"Mr. Canis went to the store to buy you some clothing, just a couple of things to tide you over until we can go shopping."
Sabrina looked in the bag. Inside were some of the strangest clothes she had ever seen. There were two pairs of bright blue pants that had little hearts and balloons sewn onto them. There were two identical sweatshirts that were as awful as the pants— bright orange with a monkey in a tree on the front. Underneath the monkey were printed the words "Hang in there!"
"You expect us to wear these?" Sabrina moaned.
"Oh, I love them!" Daphne said, pulling the orange monkey sweatshirt out and hugging it like a new doll.
After breakfast, the girls got dressed and looked at their new outfits in the bedroom mirror. Daphne, of course, thought her crazy outfit was the best she had ever had and strutted around like a giddy fashion model. Sabrina, on the other hand, was sure Mr. Canis was trying to punish them for attempting to run away.
"Hurry, girls, we have to get going," Granny called.
"I feel like a movie star," Daphne said as the girls hurried downstairs.
"You look like a mental patient," Sabrina remarked.
? ? ?
The sisters stood by the door, waiting for the old woman to collect her things. Mrs. Grimm rushed around the house, grabbing books off of shelves and from underneath the couch, creating a tornado of dust that followed her from room to room. When she had collected as many as she could carry, she handed them to Sabrina.
"Almost ready," she sang as she rushed up the stairs.
Sabrina looked down at the top book. It was entitled Fables and Folklore: The Complete Handbook. Before she could question the book's purpose, she heard the old woman pull out her keys and unlock the mysterious door upstairs.
"She's going into her secret room," Sabrina whispered to her sister. Daphne's eyes widened and she bit the palm of her hand. For some reason Daphne did this whenever she was overly excited, and though it embarrassed Sabrina, she let it pass. If she tried to curb all of Daphnes odd little quirks, she would never get any sleep.
"I wonder what's in there," Daphne whispered back.
"That's probably where she keeps the bodies of all the other kids she's stolen from the orphanage."
Daphne stuck out her tongue and gave her sister a raspberry.
Sabrina had to admit she was curious about the room. Whenever she was told she couldn't do something, Sabrina found it was all she could think about doing. But the great thing about rules was that you could break them and drive adults crazy.
"Do you hear that?" Daphne asked.
"Yeah, she's talking to someone," Sabrina replied. "Probably Mr. Canis."
Sabrina strained to hear the conversation, but before she could make out anything, she heard Mrs. Grimm leave the room, lock the door, and head back down the stairs.
"Ladies, we're off," she said as she ushered them outside and went to work locking the front door. Then she knocked on the door three times, as she had the day before, but this time she said, "We'll be back."
"Who are you talking to?" Sabrina asked.
"The house," Mrs. Grimm replied, as if this were a perfectly natural thing to do.
Daphne knocked on the door as well. "Good-bye, dollhouse," she said, causing her sister to sigh and roll her eyes.
As they turned to go to the car, Sabrina looked up and nearly stumbled. Mr. Canis wasn't upstairs! He was standing on the path with Elvis at his side. He returned her stare with a look of slight contempt. His gaze unnerved the girl, but no more than the realization that Mrs. Grimm had been talking to herself in her secret room.
"We're ready, Mr. Canis," Mrs. Grimm said, and he nodded. They all climbed into the squeaky car, including Elvis, who laid his huge body across the girls' laps.
"Did you have a chat with our neighbor?" Mrs. Grimm asked Mr. Canis as they all buckled or tied themselves in.
"We began a conversation," the old man grumbled. "But he can be stubborn."
"Well, he'll get used to it eventually, I suppose," Mrs. Grimm replied.
"He doesn't have a history of getting used to things," Mr. Canis said.
Mrs. Grimm sighed and nodded.
"Who are you talking about?" Daphne asked.
"Oh, just a neighbor. Nothing to worry about. You'll meet him soon enough."
Sabrina looked around. She was sure they were miles from the nearest neighbor.