The Everafter War

by Michael Buckley

  Mr. Seven appeared with a shovel on his shoulder. “Who wants to dig their own grave?” the prince asked.

  The crowd eyed the shovel as if it were a scorpion preparing to strike.

  “These are your choices. Join Sleeping Beauty, or fight.”

  Sabrina scanned the crowd. There, she saw so many familiar faces—Snow White, Friar Tuck, Puss in Boots, Morgan le Fay, Old King Cole, Frau Pfefferkuchenhaus, Rip Van Winkle, Sawhorse, the Scarecrow, the Pied Piper and his son, Wendell, Lancelot, Cinderella and her husband, Tom, and Jack Pumpkinhead. There were Munchkins and Lilliputians, Yahoos and shoe elves. There were brutish creatures like the blacksmith troll and a cyclops, but also delicate beauties like Little Bo Peep and her flock of sheep. There were also many Everafters Sabrina didn’t know and had never seen before that day.

  “Why should we trust you, Charming?” Ichabod Crane asked from the middle of the crowd.

  “Weren’t you yourself a member of the Scarlet Hand? How do we know this isn’t some trap?” a duckling quacked.

  “Let me explain,” Charming said fiercely. The crowd erupted into shouts and arguments, but the noise stopped when Mr. Canis stepped forward.

  “Charming’s words are true, but since you need to hear it from someone else, hear it from me. The war is coming. If we fight, many of us will die. If we don’t, then all of us will die. We have a chance to beat them back, but we have to prepare this camp.”

  Uncle Jake stepped forward. “I will fight.”

  Henry gasped. “Jake, no!”

  “Thank you, Jacob,” Charming said, then turned back to the crowd. “Is there no one else? A human has stepped forward to fight for you! A human!”

  Mallobarb and Buzzflower joined him. “We will fight.”

  Mr. Seven raised the shovel. “I will fight.”

  Morgan le Fay stepped up next to Seven and looked down at him. “I will fight, too.”

  The little man smiled and gave her hand a squeeze.

  “Anyone else?” Charming called.

  Poppa, Momma, and Baby Bear roared. Puss in Boots joined the group. Beauty and her beastly daughter, Natalie, were next, then former deputies Mr. Boarman and Mr. Swineheart. The bridge troll and Rip Van Winkle stepped forward, followed by the Munchkins, then the Winkies, then the Gillikins. The Lilliputians, the Mouse King and his royal subjects, several Houyhnhnms, a huge contingent of knights, princes, princesses, and witches, and finally Jack Pumpkinhead all joined.

  “I will fight,” they said in unison.

  The last refugee was Ichabod Crane, who frowned before reluctantly stepping forward himself. “Fine, but if I see that one of those Scarlet Hand thugs is missing a head, I’m deserting.”

  The crowd roared and shook their fists in the air.

  Charming turned to his team. Mr. Seven, Robin Hood, Snow White, and Mr. Canis nodded in approval, and he nodded back. Then he removed his purple suit jacket and tossed it aside. He took the shovel from Seven and began to dig Briar’s grave. Uncle Jake stopped him and held out his hand. Charming nodded respectfully, passed Jake the shovel, and stepped aside.

  Overhead, rain clouds opened, soaking the camp. The refugees drifted away, but Sabrina and her family stayed to watch Jake dig. When the hole was deep enough, he gave his love one final kiss, then closed the casket’s heavy lid. Charming and Henry helped Jake lower the box into the grave and stood by as he filled the hole with dirt. When Briar was buried, Mallobarb and Buzzflower planted a single seed on top of the plot. Moments later, fed by rainwater and magic, a rosebush sprouted and grew in its spot.

  The next morning, Camp Charming became Fort Charming. Sabrina was surrounded by a flurry of fight training, forging, and construction. Mr. Boarman and Mr. Swineheart directed the work, and, with the help of some witches and wizards, the fort soon doubled in size. Teams of volunteers built lookout towers, fortifying them with cannons, while others built a catapult big enough to hurl a pickup truck over the walls.

  Everyone volunteered for Snow White’s army, and she trained them in hand-to-hand combat. Under her command, Everafters of all shapes and sizes ran drills, rappelled down the tall fort walls, and—Snow’s favorite—dropped at a moment’s notice for muscle-straining pushups. It was very strange to see the ancient Frau Pfefferkuchenhaus crawling on her belly beneath barbed wire.

