Текст книги "Tales from the Hood"

Автор книги: Michael Buckley

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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 11 страниц)

“There’s Main Street!” Daphne shouted above the wind.

Seconds later, the flying carpet gently touched down outside an office building on the edge of town. Once everyone had stepped onto the sidewalk, the rug neatly rolled itself up, and Daphne hoisted it onto her shoulder.

“Wait here,” the pig-snouted creature said. “I’ll scout the neighborhood. It’s best to stay out of sight. There could be snipers in the trees.”

“I’m sure there are no snipers—” Granny started, but the little monster raced off before she could finish.

Sabrina and her sister followed the old woman down Main Street. It was particularly lonely that day. Many of the little shops that lined the street were shuttered and closed. The sidewalks were empty and the roadway clear of cars. The town’s one and only traffic light had burned out. As far as Sabrina knew, Ferryport Landing had never been a bustling center of commerce, but there had been a time not so long ago when its little stores were filled with customers. Now most were abandoned. Signs hung in windows declaring EMERGENCY LIQUIDATIONS and AFTER 150 YEARS IN BUSINESS WE’RE CLOSING OUR DOORS. Those that weren’t shut had a much more ominous sign in their windows: a bloodred handprint, the mark of the Scarlet Hand. One now hung on the door of Old King Cole’s Restaurant.

“Looks like they got to him, too,” Sabrina said, pointing out the sign.

“We’re running out of places to eat in this town,” Daphne grumbled. Normally, Daphne’s single-minded obsession with eating would have made Sabrina smile, but the little girl was making a troubling point. The town was closing its doors to humans and any Everafters who didn’t join the Scarlet Hand.

Eventually the family stopped outside of a small office building with huge picture windows and a manicured lawn.

“What are we doing here?” Sabrina asked. “I thought we were going to the jail.”

“I don’t think visiting the jail is a good use of our time,” Granny said. “Nottingham has been most uncooperative. We haven’t seen Mr. Canis in a month, and it doesn’t look like things are going to change. I’ve decided to hire someone who can help us.”

“We’re going to meet an Everafter, aren’t we?” Sabrina said, looking at her sister. She knew that Daphne usually couldn’t resist meeting fairy-tale characters. She was known to squeal with delight and bite her hand when in the presence of one. “I guess it won’t be such a big deal now that you’re a grown-up.”

“No big deal at all,” Daphne said, quite seriously.

When their security guard returned and informed them that they were safe from snipers, the group went inside and climbed the stairs to the third floor of the building. There they found a single door with a sign next to it that read THE SHERWOOD GROUP: ATTORNEYS AT LAW. Sabrina scanned her memory for the name Sherwood, but nothing came to mind.

Granny opened the door to the office and ushered the girls inside. There they found themselves in the middle of a chaotic battle. Sabrina saw a number of men wearing business suits, but they were acting far from professional. They were swordfighting, arm-wrestling, drinking beer from tall ceramic cups, and singing a rambling English tune as loudly as possible. The lyrics seemed to be about fighting or stealing or combinations of both, and once one song was finished the men immediately broke into another.

“Hello?” Granny Relda called out, but the men didn’t seem to notice her. They kept up with their violent games, laughing at the top of their lungs. They seemed to be having a lot of fun, despite the fact that two of the men were standing on top of a desk, swords in hand, slashing at one another. Each was an expert swordsman, and not a single blow found its mark. What was strangest about the two men was that each was laughing and complimenting the other on their deadly assaults.

“I should get you out of here,” the family’s bodyguard squeaked. “These men are barbarians.”

“We’ll be fine,” Granny assured the creature. “I’m told that this is how they behave all the time. We’re perfectly safe.”

Just then, a potted fern flew past them and smashed against a wall. There was a loud cheer that suddenly died when the men noticed how close they had come to harming the family.

