Sabrina and Daphne’s father had kept fairy-tale stories out of their house, leaving the girls with a tremendous disadvantage now that their jobs were to investigate crimes in the Everafter community. Still, even Sabrina had heard the Wolf’s most famous story—Little Red Riding Hood. The way she recalled it, a really lousy mother sent her kid into the woods with a basket of food and everyone was supposed to be surprised when an animal attacked her. Sabrina was wondering what kind of lame parents Red Riding Hood must have had when she noticed the pale and nervous expression on Daphne’s face.
“No one told me this story,” Daphne said, pointing to the book she was reading.
“What story, liebling?” Granny Relda asked as she came in from the kitchen.
Daphne held up a dusty copy of Children’s and Household Tales, better known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. “The story of Little Red Riding Hood,” she said. “Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm called it the story of Little Red Cap. This version is . . . gross.”
Granny shook her head knowingly. “It is troubling, but don’t forget, Mr. Canis isn’t like the Wolf in that story.”
Puck, who had been ignoring everyone up until that point, leaped up and rushed across the room. “What did he do?”
“He ate Red’s grandmother,” Daphne said.
“Ate her?” Sabrina cried.
“That’s awesome!” Puck exclaimed.
Sabrina ignored Puck. “I thought he killed her.”
“The killing part usually happens when you eat someone,” Puck said matter-of-factly.
“That was a long time ago,” Granny said. “We weren’t there. Some of the story could be exaggerated.”
Daphne scanned the old book. “It says here that Red’s parents sent her into the forest with a basket of food. She was supposed to take it to her sick grandmother but along the way she met the Wolf. He asked her where she was going and she told him.”
“Mistake number one,” Puck said.
Daphne continued. “The wolf raced ahead, ate her grandmother, then put on her clothes.”
“Creepy,” Puck commented.
“Then it says here that when Red showed up at the house he ate her, too. That’s not right. Little Red Riding Hood is alive.”
“And crazy as ever,” Sabrina said. Just thinking about the little girl gave her goose pimples. She calmed down when she remembered Red was locked up in the Ferryport Landing Memorial Hospital’s mental health ward. It had been only a few months since the delirious Red had stormed through town on the back of a Jabberwocky, causing serious mayhem.
“You can’t put a lot of weight in this story,” Granny explained. “There are a lot of contradictory facts that don’t add up, and there are many, many versions.”
“That’s true. Now I remember this story. My father told me it once,” Puck said. “Something about a woodcutter who saved Red and her granny by cutting the Wolf’s belly open and freeing them. Then I think he loaded the Wolf’s belly up with stones and tossed him in the river to drown. I’d like to meet that guy. He’s totally hard-core!”
“Who cares how many versions there are of the story? He eats people in all of them, right?” Sabrina asked as she glanced at the open pages of the heavy book. There was a horrible illustration of the Wolf attacking the little girl.
Puck nodded. “Don’t forget he tried to kill the Three Little Pigs and a whole family of talking lambs. I tell you, the guy’s got anger-management issues.”
Sabrina’s mind was drowning in all the new information. She turned to her grandmother, who seemed nervous and fidgety. “Did he really do this?”
The room was silent. Granny lowered her eyes.
Sabrina was dumbfounded. “And you let him live here with us? You left us alone with him! He slept in a room right across the hall!”
“The Wolf is the murderer, Sabrina. Mr. Canis is not responsible,” Granny said.
“Mr. Canis is the Wolf!” Sabrina cried.
“No, you are wrong, Sabrina,” Granny snapped. “Mr. Canis and the Wolf are two separate people.”
“Who share the same body,” Sabrina argued. “Mr. Canis taps into him when he needs his power. He’s been changing into the Wolf for months.”
“OK, everyone, let’s calm down,” Daphne said.
But Granny was agitated and kept arguing. “Mr. Canis has always been in charge, or at least he has been since the pigs got ahold of him. It wasn’t until recently that he lost control of the creature inside him.”
“Granny, you saw him today,” Sabrina said. “If we manage to get him out of jail, then what happens? What are we going to do if the Wolf takes over? There will be no way to stop him.”
