Текст книги "Tales from the Hood"

Автор книги: Michael Buckley

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 11 страниц)

“What’s at the bank?” Mirror asked.

“The answer to a lot of our problems,” Sabrina replied.

Moments later, the rug was darting toward downtown, the air whipping Sabrina’s hair behind her as she soared over the treetops. She concentrated on the weapon she would soon possess. Whatever it was, Swineheart and Boarman said it was powerful. If it helped three out-of-shape piggies beat a monster, it might just be what her family needed. She clutched Daphne’s little key in her hand and imagined what might be inside the safe-deposit box. Perhaps it was a bazooka, or a laser gun, or some kind of device that fired lava.

Soon the bank came into sight and the little rug floated to the ground. It landed on the deserted sidewalk in front of the building. Sabrina glanced around, careful that no one was watching as she stepped off the carpet. It automatically rolled itself up and Sabrina stashed it behind a nearby bush.

The streetlights that once illuminated the quaint neighborhood were black and burned out. Ferryport Landing’s Main Street had never been Broadway, but now it seemed desperately lonely. With the coast clear, she climbed the steps of the bank. Before she tried the door she noticed a sign that read closed. Sabrina could have kicked herself. Of course the bank was going to be closed. It was nighttime. Her over-eagerness to retrieve the weapon kept her from thinking clearly. Now what was she going to do? She couldn’t go back home and try during the day. Her family was always around and Daphne would notice that the key was missing.

She sat down on the stoop, contemplating her limited choices, when a crazy thought popped into her head. Why not break into the bank? She had done lots of crazy things since moving to Ferryport Landing. Why would this one be any crazier? She could break a window and crawl inside. If she hurried, she could open the safe-deposit box, grab the weapon, and escape before Nottingham arrived. It was as good a plan as any.

She stood up and studied the bank, sizing it up like it was an adversary. She had broken out of many places in her lifetime. As foster children, she and her sister were constantly escaping the lunatics the state sent them to live with. She recalled the Deasy family, who owned and operated an ostrich farm in Hoboken, New Jersey. The birds were mean and frightening, chasing Daphne nearly nonstop for the first three days. When one of them spit in Sabrina’s face, she knew that the sisters Grimm had to go. After a week of trying, Sabrina managed to pick the lock on the front gate, freeing herself and Daphne and the entire herd of stinky giant birds. She and her sister hopped the gate on the underground train that led to New York City, and they were back in the Big Apple hours before the Hoboken Police Department managed to track and capture the first of the Deasys’ twenty-five ostriches. If Sabrina could pick a lock, she could certainly throw a rock through a window.

Sabrina searched the street for a stone heavy enough to crack the bank’s thick security windows. She found a good sharp one and headed back to spot a place to fling it. She circled around the back of the building, found a window low to the ground, and peeked inside. There were wires attached to the window that led to a bright red bell on the wall. She guessed the bell would start to wail if the windows were broken. Once she was inside, she’d have to act fast. The last thing she needed was for Nottingham to show up and decide to be a police officer for once. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, then reared back, aimed, and tossed the rock. She prepared for the shattering of glass but it never came. Instead she heard a voice.

“Sabrina Grimm turns to a life of crime. I’m so proud of you.”

Sabrina recognized the voice immediately. It was Puck, and he had her rock clenched firmly in his hand.

“What are you doing here?” Sabrina demanded, dragging him into the shadows.

“Keeping an eye on you,” Puck said. “You slipped past all my security.”

“I’m not going to stay locked up in the house just ’cause you say we should,” Sabrina said. “I can take care of myself.”

“You are truly an ungrateful jerk. Do you know how much money I have to pay the troglodyte to sit inside the dirty clothes hamper? Not to mention the brownies living in the bushes outside and the ogre under the couch. Professionals are not cheap. Plus, I have to pay their dental insurance and contribute to their 401(k) plans. But do you appreciate it? NO! You run around this town willy-nilly, as if you had a death wish. Well, listen, bub, if your family gets killed, then I’m out in the cold. That means no more free meals. No more cable TV. Do you know what would happen to me if I had to go back down to just three or four channels?” Puck shuddered.

“Listen, everyone appreciates what you’re trying to do,” Sabrina said. “But at the moment, it’s getting in my way. Now, hand over that rock. I need it.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me about the need to break things,” Puck said. “If I don’t smash a window four or five times a day I don’t feel like myself. Still, it doesn’t seem like your style.”

“I’m not breaking windows just to break something. I need to get into the bank. There’s something inside I have to get,” Sabrina said.

