The Sisters Grimm: Book Eight: The Inside Story by Michael Buckley, Peter Ferguson

furry ball. She missed again, but this time the force of the swing knocked her off her feet. Several of the soldiers helped her up and brushed her off with a great deal of energy until she slapped each of them in the head.
    “Children, I am talking to you,” she said.
    Sabrina nodded. “Yes, we are not from this book.”
    “Interesting . . . ,” the King of Hearts said.
    The Queen flashed him an angry expression. “What would you know?”
    He muttered an apology before lowering his eyes.
    “It’s your turn!” the Queen said to Puck.
    Puck laughed. His flamingo had started a fight with Sabrina’s bird and the two were producing a symphony of squawking and screeching. “I think I’m going to have to pass.”
    “Why have you come here?” the Queen asked.
    Sabrina could barely look at her. Her fictional version was even more troubling and grotesque than the real Queen. Her head was gigantic and her arms and legs plump and short. It reminded Sabrina that this was not the real Mayor Heart. “We’re searching for someone. A boy called Pinocchio. He’s traveling with several wooden marionettes that can walk and talk.”
    “And pinch,” Daphne said, showing the purple bruise on the back of her arm.
    “Yes, he has been trespassing in our story as well. Bring the prisoner to me,” the Queen said.
    “You have him?”
    “Yes, my guards arrested him earlier today,” the Queen said. “He was creating a great deal of mischief.”
    “Since when is that a crime?” Puck asked.
    As he ranted about his rights and freedoms to cause chaos and mayhem, Sabrina tried to process what the Queen had just told her. Did she really have Pinocchio in her custody? Could one of her family’s bitterest enemies really be that helpful?
    “The scamp has disturbed the flow of our story,” the Queen said. “His presence has sent a ripple through everything—changing dialogue, themes, and even characters. At this very moment I am supposed to be having an argument about beheading the Cheshire Cat, but as you can see, the cat is nowhere to be seen.”
    “I’m sure he’s just running a bit late, Your Majesty,” the White Rabbit said as he eyed a golden pocket watch fastened to a chain around his waist.
    “Here comes the troublemaker,” the King said, gesturing across the lawn.
    Sabrina recognized the angry little boy at once. Pinocchio had a pointy nose, buckteeth, and little ears. He was wearing overalls and a red cap, and his hands were tied behind his back. Still, he struggled to get free from the guards, one of whom carried a birdcage in his hand. As they drew closer, Sabrina could see Pinocchio’s marionettes were locked inside.
    “You!” Pinocchio snarled as he glared at the children. “Why won’t you let me be?”
    “You betrayed us!” Sabrina said. “You think you can help Mirror kidnap a member of our family and we will just let it go? I thought you were some great intellect.”
    Daphne threw a punch into her open palm. “Let me at him.”
    “I didn’t want to help the Master, but he was the only one who could provide me with this opportunity. When I asked the Blue Fairy to make me into a real boy, I never imagined her magic would cruelly keep me this age forever. I was desperate for something everyone else takes for granted. I just want to become an adult and take advantage of my life.”
    “I’ve been this age for almost four thousand years,” Puck said. “I kind of dig it.”
    “I suppose you’re taking me back to the real world?” Pinocchio said.
    Sabrina shook her head. “Not at all. We’re turning you over to the Editor. What he plans to do with you, I don’t know and I don’t care.”
    Just then, four guards with axes on their shoulders approached. All wore black hoods that covered their faces, but their playing card bodies revealed them to be Aces from all four suits: diamonds, hearts, spades, and clubs. Behind them were more card soldiers, many of whom were carrying tree stumps on their