“That about covers it,” Uncle Jake said sheepishly.
“Go ahead, Jake. Make a joke out of it like you always do,” Henry said.
“Mom protected them every step of the way. I’ve been here for most of it, too,” Jake said.
Elvis let out a low growl.
“The dog wants to remind everyone of his contributions,” Goldilocks said.
Daphne hugged the big dog. “We all know you’re our real hero.”
Elvis barked.
“He says heroes deserve sausages.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Sabrina said to the hound. Elvis plus sausages equaled a noxious smell.
“Let’s not forget me,” Puck said. “I’ve been pulling this family from the jaws of death on a daily basis and haven’t seen a dime for my troubles.”
Henry scowled. “If you don’t mind we’re having a family discussion. Who are you, anyway? Peter Pan?”
“Henry!” Granny cried. “No!”
“I AM NOT PETER PAN!” Puck bellowed as smoke blasted out of his nostrils. A moment later the top of the family car rocketed into the atmosphere, turning the old jalopy into a very crude convertible.
No one was hurt, but the outburst launched a massive, manysided argument. Granny argued with Veronica. Henry shouted at Puck. The three bears roared and snapped at one another. Puck bellowed at everyone. The air was heavy with angry words bouncing around violently from one person to the next. All Sabrina could do was watch quietly and hope everyone didn’t turn on her. When a hand slipped into hers and gave it a quick squeeze, Sabrina was elated. Finally, she and her sister were getting back to normal. But when she looked down she realized she was actually holding Red Riding Hood’s hand. The little girl was trembling in fright from all the shouting. Sabrina quickly pulled her hand away. Red seemed hurt but didn’t say a word.
As the argument hit a fever pitch, Granny Relda inserted two fingers into her mouth and blasted a high-pitched whistle that rattled Sabrina’s brain. When everyone was quiet she turned her attention to Uncle Jake.
“Jacob, why in heavens are you driving so fast?”
Sabrina eyed the car’s ancient speedometer. The red needle was pushing one hundred and ten and the engine was rattling and screeching worse than usual.
“Because we have a major problem!” Jake cried.
“What are you talking about?” Henry asked.
“Well, big brother, before you insulted the boy fairy everything was fine, but you had to go and make him angry and he blew the roof off the car. So the integrity of the interior has been compromised,” he shouted over the wind.
“In English, please,” Veronica said.
“The inside of the car was enchanted to fit all of you in it. Now the inside is also the outside,” Jake said as he reached into his pocket and took out the little wooden box that held the powder he had used to cast the spell on the car.
“So?” Granny asked.
“So, the universe now has two choices. The exterior, which is the whole world, gets bigger to match the spell, which would be very, very bad. I’m talking earthquakes, tsunamis, insane weather. Real. Bad. Stuff.”
“Then what’s the other choice?” Goldilocks asked.
“The interior of the car is going to shrink back to normal, which means it’s going to get cramped in here fast.”
Sabrina looked around at all the people and animals in the car. There were almost a dozen passengers in the car, three of them weighing in the area of eight hundred pounds. “How fast?”
Suddenly, there was a
pop
followed by a loud hissing sound, as if someone had just stuck a balloon and let the air out. Before Sabrina knew what was happening she was pushed roughly to the center of her seat. She was practically sitting in her mother’s lap.
“Very fast!” Uncle Jake floored the gas and tore down the narrow country road. The car shook and quaked, pistons screamed and gears screeched. With every mile added to the car’s odometer, the interior got smaller. The passengers were squeezed closer and closer to one another. Worse, Sabrina realized she was sitting next to Puck, who was now hip to hip with her. She noticed he had mud and several plump, slippery earthworms in his hair.
“You need to go faster,” Henry shouted over the wind that beat against everyone’s faces. Veronica had moved onto his lap and Granny seemed destined for it, too.
“Don’t tell me how to drive,” Uncle Jake said.
“I’ll tell you how to drive if you’re driving like an old woman,” Henry snapped.
“You want to drive? ’Cause I can pull over and you can show me how it’s done,” Uncle Jake replied.
“They sound like you two,” Puck said to Sabrina and Daphne.
Both of the girls glared at him.
