The Inside Story Read online

  She and the puppy searched for the fruit and came across a bank of walnut trees and an abandoned garden filled with carrots and cucumbers. Sabrina filled her pockets with all she could carry and headed back to the camp. While they were gone, Puck had built a fire. It was far bigger than they would need, but once they got it under control they sat and shared the food with the others.

  “Please tell us of the real world,” the Cheshire Cat begged as he munched on some berries.

  “Yes,” the puppy dog yipped. “What’s it like?”

  “Well, that depends on who you ask,” Sabrina said. “Most people live pretty uneventful lives.”

  “But not you?” the White Rabbit said.

  Puck laughed. “Not at all.”

  “Yeah, our lives are nonstop excitement,” Daphne said. “We’re always fighting monsters and saving the world.”

  “Monsters!” the White Rabbit cried.

  “Just in our hometown,” Sabrina said. “The rest of the world, for the most part, is happily dull. Unfortunately, once you step into Ferryport Landing, you’ll be as stuck there as you are in this book. There’s a spell that traps Everafters within the town limits.”

  The animals shared uncomfortable looks and were quiet for a moment.

  “I’ll happily trade this prison for another,” the dodo said. “At least there is no one watching your every move and making sure you do as you’re told.”

  “You mentioned that I was different from your White Rabbit,” the rabbit said sheepishly.

  “Yeah, he’s a jerk,” Puck said, his face smeared with purple juice. “Evil, too. Not that being evil necessarily makes you a bad person or anything.”

  The White Rabbit gasped. It was easy to see he was offended.

  “See, the real White Rabbit is a member of a very mean group called the Scarlet Hand. They’re trying to take over the world,” Daphne explained.

  “This boy you’re chasing, Pinocchio . . . Is he their leader?” the Cat asked.

  “No, but he’s a member,” Sabrina said. “Their leader is traveling through this book too. His name is Mirror. He’s the magic mirror from Snow White’s story. He was a friend of ours, or at least we thought he was. But he betrayed us and kidnapped our little brother. He wants to steal his body for himself so that he can be a real person.”

  “Well, you have my help, and if I can speak for the others, all of our help,” the dodo said.

  The puppy dog growled. “It is the very least we can do for the amazing opportunity you are giving us.”

  The characters continued their questions about the world of the living. They were fascinated with little things like cars and phones and indoor plumbing. The White Rabbit had a difficult time accepting the idea that the real world had very few talking animals.

  “It’s got very few clinically insane hat-makers too,” Sabrina grumbled.

  Eventually, the berries and nuts were gone and all the chatter started to give Sabrina a sharp headache. She told Puck to shout for her if a door appeared and then excused herself to walk into the woods for some solitude. She knew she’d hardly be missed. The refugees from Wonderland continued their party with songs and stories of the lives they intended to build in the real world. They were prisoners broken from their cages, and it was a day to rejoice, but Sabrina didn’t feel much like celebrating.

  “Mind if I sit?” Daphne asked, appearing from nowhere.

  “Where’s Puck?”

  “He’s got the puppy chasing his own tail and he’s laughing like an idiot,” the little girl said as she sat down against a tree. “I’ve come to ask you what you’ve done with my sister.”

  Sabrina shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “I know you aren’t really Sabrina Grimm,” Daphne said. “I know you are a fake. The real Sabrina doesn’t act like you at all. For instance, my sister never asks other people for their opinions on what she should do.”

  Sabrina sighed.

  “Normally, I find it annoying,” Daphne continued. “I mean, she almost never asks me what I think, and that makes me fighting mad sometimes. But never, in all the time we’ve spent in Ferryport Landing, has she ever, ever, ever, ever, ever asked Puck what to do. Who are you, and what have you done with the real Sabrina Grimm?”

  “I’m afraid I’ll make the wrong choices.”

  Daphne was quiet. “’Cause you trusted Mirror and he turned out to be the bad guy?”

  Sabrina was surprised by her sister’s insight. It was another sign that Daphne wasn’t such a little girl anymore. “How did you guess?”

