"That's what people always say before they become jerky," Puck said. "Don't worry, folks. I've got a score to settle with the witch. She'll regret the day she laid a hand on the Trickster King."
Puck's boasting made Sabrina nervous. Baba Yaga had a two-thousand-year-old reputation for black magic and an even blacker mood. The family journals were filled with rumors of her cannibalism and murders. The last time Sabrina visited her creepy house, Sabrina had had to hop for her life when Baba Yaga turned her into a frog and tried to eat her. The last thing they needed was for Puck to start a fight with the old crone.
They walked until they came upon a part of the forest where the thin, dead trees were close together, their limbs intertwined, as if they were holding one another at the moment of their deaths. Though there was nothing to block the sunshine, the area was dark and gray. Not a blade of grass sprang from the ground. Sabrina realized that the natural sounds of the forest were also gone: the scurrying of animals, the wind in the branches, the crackling of earth beneath their feet--all silenced.
They continued on and soon found themselves on a path of bleached stones. Sabrina had followed it once before and knew where it led--straight to the man-eating witch. She also knew that the stones of the path were not what they seemed. It wasn't long before Puck noticed they were peculiar as well.
"These are human skulls!" he cried, digging one out of the ground and holding it up to the group.
"Don't be frightened, Puck," Granny said.
"Frightened? This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" the boy said. He moved the skull's jaw up and down like a spooky puppet and then stuck it next to Daphne's face. "Hey, little girl, how about a smooch?"
Daphne shrieked and hid behind her sister. Granny Relda scolded Puck and demanded he return the skull to the path.
"What happened to your claims of revenge, Trickster King?" Sabrina asked the fairy. "All of a sudden Baba Yaga is like a movie star to you."
"Just because I'm going to unleash hellfire on her doesn't mean I can't appreciate her style," Puck said.
"Granny, what happened to her bodyguards?" Daphne asked as she peered ahead. The notoriously deadly Bright Sun, Black Night, and Red Star--each a bizarre hybrid of an animal and a man--usually guarded the old witch, but they were nowhere in sight.
"Don't worry about them," Puck said. "They won't be showing their ugly faces around here. They know better than to cross paths with me." The boy's voice cracked at the end of the sentence. Puck looked around as if someone else had made the noise. He said the word "me" again with the same result.
"Sounds like you might be coming down with a cold," Granny said.
"Everafters do not get colds!" Puck argued.
"Nonetheless I think I'll make you some chicken soup when we get home."
The group continued down the path and soon Baba Yaga's hut came into view. A fence made from ancient human leg and arm bones surrounded it. Granny Relda pushed open the fence and led the family into the yard. Sabrina eyed her grandmother with awe and envy. The old woman was fearless. She strolled to the front door as if she were visiting an old friend. Sabrina wondered if she would ever feel that courageous.
Granny knocked, and a moment later the door flew open.
" The Young and the Restless is on," Baba Yaga seethed. She was holding a bowl of cereal in her hand and eating it with a spoon.
Granny shuffled her feet. "I'm sorry. We thought you'd want us to get started as soon as possible."
The witch frowned but waved everyone into the house. The inside was as disturbing as the outside. In a corner, dusty burlap bags leaked green ooze onto the floor. Along the wall stood stacks of crates, one of which seemed to have something inside struggling to break free. The brick fireplace was lit, and the flames formed the desperate faces of people who seemed to be begging for help. Sabrina shuddered to imagine herself trapped with those poor souls, suffering for eternity in Baba Yaga's home. Still, the most unsettling feeling wasn't the filth and despair that seemed to permeate the air, it was the odd sensation running up and down Sabrina's spine. At first she thought it was just nerves, but she soon realized that what she felt was more like hunger--a nervous, unnatural craving. Every drop of blood, bit of muscle fiber, and strand of hair in her being was awake and starving. She glanced around at the wands, spell books, and magical rings the witch left lying about. Baba Yaga didn't deserve these things. Look how she mistreated them!
"Are you going to be OK?" Daphne asked. She squeezed Sabrina's arm.
Sabrina took a deep breath and nodded. "Let's get out of here as soon as we can."
"Where are your guardians, Old Mother?" Granny Relda asked the witch.
"They failed me," the witch snapped.
"That's not what I asked."
The witch screamed in rage. "Don't question me! I created them for a purpose. They were to guard my possessions. They failed. You needn't know more."