Tales From the Hood Read online

  “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.”

  “What for?”

  “I can’t tell you,” she said.

  “No surprise, there. Still, where’s your sister? Where’s Puck? You never go alone.”

  “This time I have to,” Sabrina said, holding out her set of keys to the Hall of Wonders.

  “I don’t know about this, kiddo,” Mirror said.

  “I won’t be gone long. Trust me. I’m doing this for everyone’s good,” Sabrina said as she opened the spare room’s one and only window.

  Mirror’s hand broke the surface of the reflection and took the keys. “I swear, you’re giving me gray hair,” he said as he faded away. Moments later he returned with Sabrina’s keys and Aladdin’s carpet. “Would you listen if I asked you to be careful?”

  Sabrina nodded as she opened the window. “I always listen.”

  “Yes, but do you hear me?”

  She unrolled the rug on the floor, admiring the beautifully embroidered designs of the stars, moons, and sabers. Then she sat down in the center and clenched its tassels in her hands. “OK, rug, take me to the Ferryport Landing Savings and Loan.”

  “What’s at the bank?” Mirror asked.

  “The answer to a lot of our problems,” Sabrina replied.

  Moments later, the rug was darting toward downtown, the air whipping Sabrina’s hair behind her as she soared over the treetops. She concentrated on the weapon she would soon possess. Whatever it was, Swineheart and Boarman said it was powerful. If it helped three out-of-shape piggies beat a monster, it might just be what her family needed. She clutched Daphne’s little key in her hand and imagined what might be inside the safe-deposit box. Perhaps it was a bazooka, or a laser gun, or some kind of device that fired lava.

  Soon the bank came into sight and the little rug floated to the ground. It landed on the deserted sidewalk in front of the building. Sabrina glanced around, careful that no one was watching as she stepped off the carpet. It automatically rolled itself up and Sabrina stashed it behind a nearby bush.

  The streetlights that once illuminated the quaint neighborhood were black and burned out. Ferryport Landing’s Main Street had never been Broadway, but now it seemed desperately lonely. With the coast clear, she climbed the steps of the bank. Before she tried the door she noticed a sign that read closed. Sabrina could have kicked herself. Of course the bank was going to be closed. It was nighttime. Her over-eagerness to retrieve the weapon kept her from thinking clearly. Now what was she going to do? She couldn’t go back home and try during the day. Her family was always around and Daphne would notice that the key was missing.

  She sat down on the stoop, contemplating her limited choices, when a crazy thought popped into her head. Why not break into the bank? She had done lots of crazy things since moving to Ferryport Landing. Why would this one be any crazier? She could break a window and crawl inside. If she hurried, she could open the safe-deposit box, grab the weapon, and escape before Nottingham arrived. It was as good a plan as any.

  She stood up and studied the bank, sizing it up like it was an adversary. She had broken out of many places in her lifetime. As foster children, she and her sister were constantly escaping the lunatics the state sent them to live with. She recalled the Deasy family, who owned and operated an ostrich farm in Hoboken, New Jersey. The birds were mean and frightening, chasing Daphne nearly nonstop for the first three days. When one of them spit in Sabrina’s face, she knew that the sisters Grimm had to go. After a week of trying, Sabrina managed to pick the lock on the front gate, freeing herself and Daphne and the entire herd of stinky giant birds. She and her sister hopped the gate on the underground train that led to New York City, and they were back in the Big Apple hours before the Hoboken Police Department managed to track and capture the first of the Deasys’ twenty-five ostriches. If Sabrina could pick a lock, she could certainly throw a rock through a window.

  Sabrina searched t
he street for a stone heavy enough to crack the bank’s thick security windows. She found a good sharp one and headed back to spot a place to fling it. She circled around the back of the building, found a window low to the ground, and peeked inside. There were wires attached to the window that led to a bright red bell on the wall. She guessed the bell would start to wail if the windows were broken. Once she was inside, she’d have to act fast. The last thing she needed was for Nottingham to show up and decide to be a police officer for once. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, then reared back, aimed, and tossed the rock. She prepared for the shattering of glass but it never came. Instead she heard a voice.

  “Sabrina Grimm turns to a life of crime. I’m so proud of you.”