“Gentlemen! We have clients,” a huge man with a dark, untamed beard shouted. He must have been more than six-anda-half-feet tall with a chest as wide as a car bumper and hands as big as basketballs. His eyes were deep-set and fierce, giving him a wild expression that was offset by his wide, beaming smile. “Welcome to the Sherwood Group!”

“Welcome!” the men shouted in unison as they held up their pints of beer.

“I have an appointment with Robin Hood,” Granny said.

“Robin Hood!” the girls cried. Sabrina glanced at her sister, waiting for the little girl to squeal with happiness, but Daphne caught her looking.

“No big deal, huh?” Sabrina asked.

Daphne shook her head, though it was obvious she was struggling to hold in her excitement.

One of the sword-fighting men leaped from the desk, thrust his sword in a sheath, and rushed to take Granny’s hand. He was a tall, handsome man wearing a dark green pin-striped suit and sporting a red goatee and moustache. His wavy hair hung to his shoulders, framing a broad smile and bushy eyebrows that gave him a mischievous appearance. He looked like the men Sabrina had seen on the covers of romance novels.

He kissed Granny on the hand. “Welcome. I’m Robin Hood, and these miserable louts are my merry men. We’re the Sherwood Group, and we’ve been suing the rich and giving to the poor since 1987.”

obin Hood and his burly companion led the family down a hallway and into an office lined with floor-to-ceiling windows offering an amazing panorama of the Hudson River. The sun was creeping over the mountains and its rays painted the waves a glittery gold. A tiny sailboat drifted by and a few hungry seagulls hovered over the water searching for breakfast.

Robin Hood’s office was tastefully decorated with framed law degrees and shelves of thick legal books. The only things that seemed out of place were a bow strung with a heavy cord, hanging from a shelf above the door, and a quiver of arrows leaning in the corner.

“Mrs. Grimm, please come in,” the man said, helping the family into the leather chairs in front of a huge oak desk. The pig-snouted creature scouted the room, peeking into a potted plant and beneath a leather sofa, before it crossed its arms and stationed itself by the door.

“I apologize for the commotion when you came in,” Robin said. “You can take the men out of the forest but you can’t take the forest out of the men. Allow me to introduce my associate, Little John.”

“Happy to meet you,” the man roared. Sabrina reached out to shake his hand but he swatted her on the back in what he must have thought was a friendly pat. It nearly knocked Sabrina out of her chair.

“Mr. Hood, these are my granddaughters, Sabrina and Daphne.”

“Please call me Robin,” he said as he bent over and kissed each girl on the hand. Sabrina nearly fainted. He was so handsome and kind. Her hands got sweaty and her heart started to race. She realized she was staring at him, and worse, she couldn’t seem to stop.

“I’ve heard quite a bit about the famous sisters Grimm,” he continued, patting Sabrina on the head like she was a beagle, then turning to shake Granny’s hand. “How can I help you, Mrs. Grimm?”

“Robin, I need a lawyer,” Granny Relda said.

“Then you’ve come to the right place. My staff and I are all first-rate lawyers, though admittedly we got our degrees online. I hope that won’t be a problem. Ferryport Landing doesn’t have a law school, or a college, or even a high school, really.” Robin took a seat and put his feet up on the desk, revealing the leather boots he wore instead of loafers. “So, were you injured on the job? A victim of malpractice? Bought some toys with too much lead paint?”

“Actually, I have a friend who has been arrested,” Granny said.

Robin and Little John shared a worried look. “The Wolf,” Robin said unsteadily as he sat up straight in his chair.

“We prefer to call him Mr. Canis,” the old woman replied. “He was arrested a month ago and there are still no charges filed against him. The sheriff is also preventing us from visiting him.”

Little John stepped forward. “That’s unfortunate, Mrs. Grimm, but I’m not sure we can help. We’re not criminal defense lawyers.”

“He’s right. We’re litigators,” Robin added. “We sue companies that spill chemicals into rivers or make products that break, and we help people get settlements when they slip on the sidewalk. We’ve never argued a case in criminal court.”

