The Sisters Grimm: Book Eight: The Inside Story (5 page)

Sabrina, however, was not intimidated. She may have only skimmed the story, but everyone knew that the head was a mechanical illusion created by Oscar Diggs, also known as the Wizard, or simply, Oz. Oz had no real magical powers, but his sophisticated machines created a convincing illusion for the people of the Emerald City. He had taken over the town and ruled it with fear, but his big green floating head couldn’t hurt Sabrina or her sister.

Sabrina stepped forward. “We’re looking for our baby brother. He was kidnapped and dragged into this book, and we’re here to rescue him. To do that we have to kill the Wicked Witch and get her broom for you, so why don’t you do your little magic show so we can get on with it.”

The head opened its mouth wide and Sabrina fully expected more complaints about respecting the plot, but instead she heard a deep, obnoxious belch.

The girls looked at each another in disbelief.

“I know that’s not in the story,” Daphne said.

The head laughed. “Why would I help a couple of monkey-faced freaks like you two?”

Sabrina glanced around the room. Standing not far from where they were was a tall green screen. She stepped over to it.

“Never mind the man behind the screen!” the head bellowed as Sabrina pushed it aside. Standing behind it was a very familiar ragged-haired boy in a filthy green hoodie.

“Puck!” the girls cried.

On the floor next to him, tied tight with rope, was the Wizard. A green gag was shoved into his mouth and it was clear by his groans that he was not happy. Puck, however, looked as amused as Sabrina had ever seen him.

“Hello, Grimms,” Puck said. “Are you having as much fun as I am?”

2

z rules!” Puck exclaimed.

“How did you get here?” Sabrina asked.

“After I stepped into that crazy book I was tossed inside a tornado. I got spun around at a million miles an hour and then was flung all the way to the Emerald City. It was awesome!”

Daphne looked down at the Wizard. His hands were bound tightly. “What’s his story?”

“His guards found me and locked me in a cell,” Puck said, giving the man a healthy kick in the rear. “The Wiz here figured out I was from the real world pretty fast and begged me to help him escape the Book.”

“Escape the Book? Oh, dear,” the Scarecrow murmured.

“That’s what he said,” Puck said. “I agreed to help, but knowing him like I do, I figured he would somehow double-cross me, so I decided to triple-cross him first. Then it dawned on me he might try a quadruple-cross so I immediately skipped the quindruple-, sexdruple-, and septdruple-, and went straight to the octdruple-cross. He never saw it coming! Once he turned his back, I tied him up and took over as the Great and Terrible Oz. The people either don’t know the difference or don’t care.”

“Yeah, they keep treating me like I’m Dorothy,” Daphne said.

“What about you?” Puck said, turning to Sabrina.

Sabrina’s face turned bright red. “I’m Toto,” she mumbled.

“Who?”

“I’m the dog! Are you satisfied?”

Puck burst into an obnoxious, horsey laugh. “I’ve been telling you that you were a dog since we first met. If we’re getting married, you’re going to have to go to the doctor and see what they can do about your face.”

Sabrina seethed. “What are you talking about?”

“Us . . . getting married,” Puck said. “You’re my fiancée.”

It took several moments for Puck’s words to sink in. Puck couldn’t have called her his “fiancée,” could he? But the look on Daphne’s face—an expression filled with thrills and romantic giggles—confirmed that her ears were not playing tricks. She was certain her own face was glowing as red as a stoplight.

“We’re married in the future, right?” Puck continued. “You told me we were. At first the thought of marrying you made me sick. I mean, really physically ill. I was barfing and fevered. I spent a few days in bed with the chills, but then I realized, hey! Getting married might be the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ll have someone to wait on me hand and foot. Having a wife is practically like having a slave, and I could really use the help. I hope you can cook, Grimm. I like to eat.”

“A slave?!” Sabrina cried. “Is that what you think a wife is?”

“Of course,” Puck said. “But before we get to that, we need to start planning our wedding and the reception. I was thinking we could have it in Pompeii, you know, where all those people were killed by the volcano—it’s very romantic.”

Sabrina thought she might explode like a volcano. She considered whether to strangle the boy now or in his sleep.

Daphne stepped between them. “We need you to fly us to the Wicked Witch’s castle. We have to kill her and get her flying broom. We think it’s our only way into the next story.”

“Stop! STOP! STOP!!!!!!!” the Tin Man shouted. “You people don’t understand what you are doing. You can’t just skip ahead. Lots of stuff happens in between. The Editor will know!”

“Are they complaining about this Editor person too?” Puck said. “The Wizard was crying about him before I shoved the gag in his mouth. Personally, if I was going to terrorize people, I’d come up with a better name than the ‘Editor.’”

“True, the ‘Editor’ is lousy as a scary name,” Daphne said.

“Stop saying his name!” the Cowardly Lion whined.

“Do we have to take them?” Puck asked as his wings popped out of his back. They were pink and enormous, and with just a few flaps they lifted his body into the air.

“We’ll finish the story on our own,” the Tin Man said.

The Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion nodded their heads in agreement.

“I have to warn you,” Daphne said. “The Scarecrow has his hay yanked out, the Cowardly Lion is chained up in a yard, and the Tin Man is thrown out a window of the castle. You could all skip that stuff if you come with us.”

