"We can't leave! Mr. Canis is still in there," Sabrina said. Just then the old man stepped through the hole. He held his hand to his left eye as blood seeped down his wrist. "Old friend!" Granny gasped.
"It is nothing," the old man said, but his voice was pained. Granny removed a handkerchief from her handbag and gave it to the old man. He held it to his wound and then ushered everyone around the building to the street. "We have to get to the boat."
The family raced the three blocks to the town marina. There they found Puck waiting impatiently.
"It's about time!" Puck said. "I'm dying of hunger."
"Is the boat ready?" the old woman asked.
"Naturally," Puck replied as he gestured to Wilhelm's tiny rowboat. Uncle Jake helped Granny Relda into it, then the girls, Wilhelm, and finally himself.
"You know what to do?" Uncle Jake asked the fairy boy.
"No sweat. This is going to be simple," Puck crowed as he shot into the sky. He had barely gotten aloft when he was nearly knocked out of the sky by a cannonball.
"They're shooting at us!" Daphne exclaimed.
Uncle Jake took the oars and rowed with all his might. They streaked across the river right toward the ship, while more cannon shots slammed into the water around them.
"They must think we're coming to attack," Granny said.
Wilhelm leaped from his seat and waved at the boat. His excitement nearly capsized them, and Sabrina had to brace herself to keep from falling in the river. His wild gestures made her nervous. It seemed like he was just making them an easier target.
There were two more shots, but then the explosions stopped altogether, giving them smooth sailing to the side of the ship. Uncle Jake and Wilhelm helped Granny aboard and then the girls scampered up on their own power.
Once aboard, Sabrina was stunned by the people who surrounded her. Nearly everyone she had ever met from the town was there: Briar Rose; Mr. Seven and the rest of the seven dwarfs; Ms. White; Beauty and her husband, the Beast; and even some old enemies like Jack the Giant Killer and Rumpelstiltskin. She stepped in front of her family and clenched her fists, prepared to fight their way off the ship, but then it dawned on her that no one knew who they were.
Wilhelm said something in German that seemed to calm the nerves of the passengers.
"What did he say?" Sabrina asked.
"He said that he is OK, but there has been an odd turn of events," Granny explained. Then she turned to the rest of the crowd. "I know many of you are confused. You set sail for America expecting to find a relatively unsettled plot of land. Well, you found America. You just didn't show up at the right time."
"What are you talking about, old woman?" Beast growled. "And who are you?"
"My name is Relda Grimm, and the town you see before you is Ferryport Landing. It's your home, or at least it will be. You've slipped through a tear in time. You're more than two hundred years in the future."
Several people cried out in shock while others rushed to the sides of the ship to gawk out at the little town.
"Wilhelm was taken against his will, but we have returned him," Granny continued.
"Did you say your name is Grimm?" Snow White asked as she stepped from the crowd. She was as beautiful as ever.
"Yes," Granny replied. "This is my son, Jacob, and my granddaughters, Sabrina and Daphne."
The Everafters on the boat roared with approval. "Our savior's family lives on!" a woman said from the back of the crowd. Sabrina peered back and was stunned to find it was the Queen of Hearts cheering for her.
"Times sure have changed," she grumbled.
"Are we friends?" Ms. White asked the family.
Granny smiled. "You're one of our best friends, Snow. I wish that I could explain more, but there is no time. We have to get you back where you belong."
Suddenly, Daphne began to vibrate again. "That will be any minute now," the little girl said.
"We need to get off this boat unless we want to join them in the past," Sabrina added.
"Now!" Puck said, as he buzzed the boat. "Do I do it now?"
"Just a moment, Puck," Granny said, then turned back to the passengers. "It was a pleasure to meet you all, but we really must go."
Uncle Jacob took Briar Rose by the hand. "I'll see you in two hundred years."
The beautiful princess looked confused, but gave him one of her goofy smiles.
Uncle Jake led Granny back to the side of the ship and did his best to help her down. It wasn't as easy as climbing aboard.
"Let my friends help you," Cinderella said. She took three small brown mice from her pocket and set them on the ground. Sabrina watched as they morphed into full-grown men, and once the change was complete she immediately recognized them. They were Malcolm, Alexander, and Bradford--the men who worked on her radio show. They helped the family off the ship and down into the rowboat.
"Now?" Puck said impatiently.