“You must have some training,” Granny said. “The only two criminal defense lawyers who lived in Ferryport Landing were human, and as you know the mayor has run most of us out of town. We’re desperate.”

Robin Hood got up from his desk and gazed out the window at the river. Little John joined him and the two men talked in low voices for several moments. They seemed to be having an argument, but eventually the men nodded and shook hands. When they were finished, Robin and Little John turned back to the family.

“It would be impossible to reason with Nottingham,” Robin said. “He hates me even more than he hates you and your family.”

“Hiring us will make your problems a million times worse,” Little John replied.

Sabrina looked over at her grandmother. The old woman’s hopeful expression began to fade.

“Plus, if I help you, Mayor Heart will shut this office down by sunset,” Robin said.

Granny sighed with defeat and stood up. Sabrina and Daphne did the same. “I understand. We won’t waste any more of your time.”

Suddenly, Robin Hood leaped in front of them. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t do it!”

“You’ll take the case?” the old woman cried.

“We wouldn’t pass this up for the world,” Little John bellowed.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been a thorn in Nottingham’s side,” Robin added with relish.

“I’ll get Friar Tuck started on the paperwork,” said Little John.

“Good thinking, my large friend.” Robin turned to the family.

“As for us, we have an appointment with my favorite sheriff!”

Fifteen minutes later, Sabrina, Daphne, Granny Relda, Robin Hood, and Little John were pushing open the doors of the police station. The ugly little bodyguard, who Sabrina had learned was a miniature orc named Barto, followed behind, darting into alleyways, blocking traffic, and rushing about, fully prepared to leap into combat to protect the group. Sabrina found him painfully annoying but Granny refused to send him home.

The police station was a mess. Boxes of files were scattered about. Many had been tipped over, rummaged through, and abandoned. There were big maps of the town on the walls, some covered in scribbled writing, and the front desk was stained with coffee-cup rings and cigarette burns.

Robin approached the counter and rang a tarnished brass bell. The chime was answered by an enraged growl from a back room.

“WHAT NOW?” a voice shouted.

“There he is,” Robin said as his face broke into a mischievous smile.

“As pleasant as ever,” Little John added.

A door flew open, rattling the full-length mirror on the wall behind it. Nottingham barreled into the room like an angry bull. When he spotted the Grimms he snarled, but when he saw Robin and Little John, he reared back on his heels in shock. He examined the group the way a hyena eyes its prey. Sabrina had seen this expression before. He’d had it the night he tried to kill Daphne. It made the purple scar that started at the tip of Nottingham’s eye and ended at the corner of his mouth seem to pulsate.

“You!” Nottingham roared as he pointed an angry finger at the lawyers.

“Us,” Robin replied. It was obvious to Sabrina that the sheriff and Robin Hood had shared a long, bumpy history and that their friend in the green suit had gotten the better of it. She made a mental note to read up on Robin Hood’s adventures when she got a chance.

“Interesting outfit you’ve got there, Nottingham,” Robin continued.

The sheriff was wearing leather pants, and boots that reached his knees. His shirt was black and billowy, with silver buttons carved in the shape of human skulls. He had a long, swishy cape tied at his neck and a sheathed dagger strapped to his waist.

“Is this what they mean when they call something old school?” Little John continued. “You do realize this isn’t the fifteenth century?”

“There’s nothing old-fashioned about this,” Nottingham said, brandishing his dagger.

“Oh, Nottingham, you do enjoy the drama,” Robin said. “We didn’t come here to fight you. We came to see our client.”

“Client? What client?”

“Mr. Canis.”

Suddenly, Sheriff Nottingham’s rage disappeared and he roared with laughter. “So the mongrel has a lawyer now? Hilarious!”

