Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories #6)(52)
Like a firefighter at the sound of an alarm, Charlotte hopped to her feet and began gathering her purse, Conner’s binder of short stories, the fairy-tale treasury, and the flask of Portal Potion.
“We’ll leave right away!” she said. “Thank you for calling, Mindy!”
“You’re welcome!” Mindy said. “Oh! And Mrs. Gordon? One last thing. My fellow Book Huggers and I will absolutely accept your apology for lying to us over the years whenever you feel it’s an appropriate—”
Charlotte hung up the phone before Mindy could finish her sentence. She turned back to the others and saw they were gathered right behind her—desperate to know the details of her call.
“Well?” the Tin Woodman asked.
“Conner needs us,” Charlotte announced. “I’m not sure how, but the witches have crossed into the Otherworld and the Literary Army isn’t far behind. We’ve got to get to New York and stop them before they destroy the city!”
The commissary erupted in celebration—not at the news of the approaching army, but because they were finally leaving the hospital.
“How are we going to get there?” Bob asked. “I’ve got some frequent flyer miles left, but not enough for all of us.”
“We don’t have to worry about transportation, silly!” Bolt said. “The Ziblings have a jet!”
“Aunt Emgee and I have a blimp!” Beau Rogers said.
“The Cyborgs have an intergalactic spacecraft,” Commander Newters said.
“And we have the Dolly Llama—the fastest pirate ship in the Caribbean Sea!” Auburn Sally proclaimed.
The characters scratched their heads at the odd idea of taking a pirate ship across the country.
“Sally, New York City is three thousand miles away,” Charlotte explained. “You can’t get there by boat.”
“Oh yes you can!” Peter Pan declared. “We’ll make the ship fly with fairy dust. I have just enough left to make it soar! And once we sail the skies to New York City, we’ll rescue Tinker Bell from the miserable Captain Hook!”
“We’ll defeat the Wicked Witch of the West and free the Winkies and the flying monkeys from her magic spell!” Blubo said.
“We’ll dethrone the Queen of Hearts, and perhaps earn a heart of our own!” the Tin Woodman said.
“WE’LL BURN THE UGLY WITCHES AT THE STAKE—BUT KEEP THE ATTRACTIVE ONES!” Robin Hood said.
“We’ll save Butterboy from the clutches of the Breemonster!” Trollbella said. “Sorry, I meant from the bad guys!”
Charlotte appreciated the characters’ spirit, but she knew they were wasting time.
“All right, enough declarations,” she said. “Let’s go save the world! But before we go, someone needs to grab the Blissworm.”
Morina was standing in the Dwarf Forests a few yards away from the bridge between worlds. Earlier, she had sent a crow to the Northern Kingdom with a message informing the Literary Emperors that the first phase of their plan was complete. She instructed them to meet her in the woods with their armies at sunrise, and their invasion of the Otherworld would begin.
Strangely, the witch had not received a response confirming that they had gotten the message. Morina grew more impatient the longer she waited to hear back. Finally, a few hours after sending word, she got a reply—but it wasn’t the response she was expecting.
The ground began to rumble and the trees started to sway as something enormous moved through the forest. Soon the sound of marching feet echoed through the woods, moving closer and closer to the witch.
Soon the Wicked Witch of the West, the Queen of Hearts, and Captain Hook appeared in the distance with their entire army following behind. Thousands of Winkies and card soldiers stood in two very neat rows behind their emperors; the Jolly Roger and its rambunctious crew drifted in the air above them like a giant balloon; and the sky surrounding the floating pirate ship was filled with swarms of flying monkeys.
The emperors led their army through the woods until they stood face-to-face with the witch.
“Hello, emperors,” Morina said. “What a surprise to see you arrive so soon. I wasn’t expecting you until sunrise. I hope you received the message with my instructions.”
The Wicked Witch, the Queen of Hearts, and Captain Hook exchanged a sly smile.
“Your message was received, but we thought it would be best to respond in person,” the Wicked Witch said.
“Oh?” Morina asked. “Is something wrong?”
“Not at all,” Captain Hook said. “We were very pleased to hear that the witches have successfully crossed into the Otherworld. However, there’s been a change of plans. Instead of waiting for the witches to weaken the Otherworld’s defenses, we’ve decided to enter the Otherworld now and take it by surprise.”
Morina was infuriated that they had altered the agenda without consulting her first. She was so enraged, her eyes turned red and her veins visibly blackened. Still, the witch tried to stay as calm as possible, knowing the emperors wouldn’t respond to anger.
“My lords, I understand you’re eager to invade, but I beg you to follow the plan I’ve created,” she said. “If we cross into the Otherworld before the witches are exterminated, you’ll be battling the witches and the Otherworld’s armies.”