“Let’s get your father to safety,” Goldi said. Her eyes were sky-blue, her hair seemingly made from gold. She had sun-kissed freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. She and another woman helped Henry to his feet. This second woman had long auburn hair, creamy skin, and eyes the color of a meadow. No wonder they called her Beauty.
“I don’t think your bears can take him, Goldi,” Beauty said. “Mind if I cut in?”
“Be my guest,” Goldilocks said.
Beauty turned to Grendel and started to sing a sweet lullaby, each note soothing the brute like he was a baby on his way to dreamland. As her perfect voice and lyrics filled the air, the fight drained out of Grendel, and he stood before her in a happy daze.
“That’s right,” Beauty said as she caressed his horrible face. “You know I like a man with a big smile. Can you smile for me?”
Grendel did as he was asked, and then he cooed like a newborn babe. It was nauseating.
“Oh, we’ve got a real charmer on our hands here.” Beauty giggled.
“Can you get him into the Hall of Wonders?” Henry, now conscious, said weakly.
“Right now I could get him to do the cha-cha!”
Henry turned to Goldi. “Thank you. You saved my daughters’ lives.”
Goldi rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly, Hank.”
“It seems I owe you my life, too.”
“For like the fifty millionth time,” the woman said with a knowing smile. Henry smiled back and Sabrina watched as a lifetime of memories seemed to pass between them. Sadly, Goldi’s eyes hinted at a world of heartache, too. This peculiar woman still loved her father dearly.
Suddenly, three of Puck’s disgusting balloon bombs fell from the sky and hit Grendel in the face. He was so enraptured by Beauty he didn’t even notice.
“Yes, my weapons have paralyzed him with fear,” Puck said as he drifted down from above. “Like I said. The Trickster King has got this under control.”
“What are you two doing out here?” Henry asked Beauty and Goldi.
“Looking for you,” Beauty explained.
“Us?” Sabrina cried.
“Yes, and we have to hurry,” Goldi begged. “We need your help with Jake.”
“You know where he is?” Henry asked. “The magic mirrors couldn’t find him.”
“He’s with us,” Goldi said, “back at our camp. It has a diversion spell around it. That’s probably why they couldn’t locate him. But Hank—he’s not himself.”
“He did just lose Briar,” Henry said. “He went through something like this when our father was killed.”
“It’s more than grief,” Goldi said.
“He’s losing his mind, Henry,” Beauty said bluntly.
Everyone turned to look at her.
“Sorry, but you need to know what to expect,” Beauty said. “He’s talking to himself. The things he says—it’s very troubling stuff.”
“Like what?” Henry asked. “What’s he talking about?”
Goldi looked pained, as if what she was going to say would injure herself and everyone around her.
“What is it?” Sabrina asked.
“He’s talking about murder.”
ctober 14 (part 2)
Thought I better update the journal while I’m back in the Hall of Wonders. Dad and Beauty are locking Grendel up in his old room. It’s scary to think the Hall used to house hundreds of monsters like him and that they are all running around town now doing who knows what. Dad tried to put a happy face on it by reminding us that now that we have Grendel we have one less freak to worry about. I reminded him that now we were sleeping next door to said freak. He told me to zip it.
I should be grateful that’s all he said because he’s pretty angry at me and my sister. Note to self: don’t get Mom and Dad angry . . . ever. I forgot how they are when they are steamed, and I think I’d rather face Grendel again. The last time I saw them this steamed was when Daphne invited a homeless man to come live with us. She hid him in our closet for six hours before the housecleaner found him.
Both of them say we aren’t allowed out of their sight, and they swore if we ever pulled a stunt like that again . . . well, I probably shouldn’t write it down in this journal. I’m so embarrassed. I’ve read a lot of the family journals and I haven’t found one entry where someone got grounded for trying to rescue a family member. It seems like everyone treats me like a child. Even Daphne does it now. Am I that worthless?
Not that we’re completely to blame for all the stress around here. Goldi’s sudden appearance doesn’t help. Anytime Blondie shows up Dad looks like he wants to crawl under a rock, and Mom looks like she’d like to toss that rock at Goldilock’s head. I can’t blame her. Who would want her husband’s ex around, mooning over him?