“That’s what all the bank robbers say.”

“I’m not robbing the bank!”

“Then what are you going to steal? They chain the pens to the counters, you know.”

“I’m not stealing anything. I’m breaking in to get something that was given to me, and I can’t wait for the bank to open.”

“But you plan on breaking something to do it, right?”

“Yes.”

“OK, I’ll help.”

Sabrina felt like telling Puck to get lost, but she realized the fairy boy had some skills that might come in handy. Puck could do all kinds of things that human beings couldn’t.

“Actually—” Sabrina said.

Puck grinned and tossed the rock aside. “Allow me to call some friends.” He took a small wooden flute from his pocket and blasted a few notes into it. Moments later, they were standing in a tornado of little lights. There were hundreds of them buzzing past Sabrina’s face, clicking and chirping. Puck raised his hands and all the lights stopped in midair. Sabrina had met these creatures before. They were pixies, and they obeyed every command Puck gave them.

“Minions,” he said, “we need to get into this bank.”

The group of lights squeaked and flew toward the bank’s window. They seemed to study it for a moment, then they flew off, circling the building as if looking for a crack or crevice to invade. Moments later, Sabrina saw a few of them flying around inside the bank. They hovered in the window and buzzed to Puck.

“They’re opening the door for us now,” Puck said. Sabrina and Puck rushed around to the front door and hurried inside. Sabrina closed the door behind them in case anyone strolling down the street noticed it was wide open.

“I believe the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you,’” Puck said.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “We’ve got to act fast. This place might have a silent alarm, and if that’s the case, Nottingham is probably on his way.”

“What are we looking for?”

“Safe-deposit boxes. You’ll find them in a room with little drawers built into the walls.”

Puck repeated the description to the pixies and they flew off in different directions. Sabrina went searching on her own, opening one door after another. Each room she searched was a dead end, and each dead end made her more and more aware that Nottingham could arrive at any moment.

Luckily, Puck called out that the room had been found. She raced back the way she came and found him hovering in a doorway at the opposite end of the building. In the room they found three walls, each lined with little silver doors. The fourth wall supported an enormous round door that protected the valuables in the bank’s vault. Sabrina studied one drawer carefully. It had a number carved into its door and a tiny lock. Sabrina reached into her pocket and removed the silver key. The number printed on it read TH192.

“I need to open TH192,” she said, scanning the wall. There were so many doors. It could take hours to find the right one.

“What’s the big deal about this safe-deposit box?” Puck asked as he joined the search. Sabrina knew she couldn’t keep her secret from him any longer.

“Before we left New York City, Sheriff Hamstead gave Daphne this key and told her it opened a box that contained a powerful weapon. He told her to get it if Mr. Canis ever lost control of the Wolf. Hamstead said it was the only thing that could truly stop him.”

“If he gave it to Daphne, then how come you have it?” Puck asked.

Sabrina felt her face go red. “She doesn’t understand.”

“You stole it?”

Sabrina nodded. “I had to.”

Puck looked surprised.

“What? Are you disappointed? Is the Trickster King going to give me a lecture on being a good person? I’m doing this for the good of us all,” Sabrina argued. “This weapon might be able to fix Mr. Canis, too, and fight the Scarlet Hand. Then you could let your security guards go.”

Puck said nothing; he didn’t have to. Sabrina could sense his disapproval, though it boggled the mind. Who was Puck to tell her how to behave?

“Here it is,” he said.

Sabrina rushed to his side and checked the number on the drawer—it matched the one on the silver key. She slipped the key into the slot, turned it, and felt the latch open. Inside was a long metal box with a handle. She pulled it out, her mind swirling with possibilities. Carefully, she opened the top of the box. Inside was a small blue velvet bag tied at the top with string. The words the north wind were stitched on the fabric in gold. Sabrina took the bag in her hand. Whatever was inside was small and cylindrical. She was surprised by how light it was.

Sabrina untied the string and opened the bag. Wary of touching a magical item, she peered into the sack. She expected to find an ancient amulet that could shoot electricity or perhaps a magic wand, but instead, much to her surprise, she found a kazoo.

“What is it?” Puck said. He pulled the kazoo from the sack and examined it closely. “This is your secret weapon?”

Sabrina was too crushed to speak. She felt as if someone had just punched her in the stomach. All of her hopes, all of her needs, and all of her plans had just vanished before her eyes, replaced by someone’s idea of a twisted joke. “It’s a toy,” Sabrina said. “It’s a child’s toy.”

