"You back off, or I'll take your other eye," the woman with the sword replied. It was then that Sabrina noticed that the Wolf's left eye was white with blindness and framed by an ugly scar.
The monster growled and leaped at the blond woman. She swung her sword and hit the beast in the arm. The Wolf shrieked and swung back, hitting her so hard she flew against a tree. The brunette rubbed the glowing ring against her jacket and another blast rocketed at the monster. The Wolf leaped out of the way, dodging the projectile by inches.
The woman with the sword sprang to her feet. With the Wolf in pain and confused, she climbed up onto his enormous back. Raising her weapon high over his head, she brought the hilt down hard between the beast's eyes. He staggered, dazed. "He's all yours, sister," she shouted to her companion.
The dark-haired woman pulled a wand from inside her coat. She flicked her wrist and said, "Gimme some chains," and a ray of light shot out of the wand's tip. The woman's aim was perfect
and a stream of particles fluttered out of the wand, forming a chain so thick it looked as if it could tie down a battleship. The chains themselves weaved around the Wolf, binding him tightly. He struggled, snarling and snapping at the women, but he was momentarily helpless.
"Who are they?" Daphne whispered to her sister.
Sabrina searched her memory for any reference to a couple of tough chicks who could take down the Big Bad Wolf. She'd never read anything in the family journals about them. "I was hoping you would know."
The blond woman turned to Sabrina and looked at her closely. Suddenly her confident face turned pale, as if she had just seen a ghost. "It can't be... ," she began, but she didn't get to finish. The Wolf broke loose from the chains with a powerful shrug. He pounced forward, slamming into the women and knocking them both to the ground.
"I've been waiting a long time for this meal," the Wolf said, licking his huge jaws.
"Uh-uh-uh," said a voice from above them. It was deep but had a playful, boyish quality. Sabrina looked up and saw a man with golden hair descending from the trees. On his back were a pair of huge insectlike wings. "I hate it when people threaten my family. It's so... well, rude."
An arrow flew from the crossbow in his hands. It hit the Wolf in the leg and the monster bellowed, crashing to the ground. The fairy attacked again, his head morphing into that of a saber-toothed tiger. He sunk his heavy fangs into the monster's back and the Wolf shrieked.
"We need to go get help," Sabrina said to her sister. She snatched the little girl by the sleeve and pulled her into the woods, leaving the battle behind.
"But the house is back the other way," Daphne cried.
"We're not going to the house," Sabrina said. "Granny's at the bank, and so is our secret weapon."
Chapter 6
The girls hurried through the woods, clambering over rocks and down hills until they finally found a road. It was there that Daphne pulled away to catch her breath. "We should go back home and get Uncle Jake," the little girl said.
"He's not there, remember?" Sabrina said. "Everyone is out running errands."
"But what about those women and the fairy? We can't just leave them back there. He'll kill them," Daphne argued.
"I think the three of them can defend themselves," Sabrina said as she scanned the edge of the forest in case the Wolf had indeed slaughtered the odd trio and was now on their trail. "Besides, we're just a couple of kids. We need help if we're going to try to stop Mr. Canis."
"What kind of help?"
Sabrina approached her sister. "You remember the key that Mr. Hamstead gave us before we left New York City?"
Daphne slipped a hand inside of her shirt and pulled out a necklace. Dangling from its end was a small silver key with several numbers engraved on its side. "This?"
Sabrina nodded. "Remember, Hamstead gave us this and told us to use it only if Mr. Canis ever lost control of the Wolf. It opens a safety-deposit box. Hamstead said there was a weapon inside that could stop the Wolf in his tracks."
Daphne looked down at the silver key. "What's a safety-deposit box?"
"It's like a safe. You put your valuables in it. They keep them at the bank."
"That's where Granny is."
"I know. She can help us too." Sabrina took Daphne's hand. "We have to hurry."
Unfortunately the road they were on was the long way to town, and it took several hours of steady walking before they came across any hint of civilization. The first thing they recognized was a farm they had driven by many times. Granny had told them it was owned by Old McDonald, the farmer from the famous nursery rhyme. But as they approached, they were shocked to see that the farm looked as if it had been abandoned. The fields were overgrown with weeds, the barns were falling down on themselves, and the cattle pens and livestock houses were empty. As they got closer they realized that the farmer's house had been destroyed by a terrible fire. Oddly, the destruction appeared to have occurred long ago.
"What happened?" Daphne said, asking the question Sabrina had knocking around in her own head.
"I don't know," Sabrina said. "Did Granny mention this?"