can go,” the Scarecrow explained. “Then the Tin Man and I come along and rescue you. Then we meet the Queen of the Field Mice, who—”
“Queen of the Field Mice?” Sabrina said. “There’s no Queen of the Field Mice!”
“It’s in the book,” Daphne explained.
“Well, you can just forget it!” Sabrina shouted. “If I haven’t made it clear already, we aren’t here to see the countryside and meet rodent royalty. We’re trying to rescue our brother from a lunatic bent on stealing his body. All of this is taking too much time.”
The Tin Man gasped. “But the Editor will—”
“If you tell me about your stupid Editor one more time, I’m going to melt you down and make you into hubcaps,” Sabrina threatened. “We’re done with you and this stupid story.” Sabrina stormed off to a tree and sat down. Daphne followed and stood over her.
“So what do you want to do?” Daphne said.
Sabrina looked out over the sea of poppies and searched for an idea, any idea, but she was lost. She was satisfied after having had a good scream, but now that it was over she felt like she was stumbling through a maze that had no exit.
“This is madness. I’m sick of these idiots. I’m sick of this story and I’m sick of walking. My feet feel like they might fall off.”
“Mine too,” Daphne said. She sat down and took off the witch’s silver slippers. She rubbed her tired toes for a moment and then let out a scream that startled Sabrina.
“Um, duh,” Daphne said as she picked up the slippers and shook them. “We could use these magic slippers! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.”
Daphne slipped the shoes back on and scampered to her feet, pulling Sabrina up as well.
“I guess I thought they weren’t real ’cause we’re in a book,” Daphne continued. “But this is no ordinary book. The fruit is real and so was the stream. Even the air we’re breathing is real. If all that’s real, couldn’t the shoes be real too?”
Sabrina saw her sister’s point. “If Dorothy’s slippers work like they do in the real world, we can use them to teleport to the end of the story. We can skip all the dumb stuff and get right to the door. We could be waiting for Mirror when he and the baby arrive.”
“Absolutely not!” the Scarecrow exclaimed as he stumbled over to join them.