  “Uh, I trusted him too,” Daphne said. “He was like an uncle to me. When he turned out to be the Master, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t figured it out myself. I looked back on all our time with him and I started to see the clues: the two faces he showed—one for the reflection and one for the Hall of Wonders, and the fact that whenever we were discussing a plan around him the bad guys always seemed to know, and all those mirrors we found around town—Nottingham and Heart have a couple, and Oz had one in his workroom. There was one in Rumpelstiltskin’s office. I’m sure Jack had one in his apartment. He was sending messages to his evil army through them. Why didn’t I see it? I’m a Grimm. I’m a detective. I have mad fighting skills and can zap someone with a magic wand like nobody’s business . . . but I didn’t see it.”

  “If you made the same bad decision to have trusted him, why aren’t you panicking now?” Sabrina asked.

  Daphne shrugged. “Mirror wants us to be off balance. That way we’ll have a tougher time stopping him. I’m not going to let him keep messing with me.”

  “But when the people in your life betray you, how do you know which decisions are right?”

  “Who knows what the right thing is anymore?” Daphne said as she munched on the last of her walnuts.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I’ve been thinking about what Mirror is doing. He’s clearly lost his mind, and it’s horrible what he’s trying to do, but you know, he kind of has a point. He’s been trapped in that mirror for hundreds of years. He’s had owners who were cruel to him. He wants out, so he can be like the rest of us. He’s still a monster, but I can see where he’s coming from.

  “And this Editor, well, his job is to keep the stories the same. If he doesn’t, then it affects the real world. The Editor has to fix this stuff, which isn’t fair to the characters, but it’s his job.

  “And then there’s the people in this book. Why should they have to sit in some boring story all the time? That’s not fair.”

  “You’re quite the sympathizer,” Sabrina said.

  “Pretend I’m not a dictionary and I don’t know what that word means.”

  “It means that you understand the problems of others,” Sabrina said.

  “I guess I do, but not when you mess with my family. Whether Mirror has a point or not, he hurt me and you and everyone I love. That’s when I know when my decisions are right or wrong. Protecting my family will always be right.”

  Sabrina blinked. “And you’re accusing me of being an impostor. When did you get so wise?”

  “Back at home, Puck and I have been staying up and watching old westerns on TV,” Daphne said. “All the cowboys talk like that.”

  When Sabrina and Daphne returned to the group, the fire had died down and the others were waiting expectantly.

  “What now?” the Cheshire Cat asked.

  Sabrina turned to Daphne. The little girl gave her a knowing look and then smiled. It was a relief to have her sister’s approval.

  “I think we need to re-create the ending. This story is so short it might be easy. New ending—new door.”

  “Interesting. But how?” the White Rabbit said.

  “This little old lady lives in a shoe. She’s got so many kids she doesn’t know what to do. Sounds like she needs a little help organizing,” Sabrina said. “Puck, can you take the others and find the children? Get them back to the shoe on the double. Daphne and I will stay he
re and get everything ready.”

  It wasn’t long before the children were hurrying back to the house. It helped that Puck had transformed himself into a pterodactyl and was buzzing over the crowd so that they ran for their lives. When the children were gathered, Sabrina looked out on the hundreds of them.

  “All right, kids, listen up,” Sabrina said. “You have had it too easy. Your mother feeds you, clothes you, washes your laundry, and keeps your rooms clean. She’s exhausted. She’s inside taking a much-needed nap. While she’s having a little ‘me’ time, we’re going to get this shoe in shape. So, if your name starts with the letter ‘A,’ raise your hand.”

  A dozen children raised their hands.

  “You are going to mow this yard, rake the leaves, and clean out the gutters,” Daphne said.

  The children whined.

  “No fuss!” Sabrina cried. “If your name starts with ‘B,’ you’re on laundry. There’s a pile of dirty socks in there a mountain high. They need to be washed, dried, folded, and put away.”

