Tales from the Hood (15 page)

Canis nodded.

Little John raced to the cell door with a set of keys. “Nottingham ran out of here without them.”

The cell door swung open. Beauty shoved her dog into Sabrina’s arms and stepped inside. “Close the door,” she said.

“And lock it,” Canis added.

Little John did as he was told.

Beauty sat down on a crude chair next to Canis. “Well, are you ready to get started?”

Canis looked to Granny Relda with an expression of doubt.

“For me, old friend,” Granny said.

Canis nodded.

Beauty rested her hand on Canis’s muscular arm. All at once the tension in the old man seemed to dissolve. His body relaxed, and the wild animal scent that filled the room disappeared. The anger and hate in Canis’s eyes were replaced with a calm, almost sleepy expression.

“Feel better?” the princess asked.

Canis nodded.

“What do you want to know?” Beauty asked the lawyers.

“Ask him to describe what happened the night Red Riding Hood’s grandmother died,” Robin replied.

“Awww, that’s going to be so gross,” Beauty complained. She pointed at Sabrina. “You, cover Mr. Wuggles’s ears. He’s very sensitive. I don’t want him hearing this.”

Sabrina did her best, though the dog refused to cooperate. Instead, he squirmed in Sabrina’s arms until he was facing her, then proceeded to lick every inch of her face.

“OK, big guy,” Beauty said to Canis. “I want you to hear my voice only. You will see only what I ask you to see and though what you might see will be shocking, it won’t bother you at all. In fact, it will be like you are watching a movie.”

“OK,” Canis said and he closed his eyes.

“Let’s go back in time. I want you to go back to one night in particular. It was the night you met Little Red Riding Hood. Are you there?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Tell me what you see and hear.”

Canis shook his head. “It’s fuzzy. I can’t make out anything.”

“Concentrate,” Beauty said. “Try to bring it into focus.”

Canis’s body went into convulsions. His head swung back and forth violently.

“He’s fighting me,” Beauty told the crowd.

“Keep trying,” Little John replied as he nervously watched the door for Nottingham’s return.

“It doesn’t work like that,” Beauty snapped. “It’s not a matter of trying harder. His brain opens up or it doesn’t. There’s something he doesn’t want to tell me.”

Suddenly, Canis relaxed. “I’m running.”

“Where to?” Beauty asked.

“There’s a tiny house in the woods.”

“Do you see anything else?” Beauty asked.

“Light is blinding me and the trees are leaning over,” he said.

“He’s talking crazy like Red,” Sabrina whispered to her grandmother.

“Why are the trees leaning over?” Beauty asked, ignoring Sabrina’s comment.

Canis shook his head. “The wind is incredible. I’m pounding on the door. I want him to follow me, but he’s afraid.”

“Who is afraid?” Beauty repeated.

Canis was silent. “I can’t see him anymore. I’m inside the house. The old woman is there. The child is crying.”

“Are you talking about Red Riding Hood?” Beauty asked.

Canis nodded. “Then there is wind. So much wind.”

Beauty turned to the lawyers. “Is any of this making sense to you?”

Robin shrugged. “Ask him if he sees any cages.”

Beauty repeated the question, and for a long moment the old man was silent. Then he nodded.

“Yes, cages,” he said. “Something is in one of them, but the wind is so strong I can’t see it. It’s some kind of animal. It’s out! It’s coming at me!” Canis let out a horrible scream that startled everyone, then his eyes flickered open and he looked at Beauty. “Who’s that playing around in my head?” he growled.

The princess fell backward and ran toward the cage door. Luckily, the chains that bound the Wolf’s arms and legs held him back. He laughed at her fear and promised he would kill her someday. Then he looked over at the Grimm family and smiled. “Your day is coming, too.”

Once Little John helped Beauty out of the cell, Canis seemed to regain control of himself. He apologized and slumped back into his corner while the big lawyer locked the cell door tight.

“I’ve lost the connection,” Beauty said, as she caught her breath. “Not even my soon-to-be ex-husband was this difficult.”

“You and Beast are splitting up?” Robin said with a sly grin.

“Does your wife, Marian, know what kind of a flirt you are?” Beauty said with a little laugh.

Sabrina’s heart sank. Robin was married.

“Beauty, the two of you have been together for centuries,” Granny said.

“He’s in the Scarlet Hand. I can’t convince him to give it up, and I just can’t reach him anymore. He’s not the man I married.”

“So you haven’t joined?” Daphne asked.

“No, I’m no revolutionary,” Beauty said. “I remember the last time this nonsense came up. That’s how we all got stuck in this town. Beast says Everafters should be in charge. He says the Master is going to rule the world, and we’ll enslave the human race, blah, blah, blah . . . I’ll have none of it. All I want from this world is a new pair of shoes every day for the rest of my life.”

She reached over to Sabrina and took her dog. “And of course a diamond-studded collar for Mr. Wuggles,” she cooed to the dog. She showered the slobbery little mutt with kisses and he licked her face happily.

