Sabrina glanced over to her sleeping father. From what she had managed to piece together, Goldilocks and Henry had had a relationship before he met Sabrina’s mother. She had been told they were deeply in love but the tragedy that killed Grandpa Basil had split them apart. With the help of Uncle Jake, Goldilocks was freed from Ferryport Landing, the first Everafter to leave in two hundred years. Henry left soon after to start a new life in New York City, free of Everafters. That’s where he met the girls’ mother.
Goldilocks was not at all how Sabrina had imagined her. She had somehow assumed the mysterious Everafter would resemble her own mother, Veronica, but they were complete opposites. Goldilocks seemed young—almost immature—and there was a look of wonder and curiosity in her eyes. She was always wearing dresses and her hair was never out of place. Sabrina’s mom was an ebony-haired woman who could have easily been a beauty queen in her own right, but she had an easy, casual way about her. She loved blue jeans and flip-flops, baseball caps and sunshine. Sabrina realized she was comparing the two women, and a twinge of betrayal sent a jolt of pain into her heart. Her father might have loved this strange Everafter once, and Goldilocks might be pretty, but she was no Veronica Grimm. Sabrina thought her mother was the best thing that ever happened to her dad.
“I’ve been watching her since yesterday,” Uncle Jake said. “After her little trip in the desert, she headed to the airport and hopped on a flight. I couldn’t tell which one, but she seemed like she was in a hurry. She didn’t even check any bags.”
The image in the mirror dissolved, only to be replaced with a view of a flag fluttering from a banister. It was bright red with a border of thorny vines, and on each corner and side there were small figures that looked like saints. In total there were six figures, not including the golden winged lion at its center. The lion wore a shimmering halo and stood guard over a castle on a hill. Sabrina had never seen anything like it and wanted to study it further, but once again, the image changed. This time they saw a mailbox. It was labeled 10 and was stuffed with mail. Sabrina peered at the letters, hoping an address might reveal itself, but what little she could make out was not written in English. Then the mailbox was gone, too, replaced by an elegant sign mounted on the side of a luxury hotel. The sign read HOTEL CIPRIANI.
Uncle Jake was smiling from ear to ear. “Cool, huh?”
“I’m confused,” Sabrina said. “We’ve been watching her travel around for a month. What’s different about this time?”
“The difference is we have the name of her hotel!” Uncle Jake exclaimed. “We can write her a letter! Beg her to come back! All we have to do now is find out where this hotel is located. I think that odd flag we saw might be a big clue. If we can find the country it belongs to we can narrow down our search. The language looks like Italian, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s in Italy. Italian is spoken all over the world—she could be in Slovenia, San Marino—Italian is even an official language of Switzerland.”
“And how do you suggest we learn all this?” Sabrina asked.
“The library, of course,” Uncle Jake said.
Sabrina groaned. “Not the library.”
“What’s wrong with the library?” Uncle Jake asked.
“Nothing. The library is fine. It’s the librarian that’s the problem,” Sabrina said.
“He’s a complete idiot,” Daphne explained.
“I thought he was supposed to be the smartest guy in the world,” Uncle Jake said.
“Maybe, but he’s still an idiot,” Sabrina said. “Why can’t you go?”
Uncle Jake shook his head. “Someone’s got to stay here and keep an eye on Goldilocks.”
“We’re going to need the flying carpet to get to the library,” Sabrina said as she reached into her pants pocket for her set of keys to the Hall of Wonders. But before she could hand them over to Mirror, Puck entered the room.
“Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh,” he said. “You two aren’t going anywhere without protection.”
“Well, you can forget sending one of your misfits with us,” Sabrina said. “In fact, you can get rid of the whole team.”
“Listen, dogface. Almost everyone in this town wants you dead. Not that I can blame them. But if you were to die, I know the old lady would want to have a funeral, and if there’s a funeral I know I’m going to have to take a bath. So I will superglue a hobgoblin to your leg if I have to,” Puck declared.
Sabrina was so angry she thought she might burst into flames. It wasn’t that Puck was being stubborn about his stupid security team; it was because he called her dogface. She knew it shouldn’t have mattered. He insulted her all the time, but for some reason this one stung. Why did it suddenly matter to her that he thought she was ugly?
“What? No comeback?” Puck pressed, clearly surprised.
“Maybe Puck can fly us to the library?” Daphne suggested.
“Excellent idea,” Uncle Jake said.
“Boring!” Puck cried.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was under the impression that you were some kind of mischief maker. I remember a time when you would have jumped at the chance to sneak out without my mother knowing,” Uncle Jake said. “Oh, well. I guess you’ve lost your touch.”