  Henry continued to search for a way out of the town, and Veronica continued to try to convince him to stay. As they bickered, the girls were left to their own devices. They searched for some way to be useful. They came across Pinocchio sitting under an oak tree and carving a dozen small wooden heads with a sharp knife. His work was highly detailed, and his mastery of the blade was incredible.

  “You’re making puppets,” Daphne said, picking up one of the heads and examining it.

  “They are called marionettes,” Pinocchio said.

  “What’s the difference?” Daphne asked.

  “A marionette is a wooden figure with limbs attached to strings, and someone manipulates the strings to make it move,” Sabrina explained.

  “And that’s not a puppet?” Daphne asked.

  Pinocchio bristled at the little girl’s confusion. “No, a puppet has someone’s hand up its bum. A marionette can walk, dance, and perform in any way its master desires.”

  “And now you’re making them, just like your father,” Sabrina said, continuing to admire his work.

  Pinocchio nodded. “It’s a skill I’ve been working on for some time. The secret is to use the right wood. If it’s too hard, it’s impossible to carve, but if it’s too soft, then the whole piece can fall apart in your hands. It took me forever to find the right wood, but now that I have, I carry it with me.”

  “Must get heavy,” Sabrina said, noticing the huge bag the boy had brought with him to the camp.

  “A tad,” the boy said as if slightly annoyed, then changed the subject. “My condolences for your loss.”

  Sabrina thanked him and blinked back tears. “She was the best.”

  “She seems to have been quite an exceptional woman and an asset to the Everafter community.”

  Sabrina nodded, though she was unnerved by Pinocchio’s manner of speaking. She couldn’t get used to his sophisticated vocabulary.

  Before she could respond, Goldilocks appeared. “Girls, your grandmother would like to see you in Charming’s cabin.”

  The girls said good-bye to Pinocchio. They crossed the fort to Charming’s cabin, where they found their father and grandmother in the midst of a heated argument.

  “If he does it again, I’ll knock him out,” Henry said. “None of you have a right to sneak my children out in the middle of the night to fight dragons.”

  “Good heavens,” Granny Relda said. “Your brother didn’t sneak them out to fight dragons. I’m sure he had no idea they would run into trouble.”

  “We’re lucky any of them came back alive,” Henry snapped.

  “Henry!” Veronica cried. “Lower your voice. He might hear you.”

  “I’m sorry, but this is not OK. If he needed to go after Briar, he shouldn’t have turned to two children for help.”

  Granny stepped forward. “Henry, I’m not happy about it either, but the girls are very capable. Why, Sabrina killed a giant once.”

  “She nearly kills me every time she looks at me.” Puck snickered as he strolled into the cabin. He was filthy from head to toe, as though he had spent the morning playing in a toxic waste dump. “What’s all the hubbub about?”

  Henry ignored him. “They’re my children, Mom.”

  “Hello?” Veronica interrupted.

  Henry scowled. “They’re not sidekicks. They’re not personal flying-carpet chauffeurs. They’re not junior detectives or monster-fighters in training. They’re little girls.”

  “Little girls?!” the sisters said at once.

  Henry ignored them, too. “If any of you tries to involve them in another stupid scheme, I will personally wring your neck,” Henry threatened.

  Just then
, Uncle Jake entered the cabin. He said nothing, even though he definitely heard the shouting. He sat in a chair by the window and looked out at the sky. Mr. Canis followed, and, much to the shock of Sabrina and Daphne, Little Red Riding Hood was with him.

  “Now that everyone is here, we need to have a family meeting,” announced Mr. Canis.

  “Since when do we have family meetings?” Sabrina asked.

  “Since now,” Henry said.

  Red turned to leave.

  “Where are you going, liebling?” Granny asked.

  “I’m not a member of your family,” Red said.

  “Yes, you are,” Granny replied.

  Red awkwardly rejoined the group. “What does liebling mean?” she asked Sabrina.

  “It’s the German word for sweetheart,” she explained.

  Red’s smile was so big, it looked as though it might split her face in two.

  “Mr. Canis has something he’d like to say,” Granny said, gesturing to the old man.

