The Fairy-Tale Detectives Page 2

  “Whatever his name, our brother will pay! He has stained the honor of magic mirrors everywhere!” Titan roared.

  “You mean, all four of us?” Donovan said. “We’re all that’s left of the original twenty-five.”

  Titan snarled. “All the more reason to respect our heritage.”

  “Calm down, sugar.” Fanny applied another layer of ruby-red lipstick as she spun around like a top. “You’ll get your blood pressure up again. Now that we know where our brother is, it’s time to focus our energies on how to catch him and free Relda Grimm from his control.”

  “Please tell me you have some ideas,” Sabrina said. Her plea was met with heartbreaking silence.

  “What about you?” Daphne said to the fifth undamaged mirror. Its surface appeared empty. Was its guardian in there . . . listening? Daphne softly caressed its frame as if coaxing a shy puppy out from under the bed. “What do you think?”

  “You’re wasting your time,” Canis said. “I haven’t heard so much as a peep from that one.”

  Daphne turned from the empty mirror with a sigh. “Have you spotted Uncle Jake yet?” she asked.

  Donovan shook his head. “He’s harder to find than your granny. It’s like he disappeared off the map. We can sense his presence but can’t pinpoint it. Wherever he is, he doesn’t want to be found, and I suspect he’s using magic to make sure he stays that way.”

  “What about these broken pieces? Any sign of him in here?” Sabrina examined the shards. Most people would sweep a broken mirror into a dustpan and toss it in the trash, but these pieces were far too special to throw away. Though their guardians were long gone, these pieces retained powerful magic. One look and a person could peek through the reflections of ordinary mirrors all over the world. Now Sabrina glimpsed a man putting on a necktie in a department store, a woman washing the makeup off her face, and a high school student practicing a speech in a bathroom mirror. In other shards she saw people closer to home. One showed Sheriff Nottingham struggling to tie Mayor Heart’s corset. His boot was planted squarely on her back for leverage as he tugged and tugged. In another, an ogre smashed through the bicycle store on Main Street. In yet another, dwarfs looted the local grocery.

  Canis shook his head in disgust. “Nothing.”

  “Well, Uncle Jake can take care of himself,” Sabrina said. “We need to focus on Granny. Now that we know where she is we can go rescue—”

  “You and your sister are sitting this one out,” a voice said from behind her. Sabrina spun around to find her father and mother along with her baby brother, Basil, standing in the doorway. Henry was a good-looking man dressed in a heavy jacket and hiking boots. Like Canis, he looked tired. “I can’t put you girls into that kind of danger.”

  “But danger is my middle name,” Daphne said.

  “Your middle name is Delilah, young lady,” Veronica said. Sabrina’s mother was a true knockout, but her face also showed signs of weariness. “Some jobs are just for grown-ups. Besides, I could use your help with Basil.”

  “Babysitting!” Sabrina cried.

  “He’s having trouble adjusting,” Henry said. “He won’t eat or sleep. I’m worried.”

  As if to prove Henry’s point, the boy fussed and struggled, his little fists pounding on Veronica’s chest, and tears running down his face.

  When Basil was just a newborn, Mirror had kidnapped him with plans to steal the young boy’s body as a vessel for his corrupt soul. Poor Red had become entangled in the plot as well, and was forced by a manipulative Mirror to act as Basil’s babysitter while struggling with her own demons.

  “I’ll take him, Mrs. Grimm. He knows me,” Red said.

  Veronica looked pained. Sabrina could tell her mother did not want to let the boy go, but Basil needed sleep like everyone else, and Red had a knack with him. Despite the sad circumstances of their life with Mirror, Red and the little boy had a bond that no one could break. Veronica reluctantly surrendered the little boy into Red’s arms and his tears transformed into giggles.

  “I’ll get him something to eat,” Red said.

  Veronica watched them exit the room. The moment they were gone, tears fell from her eyes. She looked as if she might collapse, but Henry swept her into his arms and held her fast.

  “It will take time, ’Roni. He doesn’t know us yet. But he will,” he assured her.

  Veronica clung to him like he was a lifeboat in a stormy sea, but Sabrina could see her father’s despair as well. If people could break in two from grief, Henry and Veronica were very close to cracking up. It frightened Sabrina to realize her parents were so fragile.

