There was a whizzing sound in the air and then Uncle Jake let out a cry and fell to the porch. When Sabrina looked down at him she saw an arrow stuck in his right shoulder. Blood was leaking out of the wound all over his jacket and onto the porch’s old wooden floorboards.
“Perhaps you didn’t understand us,” Nottingham said as he loaded a fresh arrow into his weapon. “Tell us where the camp is, now!”
“Girls, get into the house!” Henry shouted, snatching Sabrina and Daphne by the arms and dragging them inside to safety.
Veronica and Granny Relda followed and Henry dashed back out to drag Uncle Jake into the house. Once inside he slammed the door behind him just as an arrow crashed into the mailbox.
“House, time to lock up!” Granny shouted and Sabrina heard the tumblers turn on the front door’s dozen padlocks. Open windows slammed shut and shutters closed tight. Sabrina caught a faint flash of shimmering blue light outside a window.
“OK, everyone, we’re safe here. Nothing can get in now,” Granny said as she turned to help her wounded son. “Daphne, I need you to run upstairs and grab a bottle of iodine out of the cabinet. It’s a red bottle. Sabrina and Puck, run into the laundry room and get the white sheets out of the dryer. Rip them into bandages. Goldilocks and Red, I could use a pot of boiling water.”
Everyone rushed to follow Granny’s orders but Sabrina was stunned and frozen.
“Sabrina! Go!” Granny shouted as she knelt down to her wounded son.
Sabrina and Puck raced out of the room and into the pantry where they kept the dryer. She opened the lid and pulled out the fresh, clean sheets while Puck tore them with zeal.
“Nottingham really shot at us,” Puck said. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“You sound like you’re proud of him!” Sabrina exclaimed.
“Well, as a villain he has certainly stepped up his game,” the fairy boy replied. “Still, he loses points for his costume. That’s way over the top.”
“You’re hopeless,” she muttered as she raced back to her family. When she arrived they were all arguing, and once again her father was at the center of the dispute.
“And this is exactly why we’re going back to New York City,” her father said, holding his hand tightly against his brother’s wound.
“Henry, not now,” Veronica begged.
“I’ve got the sheets,” Sabrina said, hoping it would change the subject. Granny reached for them and started wrapping Jake’s wound. While she was working, Daphne returned with the iodine. She gave it to the old woman and stepped back, looking shocked and scared.
“We have to get the arrow out of my arm, Mom,” Uncle Jake said.
Goldilocks immediately herded the children together. “Children, I could really use everyone’s help in the kitchen.”
Puck stomped his foot. “No way! I’ve shot a few people in my day, but I’ve never seen an arrow come out. This is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“Suit yourself,” Goldilocks said, and she led Sabrina, Daphne, Red, and Baby Bear into the kitchen. Once there, she nervously searched the cabinets and refrigerator.
“What are you looking for?” Sabrina asked.
“Cocoa,” the woman said. “Everything is better with cocoa. Oh, these cabinets. How do you find anything?”
Daphne opened a drawer and took out a box of cocoa, and Goldilocks started making some for the children.
“Why are those people attacking us?” Red Riding Hood asked.
“They want us to tell them where Charming and Mr. Canis have gone,” Sabrina said.
Baby Bear growled.
“Junior wants to know why someone doesn’t just tell them, then,” Goldilocks said.
“Because they’re our friends. Besides, we couldn’t if we wanted to,” Daphne said. “We don’t know where they are.”
There was a loud, horrible cry from the living room. Someone must have pulled the arrow from Jake’s shoulder. Sabrina turned to her sister. Daphne’s face was pale.
“He’ll be fine,” Goldilocks assured the children as she started rearranging the silverware drawer.
Puck rushed into the kitchen. He looked as if he had just gotten off a roller coaster. “That was awesome!” he cried. “The arrow coming out is totally more fun to watch than the arrow going in.”
Henry and Granny Relda joined them in the kitchen.
“We need to get him to a hospital,” Henry said. “That’s an open wound. He’s going to need stitches and antibiotics. It could get infected if it’s not cleaned properly.”
Granny Relda shook her head. “The hospital is deserted. All the doctors were human and Mayor Heart ran them out of town.”
“We have to find someone with some medical training,” Henry said as he took a glass from the cupboard. He turned the faucet on to fill it but nothing came out but a couple of brown drops. “They’ve turned off the pipes.”
Suddenly, the lights in the house went out. “And the lights,” Sabrina added.
“Nothing to worry about, folks,” Puck said. “I’ll run up and get my sword. Once they see that I’m armed I’m sure those losers will run for the hills.”
“I don’t think fighting our way out is the answer, Puck,” Granny said.
“It always has been before,” Puck grumbled.