"See, Snow? The child understands!" Charming cried happily. "This hasn't been a good year for the town; the giant caused millions in property damage, and replacing the school cost millions more. Ferryport Landing is flat broke. People are starting to think a change would be good and, trust me, the last thing you want is Mayor Heart running this town."
"I absolutely agree," Granny said. "If being anti-Grimm keeps you in office, then do what you have to do."
"Relda, I can't believe you," Snow White said with disappointment. "Do you know how hard it was to get him to apologize, and here you are encouraging the bad behavior?"
Just then, Uncle Jake came down the steps. "Ms. White, is that you?" he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Snow White looked at the young man with a curious expression. "I'm sorry. Have we met?"
"Ms. White, it's me, Jake Grimm. I was in your second grade class. My brother, Henry, was a year ahead of me."
"Your brother Henry?"
Charming roared. "Relda, you never told me you had another son."
Uncle Jake looked at his mother suspiciously.
"Oh, I'm sure I mentioned it to you both," Granny said, ushering the visitors to the door. "Well, it was nice of you to drop by. We've got a busy day ahead of us. Good luck with the campaign, Mayor Charming."
"Every time I turn around there's another Grimm," Charming complained. "They're like cockroaches. This town is infested!"
"William Charming!" Snow White roared angrily as Granny closed the door in their faces.
"What did you do?" Uncle Jake said.
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Granny said to her son as she turned and went back to the dining room. He chased after her.
"Mom, Hamstead doesn't remember me and he caught me and Hank skipping school probably a thousand times. Snow White doesn't remember me even though I wrote her a love letter every day until I turned eighteen. Charming doesn't remember me even though he threatened to have me arrested and had my face put on wanted posters all over town."
"People forget things, Jake," Granny said. "It has been twelve years."
"Mom, I'm not bragging when I say this, but let's be honest. I'm pretty hard to forget!"
Granny Relda looked around the room. Everyone was staring at her. Even Elvis cocked a curious eyebrow. The old woman shuffled her feet and stammered a bit until she finally decided what to say. "They don't remember you because I had the whole town sprayed with forgetful dust."
"You what?" Uncle Jake cried.
"When everyone found out what you did, there was chaos in the streets," Granny Relda said, as she cleaned up donut crumbs. "There was a mob outside my door for two weeks. People were getting hurt. It had to be done."
"What did you do?" the girls asked Uncle Jake.
Their uncle ignored the question. "So everyone has forgotten about me?"
"Not everyone," Granny continued. "Mirror and Mr. Canis remember you."
"Mom, Mr. Canis is dead," Uncle Jake reminded her. Granny flinched but then regained her composure.
"And Baba Yaga, of course," the old woman continued.
"Baba Yaga! Well that's just great! A mentally deranged cannibal who collects human bones still remembers me. How did I get so lucky?"
Uncle Jake left the room, snatched his overcoat from the hall closet, and opened the front door.
"Where are you going?" Granny Relda asked.
"To warm up the car," he called. "Get your coats, girls, and try not to forget all about me before you get outside." He stomped out and slammed the door behind him.
The girls stared at their grandmother but she wouldn't meet their eyes. "Puck snuck in late last night. Sabrina, run up and invite him along. I'm sure he's feeling a bit left out."
Sabrina wanted to know more about what her Uncle Jake had done, but Granny Relda had an increasingly familiar expression on her face. The old woman didn't want to talk.
*
The last person in the world whom Sabrina wanted to invite anywhere was Puck. She reluctantly climbed the steps and knocked on his door several times, but there was no answer. She pushed it open and inspected the ground for catapults, bear traps, secret levers, and stink bombs. The coast seemed clear, so she stepped inside.
She called out for the prankster but there was no response. After a couple more shouts she decided to give up. Just then there was a pop!
A stream of fire and smoke rose high into the sky and exploded into a thousand multicolored lights, followed by an ear-shaking boom!
Moments later, another trail of smoke whistled into the sky. The fireworks seemed to be coming from over a hill beyond the lagoon.
The path up the hill was littered with broken toys and melted army men. Shattered marbles, stretched-out Slinkys, and the heads of some Hungry Hungry Hippos were scattered everywhere. At the end of the path was a clearing where Sabrina found Puck sitting on a jewel-encrusted throne wearing his military medals. His chimpanzee army crowded around him, all reaching for a box of matches Puck held in his hands, as the boy lectured them on the art of war.
"Johnson, step up here," he said. One of the chimps stepped out of the crowd and approached the boy. "Johnson, the enemy is everywhere. You might even have to kill one of your own men if you were to discover that they were sympathetic to the enemy's cause. Could you take out your best friend if you had to?"