“How is this going to stop the Big Bad Wolf?”

“It won’t, you idiot. It’s a kazoo. Can’t you see? It’s someone’s idea of a prank.” She stormed out of the room and out the front door of the bank. Somehow that triggered the alarm and an earsplitting bell started ringing.

“Hey! You can’t just walk away on your own,” Puck said, chasing after her. “You need protection.”

“Why?” Sabrina said as she stepped out into the street. “What does it matter? The whole town is trying to kill us. My grandmother’s best friend is a murderer. We’re all dead anyway.”

“You still have me,” Puck said.

Sabrina scowled but said nothing.

“You don’t think I can protect you, do you?” Puck asked.

“I don’t think anyone can, Puck,” Sabrina cried. “At least not now.”

Puck’s face flushed red, but he said nothing.

“C’mon, we better get back to the house,” Sabrina said, changing her tone. She knew she had hurt him, but did he really expect that she would put her family’s safety in the hands of an immature fairy whose biggest enemy was a bar of soap?

“Just a minute,” Puck said as he stared at the little toy flute. “Maybe there’s something more to this kazoo. How does it work?”

“It’s a toy, Puck,” she said, snatching it out of his hands. “You blow into it.”

She put the kazoo into her mouth, took a deep breath, and blew. She had used a kazoo before. She knew there was a trick to making the sound—a sort of hum/blow into one end that makes a fuzzy musical note come out the other. But this kazoo didn’t do that. Instead, she felt the familiar uncomfortable tingle of magic. Then there was a horrible whooshing sound and an intense whipping wind and right before her eyes the windows of the bank imploded. The roof flew off the building and the walls crumbled. Even the paint on the sign peeled off and blew away, along with every nail, screw, and two-by-four. In a matter of seconds there was no evidence that a bank or any other kind of building had ever stood in front of her. When the wind died down, all that was left of the bank was the alarm, ringing loudly as if there was still something to protect.

Sabrina gaped at the kazoo, speechless.

“Well, if you don’t want it, I’ll take it,” Puck said.

abrina and Puck slipped back into the house without incident. After returning the flying carpet to Mirror, Puck followed Sabrina into her bedroom. There they found Daphne, still solidly asleep and producing deep, loud snores that sounded like a lovesick moose. Sabrina carefully placed the necklace and safe-deposit box key back around the little girl’s neck and breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t been caught. Puck watched from the corner with a frown on his face.

“Don’t give me any grief. I did what had to be done,” Sabrina said as she kicked off her shoes. She was too tired to put her pajamas back on and instead crawled under the blankets fully dressed.

“No lecture,” Puck said. “Still, we need to get something clear. From now on you need to check in with your bodyguards before you sneak out.”

“I can’t sneak out if someone knows I’m sneaking out,” Sabrina argued. “That takes the sneakiness out of the sneak. Besides, you’re taking this whole security thing too far. I don’t need bodyguards. I can handle myself just fine, and now that we have the kazoo . . .”

“So you’re not going to cooperate?”

Sabrina shook her head, sleepily. “No, I’m not and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Puck grinned. “Then I suppose I’m just helpless then, huh? I guess you’ve won?”

“Now you’re getting it,” Sabrina said. “Now go back to bed. I’m tired.”

Sabrina braced herself for another argument, but much to her surprise Puck turned and left the room.

Sabrina smiled and nestled into her bed. I think that boy is finally getting some sense, she thought. As she drifted off to sleep, she reached into her pants pocket and removed the sack that held the kazoo. She could feel the unhealthy ache that magic produced, but the bag seemed to dull the sensation. Regardless, she would have to be careful. Maybe she should find a hiding place for it so that the temptation didn’t overtake her. She had to be strong this time. After all, she couldn’t count on the others. This time, she was on her own.

The next morning, Sabrina awoke to a blinding light. The rising sun was flooding through her bedroom window and right into her eyes. She would have to remember to pull the blinds in the future. She reached for a pillow to pull over her head, but her wrist was caught on something. She sat up in bed and held her left hand up to her face. There was a steel bracelet wrapped tightly around her wrist. It was connected to a strong chain that was linked to a similar bracelet that was attached to the wrist of a shaggy-haired boy who was sleeping in a rocking chair next to her bed.

“PUCK!” Sabrina cried, pulling so hard on her end of the handcuffs that the boy fairy tumbled out of the chair and onto the floor. Unfortunately, the fall dragged her out of bed as well and she fell on top of him.

