Granny cried. "Some of those people were dangerous."
"Says you. This town is no longer your playground, Mrs. Grimm," Nottingham barked. "You and your meddling family have had your fun, and now it is over. Luckily, you won't be around much longer."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Uncle Jake asked, already reaching into his pockets for a weapon.
"I'm talking about the tax."
"The tax?" Sabrina said.
"The property tax," Nottingham said with a smile. "What? Didn't you get the letter?"
"What letter?" Granny said.
Nottingham reached into a desk and pulled out a typed form. He threw it at Sabrina, who scanned it quickly and then read the first paragraph aloud. '"Property Tax Assessment. The town of Ferryport Landing has recently reassessed the value of your property, resulting in additional tax. Your estimated obligation is one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.'"
"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars!" Granny groaned.
"Yes, public services aren't free. There are schools and roads to maintain, and of course the Police Department. Everyone is going to have to pay their fair share."
"Even you?" Uncle Jake said.
"Me?" Nottingham laughed. "I'm exempt. I'm an Everafter."
"You're only taxing the humans?" Granny Relda asked.
Uncle Jake growled. "You dirty, filthy, rotten--"
"Ferryport Landing is an Everafter settlement," Nottingham said. "Too many outsiders have come in here, stealing our jobs, enjoying our hospitals and schools. But not for much longer. Mayor Heart has decreed, and I wholeheartedly agree, that Ferryport Landing is an Everafter town for Everafters!"
"You've sent this letter to every human in town? What if the people can't pay?" Granny Relda asked.
"Then we'll repossess their property."
"What does 'repossess' mean?" Daphne whispered in Sabrina's ear.
"It means they can take our house and kick us out into the street," Sabrina replied, quickly realizing why the bike shop, florist, and antiques store had closed their doors.
Daphne turned to Nottingham. "Where will we go?"
"That's not the town's concern," Nottingham said, cracking his knuckles. "But don't worry. You have until Friday to pay your bill."
That's only two days away,
Sabrina thought.
Sabrina watched out the window as the car cruised through the little town. She felt as if she were seeing it for the first time. It hadn't been long ago when she had thought Ferryport Landing was boring and old-fashioned, but she had learned to love it. Now it was disappearing right before her eyes. Moving trucks were parked outside of homes as burly men loaded beds, wardrobes, record players, and clothes onto them. Everyone, it appeared, was having a yard sale, hawking their most prized possessions in hopes of paying the tax or having something to start a new life somewhere else. She imagined Nottingham and Mayor Heart driving through the town and rubbing their greedy hands together, cackling at the troubles they had heaped on the human population.
"This is nothing to worry about," Granny Relda said, though her expression didn't match her confident words. She kept reading and rereading the tax letter. "Nothing to worry about at all."
"Granny, do we have a hundred and fifty thousand dollars?" Daphne asked.
The old woman shook herself out of a daze. "I'm sorry, liebling.
What did you say?"
"Do we have the money to pay the taxes?"
Granny flinched at the question, like she had been stung by a bee. "We'll be fine, girls," she said to them, but Sabrina was already nervous. During her time in the orphanage, and later in dozens of foster homes, she had acquired the ability to recognize a lying adult.
*
Later that evening, the girls dressed in their white martial arts robes, called
Gis.
The uniform consisted of white pants and a robe shirt with a sash of colored cloth used as a belt. Sabrina helped Daphne wrap her brown belt around her waist and then tied her own yellow one. The colors represented levels of expertise; brown was for beginners, yellow was more advanced. Once the girls were ready, they met Puck in the hallway. Dressed in his usual jeans and green hooded sweatshirt, he had a big black scarf wrapped around his waist.
"I think you have to earn your black belt," Daphne said.
Puck rolled his eyes. "I'm already the best butt-kicker in this town. They don't even have a color for how good I am."
Sabrina shrugged and unlocked the spare-room door that led to her sleeping parents and Mirror. After kissing her parents on the cheek, Sabrina led the others through the reflection, where they found Mirror sitting in a chair enjoying a glass of brandy and some expensive chocolates.
"Snow's down the hall," he said, pointing. "Have fun!"