Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories #6)(60)

“That’s terrible!” Red said. “Just because someone is dangerous doesn’t mean they have to be killed to be stopped. Think about the Evil Queen—oh wait, I suppose that mirror thing was worse than death…. Well, think about the Enchantress—oh yeah, never mind…. But General Marquis—oops, he really died…. Well, the Masked Man didn’t—oh, that’s right, he did…. Sorry, I thought there were plenty of examples. You know, maybe Alex has a point—”

“We’re not killing my sister,” Conner said. “I refuse to believe there isn’t a way to break the curse she’s under! Alex’s emotions are being affected right now and she’s jumping to conclusions. We’ll find a way to help her.”

“Yes, we will,” Goldilocks said confidently. “I know exactly what’s going through Alex’s mind right now. It wasn’t long ago that I was in her shoes. She’s feeling scared, embarrassed, and guilty, and she thinks there’s no coming back from the place she’s at. But luckily for her, she’s got us to set her straight.”

“Oh, it’s Goldilocks!” Red declared with a snap of her fingers. “She’s the example I was looking for! Goldie was a lonely, miserable, and ill-tempered thief when we first met. But thanks to my friendship, she’s turned her life around and become a social, happy, and balanced woman.”

Goldilocks sighed. “What can I say? I owe it all to you, Red.”

“You’re quite welcome,” Red said. “What I did for Goldilocks is exactly what we need to do for Alex. If she insists on being killed, then we’ll just have to love her to death.”

Conner and his friends nodded politely and gazed outside the cage, hoping Red wouldn’t come up with any more nonsensical anecdotes. On the west side of the Great Lawn, they watched Charcoaline as she inspected the giant ovens. The gingerbread soldiers had been baking for hours, and Conner had been wondering how much time they needed. Charcoaline cackled with delight and rang a large bell.

“Your Excellencies! Our army is finished!” Charcoaline announced.

The Snow Queen and the Sea Witch stood up from their thrones, and eerie smiles spread across their faces.

“Release them from the ovens!” the Snow Queen commanded. “And line up the children. They must greet the army they’ve created.”

The witches rounded up the Boy and Girl Scouts and forced them to stand in groups facing the ovens. Charcoaline pulled open the door of each oven, and smoke filled the air. Like something straight from a horror movie, hundreds of gingerbread soldiers slowly crept out of the smoky ovens like zombies, moaning like the ghosts of tortured souls. They were tall, their bodies were burned, and they left behind trails of crumbs as they walked.

“You must be starving,” the Sea Witch hissed. “Come, have a snack and gain your strength before the big battle.”

The gingerbread soldiers skulked toward the groups of Scouts. The children tried to step back from the frightening cookies, but none of them could move. They looked down and discovered that Tarantulene had sprayed the grass with her web—the Scouts’ feet were stuck to the ground! Conner and his friends didn’t understand the point of this, but as they watched the gingerbread soldiers approach the children, it all made sense.

“They’re going to feed the Scouts to the gingerbread soldiers!” Conner exclaimed.

“That’s horrible!” Red said.

“Obscene!” Goldilocks said.

“We have to do something!” Bree said.

Conner and his friends jumped to their feet and shook the bars of their candy cane cage, but no matter how hard they shook them, the bars never budged. The Boy and Girl Scouts started screaming as the gingerbread soldiers crept closer. The demonic cookies opened their wide mouths and revealed their sharp candy corn teeth.

“Alex, you’ve got to help those kids!” Conner yelled at her. “The sister I know and love would never stand by as innocent children were devoured—no matter what kind of curse she was under! Come on, you’ve got to fight it! You’ve got to save them!”

For a brief moment, the expression on his sister’s face changed. Alex tightened her brow, clenched her jaw, and made fists with her hands. Conner could tell she was fighting the curse with every fiber of her being. Her glowing eyes started to fade, her floating hair started to fall, and the shield she was keeping up around Central Park began to flicker like a dying lightbulb, until it finally disappeared.

“Don’t let him distract you!” the Snow Queen screeched at her. “Keep the shield steady!”

The command reinforced the curse. The expression faded from Alex’s face, her eyes glowed brighter than before, her hair floated back above her head, and the shield reappeared around Central Park. However, the brief moments she had managed to let the force field down had been long enough for a few familiar characters to sneak through it. A split second before the gingerbread army took their first bite out of the Boy and Girl Scouts, a colorful cavalcade suddenly charged out of the trees.

Mother Goose and Merlin swooped onto the Great Lawn aboard Lester’s back, and the Fairy Council soared through the air beside them. On the ground below, Froggy and Rook rode in on Cornelius, while Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table stormed onto the lawn on foot. Conner and his friends were shocked and ecstatic to see their friends arrive.