"Fine!"
Daphne turned on the boy. "You sent those pixies to attack us last night, didn't you?"
"Just a little fun," Puck replied.
"That wasn't very nice." The little girl gave him her best angry look and then turned to join her sister.
"I'm a lot of things, but nice isn't one of them," the boy called after them.
"Maybe we should team up with him? He could fly over the forest and spot the giant," Daphne suggested to Sabrina.
"Daphne, you saw what a lunatic he is. I don't want him to ruin whatever slim chance we might have."
? ? ?
The path to the front door of Granny Relda's cottage seemed like a walk up a mountain, and by the time they arrived at the house Sabrina was nearly asleep standing up. She took out Granny's key ring and felt the weight of a hundred keys jingling in her hand, singing their mysteries.
By the time all the locks were open, it seemed as if hours had passed. Elvis was asleep and drooling on the sidewalk, swinging his thick legs back and forth as he dreamed.
As Sabrina unlocked the final lock, she turned to her sister and smiled. "That's all of them." She twisted the knob and leaned into the door. Unfortunately, the door didn't swing open. In fact, it didn't budge at all.
"What's wrong?" Daphne said, sitting up. She had been resting on the ground with her head on Elvis's warm belly.
"It's jammed," Sabrina said, pushing her shoulder against the big door to force it open.
Daphne got up and walked over. "Are you sure you unlocked them all?" she said. Sabrina fumed. If she knew anything, it was how to unlock a door. They'd escaped from a dozen foster homes in the last year and a half. Locks were not Sabrina's problem. She took the cold doorknob in her hand and turned it, proving that she had unlocked it. She pushed hard but still nothing happened.
"Well, it's not opening. Maybe the back door," she said, preparing to circle the house.
"You've forgotten the secret," a familiar voice commented. Puck floated to the ground, his huge wings disappearing just as he landed.
"What do you want?" Sabrina demanded.
"I did a flyby, all the way up into the mountains. I found some tracks, but no giant," Puck said. "I sent some pixies to keep searching without me."
Sabrina turned the doorknob angrily, hoping the door would suddenly open so she could laugh as she slammed it in Puck's face. But again, nothing happened.
"You have to tell the house you are home." Puck sighed.
"Of course!" Daphne knocked on the door three times. "We're home," she said, repeating the same words the girls had heard Granny Relda say each time they had entered the house, and turning the doorknob. The door finally swung open.
"How did you know that?" Daphne asked Puck.
"The old lady and I are close. She tells me everything."
Elvis immediately leaped to his feet and trotted into the house, nearly knocking over the girls on his way to the kitchen. The girls followed, and Puck pushed his way in as well, closing the door behind him.
"Now, I know I'm one of the bad guys," the boy said, tossing himself into the fluffy recliner in the living room. "But the old lady does provide me with a meal from time to time. Not that I feel any loyalty, but if she were to get eaten by a giant, my free lunches would disappear. So, we should probably get started."
"We? What do you mean we?” Sabrina cried.
"Of course, you two will have to keep this to yourselves," the boy continued, ignoring Sabrina. "I do have a reputation as the worst of the worst. If word got out that the Trickster was helping the heroes . . . well, it would be scandalous."
The girls stared at each other, dumbfounded.
"First things first. I want you two to prepare a hearty meal so that I will have plenty of energy to kill the giant," Puck instructed.
"You've got to be kidding," Sabrina groaned.
"The old lady always makes lunch when a mystery is afoot. I know it's not the most glamorous work, but I think you two are best suited for domestic tasks."
"What does domestic tasks mean?" Daphne asked.
"The way he means it is women's work," her sister replied.
Daphne snarled at the boy.
"Besides, as your leader I need to save my energy for the battle," Puck insisted.
Sabrina's temper boiled over. "Leader! No one made you leader. No one even said they wanted your help!"
"You may not want it, but you need it," the boy shouted back. "The two of you can't even get into your own house. Do you think you'll strike fear into a giant?"
"Maybe if you two keep shouting, the giant will come to us," Daphne said.
Sabrina and Puck stared angrily at each other for a long moment.