"It'll take more than your words to make that happen, you thieving barn rat."
"Elvis," Daphne said as she patted the angry dog on the head—her touch seemed to have a calming effect on him— "take a chill pill."
Elvis released Jack's pant leg from his teeth.
"Thank you," Jack said, eyeing his mangled trousers. "So, are you ready to hear my plan?"
Sabrina looked at Puck, hoping the boy might reconsider and help them, but he sneered and looked away.
"Yes, we're ready," she replied.
Puck said nothing. He walked down the stairs and out the door, slamming it behind him.
"We don't need him, anyway," Jack said. "Is anyone hungry? Let's have some breakfast!"
He rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen, the girls following behind. They watched as he rifled through the contents of the refrigerator.
"There's nothing to eat in this house," Jack complained. "I could really go for some bubble and squeak or some bangers. Do you kids think you could cook up some steak-and-kidney pie for me?"
The girls stared.
"I hear noises coming from his mouth but they don't sound like words," Daphne said.
"Maybe he's having some kind of fit," Sabrina said.
Jack rolled his eyes, snatched up some leftovers, and ate greedily.
"Let me tell you kids," he said, his mouth full, "prison food is terrible."
"We'll take your word for it," Sabrina said.
While Jack ate, the girls took turns telling him how Granny Relda and Mr. Canis had been kidnapped. Sabrina told him her theory about Mayor Charming being the mysterious Mr. Englishman, and how she thought he was using the giant to scare people off their land.
"So, tell us your plan," Daphne said as Jack finished his breakfast.
"I'm still working out the details."
Both the girls flashed Jack an angry look.
"Don't worry!" he said defensively. "It's going to be brilliant."
Sabrina had had enough. She got up from her seat and grabbed the telephone.
"We helped you escape from prison so you could help us save our grandmother and all you have done is eat our food and drool on our sofa," she raged. "If you can't do it, then I'm just going to call Deputy Crane and let him know you're ready to go back."
"Put the phone down and relax," Jack said calmly as he helped himself to another chicken leg. "You think tracking down a giant is easy? Giants have survived thousands of years being as big as they are and they've learned a few things about staying out of sight when they need to. Now we can traipse through the woods, cut down the forest, and drag the Hudson River, but the fact is that if a giant doesn't want to be found, he's not going to be found."
"You're talking in circles," Sabrina complained.
"What I'm saying, duck, is that we have to be smarter than a giant to catch a giant. You said it yourself, that the mayor was trying to cover up what happened to that farm. It's no secret he wants to buy up the entire town. What better way than to get a giant to scare off the landowners who won't sell? So when your family started snooping around, he sent the big boy after you. He's got your granny and now he's after the two of you. All the evidence you need was chasing us down
Main Street
yesterday."
"Go on," Sabrina said, as she set the phone back in its cradle.
"Knowing Charming, he's got a map of Ferryport Landing in his office, with all the property he's after and where he's going to send the giant next. All you have to do is sneak into his office during the ball tonight, find the map, and see where the giant's next target is. Then we show up, the giant shows up, I do what I do, and bingo-bango, we kill the big boy and save your grandmum."
"That's your big plan?" Sabrina cried.
"You got something better? I know that sneaking into the ball doesn't sound as exciting as burning down the forest and waiting for the giant to run out, but I've always had a mind that tells me the easiest way is the best way."
"There's one big problem, though," Daphne spoke up. "The mayor and the police are looking for us. We're going to have a tough time sneaking into the place."
"Oh, girls, you're going to go right through the front door and no one is even going to notice," Jack said confidently.
After he had eaten, he insisted the best way to digest a meal was to follow it with another kip. As their "hero" rested, the girls frantically searched the books for anything that might help. Eventually, they came upon one of their grandfather Basil's many journals. Inside, he had sketched out a rough plan of Charming's estate.