“I’m glad you’re amused,” Robin said. “I find what is passing as the rule of law in this town just as funny. You arrested Canis four weeks ago and have yet to charge him with a crime. If you aren’t going to charge him you must set him free—that’s the law in Ferryport Landing.”

“I AM THE LAW!” Nottingham shouted. “I’ll do what I want with that monster. He’s a murderer and he’ll hang if I have anything to say about it.”

“I remember a time when you used to say the same thing about me,” Robin replied. “As for Canis—a murderer? Who was the victim?”

Nottingham chuckled. “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard the story? It goes a little something like this: A child wearing a red hood journeyed to visit her poor, sick grandmother. A monster came along and ate the grandmother. No one lived happily ever after.”

“That happened six hundred years ago!” Granny exclaimed.

“Justice has no time limit,” the sheriff replied.

“Well, if justice is what you’re after, then there must be a trial. I need to meet with Canis and prepare his defense,” Robin said.

“Dear me, perhaps I am ill. I hear you speak but your words are nonsense. You don’t give a rabid dog a trial—you put him to sleep before he can hurt anyone else.”

“You’re going to kill him?” Sabrina cried.

Daphne burst into tears. Sabrina did her best to comfort her sister, but she was too shocked to speak more.

“Oh, here come the waterworks,” the sheriff said, his face full of mocking concern. He bent over and took Daphne’s chin in his gloved hand. “Don’t cry, little one. Save your tears. You’ll need them sooner than you think.”

Little John grabbed Nottingham’s arm and jerked him away from the little girl. He took the Sheriff’s hand in his own and squeezed and squeezed until Sabrina thought she heard bones snap. Nottingham yanked his hand away.

“Never let it be said that I don’t have a kind heart,” he growled, caressing his mangled hand. “I’ll let you all see your precious pet one last time before he goes off to doggie heaven.”

He led the group down a long hallway. Puddles had collected on the floor and a dark green mold was creeping up the walls. At the end of the hallway was an iron door with an enormous lock. Nottingham inserted a key and pushed the heavy door open, and a creak echoed off the walls. Inside, the large room was split into four separate jail cells, two on either side of a walkway down the center. A lone fluorescent light hanging from the ceiling blinked on and off, fighting a losing battle with the room’s hungry shadows.

“You’ve got visitors, mutt,” Nottingham said, running his curved dagger along the bars of one of the cells. The highpitched screech it made pierced Sabrina’s eardrums. “Have your talk and make it quick.”

Sabrina peered into the darkness. In the far corner a hulking figure huddled against the wall. His limbs were bound to enormous chains. Sabrina felt a familiar tingle, one she felt only in the presence of magic, and guessed the chains were enchanted. A normal chain could never hold a creature with the strength of the Big Bad Wolf.

As she stepped closer, an odor drifted into her nose: a combination of filth, sweat, and something less identifiable, something wild. It reminded Sabrina of the time her mother had taken the girls to the Bronx Zoo. While they watched the lions in their pit, a zookeeper tossed in slabs of raw meat for the animals. The lions fought over the scraps, roaring and threatening with their heavy claws. A smell rose up from the pit that afternoon that frightened Sabrina. It was the smell of something savage.

Granny approached the cell, seemingly unfazed. She pressed her hands against the bars and stared into the shadows. “Old friend,” she said softly.

There was a rustling in the dark and then a deep voice broke the silence.

“Go away, Relda.” The voice was tired and rough.

“We’ve come to help you,” Daphne said as she joined her grandmother at the bars. “We hired lawyers. We’re going to get you out of here.”

Nottingham laughed. He sounded like a hungry rat excited over a piece of cheese.

Robin and Little John joined Granny and Daphne at the bars. Robin took a small recording device out of his suit pocket and turned it on. “Mr. Canis, I’m Robin Hood of the Sherwood Group and this is my partner, Little John. Our firm is working to release you. I’m sure we can clear this up soon. In the meantime, you’ve been arrested for murder, and it would be in your best interest to tell me everything you remember about the crime.”