  “So you have a plan to save your mother?” Canis asked Henry. Henry shook his head. “No. But it can’t hurt to take a look. That storm has been hovering over the southern end of town, so I assume he’s near the rail station, probably on Route 9. I’m going to sneak over there and see what’s what. Maybe I’ll see something that can help us.”

  “I’ll get my things,” Canis said, and snatched the white cane that leaned against his chair. He struggled to his feet, using what looked like every ounce of his strength. The cane itself skittered across the floor, desperate to find purchase. Poor Mr. Canis looked like an old tree struggling to stay rooted in the face a hurricane.

  “Mr. Canis, it would be best for you to stay here and keep an eye on things,” Henry said.

  Canis looked into Henry’s face. “You have several babysitters already, Henry, and your mother and I shared important tasks and worked as partners. I was not her assistant and I certainly wasn’t her wet nurse.”

  “I don’t need you for babysitting. I need someone to help get things ready. What if I go down there and find a way to rescue Mom? She’s going to be exhausted, maybe even hurt. We need to get a room ready for her if that happens,” Henry said quickly, almost sheepishly. “Veronica’s got her hands full with Basil, and I can’t trust the kids to do it the right way. You’re needed here.”

  Canis frowned. “Babysitting.”

  Sabrina braced for an argument. Staying put and preparing bedrooms was not what Mr. Canis was accustomed to doing. Once he had been the family’s fiercest and most intimidating ally. He sent tremors of fear into the wickedest of villains, wielding the full barely controlled savagery of the Big Bad Wolf. Leaping into action was more his nature, and Henry’s request seemed to hit the old man like a sucker punch. But no fight came. Instead, Canis turned and exited the room.

  “He wants to feel useful,” Veronica said.

  “He’ll slow me down. If something happens, I don’t want to have to worry about getting him back here,” Henry said, though Sabrina could see he immediately regretted his choice of words. “Not that anything will happen, of course.”

  “I’d feel better if Jake was going with you,” Veronica said.

  “I would too,” Henry said as he buttoned his hunting jacket. “But Briar’s death is still fresh, and Jake always took loss very hard.”

  Losing Uncle Jake’s girlfriend Briar Rose was a shock to everyone, but for Jake it set off an emotional typhoon. She was the second person he had lost to violence, after his father had been killed by a mindless monster known as the Jabberwocky fifteen years ago. Now the love of his life was dead. Briar was killed by a dragon controlled by some of Mirror’s goons—members of a group called the Scarlet Hand.

  Sabrina heard a fluttering of wings and then a voice above their heads. “Who needs Jake when you have the Trickster King?” Something wet and sticky landed on Sabrina. It dripped down into her ears and collected under her chin, smelling like the livestock tent at a state fair. Sabrina looked up, even though she didn’t need to. She knew the slime bomb was from Puck, and sure enough his pink fairy wings beat furiously to keep him aloft. He held another balloon with funky green ooze sloshing around inside.

  “What was in that balloon?” Sabrina growled as she tried to wipe the muck off her face.

  “You know . . . I don’t have a clue. I found it collecting in a pool near the sewage
treatment plant. It was just sitting there—free for the taking! Can you imagine? Who would just leave this stuff around?” He tossed the second balloon and it hit her in the shoulder, splattering all over her face and neck. “This is Grade A filth—top of the line.”

  Sabrina clenched her fists.

  Puck looked genuinely shocked. “Don’t tell me you’re angry! You should be honored. When I found this slop, you were the first person that popped into my head. How could I test it on anyone else? I didn’t want to offend you. And now, because of you, I can go into battle confident that my crud bombs bring the right amount of stomach-lurching awesomeness. I couldn’t have done it without you!”

  Before Sabrina could snatch his leg out of the air her father called Puck’s name, and the boy darted down the hall after Henry, toward the portal to the outside.

  “You’re really leaving us here?” Daphne cried, chasing them into the hallway. Sabrina and her mother followed.

  “We are,” Henry said.

  “You can’t keep us locked up in this mirror,” Sabrina shouted, but Henry didn’t hear. His body vanished as he stepped through a magical portal that led outside to the real world.

