“I’ll take that!” Nan gushed excitedly. “Bring ’em on.” When she had quit jumping around on the sidewalk, doing martial arts moves and knocking into complete strangers, she stood up suddenly and looked at Mina.
“Yeah, for some reason the Story is the driving force behind all of this. We can never underestimate and never trust the Story.”
“So what happened on the tour was a fairy tale story? So cool, which one?” Nan was walking backward and kept throwing quick glances over her shoulder.
“I have an idea, but it doesn’t make sense.” Mina put her hands in her jacket pockets. Shaking her head, Mina decided it was nothing and kept walking.
“So how do we go about finding this book? You said your father found it in the library. What about your uncle? How did the Grimoire come to your uncle?”
Mina face turned down in anger. “It never came to Uncle Jack.”
“But I thought you said that it comes to the Grimm descendants and helps them?”
“I did, but it doesn’t always decide to help them. It chose not to reveal itself to my Uncle Jack. It didn’t help him, and now he’s dead.”
“But, Mina, it came to your father, and he still died.” Nan put her hand on Mina’s shoulder and looked into her face. “All we can do is pray that it chooses to help you.”
Mina nodded her head and took a deep breath. “I’m just so scared. Nan, what if it doesn’t choose to help me and I’m stuck trying to fight off more people like the man with the wolf tattoo alone? I can’t do it. I need its help, and I’m scared it won’t help me.” Mina sniffled, trying to hold back the tears.
Nan grabbed her friend in a huge hug. “Mina, you’re the sweetest, most kind-hearted person I know. The Grimoire will come to you—how can it not? And if it doesn’t, you’ve got me, and I’m ten times, no, twenty times more helpful than a book. I told you not to wear that hideous dress to homecoming, and you didn’t. I kept you away from that disastrous-looking egg salad at the buffet, and then everyone else got sick. I even stood up for you when someone made fun of you for always wearing hoodies.”
“Someone made fun of me?” Mina asked. This was the first that she had heard about that.
“What matters is that I’m here for you, and with me on your side, you will always win.” Nan grinned and put her arm through Mina’s.
Her best friend was right. With Nan’s gumption and determination, they could face anything. There were times when Mina felt as if she was kryptonite to anyone who came near her, except for Nan. Nan was immune to Mina’s bad luck and seemed to thrive off warding it away. It was almost as if Nan was her personal good luck charm.
“Oohh! We have to go in here and see the puppies!” Nan squealed and forcefully dragged Mina into Pawpers Pet’s. The door jingled when they walked in, and immediately Mina was hit by the scent of dog, urine, and bleach, so strong it nearly knocked her over. She fought the urge to breathe through the sleeve of her red jacket, knowing it would give Nan a reason to tease her.
Mina didn’t care for pet stores. She loved animals, but hated going in and seeing hundreds of caged dogs, cats, birds, and mice. To her it was the same as walking into a prison and being asked to pick out a cute inmate to take home and care for. She sighed and walked over to Nan, who was already gushing over a playful Pomeranian and American Eskimo puppy.
“Oh, aren’t you the cutest? Yes, you are! You’re the sweetest thing since cotton candy,” Nan was saying. The pups yipped and crawled over each other in an attempt to lick the glass window where her hand rested. Before long, a cute red-haired employee named Greg, spotted Nan’s interest and offered to bring the puppies to the viewing pen.
Nan squealed with glee. “Did you hear that, Mina? We can hold them and play with them.” By the time Nan turned back, she was nearly as excited as the puppies in the kennel. Somehow Mina didn’t want to be stuck in a 4 x 4 cubicle with the hyperactive Nan and two pups.
“Uh, I think I’ll pass this time. I’m going to check out the rest of the pets.” Mina backed away from Nan, who was already adrift in her own world. She got an indifferent look from Greg, who was either busy sizing up his new customer or trying to score Nan’s number.
Leaving the two of them, Mina walked past the parakeets and canaries, when a melodic whistle made her stop and turn in surprise. The canaries were singing. She leaned in toward the birds slowly to listen to their song, careful to not startle or interrupt them. They fluttered about their white cage, seemingly impervious to Mina’s nearness. When the singing stopped, Mina froze, hoping that they would continue their song.