"Your Uncle Jake was born a year later, shortly after Matilda passed away from pneumonia. Basil was proud of his boys and was determined that they would carry on the family responsibility. Even when they were babies, he would stand over their cribs and read them fairy tales. When they were five, he set them loose in the Hall of Wonders, giving them free rein and sets of keys of their own. When other boys their age were playing baseball, Henry and Jacob were playing with magic wands and flying carpets and dragons. By the time they were young men, they were as apt at magical weaponry and lore as any Everafter in the town."
Uncle Jake cleared his throat. "I'll take it from here, Mom. When your father turned twenty, he was in love with someone. This was before he met your mother," he explained. "She was an Everafter and it broke his heart to know she was trapped in this town. It broke my heart to see him so sad, especially on his birthday. I wanted to give him something special. So I turned off the barrier so she could escape."
Everyone gasped, especially Sheriff Hamstead. "How?" he squealed.
"I snuck into Baba Yaga's house and found her spell book. The spell I discovered was simple, and it would only shut the barrier down for a moment. It was all I needed. Hank's girlfriend waited for the spell to take effect and then she stepped through. We both couldn't wait to see Hank's face when he saw her waving to him from the other side. We had no idea what we had done.
"Dropping the barrier also dropped a few other similar barrier spells, including the one Baba Yaga had put on the asylum," Uncle Jake explained. "Anyone who had been put in there for the good of the town was freed, including Red Riding Hood and the Jabberwocky.
"Well, when I discovered what had happened, I went after the monster," Uncle Jake said. "I chased it through the forest without even thinking about what I would do if I caught up to it, but I never got a chance to come up with a plan. It found me and I was cornered on a cliff."
"I know the cliff," Sabrina said, realizing that she and her uncle had faced the monster at the same spot.
"And Grandpa came to save you," Daphne said.
"He was a hero who loved his sons," Granny Relda said softly.
"He never came home, again," Uncle Jake said. "They took him to the hospital and he died a day later. The monster disappeared into the woods along with Red Riding Hood, and they've been missing ever since."
Sabrina looked into her uncle's face and saw an old heartbreak.
"Your father needed some time to himself, so he left for New York City the day after the funeral," Granny Relda said. "He met your mother shortly after and they fell in love. They moved back here for a year, and Veronica was inducted into the family business just like I was, but each mystery they uncovered unnerved your father more and more. He worried something would happen to his new bride and when she announced she was pregnant with you, Sabrina, they left town. Your father vowed to me that his children would have nothing to do with magic, Everafters, or the Hall of Wonders."
"I left town after the funeral, too, and haven't been back until yesterday," Jake said. "I couldn't let that thing hurt another person because of something I did."
"Why don't I remember any of this happening?" Sheriff Hamstead asked, suspiciously.
"I'm sorry, Ernest. I had to make you all forget. When news spread that a Grimm knew how to drop the barrier, things got very ugly. People were getting hurt and I had to find a way to stop it."
"I've always wondered how I'd react if I knew I could break the spell. I hope I was a gentleman," Hamstead said.
Granny smiled. "You were one of my heroes."
The sheriff nodded. "I suppose I can't be angry. I've scattered a lot of forgetful dust myself. Any other big secrets, Relda?"
The old woman grinned uncomfortably.
"Never mind," the sheriff said.
Sabrina looked down at Puck. He was fevered, pale, and unconscious. "What can we do for him?" she asked. "He's hurt… badly," Granny replied.
"We can't let him die," Daphne said as tears spilled onto her cheeks.
"We should search the Hall of Wonders for something that will heal him," Sabrina said.
Granny pointed to a collection of empty tins, tubes, and bottles on the nightstand.
"Then we'll try something else," Sabrina argued.
"And we will fail, child," Mr. Canis said. "He's not like you. He's not even like most of the Everafters, creatures touched by magic. He's a creature of magic."
"Then what? We just give up? We have to do something!"
"He needs to be with his own people. He needs to be in Faerie," the old man said. "They will know how to help him."
"Let's go!" Daphne cried. "We can't," Granny said.
"The barrier," Sabrina whispered as she lowered her eyes. Puck was lying there in front of her, probably dying, all because of some stupid two-hundred-year-old spell.
"Wait, you said you knew how to turn off the barrier," Hamstead said to Uncle Jake.
"Absolutely not," Granny Relda said before her son could answer. "Red Riding Hood and the Jabberwocky escaped from the asylum when the barrier fell the first time. We can't risk them escaping the town, too."
"I have an idea that could solve all our problems," Uncle Jake said.
Everyone turned to him and listened.
"The Vorpal blade," Uncle Jake replied.
"You mean that thing Mr. van Winkle mentioned the other day?" Daphne asked.
"Lewis Caroll wrote about it in
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.