The shrinking increased dramatically and Sabrina found Puck’s nose just an inch from her own. The car door was pushing him closer while Red and Daphne were shoving her from the other side. If the interior shrank again they would most certainly be pushed even closer together. Accidents could happen! Accidents with lips!
“I hope you brushed this morning, piggie,” Puck said with a smile. He closed his eyes and puckered up for a kiss.
“Uncle Jake, drive faster!” Sabrina begged.
Looking offended, Puck scampered to his feet, using Sabrina’s head as a crutch. “Fine. I’m out of here,” Puck snarled as his pink fairy wings popped out of his back. He leaped into the air and allowed it to sweep him high above the car. Sabrina was relieved, but not for long. When the inside of the car shrank again she found her face buried in Poppa Bear’s hairy armpit.
Uncle Jake didn’t wait for the driveway. He pulled up right into the front yard, barreling through shrubbery and slamming on the brakes inches from Granny Relda’s front porch. It couldn’t have happened a moment too soon, as people started literally spilling out of the top of the car. Baby Bear toppled out and fell onto the ground with Goldilocks. Elvis jumped out and scurried under a bush. When Uncle Jake opened his door, he fell out with Veronica and Granny Relda. Sabrina glanced around and was startled to see Daphne was nowhere to be found.
“Daphne!” she cried. “She must have fallen out.”
Momma Bear grunted and got out of her seat. There, beneath her, was Daphne, safe but a little mashed.
“I have never needed a bath so much in my entire life,” the little girl groaned.
“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” Henry said. “We all could have been hurt because of magic.”
Uncle Jake rolled his eyes and helped everyone onto the porch. Once there, Granny went to work on unlocking the door. There were a dozen locks of all shapes and sizes keeping the house safe. When they were all open she knocked on the front door and said, “We’re home!” The words deactivated a magical lock that few knew was there. It was only then that the front door could be opened.
“Veronica, take the girls upstairs and help them pack. Don’t let them bring anything that can cast a spell. You know what to look for,” Henry said as he picked up the phone. “I’m going to call everyone we know in New York City and let them know we’re on our way.”
“Henry, don’t you think this is something we should discuss?” Veronica asked. Sabrina watched her father shoot her mother an angry look. She threw up her hands in frustration. “Come on, girls.”
They climbed the stairs to the girls’ bedroom and went inside. Veronica closed the door behind them and sat down on the bed as if she was exhausted. A moment later she snatched the girls and hugged them. Sabrina felt one of her mother’s tears drip down onto her hand.
“Don’t cry,” Sabrina said.
“I can’t help it. I can’t believe how long we’ve been apart. You must have been so frightened.”
Veronica cupped Sabrina’s face in her hands. “You did a good job looking after your sister.”
The words fell into Sabrina’s belly and opened up into a million happy butterflies. She had tried so hard. Hearing her mother’s words was like a lifetime of birthday presents rolled into one.
Veronica looked at them both closely. “And you’ve both gotten so pretty. My little girls—where did they go?”
“We’re still here,” Daphne said. “We’re just bigger versions.”
Veronica laughed.
“Mom, you have to talk to Dad. We can’t go back to the city,” Daphne said, her tone suddenly serious. “We’re needed here in Ferryport Landing.”
“Needed?” Veronica replied.
“Absolutely!” the little girl cried. “There’s a lot of crazy shenanigans going on in this town and Granny needs help keeping the peace. There’s a bunch of bad guys called the Scarlet Hand running around tormenting everyone and it seems like every time we turn around someone is on the verge of destroying the world. We can’t go.”
“Daphne, you don’t understand. Your father has a lot of bad memories about Ferryport Landing. We should start packing.”
Sabrina pulled two tiny suitcases out from under the bed. They were the same suitcases she and her sister had brought when they arrived in Ferryport Landing, though back then all they had in them were a couple of T-shirts and a pair of socks they took turns wearing. She turned to the dresser where they kept their clothes, and she noticed her sister’s angry expression.
“Happy?” Daphne asked.
“Daphne, I—”
“I’m not surprised. Sabrina has hated living here since the first day. If she wants to go back, fine, but I want to stay here with Granny Relda. I want to take on the family business. I want to be a fairy-tale detective. Besides, who would look after Elvis and Puck? And Red Riding Hood is going to need help getting adjusted.”
