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That’s not helping

"Think, Penny!" I berated rew louder, co with the murmurs and shouts ofit I pushed back with everything I had Tried to step backward An invisible wall kept me put I shoved it out sideways--or I tried, anyway Another wall keptme toany se up the closer that colorful arot to my feet "Let ers A tearing feeling ripped throughburst within the cauldron, firing liquid out It sprayed Beatrice in the face, but she didn’t even flinch Her ar, perfectly still despite how long it had been in the air

A thought curled through my memory The intent is the opposite of what it should be

The words seared my brain A desperate plea froh fear covered y in the room to undo the spell To reverse it

I ripped out the sheet of paper My gaze flew over the instructions

"Buggity flapjack, give a dog a bone," Inonsense and nursery rhy My h for the first tie in and break up the party For once, her interference to keep me safe would be entirely welco the invisible barriers directingto channel a ninja, I leapt over the reaching tendrils on the ground and ducked under others waving in the sky I snatched the spoon froor mortis had set in, she ti herself, and crashed into the invisible barrier of the circle At least I wasn’t the only one as stuck

I skipped past the "drink" instruction and read the previous one, only to realize I needn’t have bothered It was already stored in raphic memory, or even an excellent one, but as I started to reverse what I’d had the ladies do earlier, I realized that from start to finish, and backward to boot, this spell was perfectly preserved in in

"I’llsides of the cauldron and stirring "But how in frick-frack Nickleback aredients out?"

Tears of frustration prickedtoward me

I squeezed urgling, rolling water Pulled on e of their properties I co dark and evil glance off noring it all, I kept going Kept working A blast sounded froue I snapped open my eyes A wall of colorful texture had manifested in front of my face Had dropped overthe throbbing blackness it had set off in

"You have no power overa line from my favorite children’sso my attempt to make a difference, if only a small one

Another woman jolted Followed by another Their shoulders jerked and their heads twisted to the side

I spun around to face ritted my teeth, and prepared for a last-ditch effort I didn’t kno to fight, but I did kno to crash through walls My life’s clu, and an invisible wall couldn’t be too ing an outstretched hand that more resembled a claw, and jumped over the colorful tendrils I put htly byI had into h the barrier So hard enough, the iet out froy of the room to add to my fervor

I hit the invisible wall A bone-deep vibration rockedround beyond the wall I rolled to a stop as the pain dissipated