Beauty goes into her room and looks out the window. “It’s very pretty. But we really are in the middle of nowhere. We’re even more in the middle of nowhere than my dad’s cottage.” She yawns. “Sorry. I’ve been up since five A.M.”

“How come?” I ask.

“Breakfast shift at Soup Kitchen,” she explains.

“Why don’t you take a nap?” I ask.

“A nap? I never have time to nap. After the breakfast shift, I have to go to Garbage Dump to help with the recycling.”

“You have time now,” I say.

She nods, looking pleased. “Okay. I will. Good suggestion.”

I close her door and then follow Jonah into his room.

“This is amazing!” he squeals, springing onto his super-high canopy bed.

The carpet is extra soft, the wallpaper has a pretty flower pattern, and the drapes are shimmery silver. “It is nice,” I admit. “Does it bring back any other castle memories? Like the time we visited The Little Mermaid?”

“Nope!” Jonah says and then jumps up and down on his bed.

I walk out into the sitting area. It has two plush suede couches, a leather chair, and a shiny wooden desk. On one of the walls is a huge silver mirror. On another, there’s a large gold clock.

“It’s five thirty here,” I say worriedly. “I just wish I knew what time it was back home. Mom and Dad could already be awake and looking for us. They could have called the police again!”

“They called the police?” Jonah asks, following me into the sitting room. He stands on one of the couch cushions and leaps off.

“Yes, once before,” I say. I twist my hands together. “I really hope they’re not awake.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re still asleep,” Jonah says, climbing back onto the couch.

“You have no way of knowing that,” I say.

“Yeah, I do.”

“No, you don’t,” I argue.

“Yes, I do. Look.” Jonah points to the silver mirror on the wall.

“Oh my gosh!” I yell and jump back.

My parents are IN the mirror.

Not like trapped inside. I can actually see them in the mirror. It’s as if there’s a camera on their ceiling and I can see them in their beds, all the way in Smithville. They are both fast asleep.

“SNORTSH,” snores my dad. Except it’s more like “SNOOOOOOOOORTSH” in slow motion. Usually, time at home is slower than time in fairy tales. So maybe a minute at home is an hour here. Which means that this snore could go on for hours.

“This must be the magic mirror!” I exclaim. Then I add in a whisper, “Do you think they can hear us?”

“CAN YOU HEAR US?” Jonah hollers at the top of his lungs.

“Jonah! Shush! Do you want to wake them up?”