“What’s going on?” Sabrina said. Charming and Canis were usually bitter enemies.
“I’m afraid that—after you and your family—we’ve become Ferryport Landing’s most wanted,” Charming said.
“Right where we belong,” Little John bellowed.
Canis smiled slightly. “We’re going to have to hide out for a while.”
“There are places in the mountains where no one will find us,” Snow said.
“You’re going, too?” Sabrina asked the teacher.
Snow nodded, then turned to Charming. “Someone has to look after this bunch of troublemakers.”
“I won’t be far,” Canis said to Granny.
“I know, old friend.”
One of the Merry Men raced into the room. “They’re coming down the path.”
Canis finally turned to Puck. “You’re in charge, boy.”
“Haven’t I always been?” Puck said.
“Then we’re off,” Robin said. “Don’t worry, people. You’re going to like the forest.”
The Merry Men, Charming, Snow White, and, finally, Mr. Canis left the shack. Canis turned back for one moment. “You say my name was Tobias Clay?”
Sabrina nodded.
“I’m very eager to get to know him,” he said, then he was gone.
Nottingham dragged the family in for questioning, but after several hours he released them. Despite his anger he had no proof that anyone in the Grimm family had been responsible for freeing Canis, killing Bluebeard, or inciting the riot. Still, he made it clear that soon he would have all of them at the ends of nooses.
Uncle Jake dropped Briar Rose off at her coffee shop and promised to call later. She smiled and whispered something into his ear. He grinned like a child on Christmas morning and watched her walk away.
“What did she say?” Daphne asked.
“She said she is in love with me.”
“Barf!” Puck cried.
When they pulled into the driveway, Sabrina was startled to see Nurse Sprat standing on the front porch.
“Nurse Sprat,” Granny cried when she got out of the car. “We’re very sorry we’re late. We were detained by the sheriff.”
Nurse Sprat was finishing off a meatball sandwich and seemed quite content. “No problem, Mrs. Grimm. I hope you aren’t in any trouble.”
“Trouble is practically our middle name,” Granny said.
“I brought the girl. She’s around here somewhere—oh, here she comes,” Sprat said, gesturing to the side of the house. There, Sabrina was shocked to see Red Riding Hood bounding around the corner with Elvis in tow.
“Is this your doggie?” Red asked. “He’s so much fun.”
Elvis licked the girl happily.
“What is she doing here?” Sabrina asked.
Granny knelt down to eye level with Red. “She’s coming to stay with us.”
“What!”
“Mr. Canis asked us to look after her while he’s away, and I think it’s a wonderful idea. Red needs some friends while she works on her memory.”
Red smiled at the girls.
“But she tried to kill us,” Sabrina said.
“Sabrina, don’t hold a grudge.”
Granny gave Red Mr. Canis’s bedroom and promised that she would take the child shopping the next day for some more modern clothing. Sabrina followed her sister up to their room, tired as a dog, but Daphne did not enter the room. She went into Granny’s and closed the door. It broke Sabrina’s heart. Winning her sister’s respect back was going to take a lot of work.
She went to bed, but without Daphne the room seemed huge and lonely. She tossed and turned, and though she was exhausted she couldn’t sleep. After a while she decided to visit her parents. She opened the door and found them there, still soundly slumbering on the queen-size bed. She crawled in between them and closed her eyes. She heard Mirror clear his throat and knew his face had appeared in the reflection.
“Want to see where Goldilocks is?” he asked.
Sabrina fought back a tear. “No, we’re done looking. She doesn’t want to come back. Not that I can blame her really. If I could get out of this town I might never come back.”
“I know exactly how you feel, Starfish,” Mirror said.
Sabrina watched his face disappear. She reached over and kissed her father on the cheek, then did the same to her mother. Her kisses weren’t magical. They wouldn’t wake Henry and Veronica. But maybe they made a difference to her parents. They certainly made a difference to her. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
Sometime in the night, Sabrina heard a knock on the door downstairs. She climbed out of bed and went down the steps, wondering who could be visiting at such a late hour. Perhaps it was Puck. He was known to forget his keys. Or maybe Red had decided to have a look around and had gotten locked out.