  “Smell you later,” Puck said, and flew after Henry.

  “I just got put back at the kids’ table,” Sabrina said.

  “I never left the kids’ table,” Daphne grumbled.

  Veronica patted them each on the shoulder. “There’s plenty to do around here. Go find Pinocchio and get him to help Canis with that room. It would be good for him to lend a hand. We are feeding him, after all.”

  Sabrina stalked away. “Fine!”

  When the girls were out of earshot of their mother, the complaining began.

  “They treat us like we’re babies!” Sabrina said.

  “Yeah, why not put us in diapers?” Daphne said.

  “We’ve been in dangerous situations before.”

  “Very dangerous!”

  “We’ve fought dragons and Jabberwockies and creepy guidance counselors covered in fur!”

  “Ugh. He was creepy.”

  “I killed a giant once!”

  “I ate ‘fish surprise’ in the orphanage cafeteria!” Daphne shouted.

  The two stomped on until they came to Pinocchio’s room. The odd little boy was largely responsible for the family’s uncomfortable living situation. He had opened the doors in the Hall of Wonders and released the magical creatures that were locked inside. The chaos that followed destroyed the Grimms’ home, so Sabrina was stunned when her father invited Pinocchio to stay with them. In her opinion he should have been locked away—or even better, sent out to live in the wilderness, possibly to be eaten by coyotes and rabid beavers . . . or whatever lived in the wilderness. But Henry wanted to give him a chance to prove himself. So far he had proved himself to be rude and lazy.

  “He’s going to laugh in our faces,” Daphne said.

  “I hope he does,” Sabrina said, channeling all her anger at her father toward the little snot. She pounded on his door harder than she needed to.

  “Whoever it is, please go away. I’m having some ‘me’ time!” the boy shouted from behind the door, his voice a high-pitched whine.

  “Get out here! You know I have keys to this room,” Sabrina shouted back. “Open the door or I will open it myself and kick your puppet behind!”

  “I was not a puppet! I was a marionette!”

  Sabrina growled and reached into her pocket for her set of keys. She sorted through them to find one that fit the lock and threw the door open so hard the force almost knocked it off its hinges. The girls stomped into the room and found Pinocchio lying on a king-size brass bed, flipping through an architectural magazine.

  “Hey! This is private! You’re invading my . . . what on earth is all over you? Oh, that smell! You are putrid!”

  “What does putrid mean?” Daphne said.

  Before Sabrina could answer, Pinocchio spoke. “It refers to something that is in a state of foul decay. You children have always lacked a sense of personal pride when it came to cleanliness, but your current state is a new low.”

  “He’s saying I stink,” Sabrina said.

  “Actually, I’m saying you both stink,” Pinocchio said.

  Sabrina examined his room in astonishment. In addition to the luxurious bed, he had a dresser, armoire, table lamp, Oriental rugs, an overstuffed chair, and a box of chocolate bon-bons. “Where did you get this stuff?”

  “I discovered them in some of the other rooms.” Pinocchio huffed. “Hey, you’re getting that slop all over my things. Some of these pieces are antiques!”

  Sabrina grabbed the boy by the collar and dragged him off the bed. He flailed and kicked and eventually freed himself from her grip.

  “Did you ever think for a moment in that tiny little brain of yours that there might be other people who needed this furniture? Mr. Canis? My mother and father? My baby brother?”

  “Not to mention me. Hello!” Daphne said as she stretched a cramp out of her back.

  “We’re all sleeping on the floor! You owe your lousy life to this family and this is how you repay us?”

  “It’s every man for himself now, Grimms,” Pinocchio said, shooing them away like pesky flies.

  Sabrina fought the urge to strangle him and nearly lost. Instead, she grabbed him, spun him around, and kicked him in the behind so hard he went flying through the doorway and into the hall. “Get out!”

  “You’re evicting me? You wouldn’t!” Pinocchio said, straightening his clothes.

  “I can and I will. We have a million major emergencies going on right now: a maniac is possessing my grandmother’s body, my uncle’s girlfriend was just killed, we’re homeless, there are wild things running loose, and I have a worthless sack of nonsense hogging beds and being lazy. Which of those problems is the easiest to solve, puppet boy?”

