Rook.
No.
I may not know Rook very well yet, but I know he doesn’t deserve to die.
A chair is knocked over.
Do something, Dorothy.
I squeeze my eyes shut and think. Try to quell the rising panic in the back of my throat.
I have no weapon. I’m in a massive ball gown. There’s nothing mighty or magical about me.
But I can’t hide in the closet while Rook saves me again.
Maybe I just need to create a distraction. Maybe the Tinman just needs reasoning.
Maybe…
Another grunt. A clatter of dishes.
I shove the pantry door open and stumble through the archway into the kitchen.
“Hey!” I yell.
The Tinman turns to me. A slant of light from the courtyard steals in through the kitchen window. His eyes narrow.
“Dorothy.” He says my name like a conjuring. Like a curse made of bleached bones.
And then—
Rook’s shadow appears behind him, with a weapon raised. He sinks the kitchen blade into the Tinman’s left shoulder and twists.
The Tinman roars and turns around swinging.
Rook ducks beneath the man’s arm and charges toward me.
“Run, Kansas!”
I don’t hesitate. I clatter down the hallway and burst into the inn’s main room just as barking sounds from upstairs.
“Toto!”
“There’s no time,” Rook says.
I’ll die for Toto. I’m not leaving him.
Skirt in hand, I hoist it up and run up the stairs. I shove my door in and Toto comes barreling out, my checkered dress caught in his teeth, the bulk of it trailing behind him.
“Smart dog,” I tell him and take the dress, then scoop him up. “We have to go.”
I make my way back down the stairs and spot Rook at the inn’s front door. He has it open, beckoning me out into the night.
I hit the main floor, make a sharp cut away from the stairwell and across the dining room.
I’m almost to the door when Rook’s eyes get big and he yells, “Down, Kansas!”
I drop.