“Sabrina! Mr. Canis is our friend!” the old woman cried.
“Our friend is a bloodthirsty monster!”
Granny’s face turned red and her lips quivered in anger. Sabrina had never seen the old woman lose her temper so quickly. Sure, Granny had been angry in the past, but this was something far beyond that.
“Sabrina Grimm, go to your room!”
Sabrina reeled back. “What? I haven’t been sent to my room since I was seven years old!”
“Then it’s long overdue!”
Sabrina looked around at her family, hoping someone could explain what had happened, but they all had the same expression on their faces. They were angry with her, too. All she did was point out the obvious. Mr. Canis was turning into a vicious killer, and no one knew how to stop it. Wasn’t it best for everyone if he was locked up safe and sound?
Outnumbered and bewildered, Sabrina marched up the steps and into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. She threw herself on her bed and fought back tears. Crying would be like admitting to everyone that she was still a child, and worse, that her opinions were no more valid than a little kid’s. They could send her to her room but that didn’t make her wrong. Someone needed to ask if they weren’t all better off with Mr. Canis in a cage.
“Are you well?” a voice asked from beneath the bed.
Sabrina leaped up and backed against the wall. “Who’s there?”
“I’m part of your security detail,” the voice said. “I’m guarding your bed.”
Sabrina groaned. “I could really use some privacy right now.”
“Sorry, boss’s orders. I can’t—”
“If you don’t get out from under my bed right now, I’m going to drag you out and punt you through the window.”
Sabrina heard scuffling, and a moment later a little creature with a bright-red nose, batlike ears, and furry feet crawled out from under the bed. He brushed himself off and examined Sabrina. “I suppose I could take a coffee break.”
Sabrina said nothing, only pointed at the door, and a second later the creature was gone.
She expected her grandmother to come to her, apologize for losing her temper, and tell her that everything was going to be OK. But after several hours, the old woman had still not appeared. Daphne and Uncle Jake were no-shows as well, and so was Puck, whom she would have bet money would come by just to gloat. Elvis poked his head in once. She called to him, but the big dog shook her off and disappeared down the hallway. Even the family pet was against her.
She was hardly surprised. She usually found herself butting heads with the others. Sabrina never seemed to do or say anything right, and she often felt as if she were a constant source of disappointment. It wasn’t fair. She had been trying very hard to embrace her responsibilities and had taken up detective training with all her energy. She had discovered she was even good at some of it. She excelled in tracking, clue finding, and self-defense. Just last week Granny had praised Sabrina for her problem-solving skills. Well, how could Sabrina be so smart last week and now be completely wrong about Canis? He himself had told Granny that Sabrina was the only one in the family who saw him for what he was. He had warned them all, and now she was being punished for listening.
Around suppertime, she heard a knock on the door. Someone had left a tray with baked chicken in a gravy that sm
elled like pureed crayons and blueberries. She took it into her room and picked at it listlessly. After a few bites she pushed it away.
Later that evening there was another knock on the door. It opened slowly and Daphne poked her head inside. “Is it safe to come in yet? The bed troll said you threatened to kick him out a window.”
“It’s safe. In fact, I’m glad you’re here. We need to talk.”
“If it’s about Mr. Canis, I don’t want to hear it. He’s our friend.”
Daphne entered the room. She sat at the desk, opened a drawer, and took out a little bag. Inside was a string of pearls. She tried them on while Sabrina talked.
“Our friend has a history of eating grandmothers and little girls,” Sabrina said. “You don’t want that to happen again, do you?”
Daphne shook her head. “He’s not like that anymore. You know it, too. We’ve been here almost eight months and he’s never hurt any of us.”
“He’s changing, Daphne.”
“What should we do, then? Leave him in jail? Let Nottingham and Heart kill him? He needs us to rescue him. We are Grimms. This is what we do.”
“Well, Grimms are prepared, right? That’s what Granny says all the time. We should get the weapon.”
Daphne reached into her shirt and pulled out a chain. Hanging on it was a small silver key with safe-deposit box numbers carved into its side. “Mr. Hamstead gave us this for emergencies only.”
