Daphne shook her head.
"C'mon," Sabrina continued. "We can't hang out here all day. I think we've got another half an hour of walking before we get to Main Street."
They soon came across the rusty railroad tracks that ran along the Hudson River and led to the train station in the center of town. As they walked along the tracks they saw more surprising scenes. The stern of an enormous sunken ship was sticking out of the water. Several broken-down cars lined the grassy beach. When they finally stepped into town, they noticed a sign above the train station. It had once read WELCOME TO FERRYPORT LANDING, but someone had crossed out the
FERRYPORT
and added a more sinister message. The sign now read BEWARE
! YOU ARE NOW ENTERING
FAIRYPORT LANDING
Even more shocking was the state of the town. The little shops were abandoned, their doors torn away and windows broken. Many stores were in flames. There were sounds of fire alarms in the distance, but no sign of any fire trucks. The streets were deserted, riddled with potholes and smoldering automobiles.
Sabrina couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I guess Uncle Jake isn't doing such a good job of keeping Baba Yaga in check."
"This is going to take an awful lot of Forgetful Dust," Daphne said as she gaped at all the destruction.
When they came upon the bank, they were stunned to find the building was nothing but cinders. Everything inside it was burned to a black ash, including the tellers' windows, the ATM, and most important, the safety-deposit boxes. There was nothing left.
"Granny!" Daphne cried, nearly in hysterics.
Sabrina reached down and scooped up a handful of ash. It was cool to the touch.
"Daphne, this happened a long time ago," Sabrina said, trying to reassure her sister while deciphering the puzzle before her. "If the bank burned down this morning, why is the ash cold?"
Sabrina looked around at the little town. The streets were empty. In fact, there wasn't a living soul in sight. Where were all the people?
"Something's wrong," she said. "I must be having another hallucination."
"Well, I'm having the same one you are," Daphne said.
Suddenly, the street went dark, as if something had blocked out the sun. Sabrina watched an enormous shadow zip across the street and vanish. The sunshine returned as fast as it disappeared.
"Uh, what was that?" Daphne said nervously.
Sabrina scanned the skies. "Must have been a cloud."
Just then, there was an enormous roar, like the angry threats of a thousand lions. It rattled Sabrina's ears as well as a loose shard of glass in the window of Dr. P's abandoned dentist office. The glass fell from its frame and broke on the pavement.
"Clouds don't make noises like that," Daphne said. "Clouds don't make noises at all!"
Sabrina continued studying the sky. She spotted something far off on the horizon. At first it was tiny--no bigger than a bird--but as it approached, Sabrina could see that it was actually quite large and incredibly fast. As it drew closer, Sabrina could make out its bright red wings, which spanned the width of a football field. They supported a huge, reptilian body covered in scales and a long tail that slashed through the air. The creature's neck was snakelike and it had enormous teeth. Sabrina had seen a drawing of it in an old children's book. She had even seen a movie about a kid who had one as a pet. But this thing was no pet.
"Run!" Sabrina yelled as she latched onto her sister's hand. Together they sped down the broken street, dodging potholes and burned-out cars.
"Sabrina, is that what I think it is?" Daphne shouted over the monster's wail.
And then the creature fell from the sky and landed in their path. It crouched down, almost like a cat, and sniffed the air around them. Its breath smelled of fumes and sulfur.
"Yes. It's a dragon," Sabrina whispered.
The creature roared once more and a blast of blisteringly hot air danced across Sabrina's skin. Luckily the beast was too far away to burn them.
"Heads up, kiddies!" said a voice from above. Sabrina looked to the sky, sure that the voice belonged to their only hope--Puck. But it wasn't Puck. Instead, it was the strange fairy they had encountered in the woods. He fell out of the sky like a missile and planted his feet on top of the dragon's snout. The impact forced the beast's chin into the pavement, stunning it for a few moments. Then it reared back and belched a ball of flame at the fairy. The winged man was quick in the air, darting back and forth with amazing speed and agility, and the deadly missile never reached its target. But the dragon was not discouraged. It let loose a dozen more blasts at the flying man, edging closer to him with each attempt. Luckily, the fairy steered the monster away from Sabrina and Daphne.