The Unusual Suspects (The Sisters Grimm, Book 2)

Sabrina was very good at creeping. In fact, she'd have said she was an expert. A year and a half in and out of an orphanage and foster homes had taught her how to step lightly on hardwood floors and avoid creaky beams. In the past she had used these skills to escape from one bad situation after another. In eighteen months, the sisters Grimm had run away from more than a dozen foster families. Some of the families had used them as personal servants while others expected them to be punching bags for their own obnoxious children. These days the girls didn't want to run away. Granny Relda had given them a home. But being sneaky still had its advantages. Especially when Sabrina was doing something she knew her grandmother would disapprove of.

When Sabrina reached the door at the top of the steps, she sorted through her own growing collection of keys and found the long brass skeleton key that fit it. Once it was unlocked, she took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, and then stepped inside.

The room was empty except for a full-length mirror that hung on the far wall. A single window allowed enough moonlight into the room for Sabrina to see by. She stepped up to the mirror and her reflection appeared. Her long blond hair and blue eyes glowed a ghostly milky blue, but Sabrina wasn't here to admire herself. Instead, she did what most people would think was impossible—she walked directly into the glass and disappeared.

The mirror was actually a doorway that led to an immense room Sabrina knew as the Hall of Wonders. In many ways it reminded Sabrina of Grand Central Station in New York City with its incredibly long, barrel-vaulted ceiling supported by towering marble columns. There were literally thousands or arched doorways on either side of the hall. Each door was labeled with a little brass plaque that revealed what was behind it: talking plants; giant living chess pieces; Babe, the Blue Ox; and thousands more impossibly interesting magical items and creatures, all collected by the Grimms for safekeeping. Granny called it the world's biggest walk-in closet. Sabrina had started to see it as her only hope.

She scanned the hall and spotted a lonely figure sitting in a high-backed chair several yards away. She headed in his direction.

"Mirror," the girl said to the short, squat man. "I think I've found something useful."

Mirror, as he was called, was a balding man with deep angular features and thick, full lips who lived inside the mirror. His was the face that had proclaimed Snow White "the fairest one of all" to the Wicked Queen. When he spotted Sabrina, he set a celebrity magazine he had been reading down and got up from his chair.

"I thought you'd given this up," he said.

"Granny's had us pretty busy," Sabrina explained. "So, let's get started."

"What? No hello? No how are you? How's the family? the little man complained.

"Sorry, Mirror, I don't have a lot of time."

"Apology accepted. So, kiddo, what's on the agenda tonight?"

"I found this thing in Burton's translation of The Arabian Nights," Sabrina said, opening one of her books and handing it to Mirror. He didn't even bother to look at the page.

"Listen, blondie, I assure you, if we had a jinni's lamp I'd have a lot more hair on my head and we'd all be living in Hawaii. Sweet-ums, don't you think that if your grandmother had access to that kind of power, your parents would have already been found?"

Sabrina frowned. She would spend the whole day researching ways to rescue her parents from their kidnappers, and every night, Mirror would shoot her ideas down one by one.

"Fine," Sabrina replied, handing Mirror another book she had opened already. "What about this?"

Mirror looked down at the book, flipped it to view its cover, and smiled. "L. Frank Baum, huh? Follow me, little cowpoke. I think we might just have that one in stock."

The little man spun around and headed down the long hallway. "The Golden Cap is one of the most interesting things the Wicked Witch ever owned, yet most people are more fascinated by her broomstick," he continued.

"I've been reading as much as I can," Sabrina replied, doing her best to keep up with Mirror's quick pace.

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," the little man said, spinning around on the girl. "So, you know how it works?"

"Yes, I put it on and the monkeys come. They'll do whatever I want them to."

"The only downside is the monkey smell," Mirror said. "That's a stink that never quite goes away."

After a short hike, Mirror stopped at a door labeled MAGICAL HATS and reached out his hand. Sabrina handed him her key ring.

"You're building quite a collection," he said disapprovingly. "Does your grandmother know you've been swiping her keys and making copies?"

Sabrina shook her head no.

"Well, you've got one for this door," he said. He opened the door and went inside. As Sabrina waited in the hall, she could see him rummaging through the room. He made quite a racket moving things around, knocking over a helmet in the process, which rolled across the floor with a clatter. Soon he returned with a gold-colored hard hat, which held a can of soda on each side. Tubes ran out of the cans and dangled below the chin strap. On the front of the hat the words EMERALD CITY GREEN SOX were printed in big green letters. Mirror dusted it off and handed it to Sabrina.

"This is the Golden Cap the Wicked Witch of the West used to summon the flying monkeys?" she said in disbelief.

"The Witch was a huge sports fan," Mirror replied. "The magic instructions are inside."

"You've got to be kidding me," Sabrina said as she read them.

"Afraid not."