My heart stops. A day away? What time is it now?

I stare at my watch. It’s 6:59 A.M. in Smithville. Any second now it’s going to be 7:00.

Any second.

It’s 7:00.

My mom and dad are awake. Right now, they are walking into our rooms and finding our beds empty.

And totally freaking out.

And where are Hansel and Gretel? Are they stuck in the magic mirror? Is Maryrose yelling at them for stealing our portal?

What’s it like in the mirror anyway? Does Maryrose live there? Is there a living room? Bedrooms? Does Maryrose have a kitchen in which she makes herself coffee?

Do fairies drink coffee?

I blink. Why am I thinking about fairies and kitchens and that horrible Hansel and Gretel when my brother is in a cage! I have to get him out. I have to get us home. Right now.

I have to focus.

“I don’t hear the blender!” Patty shouts.

“Uh, looking for it!” I call back.

“Top cabinet on the right,” she says.

Okay, how many times have I watched my mom make Jonah and me smoothies? Strawberry and banana. Almond milk and peanut butter. Berry and orange juice. Countless times. But that doesn’t mean I was paying attention. I have no idea how much to add of each ingredient. Or what to press on the blender. Oh, well. I’ll just throw in some stuff and hope for the best.

I watch the witch sit down in her rocking chair and take a book from the little table beside it. She holds it so close to her face that her nose is touching the page.

“So, Patty?” Jonah calls out. “What else do you eat besides vegetables and children? Do you eat chicken?”

Is Jonah actually having a conversation with the witch? My brother will talk to anyone.

She makes a face. “I’m a vegetarian. I don’t eat animals.”

“But you eat children?”

“Children aren’t animals,” she says. “They’re humans.”

I’m not sure I follow her logic.

“Plus, you people taste delicious!”

“Like chicken?” Jonah asks.

“More like lollipops,” she says. She admires Jonah’s lollipop and then tosses it on the table.

He makes a hopeful face. “Can I have that back?”

“No,” she says. “No more junk for you. From now on, you will only eat kale, spinach, and other healthy things. Good thinking, girlie.”

Girlie? Oh — I guess that’s me.

“Yeah, thanks, Abby,” Jonah says a little sarcastically. Which is ridiculous.

“Now stop your babbling,” the witch mutters. “You’re distracting the girlie.”

Okay, now, how to make a smoothie. I pull open the refrigerator door.

The entire fridge is full of healthy stuff. There are a ton of vegetables — everything from spinach to red and green peppers to carrots and two big purple eggplants and grapes, oranges, and berries. A bowl beside the fridge has even more healthy stuff. There are dates, raisins, peaches, and bananas.

“Make sure you add carrots!” the witch says.

Okay, here we go. I find the kale, and a banana and milk and carrots. Then I open one of the cupboards. There’s oatmeal and other healthy stuff, including a container labeled FLAXSEEDS. Perfect.