  “Thank you, Relda. I know today is a day for mourning, but there are pressing matters that must be considered, the first of which is the identity of the Master. As you know, Red and I both suffer memory loss from the time we were ill. Red has come to me in hopes of restoring some of those memories. I believe, with the proper meditation techniques, she may be able to access some of her experiences. It was incredibly brave of her to approach me, considering our history together.”

  Sabrina studied the little girl. Red was a nervous wreck, but she was putting her fears aside to help. Sabrina wondered: Would she herself have the courage to trust a man who terrified her? She couldn’t be sure.

  “We will let you know if she uncovers anything useful,” he continued. “I also have some troubling news to share. Our friends Mr. Boarman and Mr. Swineheart have come to me with fears that there have been some acts of sabotage within the camp.”

  “Sabotage?!” Henry said.

  “What does sabotage mean?” Daphne asked.

  “It’s when someone intentionally tries to ruin a plan or destroy something important,” Sabrina explained.

  “Are you sure, old friend?” Granny said.

  Canis nodded. “Several important parts of the main gate were stolen. The roof of the medical tent was tampered with, and there was some sort of effort to destroy the well with an explosive. The pigs assure me these are not mere accidents or poor workmanship. Someone is intentionally trying to make things difficult.”

  “Any suspects?” Veronica asked.

  Everyone turned their eyes to Puck, who was making disgusting faces into Harry’s mirror. He looked at them and grinned. “Thanks for the compliment, but it isn’t me.”

  “I’ve looked at the damage myself,” Canis said. “If I still possessed the Wolf’s abilities, I might be able to pick up a scent from the saboteur, but I am just a man. It could be anyone, and with the steady influx of refugees, it’s impossible to know for certain.”

  “You think one of the refugees is really working for this Scarlet Hand group?” Henry asked.

  Canis nodded. “I ask you all to please keep this to yourselves. Charming, the pigs, Mr. Seven, and myself are the only ones who know, and we’d like to keep it that way. Knowledge of a spy in the community might create panic.”

  “Of course,” Veronica said. “You can trust us with this secret.”

  Canis looked to Granny. “Lastly, Relda, I am afraid that, with this latest tragedy, I really need an answer to my question.”

  “What question?” Henry asked, suspiciously.

  “As you know, the Everafters plan to confront the Master and the Scarlet Hand. It appears that peace is not a possibility. Our role in this community has always been to get involved when we feel we can be helpful,” Mr. Canis said.

  “What’s that got to do with anything?” Henry asked.

  “They want us to join their army?” Veronica guessed.

  “No,” Mr. Canis said. “As much as we need recruits, you’re human, and far too fragile for this fight.”

  “Then what do you want us to do?” Daphne asked.

  “We could lend Charming and his army some of the contents of the Hall of Wonders,” Granny explained.

  Henry nearly exploded. “That’s nuts! Prince Charming is our family’s bitterest enemy!”

  “The prince is not the man you remember,” Mr. Canis said.

  “Am I really hearing you say this? You and Charming—best buddies?” Henry scoffed.

  “He has earned my respect and my trust. He is not being deceitful when he says the Scarlet Hand is on the march. They won’t be stopped until this town is in ashes, and I cannot sit idly by and let that happen. We come to your family because we are outnumbered. The Hand counts among its numbers the most ferocious of Everafters, the most powerful, and the most bloodthirsty. We need access to the Hall of Wonders to balance the scales. If we can’t, there is little chance of defending Ferryport Landing.”

  “They only want a few items from select rooms,” Granny explained to her family.

  “Give it to them,” Uncle Jake said.

  Henry turned to his brother. “You agree with this?”

  “Yes. Give it to them,” Jake said. “Whatever they want. Anything to stop the Hand.”

  “I can’t believe this!” Henry cried.

  “We’ve taken the liberty of making a list,” Mr. Canis said, holding out a sheet of paper.

  Sabrina’s father snatched it from his hands. “Thirty trained unicorns!”

  “We have unicorns?” Daphne asked, amazed. “No one told me we had unicorns. Everyone knows I’m seven years old, right? Unicorns are everything to me.”