  Sabrina recognized the voice immediately. It was Puck, and he had her rock clenched firmly in his hand.

  “What are you doing here?” Sabrina demanded, dragging him into the shadows.

  “Keeping an eye on you,” Puck said. “You slipped past all my security.”

  “I’m not going to stay locked up in the house just ’cause you say we should,” Sabrina said. “I can take care of myself.”

  “You are truly an ungrateful jerk. Do you know how much money I have to pay the troglodyte to sit inside the dirty clothes hamper? Not to mention the brownies living in the bushes outside and the ogre under the couch. Professionals are not cheap. Plus, I have to pay their dental insurance and contribute to their 401(k) plans. But do you appreciate it? NO! You run around this town willy-nilly, as if you had a death wish. Well, listen, bub, if your family gets killed, then I’m out in the cold. That means no more free meals. No more cable TV. Do you know what would happen to me if I had to go back down to just three or four channels?” Puck shuddered.

  “Listen, everyone appreciates what you’re trying to do,” Sabrina said. “But at the moment, it’s getting in my way. Now, hand over that rock. I need it.”

  “Hey, you don’t have to tell me about the need to break things,” Puck said. “If I don’t smash a window four or five times a day I don’t feel like myself. Still, it doesn’t seem like your style.”

  “I’m not breaking windows just to break something. I need to get into the bank. There’s something inside I have to get,” Sabrina said.

  “That’s what all the bank robbers say.”

  “I’m not robbing the bank!”

  “Then what are you going to steal? They chain the pens to the counters, you know.”

  “I’m not stealing anything. I’m breaking in to get something that was given to me, and I can’t wait for the bank to open.”

  “But you plan on breaking something to do it, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “OK, I’ll help.”

  Sabrina felt like telling Puck to get lost, but she realized the fairy boy had some skills that might come in handy. Puck could do all kinds of things that human beings couldn’t.

  “Actually—” Sabrina said.

  Puck grinned and tossed the rock aside. “Allow me to call some friends.” He took a small wooden flute from his pocket and blasted a few notes into it. Moments later, they were standing in a tornado of little lights. There were hundreds of them buzzing past Sabrina’s face, clicking and chirping. Puck raised his hands and all the lights stopped in midair. Sabrina had met these creatures before. They were pixies, and they obeyed every command Puck gave them.

  “Minions,” he said, “we need to get into this bank.”

  The group of lights squeaked and flew toward the bank’s window. They seemed to study it for a moment, then they flew off, circling the building as if looking for a crack or crevice to invade. Moments later, Sabrina saw a few of them flying around inside the bank. They hovered in the window and buzzed to Puck.

  “They’re opening the door for us now,” Puck said. Sabrina and Puck rushed around to the front door and hurried inside. Sabrina closed the door behind them in case anyone strolling down the street noticed it was wide open.

  “I believe the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you,’” Puck said.

  Sabrina rolled her eyes. “We’ve got to act fast. This place might have a silent alarm, and if that’s the case, Nottingham is probably on his way.”

  “What are we looking for?”

  “Safe-deposit boxes. You’ll find them in a room with little drawers built into the walls.”

  Puck repeated the description to the pixies and they flew off in different directions. Sabrina went searching on her own, opening one door after another. Each room she searched was a dead end, and each dead end made her more and more aware that Nottingham could arrive at any moment.

  Luckily, Puck called out that the room had been found. She raced back the way she came and found him hovering in a doorway at the opposite end of the building. In the room they found three walls, each lined with little silver doors. The fourth wall supported an enormous round door that protected the valuables in the bank’s vault. Sabrina studied one drawer carefully. It had a number carved into its door and a tiny lock. Sabrina reached into her pocket and removed the silver key. The number printed on it read TH192.

  “I need to open TH192,” she said, scanning the wall. There were so many doors. It could take hours to find the right one.

  “What’s the big deal about this safe-deposit box?” Puck asked as he joined the search. Sabrina knew she couldn’t keep her secret from him any longer.

  “Before we left New York City, Sheriff Hamstead gave Daphne this key and told her it opened a box that contained a powerful weapon. He told her to get it if Mr. Canis ever lost control of the Wolf. Hamstead said it was the only thing that could truly stop him.”