“This is an emergency,” Sabrina urged. “I want Mr. Canis to be safe and sound just like you, but let’s face it, the guy is getting hairier and angrier by the day. You saw him freak out at the jail today. What are we going to do if we find a way to free him and he loses control to the Wolf? It’s best if we have the weapon, just in case. If Mr. Canis finds a way to fix himself then great—we’ll just put it back in the safe-deposit box. Or even better, we could use it to scare off the Scarlet Hand. If whatever is in the box can put the hurt on the Wolf then it can certainly take care of them. We might even be able to get rid of Puck’s stupid security team.”
“That would be nice. I found an elf in one of my dresser drawers, munching on my socks,” Daphne said with a small smile.
“It’s best if we’re ready for whatever happens. Give me the key. I’ll sneak out tonight and go get it.”
Daphne was about to take off the necklace when she hesitated. “No. Whatever is in that box is magic, and you shouldn’t be around magic at all. You know you’re addicted to it. Besides, Mr. Hamstead gave the key to me, so I’m going to decide when we use it.”
Sabrina was furious. “Daphne, if this is part of your ‘I’m a big girl now’ routine you need to cut it out. This is important!”
“I said ‘no’ and I mean ‘no,’” Daphne snapped.
Sabrina was tempted to snatch the necklace right off Daphne’s neck, but a knock at the door disracted her. The door creaked open and Uncle Jake entered.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
“Great!” Sabrina said. “The whole family hates me. I’m having a fantastic day.”
Uncle Jake laughed. “Trust me, you aren’t the first person to make my mom angry, especially when it comes to Mr. Canis.”
Daphne sat down on the bed. “You’ve argued with Granny about him, too?”
“Sure. So did your grandfather and your father,” Uncle Jake replied. He sat down at their father’s desk and ran his hand over the wooden top. “When Canis first came to live with us, it was all of us against Mom. We all felt like you do now, Sabrina.”
“I don’t hate him,” Sabrina said. “I’m just pointing out that he’s changing. Why is she getting angry when I tell the truth?”
“Because after all this time you still fail to give Canis the benefit of the doubt, and Sabrina, he deserves it. When he showed up on our doorstep, my father refused to help him, but Mom has always seen the good in people. She invited him to live here and it drove my dad nuts. He was sure Canis would change back and eat us all in the dead of night. Your father and I used to block our bedroom door with heavy furniture when we went to bed. We used to sleep with baseball bats under our pillows. We were terrified of him.”
“If all of you felt like that, then how come I’m the bad guy now?” Sabrina said.
“’Cause we were wrong back then and you are wrong now. Canis has proven over and over that he can be trusted. He’s saved all of our lives a million times over, and he has never allowed anyone to lay a hand on my mom. He has been the best friend she ever had and a good friend to me. When the Jabberwocky killed my father, Canis went and dug the grave. I was destroyed by what happened. I blamed myself and didn’t even stick around for his funeral. I decided to leave.” Jake leaned back in his chair, remembering. “I found Canis waiting for me on the edge of town, and he begged me to stay. He told me my family needed me, but I wouldn’t listen. He told me he knew I’d come back and he would watch over my family for me until I returned. Then he gave me a hug.”
“No way!” Daphne cried.
“It was the most uncomfortable hug of my life, but I knew I was leaving my family in good hands. I’ve never spoken badly about Canis since, and I never will again.”
“That’s fine, but you’ve seen him. He even told us to leave him alone,” Sabrina argued.
“Yes, he’s giving up on himself, but my mother never will and that’s why she’s mad at you, kid. You’re giving up on him. She wants you to believe in him like she does and you don’t. It breaks her heart. Listen, I didn’t come in here to give you a lecture. In fact, the warden has given me permission to release you,” he said.
“Is Granny still mad?” Daphne asked.
“Let’s just say the last time I saw her like this, your father and I had just been arrested for using a magic wand to turn a teacher into a billy goat. Ms. Junger nearly ate her own desk before Mom forced us to change her back . . . Now, your grandmother thinks the two of you can help me.”