“What’s the story, morning glory?” Puck said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“What is this about?” Sabrina said, raising her hand and shaking the handcuff, thus shaking Puck’s arm as well.

“Unfortunately, it’s necessary,” Puck explained. “You don’t want to work with my security staff, so from now on I’m going to be your personal bodyguard. I’m going to be with you every second of the day.”

“This is insanity,” Sabrina said as she tried in vain to free herself.

“Trust me, being downwind of you twenty-four hours a day is not what I call a good time, but you’ve left me no choice.”

Sabrina screamed. “Give me the key!”

Puck reached into his pocket and took out a tiny golden key. “Is this what you want?”

“Give it to me, pus face!”

“Are you going to work with your bodyguards?”

“Forget it. You’re not going to blackmail me,” Sabrina said.

And at that, Puck put the key into his mouth and swallowed it. Sabrina screamed again.

“Are you deranged?” she yelled as she climbed to her feet, dragging Puck up as she went. Sabrina marched toward the door but was held back by the boy. She turned and saw that he was enjoying the tug of war, so she pulled hard and dragged him out into the hallway in search of her grandmother.

Granny Relda was not supportive of Sabrina’s crisis. In fact, she, Uncle Jake, and Daphne found the whole situation hilarious. They snickered all through breakfast. “Sabrina, Puck is just trying to be helpful,” Granny said. “Perhaps you do need a little personal attention, and there’s not much I can do about it anyway. If he swallowed the key, all we can do is wait.”

“Wait for what?” Sabrina asked, then suddenly realized what they would be waiting for and had to fight to keep her breakfast down.

“I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one,” Puck said as he reached his hand into a bowl of oatmeal and shoveled it into his mouth. Sabrina’s hand was dragged along and covered with the gooey cereal.

“How am I going to get dressed? Or take a bath?” Sabrina cried.

“Who needs a bath?” Puck said, wiping the extra oatmeal on his shirt.

“I suppose we could just take the two of you out in the yard and hose you down,” Uncle Jake said.

“Elvis loves it,” Daphne said.

Uncle Jake laughed so hard his scrambled eggs fell out of his mouth.

Daphne finished her breakfast, and for the first time ever, Sabrina watched the little girl push her empty plate away. There was no such word as full in her sister’s vocabulary. Since the girl had more of Sabrina’s clothes on, as well as high-heel shoes, she guessed that Daphne was still a “grown-up.” “I had a thought last night,” Daphne offered.

“Oh?” Granny said.

“There’s one eyewitness we haven’t talked to,” Daphne said. “The woodcutter.”

Granny’s eyes lit up. “Liebling, that’s good detective work. I totally forgot there was someone else at the grandmother’s house.”

“So, do you know where he lives?” Uncle Jake asked.

Granny shrugged. “I’m afraid I don’t. There are thousands of Everafters in this town and I haven’t met them all. There’s also a chance that he doesn’t live here. As you know, some of the Everafters moved away before Wilhelm’s barrier went up, and others never came to America at all.”

“How can we find out?” Daphne asked.

Granny clapped her hands, jumped from her seat, and rushed to the family journals. “We need to get back to our research. Perhaps he does live here in Ferryport Landing. He could be a great help to our case.”

“I’ll help,” Sabrina said eagerly.

Granny cocked an eyebrow, obviously surprised by Sabrina’s enthusiasm. “You will?”

Sabrina nodded, though she didn’t feel entirely honest. The thought of freeing Mr. Canis terrified her, but she wanted to get back into the family’s good graces, especially her grandmother’s.

“Thank you, liebling,” Granny said.

Sabrina dragged Puck from his chair and pulled him into the living room, where she snatched a copy of the complete fairy tales of Charles Perrault. She dragged him back to the table and sat down. According to the copyright, Perrault was one of the first people to document the ghastly tale of Red Riding Hood. His book was published in 1697, and his account described a woodcutter who came to Red Riding Hood’s rescue. Sabrina was impressed with the man’s heroics. Not too many people had gone face-to-face with the Wolf and lived to tell the tale. Sabrina noted the story and continued her research.

All the Grimms who had lived in Ferryport Landing had kept detailed journals of their adventures. Even Sabrina and Daphne had filled a couple. It was the family responsibility to document anything unusual that occurred in the Everafter community. With this sizable collection at their fingertips, it was obvious to everyone that there were a lot of unusual occurrences in the sleepy river town. Sabrina scanned hundreds of entries. She read about a short-lived military overthrow of the mouse king of Oz. She found sheet music composed by a jazz trumpeter named Boy Blue. She even learned that the Three Blind Mice had once applied for seeing-eye dogs. Generations of Grimms had collected these stories, but Sabrina didn’t find anything else on the woodcutter or what had become of him.