  “If he gave it to Daphne, then how come you have it?” Puck asked.

  Sabrina felt her face go red. “She doesn’t understand.”

  “You stole it?”

  Sabrina nodded. “I had to.”

  Puck looked surprised.

  “What? Are you disappointed? Is the Trickster King going to give me a lecture on being a good person? I’m doing this for the good of us all,” Sabrina argued. “This weapon might be able to fix Mr. Canis, too, and fight the Scarlet Hand. Then you could let your security guards go.”

  Puck said nothing; he didn’t have to. Sabrina could sense his disapproval, though it boggled the mind. Who was Puck to tell her how to behave?

  “Here it is,” he said.

  Sabrina rushed to his side and checked the number on the drawer—it matched the one on the silver key. She slipped the key into the slot, turned it, and felt the latch open. Inside was a long metal box with a handle. She pulled it out, her mind swirling with possibilities. Carefully, she opened the top of the box. Inside was a small blue velvet bag tied at the top with string. The words the north wind were stitched on the fabric in gold. Sabrina took the bag in her hand. Whatever was inside was small and cylindrical. She was surprised by how light it was.

  Sabrina untied the string and opened the bag. Wary of touching a magical item, she peered into the sack. She expected to find an ancient amulet that could shoot electricity or perhaps a magic wand, but instead, much to her surprise, she found a kazoo.

  “What is it?” Puck said. He pulled the kazoo from the sack and examined it closely. “This is your secret weapon?”

  Sabrina was too crushed to speak. She felt as if someone had just punched her in the stomach. All of her hopes, all of her needs, and all of her plans had just vanished before her eyes, replaced by someone’s idea of a twisted joke. “It’s a toy,” Sabrina said. “It’s a child’s toy.”

  “How is this going to stop the Big Bad Wolf?”

  “It won’t, you idiot. It’s a kazoo. Can’t you see? It’s someone’s idea of a prank.” She stormed out of the room and out the front door of the bank. Somehow that triggered the alarm and an earsplitting bell started ringing.

  “Hey! You can’t just walk away on your own,” Puck said, chasing after her. “You need protection.”

  “Why?” Sabrina said as she stepped
out into the street. “What does it matter? The whole town is trying to kill us. My grandmother’s best friend is a murderer. We’re all dead anyway.”

  “You still have me,” Puck said.

  Sabrina scowled but said nothing.

  “You don’t think I can protect you, do you?” Puck asked.

  “I don’t think anyone can, Puck,” Sabrina cried. “At least not now.”

  Puck’s face flushed red, but he said nothing.

  “C’mon, we better get back to the house,” Sabrina said, changing her tone. She knew she had hurt him, but did he really expect that she would put her family’s safety in the hands of an immature fairy whose biggest enemy was a bar of soap?

  “Just a minute,” Puck said as he stared at the little toy flute. “Maybe there’s something more to this kazoo. How does it work?”

  “It’s a toy, Puck,” she said, snatching it out of his hands. “You blow into it.”

  She put the kazoo into her mouth, took a deep breath, and blew. She had used a kazoo before. She knew there was a trick to making the sound—a sort of hum/blow into one end that makes a fuzzy musical note come out the other. But this kazoo didn’t do that. Instead, she felt the familiar uncomfortable tingle of magic. Then there was a horrible whooshing sound and an intense whipping wind and right before her eyes the windows of the bank imploded. The roof flew off the building and the walls crumbled. Even the paint on the sign peeled off and blew away, along with every nail, screw, and two-by-four. In a matter of seconds there was no evidence that a bank or any other kind of building had ever stood in front of her. When the wind died down, all that was left of the bank was the alarm, ringing loudly as if there was still something to protect.

  Sabrina gaped at the kazoo, speechless.

  “Well, if you don’t want it, I’ll take it,” Puck said.

  abrina and Puck slipped back into the house without incident. After returning the flying carpet to Mirror, Puck followed Sabrina into her bedroom. There they found Daphne, still solidly asleep and producing deep, loud snores that sounded like a lovesick moose. Sabrina carefully placed the necklace and safe-deposit box key back around the little girl’s neck and breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t been caught. Puck watched from the corner with a frown on his face.