This isn’t working,” I finally admit. “The mirror isn’t going to take us home.” I feel like kicking myself. Why didn’t I test the mirror? Why did I just assume it would work? Ahhhh!

“Then what will?” Mr. Beast asks.

“I don’t know!” I feel panicked. “It’s usually something magical. What else is magical? We have to knock on everything magical! Everyone knock on everything!”

We knock on the walls. We knock on the doors. We knock on the closets. We even knock on the teapots just in case. Nothing works.

The clock changes to 6:45.

BEEEEEEE —

A loud BEEEEEEP rings through the room. And continues to ring. And ring.

“What is that?” Mr. Beast asks, blocking his ears. “It’s horrible!”

“It’s my parents’ alarm clock,” I say. “Which means we are out of time!”

“There has to be another way home,” Jonah says. “What else around here is magical?”

I think hard. “The yo-yo!” I exclaim. “The yo-yo is magical! Where is it?”

“In my pocket!” Jonah says.

“Jonah,” I say. “You were going to bring the yo-yo home? Are you crazy? Do you know how much damage that could have done? You can’t bring things home from fairy tales!”

“But I’m bringing home the books! And the roses! And you said Prince came from a fairy tale!”

“That’s different,” I say. “Kind of.”

Jonah takes the yo-yo out of his pocket and tosses it to Beauty. “You can keep it.”

“Just don’t let Jax get his hands on it,” I tell her. Something niggles at the back of my mind. “Mr. Beast? Jax mentioned something about his cousin and Wallenta. Do you know what he was talking about? You’re not his cousin, are you?”

He wrinkles his furry forehead. “Me? No.”

“He said …” My voice trails off. “He said I should tell his cousin he wasn’t sorry about what happened in Wallenta. Who was he talking about?”

“I don’t know,” Mr. Beast says. “I’ve never heard of Wallenta.”

Weird.

“So what do I do?” Beauty asks.

I reach over and lightly push my fingers against the yo-yo in her hand. It swings lightly.

“If we get stuck here, it could be tragic,” Jonah chants. “Come on, yo-yo, and do your magic!”

I push it again. And a third time. Suddenly, the yo-yo starts to swing faster. Back and forth and back and forth until it is going around and around in a perfect circle. The air around it feels electric.

“Something’s happening,” Beauty says.

“It’s working,” I say. “Ready, Jonah?”

He’s staring intently at the yo-yo. His eyes are turning a light shade of purple.

“Jonah?” I ask.

“Abby,” he says. “What are crownies?”

“Huh?” I ask.

“Have I ever eaten something called a crownie?” He licks his lips.

“Yes!” I shriek. “You have! When we were in the story of Cinderella! We called brownies crownies! Are you remembering crownies?”

“Yes,” he says. “Who’s Felix?”

Hurrah! “He’s Sleeping Beauty’s brother! You found him really annoying!”

Jonah turns to me. “Oh yeah. I remember him. He was annoying.”

I forcibly swing Jonah’s face back toward the yo-yo. “Don’t look away, Jonah. Your memories are coming back! The yo-yo is reverse hypnotizing you!”

Jonah’s eyes turn an even darker purple. “We were able to breathe underwater?”

“We were!” I shout. “We really were!”

“It’s all coming back to me!” Jonah screams while the yo-yo spins faster and faster and Jonah’s eyes get purpler and purpler. “Abby! Maryrose never said you were in charge when we visit fairy tales!”

Oops.

A big puff of gold smoke blows out of the yo-yo, and Jonah’s eyes go back to normal. Suddenly, the mirror behind us turns purple.

“The mirror,” I say. “It’s glowing. Jonah? Are you done?”

Speechless, he nods. “Yup. I remember everything. And, Abby —”

The mirror is starting to hiss. “Later, Jonah! We have to go.”

I pick Prince up, take my brother’s hand, and together we step inside the portal.