  Henry ignored her. “Two dozen Pegasus horses, the shoes of swiftness, Excalibur, the Wicked Witch’s broom, Aladdin’s flying carpet.”

  “Plus as many wands and enchanted weapons as you can spare,” Mr. Canis said. “I’d also like the horn of the North Wind.”

  “Mom, you can’t really be considering this!” Henry cried. “The only reason this town hasn’t already destroyed itself is because everything is locked up in the hall. Who’s to say that, once we turn this over to him, Charming won’t use it to kill us all?”

  “I’m to say,” Mr. Canis said, tapping his cane on the floor angrily. “Do you believe I would allow harm to come to your family? Have I not proven myself to you a thousand times, Henry Grimm?”

  “I don’t think he’s questioning your devotion, old friend,” Granny said to Canis. “Henry is just voicing his fears. Giving over the keys, even to people we trust, is an enormous risk. It’s also a departure from our family’s traditional role. Which is why I have gathered you all here. We’re going to vote on the request,” Granny Relda announced. “I believe Jacob has cast his vote, so I turn to Daphne.”

  Daphne held her hand out to her grandmother. Granny seemed to understand what she wanted and reached into her handbag. She removed a small velvet bag and handed it to the little girl. Daphne opened it and took out a small silver kazoo. It looked like a toy, but Sabrina knew it was really the horn of the North Wind—a dangerous weapon. The Big Bad Wolf had used it to huff and puff his way into mayhem. Sabrina herself had accidentally destroyed a bank with one simple note. She wished that the army hadn’t asked for it—this was the most powerful magical item she knew of, and it would be a catastrophe if the weapon fell into the wrong hands. Daphne, however, handed it to Canis, who thanked the little girl and tucked it into his suit jacket.

  “You have my vote,” she said.

  Granny turned to Red. “And you?”

  Red seemed overwhelmed to have been included. A happy tear streaked down her face. She nodded, another vote for the cause.

  “Puck?”

  The fairy boy shrugged. “Sounds fine to me, though if I had known that I could get at that stuff just by asking, I would have done it a long time ago.”

  Granny moved along. “Which brings us to Veronica.”

  Veronica looked at Henry, then back to the rest of the g
roup. “The Master kidnapped Henry and me. He stole two years of my life and separated me from my daughters. I vote yes. Open every door, Relda.”

  Granny nodded. “Sabrina?”

  Sabrina wanted to say no. She had seen what magic could do—the kind of chaos magic could incite. She herself struggled with an addiction to magic. But, what Canis was asking felt right, especially now that she had seen the destruction of Ferryport Landing.

  “Sabrina, what do you say?” Henry asked.

  “Give them the keys,” Sabrina said.

  Daphne looked at Sabrina as if she had never seen her before. It wasn’t total forgiveness, but it wasn’t the angry glare she’d been sporting for days.

  Henry didn’t have the same reaction. He scowled, clearly feeling betrayed by Sabrina’s vote. When Relda turned to him, he voiced his dissent. “Dad would never approve of this. Releasing magic into this town is why he’s dead.”

  Uncle Jake got up and left the cabin. Sabrina couldn’t believe her father had thrown Basil's death into Uncle Jake’s face, especially after Briar had died.

  “But, I guess it doesn’t matter what my vote is,” Henry said. “I’m way outnumbered.”

  “Hank, your concerns are noted,” Canis said. “Your involvement in our training would help to ensure your fears never come true. You could—”

  “This is not my war, Canis,” Henry interrupted.

  “Then it’s decided,” Granny said. “Mr. Canis, tell Charming we’ll give him what’s on that list. I hope it helps.”

  “I pray it does,” Canis said.

  “Did you say ‘army’?” Mirror asked as he studied the list.

  Granny nodded. A team of thirty or so soldiers along with Veronica, Sabrina, and Daphne stood behind her. The soldiers were a mixed lot—mostly Arthurian knights and Merry Men. Morgan le Fay was there, as well as Puss in Boots and the Scarecrow. There were a few fairies that Sabrina had never met, each more obnoxious than the last, and a rather smelly banshee. All of the visitors were completely bewildered when they stepped through the mirror into the Hotel of Wonders, and even more surprised when they went through another to enter the Hall of Wonders. Even Charming, whose own magic mirror was nothing short of incredible, was struck speechless.