“You’re wasting your time,” Canis said. “I have no memory of the event. I rarely know what the Wolf does. I only know it was something horrible.”

“You don’t remember anything about it? Then how do you know you did it?” Robin asked.

Canis shook his head. “I just do.”

Robin and Little John shared a worried look. Sabrina couldn’t believe she heard surrender in the old man’s voice.

Robin shook his head. “Mr. Canis, I don’t think you understand, we—”

Canis leapt to his feet and let out a horrible roar. It was only then that Sabrina realized how much the old man had changed. When he rose to his full height, he was nearly eight feet tall and thickly muscled. His arms were long, and his ugly, taloned hands dragged on the ground. His ears, pointy and sprouting hair, had migrated to the top of his head. His nose was a slippery snout with glistening fangs hanging below, and his shock of white hair was now brown flecked with black. Sabrina’s mind reeled. This couldn’t be Mr. Canis. How could he have changed so much in four weeks? She was sure this had to be a twisted joke, some kind of terrible prank cooked up by Nottingham for his own amusement. But then she saw the undeniable proof that this creature was her old friend. The beast was wearing a black eye patch on his left eye. It covered a wound that Nottingham had inflicted not long ago. She knew the truth. Canis was losing his battle with the vicious Wolf inside him. Out of instinct, she leaped forward and pulled her sister and grandmother to safety.

“Sabrina!” Granny cried, bewildered. There was disappointment and anger in her voice. “You have nothing to fear from Mr. Canis.”

“Do not scold her, Relda,” Mr. Canis said. “She might be the only one in your family who sees me for what I am. You’d be wise to pay more attention to her.”

Granny shook her head, denying his words.

“What have you done to him?” Daphne demanded, racing at the sheriff with fists clenched. It took all of Sabrina’s strength to hold her back.

“Get control over your brats, Mrs. Grimm, or they’ll be enjoying the cell next to your friend,” Nottingham said.

“Girls, attacking the sheriff won’t help Mr. Canis,” Granny said, pulling Sabrina and Daphne to her side.

“Nothing can help me,” Canis grunted. “Relda, take the girls and leave. I don’t need your lawyers or your help. I’m right where I should be. A cage is where I belong.”

“Old friend—”

Canis shook his head. “Your old friend is gone.”

“That can’t be true.”

“Not yet . . . but soon,” Canis said wearily. “Fighting the Wolf’s control over this body is a constant battle, one I am losing. When the war is over, it is best if I am under lock and key.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Daphne said as she pulled away from Granny and approached the cell. She reached through the bars and took Canis’s hand in her own, caressing it gently. His was big and strong with nails like railroad spikes. A memory flashed in Sabrina’s brain—once, not so long ago, the Wolf had been unleashed and had snatched Sabrina around the neck. He had promised to eat her. The memory made Sabrina shiver down to her toes.

Sheriff Nottingham ran his dagger against the cell bars again. “Time’s up!” he shouted. “Get out of my jail.”

Little John turned to Mr. Canis. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back.”

Canis crawled back into the shadows, into the corner of his cell. “Do not waste your time on me, Relda,” he whispered as they left.

That afternoon Robin Hood called to update Granny Relda. As he had predicted, Mayor Heart and Sheriff Nottingham came to the offices of the Sherwood Group with an order to seize the property and premises of the business. The merry partners were tossed out into the street. Robin and Little John were forced to continue their work from an empty table at Sacred Grounds, a coffee shop run by Uncle Jake’s girlfriend, Briar Rose. Much to everyone’s surprise, Robin and Little John were thrilled.

“He said he and Little John have never been happier,” Granny Relda explained when she hung up the phone. “They’re Nottingham’s biggest annoyance again. I don’t know if Briar’s coffee shop sells beer but they both sounded rip-roaring drunk.”

“Being merry as often as those guys are can’t be good for their livers,” Uncle Jake said.