  “I WAS NOT A PUPPET!” Pinocchio shouted, and shoved his sharp little nose into her face. “Fine! What do you require?”

  “Go back to wherever you found all this furniture and bring back whatever you find—if you spot a crib, take it to my parents’ room pronto! Then get your stuff out of here. This is going to be my grandmother’s room when we rescue her.”

  “I will not be ordered to do manual labor!” the boy said. “That kind of work is done by the uneducated classes.”

  “Get moving or when I’m done with you my foot is going to be filled with splinters!”

  “I haven’t been made out of wood in centuries,” he grumbled.

  “You better change that attitude, pal,” Daphne called after him. “Next time we say jump, you better be in the air when you say ‘how high?’”

  Sabrina watched the boy disappear down the hall.

  “Did that sound tough?” Daphne asked. “I felt tough.”

  “Get your jacket,” Sabrina said.

  “Oh, boy! I know that look. You haven’t had that look since we were in the orphanage,” Daphne said, grinning. “You’re thinking about shenanigans!”

  “Shenanigans?”

  “It’s my new word. It means ‘fun troublemaking,’” Daphne explained.

  Sabrina nodded. “We don’t belong at the kids’ table. We’re going to help Dad rescue Granny Relda.”

  “Right after you take a shower,” Daphne said.

  Sabrina sniffed her glop-covered shirt. “Yes, right after I take a shower.”

  inocchio was just the distraction the girls needed. His grumbling and endless whining kept Veronica so occupied the girls were able to stash the Book of Everafter in a safe place and slip out of the portal unseen. As they passed through the surface of the mirror, there was a rush of air, a dramatic drop in temperature, and Sabrina, Daphne, and Elvis found themselves inside a heavy thicket, deep in the Hudson Valley forest. The bushes were the perfect place to hide the door to their magical home, but they were less than convenient when exiting.

  The girls pushed free of the thorns and prickly vines and stepped into a chilly spl
attering of autumn rain. Drops dripped onto Sabrina’s head and trickled down her face and neck, sending tingles straight to her feet. She leaned down and quickly zipped up her sister’s sweatshirt, then did her own.

  “It rained like this the day we came to Ferryport Landing,” Daphne said, catching some of the drops on her tongue. Sabrina remembered the gray sky, icy drizzle, and brisk chill that had greeted them when their caseworker Ms. Smirt shoved them down the train platform to meet their grandmother for the first time. She could even recall declaring that she and Daphne weren’t going to stay with a crazy old woman who believed fairy tales were real. Funny how life got in the way of plans. Now she couldn’t imagine her life without Granny Relda. She had to rescue her from Mirror, even if her father tried to stand in the way.

  “We have to be patient with them,” Daphne said, seemingly reading her sister’s mind.

  “Now you’re on their side?” Sabrina said. “Five seconds ago you were shouting about how unfair they were.”

  “When Mom and Dad went to sleep, I was six and you were ten. I was obsessed with princesses—”

  “You still are.”

  “Don’t interrupt. What I’m saying is, to them, one day we were little girls, and then all of a sudden we weren’t. They need time to catch up.”

  “But they need to understand that Granny never treated us like little girls. She would have had us leading the rescue,” Sabrina said.

  “Actually, she would have made us stay home too. It was just easier to sneak out when she was in charge.”

  Sabrina sighed. She knew Daphne was right, but it was still frustrating. “So are you saying we should go back?”

  Daphne laughed. “No way!” She leaned down and gave Elvis a wet kiss on the snout. “Find Granny, buddy.”

  The dog gave himself a shake and water went everywhere. He sniffed the air and trotted into the wet brush. They watched him leap up a steep incline and they followed, trudging through spongy mounds of brown leaves and across slick black rocks. It wouldn’t be long before they were both soaked to the bone, but Sabrina didn’t mind. It felt good to be in the outside air without feeling the careful eyes of disapproving grown-ups on her. It infuriated her that her father couldn’t see potential in his daughters. He kept them locked away like porcelain dolls. What did she and her sister have to do to prove they could take care of themselves?