Veronica shook her head. “Your father and I have argued on many things, from the color of paint in the bathroom to where we would send you to school, but this is one issue he won’t bend on. I don’t like it, and I’ll do what I can, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Daphne, if you are so eager to work with Everafters I wouldn’t worry too much. You might be surprised by what you’ll uncover in the Big Apple.”
“Mom, we know about the Faerie,” Daphne said.
“You do?”
“And about what you do for them,” Sabrina said. “We went back to the city with Granny. We met Oberon and Titania. We’ve been to the Golden Egg and talked to Scrooge. We know all about you and the Everafter community there.”
“Girls, I’d appreciate if you kept my secret life a secret,” Veronica said. “Your dad doesn’t know about any of it.”
Henry appeared in the doorway. “There’s a train in half an hour. I want to be on it.”
Veronica nodded.
“Get those suitcases packed, girls,” he ordered.
Sabrina was a bit surprised by her father’s tone. She remembered him being so easygoing and happy. Still, the girls did as they were told, even Daphne, and with their mother’s help they brought everything they owned downstairs and left it near the front door. Granny Relda and Uncle Jake were waiting for them. Henry was looking over a series of phone numbers he had scrawled on a piece of paper. Puck was lounging on the couch using his belly as a conga drum. Red Riding Hood was sitting in a dark corner. The three bears were sitting at the dining room table munching on a huge watermelon. Goldilocks was busy rearranging the rest of the bookshelves, and Elvis was lying on the floor, head resting on his paws, and moaning sadly.
“Where are we going to go?” Veronica asked her husband.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” Henry said, ignoring her question. “Can someone give us a ride to the train station or should I call a taxi?”
“Henry, be reasonable. You can stay here,” Granny Relda pleaded.
Henry shook his head. “Mom, I can’t.”
Granny extended her arms for a hug. The girls rushed to the old woman and hugged her with all their might. “
Lieblings
, my heart will be empty until I see you again. Look after yourselves and remember you need one another. Try not to fight. You make a great team when you put your heads together.”
Daphne leaned down and kissed Elvis on the snout. He barked.
“He says he’ll miss you,” Goldilocks explained.
Puck stopped his drumming for a brief moment and grinned at Sabrina. “I hear they have a lot of plastic surgeons in New York City. If I were you I’d make an appointment for that face as soon as you get there,” he quipped.
Sabrina scowled and shook a fist at him. “Keep it up, stinkpot, and you’re going to need a plastic surgeon yourself.”
Puck winked. “No need to get all mushy on me, Grimm.”
Henry snatched up the girls’ suitcases and stepped out the door. They followed but were quickly halted in their tracks. Sabrina was shocked to find the entire house surrounded by people—well,
people
didn’t exactly describe them all. Scattered through the crowd were Cyclops, ogres, stone golems, witches, warlocks, toy soldiers, an enormous walking nutcracker, and trolls. At the front of the crowd was Mayor Heart, also known as the Queen of Hearts from
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
. She had squeezed herself into a gaudy red dress decorated with black silk hearts. Her hair was stacked into a three-foot beehive and her makeup looked as if it had been applied by an agitated beaver. In her hand was her ever-present electronic megaphone. Standing next to her was a sour-looking man with long black hair and a goatee. The Sheriff of Nottingham, as he was known, was dressed from head to toe in leather, complete with boots, cape, and gloves. A vicious serpentine dagger hung at his waist and a grotesque purple scar ran from the tip of his eye to the corner of his mouth. He looked particularly ugly, perhaps from the frozen snarl on his face or maybe from the frightening mark on his chest: a bloodred handprint. The mark was emblazoned on the chests of the entire crowd.
“Well, as I live and breathe, it’s Henry Grimm,” the mayor cackled. “How was your nap?”
“Queen, I’m taking my girls and we’re leaving town. We aren’t looking for any trouble,” Henry said.
The queen lifted her megaphone to her mouth. “Well, Henry, it appears trouble came looking for you.”
Granny pushed her way onto the porch. “Now you listen to me—”
“NO!” the mayor bellowed, causing the megaphone to emit a migraine-inducing feedback whine. “You listen to me, Relda. You and your brood aren’t going anywhere until you tell us what the Master wants to know.”
“What are you talking about?” Uncle Jake said as he stepped onto the porch.