Unfortunately, Robin’s newfound joy came with some very bad news. He and Little John were running into one roadblock after another. The Ferryport Landing justice system had collapsed since the days when Mayor Charming ran the town. Since Nottingham had become the sheriff, there had been few arrests other than Mr. Canis’s. Not a single official document had been filed regarding any crime, and it seemed as if the sheriff and the mayor were making up laws as they went along. No one ever got a trial, so there were no judges to ensure justice.

Worse still, there was nothing the family could do to help. When Granny offered, Robin informed her that the best thing they could do was to stay by the phone and wait for the lawyers to call with an update. So everyone tried to find ways to keep themselves busy. Uncle Jake searched the magic mirror for Goldilocks. Granny busied herself making earthworm crepes. Puck lay on the couch trying to break his personal record for most farts in an hour. Sabrina and Daphne turned their attention to the family’s enormous book collection to research everything they could find on the Big Bad Wolf.

Sabrina and Daphne’s father had kept fairy-tale stories out of their house, leaving the girls with a tremendous disadvantage now that their jobs were to investigate crimes in the Everafter community. Still, even Sabrina had heard the Wolf’s most famous story—Little Red Riding Hood. The way she recalled it, a really lousy mother sent her kid into the woods with a basket of food and everyone was supposed to be surprised when an animal attacked her. Sabrina was wondering what kind of lame parents Red Riding Hood must have had when she noticed the pale and nervous expression on Daphne’s face.

“No one told me this story,” Daphne said, pointing to the book she was reading.

“What story, liebling?” Granny Relda asked as she came in from the kitchen.

Daphne held up a dusty copy of Children’s and Household Tales, better known as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. “The story of Little Red Riding Hood,” she said. “Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm called it the story of Little Red Cap. This version is . . . gross.”

Granny shook her head knowingly. “It is troubling, but don’t forget, Mr. Canis isn’t like the Wolf in that story.”

Puck, who had been ignoring everyone up until that point, leaped up and rushed across the room. “What did he do?”

“He ate Red’s grandmother,” Daphne said.

“Ate her?” Sabrina cried.

“That’s awesome!” Puck exclaimed.

Sabrina ignored Puck. “I thought he killed her.”

“The killing part usually happens when you eat someone,” Puck said matter-of-factly.

“That was a long time ago,” Granny said. “We weren’t there. Some of the story could be exaggerated.”

Daphne scanned the old book. “It says here that Red’s parents sent her into the forest with a basket of food. She was supposed to take it to her sick grandmother but along the way she met the Wolf. He asked her where she was going and she told him.”

“Mistake number one,” Puck said.

Daphne continued. “The wolf raced ahead, ate her grandmother, then put on her clothes.”

“Creepy,” Puck commented.

“Then it says here that when Red showed up at the house he ate her, too. That’s not right. Little Red Riding Hood is alive.”

“And crazy as ever,” Sabrina said. Just thinking about the little girl gave her goose pimples. She calmed down when she remembered Red was locked up in the Ferryport Landing Memorial Hospital’s mental health ward. It had been only a few months since the delirious Red had stormed through town on the back of a Jabberwocky, causing serious mayhem.

“You can’t put a lot of weight in this story,” Granny explained. “There are a lot of contradictory facts that don’t add up, and there are many, many versions.”

“That’s true. Now I remember this story. My father told me it once,” Puck said. “Something about a woodcutter who saved Red and her granny by cutting the Wolf’s belly open and freeing them. Then I think he loaded the Wolf’s belly up with stones and tossed him in the river to drown. I’d like to meet that guy. He’s totally hard-core!”

“Who cares how many versions there are of the story? He eats people in all of them, right?” Sabrina asked as she glanced at the open pages of the heavy book. There was a horrible illustration of the Wolf attacking the little girl.

Puck nodded. “Don’t forget he tried to kill the Three Little Pigs and a whole family of talking lambs. I tell you, the guy’s got anger-management issues.”

