"You're babysitting us, huh?"
Mr. Canis raised his eyebrows, acknowledging his new role. "Want to play a game?" Daphne asked. "We've got Candy Land."
Mr. Canis shifted uncomfortably.
"No!"
Daphne cried as she jumped to her feet. "I know what we can do. We can play dress-up!" Sabrina couldn't help but laugh.
"Perhaps we should continue with our tracking lessons," Mr. Canis said to the girls. "Put on your boots. We still have a few hours of daylight."
Mr. Canis led them around the back of the house and deep into the woods. The ground was muddy and there was still a chill in the air, but little buds were sprouting on tree limbs. Sabrina couldn't remember the last time she saw something growing, but soon spring would be in full bloom. Sabrina wondered what the forest would look like when it was fresh and alive.
They climbed along a small ravine and up a hill littered with sharp stones, then down into a gulch. A tiny creek trickled along with shards of ice floating on top of it.
"Are we about to lose the house?" Daphne asked the old man.
"Your grandmother is a resourceful woman," Mr. Canis said.
"That's not an answer," Sabrina said. She didn't want to anger the old man, which had become increasingly easy to do, but she needed him to be honest with them.
"She will not let you down, girls. In the time I have known her, she has never failed or disappointed. I trust her. You should as well."
"Three hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money," Sabrina pointed out.
"Yes, it is," the old man replied. "Fortunately, this situation will benefit you in your training. Stress is an enemy. It confuses us and makes us question ourselves. The calm, rational mind is the one that finds answers in difficult times. Remember, you will not always have the carefree lives of children, but you will always be Grimms and you will have to find ways to set aside private matters."
"So you want us to forget about the tax bill?" Daphne said.
"The three-hundred-thousand-dollar tax bill?" Sabrina added. Mr. Canis took an impatient breath. "Close your eyes." The girls did as they were told.
"In the past we have tracked deer and rabbits, as well as the family dog. You've learned to follow and recognize the prints of many wild animals. Today, you will follow the prints of the most dangerous animal of all--me. I will hide from you in this forest and you will have to use your senses and what I have taught you to find me. Your grandmother has achieved great skill at this with practice, and she uses these talents quite frequently. Remember--use your senses. Learn to trust what you see, smell, hear, and feel. Allow them to work together and you two should have no problem locating me."
"I've got a question," Daphne said.
There was no response.
"Mr. Canis?"
Sabrina opened her eyes. The old man was gone. She pinched Daphne softly and the little girl looked around.
"Well, that was mucho rude-o," Daphne complained.
Sabrina scanned the dense woods. Canis was nowhere in sight, but he had left a trail in the snow. Following it wouldn't be too difficult--after all, in his semialtered form Mr. Canis had what amounted to size-22 shoes.
Sabrina pointed to the tracks. "He went that way."
The girls followed the footprints through some heavy brush. The old man's path showed he was running in one direction and then cutting back in the other, obviously trying to confuse them.
"Are we really going to have to live in a refrigerator box like Puck said?" Daphne asked. "I don't think we'll all fit in a refrigerator box. Mr. Canis won't for sure, and what about Elvis? I guess we could get a washing machine box for him. We could even decorate it and cut out some windows."
The little girl rambled on, describing how with a little creativity they could turn an old cardboard box into a two-story Colonial, while Sabrina led her along the trail Mr. Canis had left. It took them up a steep climb, but they found a couple of branches that doubled as walking sticks that helped their ascent. At the top of the crest they found more trees, but Mr. Canis's footprints had disappeared.
"Where did he go?" Daphne asked.
"Maybe he's soaking in our cardboard-box Jacuzzi," Sabrina replied.
"OK, fine, I'll concentrate," Daphne grumbled. "It's just I wish I had a magic wand or a crystal ball."
Sabrina scanned the area but saw nothing. He couldn't have just vanished into thin air, but...
"Look!" Sabrina said, pointing up at the trees. She saw dozens of limbs splintered and broken, with fresh yellow wood erupting from their rich brown bark. "He jumped up there and grabbed those branches. They snapped when he swung to the next tree."
"I thought he was a wolf, not a monkey."
Sabrina scanned the next tree and saw a similar limb. "Then he swung over there."
"See!" Daphne said. "You're mucho excellent-o at tracking."