“The only thing you’re going to get is the edge of my blade, you traitorous idiot,” a voice bellowed from the doorway. The group spun around to see Nottingham step into the room, his curved dagger clenched firmly in his hand.

ottingham charged at Beauty but Little John punched him in the face, knocking him backward against the bars of a jail cell. The sheriff groaned but lunged again, and soon Sabrina and Daphne were caught in the middle of a melee of flying fists and slashing daggers. Sabrina snatched her sister by the arm and fought her way out of the chaos until they joined their grandmother, Barto, Beauty, and Mr. Wuggles huddled in a corner. Soon, the lawyers had managed to subdue the evil sheriff. They had him flat on his back, while he kicked and cursed at them. Sabrina rushed over to help, grabbing Nottingham’s flailing leg and holding it down.

“You’re all going to join your mongrel friend at the end of a hangman’s noose,” Nottingham seethed, his deadly dagger still several feet from his greedy fingers.

“What are we going to do with him?” Beauty asked. “He’ll tell everyone I was helping you. You don’t want to be on the wrong side of the Scarlet Hand these days, even if your husband is a member.”

“Princess, have you ever done your little hypnotizing trick on a person?” Robin asked Beauty.

“Never tried,” she said. “I think it only works on beasts.”

“Well, he’s about as beastly as a man can get,” Little John said.

Beauty reached down and placed her hand on Nottingham’s forehead. He fought a moment longer but then relaxed. “Go to sleep,” she said, and a moment later the sheriff was out cold. “Sheriff, you’re not going to remember the fight that just happened. You aren’t going to remember that you found us in the jail. You aren’t going to remember me or anyone who was here.”

“I won’t?” the sheriff asked, dreamily.

“No, you won’t.”

“OK.”

Robin Hood cleared his throat. “I saw a hypnotist plant a secret message in a person once. You know, every time he heard a certain word the man would cluck like a chicken. Could we get Nottingham to do something like that, I mean, while we have him hypnotized?”

Little John grinned. “You’re a genius.”

Beauty laughed. “What do you think, Mr. Wuggles?”

The dog barked.

“Mr. Wuggles thinks that’s an excellent idea.”

It had been a long day. When Sabrina finally plopped down on the sofa and kicked off her shoes, she found blisters on the backs of her heels. Daphne was almost asleep on her feet, and Granny Relda, who usually had more energy than both the girls combined, fell into a chair and propped her legs up on an ottoman. Elvis trotted down the stairs and went from one person to the next, delivering kisses.

Uncle Jake came down to tell the girls that his search for Goldilocks was on hold. She had hopped a flight out of Venice following the incident in the canal, and he had been unable to figure out exactly where she was going. They would have to wait until she landed to proceed. Sabrina was a little disappointed. Tracking down their elusive heroine might have been a nice distraction from the image that kept appearing in her mind. The Wolf was inside her head.

Even as she lay in bed that night she couldn’t stop seeing his monstrous face, promising that he was going to kill her and her family as soon as he got the chance. She remembered his smiling eyes. It gave him pleasure to terrify her, and he had succeeded. She wanted to talk about it with someone, anyone, but when she had mentioned Mr. Canis’s lack of control to the rest of the family she had been punished. No one wanted to see him for what he was.

Sabrina turned to her sister. Daphne was sound asleep, as if the Wolf’s threats meant nothing. She was so trusting—so naïve. Like the rest of her family, she was tucked in her bed, never thinking that death might crawl out of the closet and gobble her whole. There would be nothing Sabrina could do to stop it, either, not as long as her sister refused to retrieve the secret weapon the three pigs swore could save them all. Why had Hamstead entrusted such a huge responsibility to such a little girl? Daphne was too young for such a heavy burden. Sure, Daphne had a knack with enchanted items, and Sabrina—well, Sabrina and magic didn’t mix, but whatever was in that safe-deposit box had to be used by someone who saw things clearly. Someone who put sentimentality aside and fought for her family. That key could stop the Wolf, maybe even put Mr. Canis back in control. Either way, the danger would be over. If the family had this weapon things might even get easier for them in the town. They could fight the Scarlet Hand. With such a weapon, the evil group’s threats would be meaningless. There were lots of reasons to have the weapon. It was time to go get it, even if Daphne didn’t think so. Sabrina knew what had to be done.

She leaned over and gently unfastened the chain from her sister’s neck. The little girl was such a sound sleeper, she didn’t seem to notice it was gone. Sabrina held up the key and studied it, imagining the possibilities. Then she crawled out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans, a black shirt, and sneakers and padded down the hallway to Mirror’s room. Once inside, Mirror’s horrifying face immediately appeared, accompanied by frightening bolts of lightning and a wall of flames that streaked across her path.

“Who dares invade my sanctuary!” Mirror bellowed.

“Turn off the special effects,” Sabrina said. “It’s me!”

The threatening image faded and the fire snuffed out, replaced by the kind face of her friend. “Up a little late, aren’t you, Starfish?”

“I’m on a secret mission,” Sabrina replied.

“Is this mission secret from your grandmother?”

Sabrina nodded, then turned her attention to the traveler’s chest. She recited the address to the bank and bent over to lift the lid but it was locked tight. Uncle Jake must have taken the key. She’d have to use plan B to get to the bank, even if it nauseated her. “I need the flying carpet.”