"See, he doesn't think we should go, either," said Daphne as she wrapped her arms around the big dog and kissed him on the mouth. But Sabrina had made up her mind. She pulled her sister away and into the forest, with Elvis trotting after them.
Inside the trees, everything was deadly still. There were no scurrying animals, rustling branches, or snapping twigs. Even the whistling breeze had faded away. It was if someone had turned the volume down on the world.
Suddenly, a high-pitched note filled the air. It seemed to come from deep inside the woods.
"What was that?" Daphne said.
Sabrina shrugged. "Probably the wind."
Elvis whined loudly. Then he rushed to Sabrina and clamped his jaw onto her coat sleeve, trying to yank her back toward the house. She pulled away. The girls hurried on with the dog close behind, barking warnings.
Just ignore him. He'll go back when he gets bored, Sabrina said to herself as something zipped past her eye. She turned to get a better look and saw it was a firefly, just like the ones that had been outside their window earlier that night.
"Look, Daphne. Here's the big menacing invader Mr. Skin-and-Bones was afraid would get into the house." Sabrina laughed. The little bug fluttered around her head and then circled her body.
"Pretty," Daphne said, only to find that she had her own little bug floating nearby. "I've got one, too!"
Elvis let out a very low growl.
"What's the matter, buddy?" Daphne said as she scratched the dog's ears. This did nothing to sooth Elvis. The Great Dane howled menacingly and lunged at the lights with snapping teeth.
"Hush up!" Sabrina ordered, but the dog wouldn't stop. He was going to wake Mrs. Grimm and Mr. Canis if he didn't calm down.
"Sabrina," Daphne said. The nervousness in the little girl's voice pulled Sabrina's attention away from the dog. Daphne had her hand over her nose, but what startled Sabrina was the fear in the little girl's eyes. She had seen the same look the morning after their parents disappeared, when they had woken up in their parents' bed, alone.
"What's wrong?" Sabrina asked.
"It just bit me," Daphne said as she removed her hand from her nose. It was covered in blood. Sabrina was shocked. Lightning bugs didn't bite. At least no lightning bugs she had ever heard about. And at that moment, she felt a sting that brought blood to the top of her hand. "Ouch!"
Daphne cried out. "I got bit again!" Blood trickled down her earlobe. Sabrina rushed over and wiped her sister's ear with her sleeve. The two bugs became ten and then a hundred and then a swarm that circled the girls—thousands of angry little lights, zipping back and forth, diving at their heads and arms and lighting up the ugly trees around them. Elvis growled at the bugs, but there was little he could do.
"Cover your face with your hands and run!" Sabrina shouted. The two girls ran as fast as they could, with Elvis at their heels. Sabrina looked back, hoping the bugs weren't following, only to see the swarm close behind and gaining.
In seconds they were stinging the girls again. Daphne cried out and tripped over a tree root. She curled into a ball and tried to hide any exposed skin. Elvis leaped on top of the little girl, doing his best to cover her as the bugs dived, stinging her uncovered hands and legs.
Sabrina had to do something. Elvis couldn't protect Daphne. She waved her hands and screamed at the bugs and they instantly darted in her direction. She turned to run, but before she could take even a step she slammed into something and fell to the ground. It was Mrs. Grimm.
"It's OK, liebling," she said.
"We have to run, Mrs. Grimm," Sabrina cried, but the old woman stood calmly, as if she was daring the bugs to come closer. When the swarm was nearly on top of them, the old woman raised her hand to her mouth and blew a soft blue dust into the air. Many of the bugs froze in midflight, falling to the ground like snowflakes. The blue mist took out half of their numbers. The rest regrouped and began to circle the old woman again.
"I have a whole house full of this," Mrs. Grimm shouted. Incredibly, the bugs seemed to weigh their options, and in one mass they darted deep into the woods and disappeared.
"That wasn't very nice!" Mrs. Grimm shouted into the forest. She turned back to Sabrina and extended her hand. "I'll need your help getting Daphne into the house."
? ? ?
Sabrina was sure the old woman would be furious with them. There was no telling if her craziness could extend to violence. Who could tell what a woman who had swords hanging over her bed was capable of? But Mrs. Grimm didn't seem angry at all. In fact, she looked genuinely concerned.
She asked Sabrina to undress her sister while the old woman rushed into the bathroom and returned with a bottle of calamine lotion and some cotton balls. She applied the lotion to Daphne's stings and tucked the little girl into bed.
"She'll be fine in the morning, maybe itchy, but fine," Mrs. Grimm said as she handed the calamine lotion to Sabrina. "Pixies are harmless unless you are overwhelmed by them."
"Did you just say pixies?" Sabrina asked, unsure if the old woman was joking.