The Fairy-Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, Book 1)

"There's no place like where Jack is," she said.

 

"Sabrina, wouldn't these shoes take us to wherever Mom and Dad are?" Daphne wondered aloud. Sabrina's eyes grew wide with possibility.

 

"We can save them next," her sister said happily.

 

"All right," Sabrina said, clicking her heels together. "There's no place like where Jack is. There's no place like where Jack is."

 

The lights went out and the familiar squeaky wheeze filled Sabrina's ears. In a split-second, Charming and the girls were standing in the woods on Widow's Peak. They had little time to adjust to their new surroundings. Sabrina looked above her and saw the giant's massive foot preparing to crush them all.

 

They managed to leap out of the way but the aftershock tossed them around as if they were on a sinking ship. The ground split apart, sending stones and soil into a gaping crevice where the group had once stood.

 

The giant leaned down to get a better look at the three people scurrying at his feet. He reached to snatch them, but a flaming arrow zipped from the tree line and landed in the side of the giant's face. The monster cried in pain as he plucked it from his cheek, only to have a second and third arrow pierce his chin.

 

"Stop it, Jack!" Sabrina commanded. "There are people in the giant's pocket and if you kill him they'll die when he falls!"

 

Jack peeked his head out from behind some branches in a nearby tree and laughed.

 

"Oh, it's not time to kill him yet," Jack shouted, remaining safely hidden in the trees. "I'm just trying to get him good and angry."

 

"We know about the reporters, Jack," Charming said. "We're never going to let that happen."

 

Jack fired several more arrows into the giant's face, landing a painful shot to the monster's lower lip. The giant raged as he tried to pluck it out. While the giant was busy, the young man dropped out of the tree and landed as nimbly as a cat.

 

"Blimey! Charming and the Grimms on the same side? I never thought I'd live to see the day," he said. "Has the prince turned traitor like that worthless mongrel Canis?"

 

"The only allegiance I have is to myself," Charming said as he waved Excalibur in the air. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. But the result will be the same. You're going back to jail."

 

"Sorry, Prince, but I've spent my last day in the Ferryport Landing lockup. My fans await," Jack said, loading another arrow into his bow and firing it at the giant. It pierced the skin between two fingers of the giant's left hand, and he shrieked. Overcome with rage, the giant swept his arm across the tops of the forest trees, cracking many ancient cedars in half. A sizable chunk of one fell from the sky and nearly hit Charming in the head.

 

"Oh, he's angry now." the giant killer laughed, loading his arrow again. This time he aimed it at Charming.

 

"Jack, don't!" Sabrina cried.

 

"I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this," he said as he lined up his arrow with Charming's heart. "But don't worry. I promise to have them spell your name correctly in your obituary."

 

He released his arrow and the girls watched it soar through the air at Charming. Daphne screamed and squeezed her sister's hand, knowing Jack's aim was true. But something happened the girls didn't expect. Charming lifted Excalibur slightly and the arrow bounced off its metal blade and fell to the ground. Jack was flabbergasted.

 

"What luck you have!" he cried.

 

"Try again and see if it was luck," the prince said, stepping forward with the sword.

 

With hands like lightning, Jack fired another arrow and Charming deflected it with similar results. Jack pulled three arrows from his quill and lined them up together on his bow. He fired them all at the same time. Sabrina watched in amazement as Charming guided Excalibur to block each from their deadly course.

 

"I can do this all night," the prince bragged, but just then the giant's monstrous hand swung down and hit him from behind. Excalibur was knocked free of his grip and fell at Sabrina's feet. Charming was sent sailing through the forest, landing painfully against a tree and slumping to the ground.

 

Jack pulled more arrows from his quill, lit them with a lighter Sabrina recognized from Granny's kitchen, and fired five off with furious speed. Each landed in more of the giant's sensitive spots. The painful barrage was enough to get the giant to back off, giving the young man an opportunity to turn on the girls. He put another arrow into his bow and aimed it at Sabrina.

 

Instinctively, Sabrina reached down and snatched Excalibur from the ground. It was incredibly heavy and bulky but she swung it around in the air the best she could.

 

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