  “If your name starts with a ‘C,’ you’ve got dish duty,” Daphne added. “Wash, dry, and put away. And remember, there is a trick to loading the dishwasher. Don’t overfill it!”

  The chores went on all the way to Zed, Zelma, and the rest of the Zs. Sabrina and her group stood by and watched as the children washed windows, swept the walkway, bagged grass clippings, and beat the dust out of rugs. When the little old woman came outside, she had tears in her eyes.

  “Thank you! Thank you!” she cried.

  Just then, a door appeared behind Sabrina. “Let’s get the ball rolling,” she said to her sister.

  Daphne whispered something into the magic yarn and it hopped out of her hand. When Puck opened the door, it rolled right through it. Puck was next, followed by Daphne. Sabrina gestured for the others to follow and stepped through the portal last, unsure of where they would land.

  When Sabrina could see again, she was at the bottom of a rocky hill crowned with a majestic castle. It overlooked a crisp green valley and a churning river less than a mile away. Unlike the crumbling castles Sabrina had seen in her father’s travel magazines, this one was pristine—almost as if it were brand-new. Its walls were constructed from gleaming white stones and its towers stretched toward the clouds. A turret sat on the rooftop, where a proud orange flag featuring a fierce black griffin flapped in the wind. Before Sabrina could ask her sister which story they had entered, there was a loud explosion and the blue sky turned an angry red.

  “Dear, dear,” the Cheshire Cat said as it hid behind Daphne. “We’ve stepped into a war zone.”

  There was another explosion that echoed across the valley, and a moment later, one of the castle’s towers toppled over and crashed against the rocks below. The next thing Sabrina knew, three knights in full armor came charging over a drawbridge and straight toward them. Sabrina stepped out of the way only to fall to the ground with a thud. She wasn’t expecting to be wearing a heavy suit of armor.

  Puck pulled her to her feet with much effort.

  “Sir Galahad! Sir Bedivere!” one of the men in armor shouted to the girls. It was suddenly clear they had been placed in the roles of knights. “The Editor has sent a sorcerer to put down our rebellion. He has invaded the castle and our dear Merlin is fighting him off, but he is very powerful. He has attacked the castle, but he will not stop our cause. Freedom will be ours.”

  “Cause?” Sabrina asked. “What cause?”

  “To escape this book, of course,” the second knight said proudly. “We are members of the Character Liberation Army. We are working to leave this story, and clearly the Editor has unleashed a horror on us aimed at ending our quest.”

  The third knight looked as if he were ready to add more to the conversation when he rubbed his eyes and stared at the group. “What manner of creatures are you?”

  Sabrina turned to look at her group—a giant puppy, an extinct bird, a rabbit wearing clothes, a man-size cat, a boy with pink fairy wings . . . not to mention Daphne and herself, two little girls in ill-fitting suits of armor.

  “Long story,” Sabrina said to the knight. “What story is this?”

  The third knight gasped. “You’ve come from another story?”

  “Can it be?” the first knight cried.

  “You are in league with the Editor!” the second knight shouted. At once, the three knights removed their swords from their sheaths.

  Puck pulled out his own toy sword. “All right, people. Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

  Sabrina raised her hands to calm everyone down. “We’re not here to stop you. We’re chasing someone—a little boy.”

  “If the villain fighting Merlin inside is a little boy, the world is certainly doomed,” the third knight said.

  There was another eardrum-rumbling explosion, and part of the castle’s walls crumbled into dust.

  “This sorcerer . . . Can you take us to him?” Sabrina asked.

  “Take you back into the castle?” the third knight cried. “Are you daft?”

  “If you won’t take us, we’ll go on our own.” Daphne took slow, deliberate steps forward in her armor. It wasn’t long before she tipped over face-first. “Stupid suit of armor! Whose idea was it to wear two hundred pounds of metal into battle? A duckling could kill me right now.”

  Sabrina and Puck helped the little girl to her feet. Once she was up, the other knights dismounted and helped them remove some of the heavier pieces of armor. When the first knight, who introduced himself as Sir Port, removed Sabrina’s helmet, he nearly took her nose with it. Soon, the girls were moving about a bit more freely.

