Henry snatched the box from his brother, shut the lid, and stuffed it into one of Jake’s pockets. “I’d prefer you kept your magic away from the girls. It’s dangerous and I don’t want them anywhere near it.”
“Dad, we’re old pros with the magic stuff,” Daphne said. “We use it all the time.”
Henry glared at his mother.
“I’m getting pretty good, too,” Daphne continued, completely oblivious to Henry’s rising temper. “In fact, I have my own little collection of wands and rings, just like Uncle Jake.”
Henry’s face turned as red as lava exploding out of a volcano. “You are five years old. You shouldn’t be anywhere near magic. You’ll hand it all over to me when we get back to the house. None of this nonsense is going back to New York City with us.”
“Dad, I’ll be eight in two weeks,” Daphne said.
Henry looked at his daughter as if she were speaking ancient Greek.
And Daphne looked like she had just been slapped. Sabrina knew firsthand how insulted her sister could be when she was treated like a baby. She herself had created a deep emotional chasm between them by not respecting Daphne. Only a few days before, she had betrayed her sister, stealing a magical item she felt Daphne was too young to possess. Now, they were barely speaking.
“Maybe we should go,” Goldilocks said with a forced smile. She opened one of the rusty car doors.
Sabrina and Daphne climbed inside as an orchestra of springs and joints cried out for mercy. The stretching powder had done just what Uncle Jake claimed it would do: The interior was enormous, even bigger than Granny Relda’s living room. They could have shared the car with a football team and would still have had plenty of room for everyone. Red, Goldilocks, the bears, Elvis, Puck, Granny Relda, Uncle Jake, Henry, and Veronica piled inside.
Veronica took a seat between her daughters and hugged them both. “So, what have we missed?”
Granny shifted uncomfortably. “Oh, where do we begin? Well, I’ve been training the girls in the art of detection and—”
“You knew I didn’t want them in this town,” Henry interrupted.
“I couldn’t leave them in the orphanage. They’ve been perfectly safe,” Granny said.
Sabrina laughed and the entire family turned to face her.
“You disagree?” Henry asked her.
Sabrina felt Granny’s betrayed eyes on her. “No.”
“Sabrina, if you have something to say I’d like to hear it,” Henry demanded.
She tried to stay quiet but the truth spilled out anyway. “Well, we were attacked by Jack the Giant Killer, then nearly stomped to death by an army of giants. Rumpelstiltskin heightened my emotions then fed off the anger like I was an all-you-can-eat buffet, then he nearly blew us up in some underground tunnels but not before he sent a bunch of half-monster children to kill us. We were nearly devoured by the Little Mermaid’s mutant hermit crab, almost killed by Little Red Riding Hood—”
Red seemed to sink into her seat.
“We killed the Jabberwocky—”
“It’s dead?” Henry asked, bewildered.
Granny Relda nodded.
“What else, oh, I was turned into a frog and was almost eaten by Baba Yaga, we were attacked by a six-story giant robot in Times Square, nearly killed by Titania, Queen of the Fairies, sucked into a time vortex, nearly barbecued by dragons from the future, almost sliced and diced by the Sheriff of Nottingham, and just about had our heads chopped off by the Queen of Hearts and Bluebeard. I’m sure there’s more but that’s right off the top of my head. Oh, I was taken over by the insane rabid spirit of the Big Bad Wolf, too.”
“That about covers it,” Uncle Jake said sheepishly.
“Go ahead, Jake. Make a joke out of it like you always do,” Henry said.
“Mom protected them every step of the way. I’ve been here for most of it, too,” Jake said.
Elvis let out a low growl.
“The dog wants to remind everyone of his contributions,” Goldilocks said.
Daphne hugged the big dog. “We all know you’re our real hero.”
Elvis barked.
“He says heroes deserve sausages.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Sabrina said to the hound. Elvis plus sausages equaled a noxious smell.
“Let’s not forget me,” Puck said. “I’ve been pulling this family from the jaws of death on a daily basis and haven’t seen a dime for my troubles.”
Henry scowled. “If you don’t mind we’re having a family discussion. Who are you, anyway? Peter Pan?”
“Henry!” Granny cried. “No!”