Sabrina’s mind was drowning in all the new information. She turned to her grandmother, who seemed nervous and fidgety. “Did he really do this?”

The room was silent. Granny lowered her eyes.

Sabrina was dumbfounded. “And you let him live here with us? You left us alone with him! He slept in a room right across the hall!”

“The Wolf is the murderer, Sabrina. Mr. Canis is not responsible,” Granny said.

“Mr. Canis is the Wolf!” Sabrina cried.

“No, you are wrong, Sabrina,” Granny snapped. “Mr. Canis and the Wolf are two separate people.”

“Who share the same body,” Sabrina argued. “Mr. Canis taps into him when he needs his power. He’s been changing into the Wolf for months.”

“OK, everyone, let’s calm down,” Daphne said.

But Granny was agitated and kept arguing. “Mr. Canis has always been in charge, or at least he has been since the pigs got ahold of him. It wasn’t until recently that he lost control of the creature inside him.”

“Granny, you saw him today,” Sabrina said. “If we manage to get him out of jail, then what happens? What are we going to do if the Wolf takes over? There will be no way to stop him.”

“Sabrina! Mr. Canis is our friend!” the old woman cried.

“Our friend is a bloodthirsty monster!”

Granny’s face turned red and her lips quivered in anger. Sabrina had never seen the old woman lose her temper so quickly. Sure, Granny had been angry in the past, but this was something far beyond that.

“Sabrina Grimm, go to your room!”

Sabrina reeled back. “What? I haven’t been sent to my room since I was seven years old!”

“Then it’s long overdue!”

Sabrina looked around at her family, hoping someone could explain what had happened, but they all had the same expression on their faces. They were angry with her, too. All she did was point out the obvious. Mr. Canis was turning into a vicious killer, and no one knew how to stop it. Wasn’t it best for everyone if he was locked up safe and sound?

Outnumbered and bewildered, Sabrina marched up the steps and into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. She threw herself on her bed and fought back tears. Crying would be like admitting to everyone that she was still a child, and worse, that her opinions were no more valid than a little kid’s. They could send her to her room but that didn’t make her wrong. Someone needed to ask if they weren’t all better off with Mr. Canis in a cage.

“Are you well?” a voice asked from beneath the bed.

Sabrina leaped up and backed against the wall. “Who’s there?”

“I’m part of your security detail,” the voice said. “I’m guarding your bed.”

Sabrina groaned. “I could really use some privacy right now.”

“Sorry, boss’s orders. I can’t—”

“If you don’t get out from under my bed right now, I’m going to drag you out and punt you through the window.”

Sabrina heard scuffling, and a moment later a little creature with a bright-red nose, batlike ears, and furry feet crawled out from under the bed. He brushed himself off and examined Sabrina. “I suppose I could take a coffee break.”

Sabrina said nothing, only pointed at the door, and a second later the creature was gone.

She expected her grandmother to come to her, apologize for losing her temper, and tell her that everything was going to be OK. But after several hours, the old woman had still not appeared. Daphne and Uncle Jake were no-shows as well, and so was Puck, whom she would have bet money would come by just to gloat. Elvis poked his head in once. She called to him, but the big dog shook her off and disappeared down the hallway. Even the family pet was against her.

She was hardly surprised. She usually found herself butting heads with the others. Sabrina never seemed to do or say anything right, and she often felt as if she were a constant source of disappointment. It wasn’t fair. She had been trying very hard to embrace her responsibilities and had taken up detective training with all her energy. She had discovered she was even good at some of it. She excelled in tracking, clue finding, and self-defense. Just last week Granny had praised Sabrina for her problem-solving skills. Well, how could Sabrina be so smart last week and now be completely wrong about Canis? He himself had told Granny that Sabrina was the only one in the family who saw him for what he was. He had warned them all, and now she was being punished for listening.