“With what?” Sabrina asked.
“Tracking down our elusive Goldilocks,” he said, gesturing out into the hall.
Suddenly, the argument was forgotten and the girls rushed down the hallway, eager to help their uncle find the mysterious lady. Mirror was waiting for them when they arrived.
“Mirror, show the girls what you just showed me,” Uncle Jake said.
“Jake, you know how this works. Poetry activates the magic,” Mirror replied.
Daphne stepped up to the reflection. “Mirror, Mirror, my greatest wish is to know where Goldilocks is.”
Mirror frowned.
“What?” Daphne said. “It rhymes!”
“Hardly! Is and wish do not rhyme.”
“It’s close enough!”
“Where is the rhythm? And the grammar—atrocious!”
“Listen, if you want poetry, read some Maya Angelou,” Uncle Jake said. “Just show us Goldilocks.”
Mirror frowned but did as he was asked. Goldilocks appeared in the silver surface. She was standing on the second-floor balcony of an elegant hotel. Behind her, through a glass doorway, Sabrina could see a king-size poster bed and an expensive-looking antique dresser. There were vines climbing up to the balcony and pretty boats floating along the sun-dappled water below. Goldilocks looked radiant as the sunshine lit up her face.
“She sure is pretty,” Daphne said.
Uncle Jake smiled. “Your dad always had great taste in women, though I never understood what they saw in him.”
Sabrina glanced over to her sleeping father. From what she had managed to piece together, Goldilocks and Henry had had a relationship before he met Sabrina’s mother. She had been told they were deeply in love but the tragedy that killed Grandpa Basil had split them apart. With the help of Uncle Jake, Goldilocks was freed from Ferryport Landing, the first Everafter to leave in two hundred years. Henry left soon after to start a new life in New York City, free of Everafters. That’s where he met the girls’ mother.
Goldilocks was not at all how Sabrina had imagined her. She had somehow
assumed the mysterious Everafter would resemble her own mother, Veronica, but they were complete opposites. Goldilocks seemed young—almost immature—and there was a look of wonder and curiosity in her eyes. She was always wearing dresses and her hair was never out of place. Sabrina’s mom was an ebony-haired woman who could have easily been a beauty queen in her own right, but she had an easy, casual way about her. She loved blue jeans and flip-flops, baseball caps and sunshine. Sabrina realized she was comparing the two women, and a twinge of betrayal sent a jolt of pain into her heart. Her father might have loved this strange Everafter once, and Goldilocks might be pretty, but she was no Veronica Grimm. Sabrina thought her mother was the best thing that ever happened to her dad.
“I’ve been watching her since yesterday,” Uncle Jake said. “After her little trip in the desert, she headed to the airport and hopped on a flight. I couldn’t tell which one, but she seemed like she was in a hurry. She didn’t even check any bags.”
The image in the mirror dissolved, only to be replaced with a view of a flag fluttering from a banister. It was bright red with a border of thorny vines, and on each corner and side there were small figures that looked like saints. In total there were six figures, not including the golden winged lion at its center. The lion wore a shimmering halo and stood guard over a castle on a hill. Sabrina had never seen anything like it and wanted to study it further, but once again, the image changed. This time they saw a mailbox. It was labeled 10 and was stuffed with mail. Sabrina peered at the letters, hoping an address might reveal itself, but what little she could make out was not written in English. Then the mailbox was gone, too, replaced by an elegant sign mounted on the side of a luxury hotel. The sign read HOTEL CIPRIANI.
Uncle Jake was smiling from ear to ear. “Cool, huh?”
“I’m confused,” Sabrina said. “We’ve been watching her travel around for a month. What’s different about this time?”
“The difference is we have the name of her hotel!” Uncle Jake exclaimed. “We can write her a letter! Beg her to come back! All we have to do now is find out where this hotel is located. I think that odd flag we saw might be a big clue. If we can find the country it belongs to we can narrow down our search. The language looks like Italian, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s in Italy. Italian is spoken all over the world—she could be in Slovenia, San Marino—Italian is even an official language of Switzerland.”