"Well, leave the decorating to me then," her son said as he reached into his pocket and took out a long, carved wand. "I'll have this place looking like the North Pole in no time."
"Jake, I absolutely forbid it," Granny Relda said, but Uncle Jake ignored her. He held the wand aloft and shouted, "Gimme some Christmas!"
A blinding ray of red-and-green light illuminated the yard. Within the beam Sabrina could see tiny particles moving and rearranging into solid objects that zipped across the lawn and grew in size. Suddenly, two enormous inflatable snowmen appeared in the center of the yard. A row of ten-foot candy canes lined the driveway all the way to the end. Red ribbons encircled the porch banisters and a mechanical Santa Claus in a shiny sleigh landed on top of the house. An odd, robotic "Ho, Ho, Ho!" blasted out of its mouth. Lines of multicolored blinking lights entwined every tree, bush, and shrub. Even poor Elvis found himself wrapped from head to toe in twinkling lights.
Daphne ran to a candy cane, sniffed it, and then gave it a lick. "Uh, hello! This is real!"
Granny rushed to Elvis's side and did her best to free him from his holiday-inspired bonds while Jake led the girls into the house.
"That takes care of the outside," he said. He handed the wand to Sabrina. "Want to give it a try?"
Sabrina eyed the wand carefully. Just holding it sent a charge through her like nothing she had ever felt. This simple stick of wood packed a lot of power and Sabrina could feel it all the way down to her toes.
"What do I do?" she asked.
"Imagine how you want everything to look," Uncle Jake said as Granny finally entered the house. "And then ask for it.'"
Sabrina closed her eyes, nodded to herself, and then aimed the wand at the living room.
"Sabrina Grimm, I absolutely forbid it!" Granny cried, but she was too late again.
"Gimme some Christmas," Sabrina said, and the light blasted out of the wand. The rearranging particles twisted and turned into forms that eventually became a beautiful white-needled tree, covered in shiny bulbs and lights, showered in tinsel, strung with popcorn garlands, and topped with a gleaming angel. Mountains of presents were tucked underneath. A choo-choo train raced from room to room on a track and Bing Crosby crooned "White Christmas" from a stereo exactly like the one Sabrina and Daphne's parents had owned in New York City.
"It's just like home," Daphne cried happily.
"Jacob Alexander Grimm!" Granny fumed. She raced over to Sabrina and took the wand out of her hand. The little charge Sabrina had felt from the wand was gone and she immediately wished she could get it back.
"Oh, Mom, don't be a humbug," Uncle Jake said. "It's the girls' first Christmas in the house. It should be memorable."
"I wholeheartedly agree, but I don't think we need magic to do that," Granny said as she put the wand back in her son's hand. "One of the special things about Christmas is that the family decorates the house together."
"Says you! Why do something in days when you can do it in seconds?"
Granny shook her head as if to say she was disappointed that Uncle Jake didn't understand.
The morning slipped into afternoon and finally into evening as Uncle Jake told one hair-raising story after another of his many adventures. The girls hung on his every word; even Granny was fascinated with her son's tales and eventually decided to order pizza for dinner rather than miss another of Jake's stories while she was cooking.
"So how come we've never met you before?" Daphne asked as she helped herself to another slice with pepperoni.
"Well, I haven't been around in awhile. I've been traveling the world and getting into trouble," Uncle Jake said with a grin. "For a while I lived in Prague with Tom Thumb and then spent some time in India, Russia, Japan, Germany, and even Costa Rica, but lately I've been working with the Andersen triplets."
"Who are they?" Sabrina said.
"You don't know who the Andersen triplets are?" Uncle Jake said in a way that made Sabrina feel self-conscious.
"Henry chose to keep the children out of the loop when it came to the family business," Granny Relda said.
"All of it?"
The old woman nodded.
"Where do I start?" Uncle Jake said. "OK, you two are the sisters Grimm because you are descendants of the Brothers Grimm. The Andersen triplets are the descendants of Hans Christian Andersen."
"So they're fairy-tale detectives, too?" said Daphne.
"No, not exactly. They don't investigate mysteries. They hunt and collect magical items," Uncle Jake said as he retrieved the wand from his pocket. "That's how I got this bad boy. It's the Wand of Merlin. I found it at a garage sale in Athens, Ohio. The owner thought it was a back scratcher."
Granny frowned. "And I suppose that's how you suddenly just appeared out of thin air."
Uncle Jake grinned. He stood up, removed a jewel-encrusted belt from around his waist, and placed it on the table. "Nope, I used this."
"The Nome King's belt? Where did you get this?" Granny asked.