Sabrina and Daphne followed their grandmother into their bedroom. She said nothing, only pointed at the bed. It spoke volumes, and the girls crawled in. "Did Uncle Jake really kill Grandpa?" Daphne asked, but the old woman just shook her head. Sabrina wasn't sure if her grandmother was saying no to the question or just didn't want to talk about it.
"I think Uncle Jake is right," Sabrina said. "When are you going to teach us how to use the magic in the Hall of Wonders?"
The old woman cringed slightly as if the question physically hurt her.
"We have plenty of time for that," she said.
"We don't have any time at all," Sabrina said. "Uncle Jake and
I discovered Red Riding Hood's plan. She's trying to rebuild her lost family. She's got Mom and Dad and some poor family's baby. Now she's coming after you." Daphne gasped. "Is that true?"
"That's not going to happen," the old woman said, as she pulled the covers over the girls. "Nothing bad is going to happen to me."
"Can you guarantee that?" Sabrina said. "Because if you can't, the two of us would be left alone in this town, and you saw how angry everyone got at the school. If something did happen to you, would the two of us be able to protect ourselves?"
"Sabrina, stop!" Daphne demanded.
Sabrina's angry words rang in her own ears. It had been a heartless thing to say to her grandmother. She wished she could take it back.
The old woman looked stunned for a moment and then turned and exited the room without even a good-night.
"You know what? I have a question, Sabrina," Daphne said. "When are you going to stop acting like such a snot?"
"Daphne, you didn't see Red Riding Hood or the Jabberwocky," Sabrina grumbled. "I did, and Granny needs to take this seriously."
Daphne crossed her arms and huffed, then turned her back on her sister. She pulled the pillow from underneath her and put it over her head to block out Sabrina's voice.
*
The next morning Sabrina woke early in hopes of having some time alone with Uncle Jake. Maybe they could go through the journals and look for any information about Red Riding Hood and the Jabberwocky she might have missed. Unfortunately, he was gone when Sabrina got downstairs. Instead, she found Granny Relda parked in her chair at the dining room table, sipping tea and writing in her own journal of fairy-tale accounts. When she saw Sabrina, she smiled as if the previous night's argument hadn't even occurred.
"I called the pharmacy to find out if there is anything we can do about the marker on your face," the old woman said. "Unfortunately, it looks as if only time will help. They assured me it will fade in a couple of days."
Sabrina scowled.
A couple of days!
"What do you want for breakfast? I'll make you anything you want," the old woman said, but before Sabrina could answer, Uncle Jake burst into the house and set a bright-pink donut box on the table.
"I brought breakfast," he said as he walked around the table and planted a big kiss on his mother's cheek. "Hello, beautiful."
The old woman tried to keep a serious face but Sabrina could see Uncle Jake's charm was working on her. Soon she surrendered a grin. "Jake, the children need something healthy in the morning."
"What the girls need is to try these. I waited outside the Baker's shop for an hour to get them. He makes his donuts in the middle of the night and if you're there when he opens the shop at five a.m., you can get them while they're fresh and hot. You should have seen the line! It was around the block! Even the Butcher and the Candlestick Maker were there, and those three can't stand one another."
"Being lost at sea in an old tub can strain a friendship," Granny explained. She reached in and took out a glazed donut. When she took a bite, a huge smile came to her face. "Oh, these are heaven."
"I know," Uncle Jake said with a laugh. "I already had seven. I'm as hyper as a three-year-old so I hiked up to the top of Mount Taurus. Sabrina, you have to go up there with me some time. From the top, you can see the whole town."
"I was up there last week running from the Jabberwocky," Sabrina said sarcastically.
"Not quite the experience I had, huh? I had forgotten how beautiful Ferryport Landing is in winter!"
Yeah, all four blocks of it,
Sabrina thought.
Daphne and Elvis entered the dining room. "I smell donuts!" Daphne said. Elvis's tongue was hanging out and dripping drool on the floor.
"Help yourself," Uncle Jake said, opening the lid of the box. Daphne reached inside and took two donuts.
"Two?" Uncle Jake said with a grin.
"One's for Elvis," the little girl explained, tossing one into the air. The Great Dane leaped up and snatched it in mid-flight. Sabrina wondered if he even tasted it before he swallowed it whole.