"Goblins!" Hamstead cried.
The guard held a knotty club, which he swung into Mr. Canis's chest as if he were trying to hit a home run. The blow was like a tiny annoyance to the old man, and he snatched the weapon away, crushing it into splinters in his furry hand. Then he seized the guard around the neck and lifted him off the ground.
"The boss will kill you," the first guard cried from behind the bar as he sprang to his feet. He was already changing into a beast as gruesome as his partner.
"I'd like to see him try," Canis said with a wicked laugh. "Do you think he can stand up to the Big Bad Wolf?"
A chill raced up Sabrina's back. Mr. Canis was certainly losing control of his alter ego if he was now referring to himself as the Big Bad Wolf.
"Control yourself, Everafter," bellowed a voice. Four fairies appeared from nowhere and surrounded the family. They were much more like Puck in appearance than the two fairies Sabrina had seen at the tavern door. Each had porcelain skin and blond hair. They all wore jeans, black boots, leather jackets, and ball caps, and would have looked like normal kids if it weren't for their pink wings and the crossbows they leveled at Mr. Canis's head. Each weapon was loaded with a jagged, steel-tipped arrow.
The leader of the group stepped forward. He had eyes like bright blue diamonds and a head of shaggy hair. His wings fluttered rapidly, as if responding to the tension in the room. He looked no older than Sabrina but had the confidence of a full-grown man.
"They are trying to get an undesirable in to see the boss," the second goblin croaked as he struggled to free himself from Canis's iron grasp.
"Release the guard," the fairy said to Mr. Canis.
Canis put the goblin down and then did something that made Sabrina shudder--he sniffed the creature and licked his lips.
"I smell your fear, darkling," he said to the guard. "It's delicious."
Granny set a hand on Mr. Canis's shoulder. "Old friend," she said softly, and this time it calmed the old man. He shrank to his familiar form but for a moment he glanced around as if he wasn't sure where he was. He looked down at his left hand with a confused expression. It had not changed back with the rest of his body. It was still covered in thick brown fur.
The fairy leader turned to Mr. Hamstead, who held Puck bundled in his arms. "Let's see this fairy."
Hamstead pulled back the blanket to reveal Puck's fevered face. The leader blanched, then gingerly took the weak boy into his own arms, cradling him gently.
"He's wounded, badly," Granny Relda said. "We hoped your people might be able to help."
"Follow me," the boy fairy said as his wings vanished.
"But Mustardseed," one of the guards cried. "Your father--"
Mustardseed turned a hard stare on the goblin. "My father will not hear of this, will he?"
The goblin's eyes were now alight with fear. "Of course not," he stammered.
The boy fairy nodded, turned, and strode through the double doors. The group hurried to follow. He led them down a long, narrow hallway lined with doors. At the far end was a pair marked EMPLOYEES ONLY. The fairy shouldered them aside and gestured for the family to follow.
They found themselves in a large room with hardwood floors. A roaring fireplace crackled on one side and a large oak desk sat on the other. A few high-backed chairs were scattered about. In one of them sat a woman wearing a leopard-print dress, big, golden hoop earrings, and matching shoes. Sabrina guessed she was in her early forties, and despite her gaudy outfit she seemed very dignified. She had long, brown hair, professionally styled, and the same shocking blue eyes as Mustardseed. A pretty young girl around Sabrina's age stood behind her, gently combing the woman's hair. The girl's eyebrows were arched upward in what appeared to be a permanent look of doubt and suspicion, and she was wearing an odd little pastel dress that seemed to be made out of silks and spiderwebs.
"Mustardseed, if you are looking for your father, he is not here," the woman said.
"Thank the heavens for miracles," the boy said as he set Puck on the nearest sofa. "Puck has returned."
The woman and the young girl cried out in unison, rose to their feet, and rushed to Puck's side. They knelt down and brushed his matted hair off his sweaty face.
"Son!" the woman cried.
Sabrina was stunned. She'd assumed that Puck had a mother--nearly everyone did--but she had pictured her as old and broken, physically and mentally exhausted by Puck's pranks and immaturity. This woman was young and healthy and seemed to be perfectly sane.
"Moth, find Cobweb--quickly!" the woman said to the girl. "Tell him to bring his medicines."
"But--"
"Go!" Puck's mother shouted. Moth cringed and raced from the room as the woman turned her attention back to Mustardseed. "Where did you find your brother?"
"You're his brother?" Sabrina said. "But you're so… clean." Puck was usually covered in food and whatever he had found in the forest to roll around in.
Puck has to be adopted,