I wait by the jewels and look out the front window.

Hansel and Gretel are holding hands in front of the portal.

Gretel looks at Hansel. She nods.

He nods back.

They both smile.

And then they go running straight for the swirling purple in the center of the tree.

“Wait!” I cry. “STOP!”

Do they wait? Do they stop? No.

They just keep going. Right into our portal home.

NOOOOO!

My eyes practically pop out of my head.

No. No way did that just happen.

Except it did.

My heart speeds up, and my mouth goes dry.

Hansel and Gretel ran right into the portal. Our portal. And now they’re gone.

The purple has stopped swirling. The tree looks like a normal tree.

They stole our way home! I can’t believe they did that! We were being nice to them and trying to help them. And this is how they repay us? By stealing from us. I make fists with both my hands and slam them against my knees.

“No, no, no, NO!” I shout.

“What’s wrong?” Jonah asks from where he’s crouched under the witch’s sink. “I still can’t find a bag. Maybe Hansel and Gretel have pockets? They can stuff some of the jewels inside.”

My voice comes out in a whisper. “They’re gone.”

“Who?”

“Hansel and Gretel,” I say.

“Where’d they go?” Jonah asks, looking up with a frown. “To find a bathroom? They should probably just go behind a tree. I had to do that once with Dad when I was younger. It was an emergency, though.”

“No, Jonah. They snuck into our portal.”

Jonah’s jaw drops. “Wait, WHAT? They went through our portal? But why would they do that?”

“I don’t know! Because they’re awful people!” I yell, feeling on the verge of tears. “Because they’re thieves! What kind of people take someone else’s portal?”

“We were about to take someone else’s jewels,” Jonah points out.

“It’s not the same thing,” I snap. “We were stealing from a witch! They were stealing from two little kids!”

“Who are you calling two little kids?” Jonah asks.

“Us!” I yell. “We are!”

“Abby, wait. Does that mean we’re gonna be trapped in this fairy tale?” Jonah asks, biting his lip.

“No,” I say quickly, although I’m unsure. “We can’t be. I mean, Maryrose will know they’re not us. Right?”

He bites down even harder. “How? They look just like us!”

Oh, no. My stomach tightens. That’s true.

“Uh … uh …” I try to think. “She’s a magic fairy. She’ll be able to tell the difference.”

“Are you sure?” Jonah asks.

“I’m not sure of anything right now except that Hansel and Gretel are the worst!” I yell out. I take a breath, trying to calm down. “Maybe Maryrose just trapped them in the mirror.”

“Maybe,” Jonah says. “Or they’re …”

“Or they’re what?” I ask.

“Or they’re … in our house right now!”

EEK!

“We have to go after them!” I say. “Let’s go knock on the portal!”