Everafters scattered in all directions as he stepped through the crowd.
"Come here, meat!" he growled.
"You are about to suffer one of the worst beatings of your life, troll," Puck said without flinching. "Run while you can. The Prince of Faerie isn't some billy goat you can scare off your bridge."
"Fairy, I'm going to rip you limb from limb and suck on your bones!" the.
troll roared.
"You don't know how many times I hear that in a day," Puck said. He swung his sword around and smacked the troll in the belly, with little effect. The monster looked more annoyed than hurt. With lightning-fast reflexes the brute lunged forward and knocked Puck to the ground, then sat hunched over the boy, flashing his horrible drool-dripping teeth. His neck muscles clenched as he prepared to feast on the boy. But suddenly there was a popping sound and Sabrina looked up to see a man materialize from thin air high above the gymnasium floor. He fell hard and fast, landing on top of the troll. The creature grunted with surprise, then bucked and kicked as he tried to remove his unwanted passenger, but the strange man held on. He reached into his overcoat and removed a small ring that he slipped onto his finger. He said a few unintelligible words and a cloud of black smoke swirled around the monster's head, blinding him.
"That's just about enough, Howard!" the stranger shouted at the troll. "Now, calm down or I'm going to get rough!"
The troll stumbled around, unable to see. He inadvertently knocked over the statue of Charming and it fell to the ground. Its head broke off and rolled across the floor.
"Turn your magic off, sorcerer!" the troll cried.
"Are you going to be a good boy?" the stranger demanded.
Howard the troll nodded. "Yes!"
The man said a few more words in the odd language and the cloud of smoke surrounding the brute's head vanished. "Now go home and stay there until you've learned some manners,"
the man said to the hulking figure. "What would your wife think of your behavior?"
The troll lowered his eyes in shame and, along with several other Everafters, exited the gymnasium.
Daphne grabbed Sabrina's hand. "That's the man from last night," she whispered. Sabrina eyed the stranger closely. Her sister was right. The lunatic who had attacked them the night before had just saved their lives. Now he rushed over to the family and took Granny Relda into his arms. Sabrina watched dumbfounded as he gave the old woman a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Are you OK, Mom?"
"Mom?"
Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck cried at the same time. "I'm fine, Jacob," Granny replied.
Chapter 5
The man hugged Granny Relda tightly and lifted her off her feet.
"Jacob, put me down." She laughed. "I'm an old woman."
The man set her back down. "You're not so old," he said. "You look so thin! And what happened to your nose? It's broken!"
The man shuffled his feet like a schoolboy who has been caught placing a tack on his teacher's seat.
"Jacob! What did you do?" Granny asked, trying to sound stern while wiping tears of joy from her cheeks.
"It was nothing--just a little misunderstanding with a frost giant in Nepal. I think it makes me look rugged."
Puck stepped between the two and shoved his sword under the man's chin. "Step away from the old lady or I'll run you through."
"Puck, this is my son," Granny said, pulling the boy away.
"Your son!" the girls cried.
"Yes, your Uncle Jacob," the old woman said.
"Call me Uncle Jake," said the man, opening his arms for a hug the girls didn't deliver. Sabrina was stunned. For the second time in less than two months the sisters had been introduced to a family member who they hadn't known existed.
"Henry didn't tell them about me?" the man said, seeming to read the girls' minds.
"Henry didn't tell them about me, either," Granny Relda said.
"Well, I'm finally happy to meet you," said the man with a wink that told them he knew the previous night's encounter was a secret.
"You must be Daphne," he said. "You've got Hank's grin."
"Hank?" Daphne asked.
"That's what we used to call your dad when he was younger," Uncle Jake said turning to Sabrina. "And that means you're… Sabrina. I am curious. Is the mustache and goatee some kind of fad I am unaware of, or did you lose a bet?"
Sabrina scowled and pulled her scarf back up to her nose.
"Just kidding, peanut," the man said with a laugh.
"My name is Sabrina," she said.
"Sorry, I can't help but give people nicknames."
"I want a nickname!" Daphne cried.
"How about shortstop?" Uncle Jake said, reaching down and ruffling the little girl's hair. Daphne giggled like she'd just gotten a Christmas present.
"And this is Puck," Granny said. She had her hands on the boy's shoulders like he was one of her own.
"I didn't need your help," Puck grunted at Uncle Jake before he could say hello. "I had everything under control."