Page 80 of The Broken Mirror
Oil of Olga, the bottles read.For all your skincare needs. Apply Oil of Olga when you wake up and before you go to sleep. Results will be like magic!
An alarm bell goes off in Filomena’s head, but she can’t jump to conclusions just yet.
When she gets back to her parents’ bedroom, her mom is awake. Filomena places the cool towel on her forehead.
“Hello, sweetie,” Bettina says. “How’s my darling girl?”
She looks so weak, but Filomena tries not to start crying again. “I’m okay, Mum. I just wish you were, too,” she says, crawling into the bed and giving her mom a hug. After a few minutes of the embrace, Filomena decides to ask her: “Mum, what are those bottles in the bathroom? The ones that say ‘Oil of Olga’?”
Bettina laughs. “Oh, those. It’s a funny story, actually…,” she starts, but then she gets too weak to finish. Her energy seems completely drained. She looks to Filomena’s dad. “Carter, can you?”
Carter nods and takes over the story.
A few weeks ago, a woman came to the door sellingskincare products. They didn’t know people even did that anymore! The woman seemed kind of strange at first, and there was a slight green tinge to her skin. Bettina thought this odd, since the lady claimed to work in cosmetics. But she insisted that Bettina try the products. If she didn’t like them, the woman said she could have a total refund. She even gave Bettina a bunch of products for free as thanks for being a first-time client!
Filomena’s stomach is sinking.Green tinge? Olga?“And you’ve been using them every day?” she asks.
Her mom nods. “I’ve been feeling so horrible, it’s nice to have a part of my routine feel like I’m taking care of myself.”
“Mum, I think you need to stop using those products right away.”
“What? Why, honey? Do they test on animals?”
“It’s likely, but that’s not why. Oil of Olga? I’m almost certain that the woman who came to your door was evil Queen Olga from Never After.”
CHAPTERFORTY-TWOMIRROR’SPROPHECY
You would think knowing the cause of her mother’s terminal illness might be a relief, but no part of Filomena is relieved. If anything, she’s more freaked out than ever. Just when she thought she’d vanquished Olga for good—the evil queen rises again! Filomena assumed she would be able to spend some time with her parents and let the doctors take care of things. But here she is, being dragged right back to Never After. And now it’s time for revenge.
She’s also realizing that if she’s going back and forthbetween the mortal world and Never After, she’s going to have to come up with a better system for communicating with her friends. It’s been a week in Never After’s time, so she has no idea where anyone is! And, of course, when Filomena’s faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem, the only place she wants to go (besides to her parents, who unfortunately can’t help her with this one) is to her friends. But where in the worlds are they?
Filomena gets spit out of the Northphalian portal and crosses her fingers that her friends are still hanging around Princess Jeanne’s castle.
As she approaches the castle, walking the now-familiar path through rolling hills from the portal, she sees something odd. It looks like a girl with bright red hair, except… Wait, does she have wings? Is this some Never After creature Filomena has yet to meet? The girl looks like she’s about to jump out a window!
“Hey!” Filomena yells. “Hey, stop! What are you doing?!” Even though the girl has wings, Filomena worries she might not yet know how to fly.
“Filomena?” the girl yells back. “Is that you?”
Rosie! Of course. What other brash redhead would jump out a window?
As Filomena gets closer, she sees the wings aren’t some magical extension of Rosie’s body; they’re mechanical wings attached with a harness.
“Rosie, hold up! Wait for me!”
Filomena runs to the castle. Inside, Jack, Gretel, and Alistair are sitting at a table with maps spread in front of them. They all jump in fright at the sight of her.
“What are you doing here?!” Alistair yells. “Didn’t you just leave, like, a day ago, for you?”
Jack’s confusion is quickly replaced with happiness as he runs to hug her. As he approaches, though, a moment of hesitation appears between them. Their friends are watching. They’re no longer just the Filomena and Jack they once were; now they’re something else, something that involvesfeelings. Or something. Everything else, all the problems, are wiped from Filomena’s mind. But she can’t help showing how she really feels about him; she thought it would’ve been much longer until they saw each other again. She smiles and gives him a big hug. Jack’s visibly relieved, closing his eyes and smelling her hair.
“All right, all right, that’s enough of the lovefest. My turn!” Gretel yanks Jack off Filomena and gives her a huge hug. In Filomena’s ear, she whispers, “Oh my fairies, we havesomuch to discuss about you two!”
Rosie rushes down from upstairs. “Filomena, you interrupted my inaugural flight, you know,” she says.
“Not happy to see me, Rosie?” Filomena asks.
“Well, duh,” Rosie says, smiling, and gives Filomena a hug.