  “You’re fools,” Sir Port said. “But we’ll take you back to the castle.”

  The dodo cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should wait here until all the fighting is over.”

  “Remember the deal, bird,” Sabrina chirped. “We won’t come back for you.”

  “I must object,” the rabbit interjected as he polished his monocle. “The two of you have taken on roles in this story. We have a freedom you do not. Any number of horrible things could happen to you. Perhaps it would be wise to entrust your yarn to us. Just in case.”

  Sabrina eyed the group suspiciously. “The yarn is ours, buster.”

  The White Rabbit threw up his paws. “Of course! Of course! Just a suggestion.”

  Despite their vocal complaints, Sabrina didn’t turn back to see if the characters were following. She, Puck, Daphne, and the three knights on horseback climbed up the steep hill and crossed a wide wooden drawbridge over a black and foul-smelling moat.

  Through a great arch they could see a smoke-filled castle courtyard. As they entered, Sabrina spotted a crowd of panicked knights, ladies-in-waiting, and court jesters rushing about willynilly trying to avoid a terrific battle. The fighting seemed to be coming from the center of the courtyard. Sabrina could feel the familiar tingle of enchantments all around her, though the sonic booms and flashes of white-hot light were all the evidence she needed to determine that someone was wielding some very powerful magic.

  They pushed their way through the crowd and eventually found a space with a view of the conflict. The power of the attacks was so intense that Sabrina had to shield her eyes, but inside the fire and light she could make out two figures. They circled each other with hands afire and eyes burning with raw power. The air crackled with energy every time one of them made the slightest movement.

  “What’s happening?” Daphne asked a tall, handsome man with flowing black hair.

  When Sabrina looked up into his face, she immediately recognized him as Sir Lancelot, one of Ferryport Landing’s dashing volunteer firefighters. Granny Relda had recently purchased a “Firefighters of Ferryport Landing” calendar, and when she took a peek at it when it arrived in the mail, her face turned as red as a stoplight. Sabrina never saw the calendar again and the old woman wouldn’t say where it had gone.

  With his familiar face, she could place the story: They had stepped i
nto the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

  “This cursed interloper hath stepped through an enchanted doorway in the midst of our castle,” Lancelot said. “A battalion of noble knights and I naturally came to the defense of Camelot, but we were soon overwhelmed by the villain’s magics. The king’s adviser, Merlin, was called, and due to his experience with the black arts, has unleashed his ungodly powers on the Editor’s lackey.”

  “What did he say?” Daphne asked.

  Sabrina shrugged. She had trouble understanding his real-life counterpart back home.

  “Pinocchio sure has learned the ins and outs of that magic wand,” Daphne said as they watched the fighting. “That’s powerful magic for a little boy.”

  “Little boy?” Lancelot said. “The boy is not fighting Merlin. It’s his father who is creating such chaos.”

  Sabrina strained to look into the battle once more. She could make out Merlin, old and feeble, fighting off a short, thin, balding man in a black suit.

  “It’s Mirror!” she cried.

  “If he’s fighting, where is Rodney?” Daphne said.

  “Rodney?”

  “Fine!” Daphne said. “Where’s what’s-his-name?”

  “If it’s the child you speak of, he is there, with the queen,” Lancelot said as he pointed across the courtyard to a slender, pale woman with blond hair that hung to her hips. She wore an eggshell-white silk dress and her hair was embellished with tiny, delicate flowers. In her arms was a small boy with red hair and bright green eyes.

  The children shoved and forced their way through the crowd as they hurried to their brother. Most people were too distracted by the fighting to care they had been pushed, but they were also too distracted to move out of the way. Still, Sabrina pressed on and soon she, Daphne, and Puck were standing before the lovely woman and the baby boy.

  “Guinevere!” Sabrina said. She had met the woman a few times when her grandmother went on errands and always found her to be sweet and polite. She was a stark contrast from her hot-headed husband, Arthur.