“That’s what happens to these guys?” Puck asked as he snatched the girls up. “You Grimms sure you don’t want to go with them? It sounds hilarious.”

Sabrina shook her head, and Puck flew the girls toward an open window. “Well, I wish I could say it was fun,” Sabrina called back to the trio.

A second later, they were soaring high over the spiraling green towers of Emerald City. Heading due west, Puck’s wings lifted them higher and higher until they could see nearly every mile of the Land of Oz. They flew on for the better part of an afternoon before a dark castle came into view.

Puck circled it once to find a good entrance and finally spotted an open window in a high tower. He swooped inside and they landed. The room was covered in tapestries the color of the night sky. In a far corner of the room, a dark figure was hovering over a crystal ball. Her face was illuminated by the ball’s swirling light. Her skin was a pale shade of green. She had black, unkempt hair and a patch over her left eye. Her skin was covered in warts and her teeth were filed down into fangs. She was one of the scariest people Sabrina had ever seen, but when she noticed the children she let out a startled yelp and backed herself into the corner.

“You’re early!” she cried. “You missed the flying-monkey attack! And the swarm of killer bees! I’m supposed to send all manner of torment against you before you get here.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Sabrina said, “but we have to move things along. Where do you keep the buckets of water?”

“Right. Right,” the Witch said. She rushed across the room and returned with a bucket full of hot, soapy water and a mop, which she placed in front of Daphne. “Maybe the Editor won’t even notice. OK, Dorothy, in this scene, you are scrubbing the floors. I’ll go out and come back in, and when I do I’ll be very angry. All you have to do is throw the water on me. Then I’ll melt.”

The Witch raced out into the hall.

“I don’t want her to melt. I’ll have nightmares,” Daphne said.

“She’s not real, Daphne,” Sabrina said.

The Witch raced back into the room. She had a horrible expression on her face but it quickly changed to confusion. “Why aren’t you scrubbing?”

“I don’t want you to die,” Daphne said.

“But that’s what happened with the real Dorothy,” the Witch said. “You have to make me melt. Don’t worry about me! I’ve done it a million times. It doesn’t even hurt that much anymore.”

Daphne frowned. “It’s not right.”

Puck snatched the bucket from Daphne. “I would love to see her melt,” he said.

Daphne snatched the bucket back. “No one is melting!”

“Give me back the bucket or you’re not invited to the wedding,” Puck cried.

“OK, everyone calm down,” Sabrina said.

“Should I go back out and try this again?” the Witch asked.

“I won’t do it,” Daphne said.

“Daphne, we can’t get to the door unless we do this,” Sabrina said. “And we can’t stay in this story. Mirror is in this book with our brother.”

“I know that!” the little girl cried.

“Here, I’ll make this easy on everyone. Give me the bucket,” the Witch said and tried to snatch it from Daphne. “I’ll pour it on myself.”

“No!”

“Kid, let go of the bucket,” the Witch demanded. “I want to melt! Really! I do!”

“You don’t know what you want.”

“I’m not kidding. Dump that water on me now.”

“Forget it! You’re staying dry!”

Just then, the Witch gave a mighty tug and the bucket fell onto her. Water splashed across her body and a hissing sound filled the room. The children could do nothing but watch as the woman’s body began to dribble onto the floor like butter in a saucepan. A green puddle collected at their feet.

“Thank you
sooooo
much!” the Witch cried just before the smile on her face leaked down her dress.

Daphne was breathing deeply, and her face had taken on a queasy green hue that rivaled the Witch’s complexion. “I am never going to get over that.”

“I said it before and I’ll say it again, Oz rules!” Puck cried.

Suddenly a door materialized out of thin air. Sabrina stepped over and circled around it. It was painted red and had a little brass knocker on it. It could have been the front door of a million different homes, only there was no physical reason the door should be standing in midair. But it was there, right in front of them, defying reason. Sabrina clasped the knob, turned it, and swung the door open. A blast of wind blew her hair, and all around her was a smell of a burning fireplace.

“So this takes us to the next story?” Puck shouted over the wind.

Sabrina nodded. “That’s what we were told.”

“Where do you think it leads to?” Daphne asked.

“I don’t know, but I hope it isn’t as annoying as Oz,” Sabrina said.

“I hope it’s a place where people don’t melt,” Daphne grumbled.

Sabrina took Daphne’s and Puck’s hands, and together they stepped through the door. There was a whooshing sound and Sabrina’s stomach dropped, and then they suddenly found themselves in a somber library. All the furniture was a dark cherrywood. Tightly packed books, some that looked as old as time, were displayed neatly on bookshelves soaring hundreds of feet into the air. A yellowing globe sat on a stone podium, and the head of some horrible, alien animal was mounted above a crackling fireplace. In the center of the room was a high-backed leather chair, and resting in the chair was a thin, elderly man with hair as white as freshly fallen snow. A pair of antique spectacles sat precariously on the tip of his long, pointy nose. He leafed through a book with one hand and patted the bulbous head of a strange, pink creature with the other. Sabrina recognized it as one of the scurrying creatures that attacked them on the road in Oz—the one the Tin Man had called a “reviser.” Its gnashing teeth and lack of eyes unnerved Sabrina.