“I’m on it,” Mother Goose said, and whistled for Lester. A couple moments later the giant goose swooped down from the towers of the palace and landed on the ground next to them. Lester was just as surprised to see Conner as the rest of them.
“Squaaaw?” Lester squawked.
“Hi, buddy, long time no see,” Conner said, and rubbed Lester’s long neck.
Mother Goose hopped aboard the gander and they took off into the night sky to find Conner’s friends. Conner got to his feet; he was still having a hard time catching his breath.
Froggy appeared at the top of the palace’s front steps and looked across the gardens. He was amazed by what he saw. “Conner?” he gasped. “Is that really you?”
“Yes, Conner’s back!” Red called to him. “The porthole has been re-opened or something.”
Froggy leaped across the gardens and gave his friend a giant hug. He didn’t care how Conner had managed to return; he was just happy something good could come out of this day.
“Hi, Froggy,” Conner said. “It’s so good to see you all again!”
“You look flustered, old chap,” Froggy said. “What’s the matter?”
“Please tell us what’s wrong,” Alex pleaded. “You’re starting to scare me.”
Conner took a few extra-deep breaths to calm his racing heart and then told them what was happening. He started with his trip to Germany and the warning the Brothers Grimm had left in their last story. He explained how he had tried to get ahold of Alex but eventually contacted Mother Goose. He filled them in on how the Brothers Grimm had tricked the Grande Armée into an enchanted portal. Conner told them about his trip across Europe to find the portal and to see if it was open—with Bree and Emmerich’s help. And then, to their absolute horror, he told them that the army of thousands of men had finally arrived in the Land of Stories after two hundred years.
They were all at a loss for words. None of them wanted to believe their horrible week was gravely worse than they’d thought.
“Oh my gosh,” Alex said. “This is unbelievable.”
“Tell me about it,” Conner said. “It’s been a rough couple days.”
Hearing this confused Alex. “A couple days?” she clarified. “Wait, you say you tried contacting me during the ball?”
“Yeah,” Conner said, and rolled his eyes remembering his attempts. “It must have been a pretty busy ball since you couldn’t speak to me for three days.”
“I’m sorry about that, I was occupied with a lot of things,” Alex said, not wanting to get into them. “But the ball was almost a month ago. Conner, you’ve been in that portal for weeks!”
Just when Conner’s heart had calmed down it started racing again. Emmerich’s suspicion was right—the soldiers weren’t the only ones who had lost all track of time while they were in the portal. No wonder they had been so discombobulated when they arrived.
“Oh no,” Conner said. “That means Bree and Emmerich have been away from their families for a month.”
“Once Mother Goose brings them back, we’ll take them to my chambers and send them home using our old Land of Stories book,” Alex decided. “It should be working again since the portal has been re-opened.”
A question suddenly came to Conner’s mind. “But Mother Goose never explained to me why the portal has been re-opened,” he said. “Do any of you know why this is happening now?”
Alex looked gloomily to Froggy and Red and they went silent. Conner could tell they knew something he didn’t—something important.
“What is it?” Conner said. “Has something else happened that I don’t know about?”
Alex took a deep breath before breaking the news to him. “Conner, the portal is open for the same reason Froggy is a frog again,” she said. “Grandma’s magic is fading because… Grandma’s dying.”
Conner felt like he had been punched in the stomach. He fell to his knees and his eyes darted around the gardens surrounding him. This couldn’t be happening. He had risked so much in the Otherworld trying to save his loved ones only to find out he couldn’t save his grandmother after all. It was like he was trapped in a nightmare that he couldn’t wake up from.
“Grandma can’t die,” Conner said, and tears formed in his eyes. “She’s a Fairy Godmother… fairies don’t die.…”
Telling him was almost harder than hearing it herself. “Apparently they do,” Alex said through her own tears.
“How long does she have?” he whimpered.
“There’s no way of knowing,” Alex said. “Emerelda said as long as there’s still magic left inside her there’s always a chance she could pull through, but it looks unlikely since all her spells are fading.”
A sudden gust of air blew by them as Mother Goose and Lester returned. They had found Bree and Emmerich and safely brought them to the Fairy Kingdom. The two were beside themselves as they looked around at the majestic gardens and stunning palace—they had never seen such a beautiful place.
“Wow, you don’t see this every day,” Emmerich said.
“Now this is what I was expecting!” Bree said happily.
Mother Goose hopped down from Lester and helped them off the large bird. They joined the others around Conner.
“That’s a big frog,” Emmerich said when he saw Froggy standing there. He stepped behind Bree and hid from him.
“Hi, Alex!” Bree said sheepishly; she almost hadn’t recognized her. “I don’t know if you remember me but we were in Social Studies together in the seventh grade. You look great, nice palace!”
“Hi, Bree,” Alex said, vaguely remembering her. “Thanks for helping my brother find the portal.”
“No worries,” Bree said. “My schedule was pretty open.”
Conner tearfully looked up at Mother Goose. “You didn’t tell me the portal was opening because Grandma was sick,” he said.
Mother Goose let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry, C-Dog, I didn’t think I should be the one to tell you,” she said.
Conner looked away from her. “No, you never want to take responsibility for anything,” he said coldly.
Mother Goose went quiet and shamefully looked to the ground; he was right. Bree and Emmerich fell silent, too; they weren’t sure what kind of drama they had walked into.
“Would it make you feel better if you saw her?” Alex asked her brother. “She’s resting in her room.”
Conner shook his head; he wanted to take care of his guilt before he moved on to his grief. “No, I want to get Bree and Emmerich home first,” he said. “I don’t want to expose them to more than I already have.”
Alex led them into the palace and up the stairs to her chambers. She retrieved their old Land of Stories book with its emerald cover and gold writing from its special spot on her bookshelf. She placed the large book in the center of her bed. She tapped it three times with the tip of her crystal wand but nothing happened. She tried it twice more but got the same result.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “If the portal is open, why isn’t the book working?”
Mother Goose picked up the book and inspected every inch of it. Her eyes lit up as she came to a sudden realization. “Because the portal is still halfway closed,” she explained. “Your grandmother’s magic has faded enough for the portal to open on the Otherworld side, but not enough for it to open on this side. It’s like a doorway that’s only been unlocked on one side.”
“So you’re saying Bree and Emmerich are stuck here?” Conner asked. The situation just grew more terrible by the hour.
“For the time being,” Mother Goose said.
“Wait a second,” Alex said, and looked up to all the guests in her room. Her eyes widened and a smile slowly appeared. “This is good news.”
“How could this be good news?” Conner asked.
“Because if the portal is closed on our side, it means there’s still a little bit of magic left in Grandma,” she said happily.