She closed the last of her share of the journals and sat back in her chair. “I’ve got nothing.”

Granny sighed. “I didn’t find anything, either.”

Daphne looked up from her book. “What does the word mani . . . mani . . . fest mean?”

“You mean manifest. It’s a list of items that are shipped on a train, bus, truck, whatever,” Granny explained.

“Where’s your dictionary?” Sabrina asked.

Daphne stuck her tongue out and turned her attention back to Granny Relda. “Can it be a list of people, too?”

“Sure,” the old woman said. “What did you find?”

“This. It looks like a list of the passengers on Wilhelm’s boat,” the little girl said, handing several sheets of paper to her grandmother.

Granny took the papers. “Good work, Daphne. I should have thought of this. Let’s see if there’s a woodcutter on this list.” Granny perused the list. “Hmm, I’m not seeing anyone.”

Sabrina reached over and took the list from her grandmother. Sure enough, there was no “woodcutter” on the list. “If only we knew what his name is,” she said.

“Well, we don’t need that. We know everyone else’s name. Let’s go through the list and find the people we’ve never heard of,” Granny said. “Assuming that he got on Wilhelm’s boat.”

Puck wasn’t thrilled. “Is this going to take long? I have plans.”

“The handcuffs were your idea, buster. Any chance we’re going to see that key pop up?” Sabrina said.

Puck shook his head.

The Grimms went through the list, checking off everyone they knew by name. There were quite a number of people in Ferryport Landing who just had titles for names: the Mad Hatter, the Beast, the Sheriff of Nottingham, or the Queen of Hearts, for example. That made the search much easier. Soon, there was a list of only twenty citizens neither Granny, Sabrina, nor Daphne could identify. Seven of them had odd, almost unpronounceable names, and Granny guessed they were either witches, goblins, or trolls. Eight more were names that were obviously for animals, including Hans the Hedgehog and someone called the Sawhorse. That left five names, and two of them were women.

Just then, the phone rang. Granny answered it and cried out in excitement when she heard the caller’s voice. “Little John! We’ve been trying to track down another eyewitness. We believe the woodcutter might actually live in Ferryport Landing. What’s that? Oh, of course. We’ll be right there.”

Granny hung up the phone.

“What’s going on?” Uncle Jake asked.

“Bluebeard has a new witness and they’re starting the trial early today. We have to go over there now!”

“Who’s the witness?” Daphne asked.

“His name is Howard Hatchett,” Granny replied.

Sabrina sighed. “He’s on our list. Howard Hatchett is the woodcutter.”

The group drove up and down Main Street looking for a parking space. Granny commented that she had never seen the downtown area so busy, even when there were other humans living in town. While they searched, they passed the site where the bank had once stood.

“I’ve heard of people robbing banks, but I’ve never heard of anyone stealing the bank itself,” Uncle Jake said as Granny peered out her window at the vacant lot.

“That’s quite peculiar,” Granny said. “Unfortunately, it’s a mystery that’s going to have to wait.”

Daphne poked her head out the window and craned her neck for a better view. When she pulled herself back inside the car she looked panicked and nervous. She turned to Sabrina and mouthed the words, “What happened?”

Sabrina shrugged, though her heart burned for the betrayal she was committing. Sabrina knew what was going on in her sister’s mind. Daphne believed the weapon was lost. Sabrina knew she should tell, and from the look on Puck’s face, he agreed, but she wasn’t sure how to explain. When Daphne reached up to touch the necklace, Sabrina could almost hear the remorse running through her sister’s mind.

Uncle Jake finally parked the car and the family trudged up the steps toward the courtroom. Once inside, Daphne yanked on Sabrina’s sleeve and told Granny they would meet them inside in a moment. Granny agreed but told the children not to dillydally. Mr. Canis needed their support.

“OK, I was wrong,” said Daphne as she leaned against a wall. The little girl looked like she needed it to prevent herself from collapsing. Her face was red and tears were swimming in her eyes. “We should have gotten the weapon while we could. Now, we’ll never get it. You saw the bank. It’s gone.”

Sabrina nodded but said nothing.

“I should have listened to you,” the little girl continued.

“Yes, well, it’s too late for that,” Sabrina said. “You wanted to be in charge and—”

Puck kicked her in the leg and gave her an angry look.

