“I don’t think they can hear us,” Jonah says. “I think it’s a one-way mirror. Like at the police station.”

“When have you ever been to a police station?” I ask.

“I haven’t,” he says. “Unfortunately. But I’ve watched TV, and a lot of shows take place in a police station.”

“Okay.” I let out a sigh of relief. “This is helpful. We know they’re still sleeping. We don’t know what time it is, but we know they’re not awake and looking for us.”

“We do know what time it is,” Jonah says. “Look at their alarm clock.”

Oh! He’s right! The clock says it’s one thirty A.M. Let’s see. We arrived in Kingdom around ten in the morning, which was midnight at home. An hour and a half has gone by there, and seven and a half hours here. “That means time is going about five times slower there,” I say, calculating. “For every hour at home, it’s five hours here. And since they get up around seven, that gives us about twenty-seven and a half hours to make things right.”

“You’re really good at math,” Jonah says.

“Thanks,” I say. If only I were half as good at painting.

“That seems like a lot of hours,” Jonah adds.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” I say. “Also when you’re messing up fairy tales. But we are one step ahead anyway. We know how to get home.”

“Yeah!” He scratches his head. “How do we get home?”

“I told you,” I say. “We knock on this magic mirror.”

Jonah nods. “That makes sense. We’re not going to end up in their room, are we?”

“I don’t think so. We always end up back in the basement. Anyway. Now all we need to figure out is how to get Mr. Beast and Beauty to fall in love,” I say. “And then we can leave.”

“Or we could just leave now. Knock on the mirror and go,” Jonah says.

“Oh!” He’s right. We could just go home. But what if Mr. Beast tells Beauty to leave? Or what if she takes off? Then they’ll never fall in love and their lives will be ruined. “No,” I argue, “we have to stay and make sure the story happens like it’s supposed to. Mom and Dad are sleeping anyway.”

“Good point,” says Jonah. “So what’s our plan?”

I’ve been thinking about this. “We should have them go on dates.”

“Dates?” Jonah frowns. “Like grown-ups do?”

“Yeah!” I say. “Let’s make a list of dates for Beauty and Mr. Beast to go on!”

I spot a paper and pen on the desk, make myself comfy in the leather chair, and write:

DATES FOR BEAUTY AND MR. BEAST