“The mayor and several others have surrounded her home,” he groaned. “Her fairy godmothers are fighting them off, but they can’t last forever.”
A long ropelike stream appeared at the top of the bubble. It wrapped itself around a streetlight, where the sheriff hung like an evil Christmas ornament.
“I’m going to her, Nottingham,” Uncle Jake said. “If she is harmed I’ll be back for you. Think about what I’ve said. I’m not like the rest of my family.”
Nottingham sneered and wiped his bloody nose on his sleeve.
Uncle Jake stepped onto the flying carpet. The girls joined him and Daphne commanded the rug into the air. A second later they were gone, but not out of trouble. Once they were in the air, Uncle Jake collapsed. Sweat poured down his forehead and he looked ashen.
“What’s wrong?” Daphne asked, trying to steer the rug and attend to her uncle at the same time.
“It’s nothing. Just remind me to punch people with my good arm,” he said weakly, then passed out.
“What do we do now?” Daphne said.
“The sensible thing to do is to go back to the fort and get Uncle Jake back into his cot, but—”
“But?”
“But if Nottingham was telling the truth then Briar is in serious danger. She needs help. But we’re just a couple of kids, Daphne. Can we stop an entire mob by ourselves?”
Daphne reached into various pockets in Uncle Jake’s jacket and pulled out handfuls of rings, amulets, and wands. “We’re a couple of kids with a whole lot of magic stuff.”
“Do you know how to use any of those?” Sabrina asked.
Daphne shook her head. “How hard could it be?”
The little girl’s eyes were filled with confidence, and perhaps some of her bravery rubbed off on Sabrina, or maybe she just realized her little sister could accomplish anything she put her mind to. While her father had been treating Daphne like a baby, her skills and talents had become clearer to Sabrina. Maybe it was time to trust her.
“It’s your call, then.”
Daphne looked stunned. “Really?”
Sabrina nodded. “I have more faith in you than anyone I know, Daphne.”
Daphne smiled but it was brief. “I’m still mad at you.”
“I know.”
“Carpet, take us to Briar Rose’s house, and step on it.”
The carpet made a sudden turn and they were off. Daphne gave it instructions while Sabrina attended to her uncle. He looked pale and small in the night sky. His blond hair fluttered about his sallow face. Sneaking out to save Briar had not been a good idea, but the family, as a whole, wasn’t known for its good ideas. They were all impulsive, Sabrina concluded. Odd that she would start to see how they were all connected at such a time. Why had she never noticed it before?
The carpet flew along an old country road, narrowly dodging a speeding pickup truck that was fleeing a vehicle filled with well-armed trolls hanging out of the windows. Sabrina was about to tell Daphne they needed to help the poor pickup driver but the trolls took a turn too fast and drove into a ravine.
They came up over a rise in the road, and Daphne brought the carpet to a slow crawl. Briar’s house was a sturdy Victorian with a round column on each side of the door and a rose window in the center. It was painted sea green and stood out from all the other homes in the neighborhood. Sabrina had been there once with Jake and she had noticed the attention and care Briar had given the numerous rosebushes that surrounded her home. They were still quite a distance from the house but she could see those bushes had been trampled by the horde of Everafters surrounding the house. The mob was made up of goblins, witches, knights, and a near-giant—a man nearly twenty feet tall with an ax to match. He wore a flannel shirt and had a big, bushy red beard that matched the handprint on his enormous chest.
“Paul Bunyan joined the Scarlet Hand,” Daphne said.
“I see him,” Sabrina replied with a shiver. Giants, even small ones like Bunyan, gave her the willies.
“Look who’s leading the pack,” Daphne said, pointing to a woman in a gaudy dress decorated with hearts. Mayor Heart had her electronic megaphone in hand and was barking orders to the mob.
“Do you think Briar is still alive?” Daphne asked, peering at the trinkets she’d pulled out of her uncle’s jacket.
“Absolutely! Look!”
A green bolt of electricity shot out of an open window on the second floor. It hit a goblin on the ground, and his fierce metal armor was transformed into a silk gown that reminded Sabrina of the kinds of dresses women wore in movies like Gone With the Wind. The goblin tripped over his giant hoop skirt and tumbled onto his back, unable to right himself.
Another blast came out of the window and nailed a troll, who found himself sporting a feathery headdress and high heels, like a Las Vegas showgirl. He cried indignantly and shook a mace at the house.