“What are we going to do about the weapon?” Daphne cried. “What if we didn’t go get it ’cause I was being stubborn and it turns out we need it?”

Puck glared at Sabrina. “I have a feeling it will turn up.”

The courtroom door opened and Granny poked her head out. “Come along, lieblings. The trial is staring.”

The courtroom was standing room only and curious citizens were spilling out into the hall. News of the trial had obviously spread, and Everafters from all over town had come to see what everyone was referring to as “the trial of every century.”

Mayor Heart and Sheriff Nottingham gazed at the capacity crowd with delight. Sabrina overheard Heart suggesting that they should have sold tickets. Nottingham agreed and they both broke into laughter.

Several of the family’s friends came over to offer their support. Gepetto had closed his toy store to come and be by the family’s side. Cinderella and her human husband, Tom, came over and offered to bring the family dinner, though Granny declined. Mr. Seven sat on a stack of phonebooks in the back row and even Briar Rose’s fairy godmothers wished the family well, while staring daggers at Uncle Jake. But most surprising was Snow White, who eased into their row and sat down next to Granny Relda. She said nothing, just took the old woman’s hand in her own and held it.

“I’m sorry, Snow,” the old woman said.

“I know you would never do anything to hurt me on purpose, Relda. I’m sorry, too,” Ms. White replied.

Briar Rose joined the group. She sat down next to Uncle Jake and took his hand. Uncle Jake smiled. “You sure you want the whole town knowing you’re dating a Grimm?”

Briar nodded and kissed him on the cheek. There was a light in the couple’s eyes and laughter in their voices. Sabrina had seen the same expressions on her parents’ faces every day that she could remember. The sleepy princess and her swashbuckling uncle were in love.

Robin Hood and Little John entered the courtroom just as several card soldiers led Mr. Canis to his table. Robin patted him on the shoulder, then opened his briefcase. He rifled through some papers and watched Bluebeard out of the corner of his eye. Bluebeard stopped at the Grimms’ row and bent in close to smile at Ms. White.

“Snow, someone should arrest you. It has to be a crime to be so beautiful,” he said.

Snow gave a forced smile, but when the creepy man turned away, Sabrina caught her rolling her eyes in disgust. Sabrina looked over and spotted her little sister doing the same.

“All rise!” the Three of Spades shouted. “The honorable Judge Hatter is now presiding.”

Judge Hatter marched through a side door. He was carrying a sledgehammer on his shoulder and tripping over his long black robes. When he got to his seat, he set the sledgehammer down and looked around the courtroom.

“Oh, you’re back. Well, I suppose we should start the trial,” he said. He picked up his sledgehammer and slammed it down on the desk, practically destroying it. “Mr. Bluebeard, do you have another witness?”

“Indeed I do! The prosecution calls Howard Hatchett.”

The double doors at the back of the room opened and a man in a flashy blue suit entered. He had a bushy red beard and a veiny nose. He was wearing a bright red ball cap with a logo advertising something called Hatchettland. He looked nervous, especially when he saw Mr. Canis. He even tried to run away several times, but two card soldiers stopped him and forced him into the witness stand.

Hatchett sat down, but he never took his eyes off Canis. Even when Bluebeard approached him and thanked him for taking the time to testify, Hatchett didn’t seem to hear him.

“Mr. Hatchett, are you well?” Bluebeard asked.

“I’m fine,” Hatchett said, shifting in his seat. “I have to admit I never thought I’d see this day.”

“Mr. Hatchett, could you tell the jury who you are and how you are related to this case,” Bluebeard asked.

Hatchett stammered. “My name is Howard Hatchett. Some people know me as the woodcutter or the hunter from the story of Red Riding Hood.”

Sabrina watched Canis frown.

“And you were there the day of the incident?”

Hatchett nodded, keeping his eyes on Canis.

“What kind of work are you in, Mr. Hatchett?”

“Well, I . . . I used to be a woodcutter. I cut down trees and sold the lumber to mills. I started out working for a man but then I saw an opportunity and went into business for myself.” Hatchett sat quietly, watching Canis. After a few minutes, his expression changed from fear to confusion, and he continued. “Then one day I thought to myself, ‘Hey! I’m one of literature’s greatest heroes.’”

“What did he say?” Daphne whispered.

“He’s bragging,” Puck replied.

“I saved Little Red Riding Hood’s life. I’m an idol to millions. I faced the Big Bad Wolf and lived to tell about it. I’m famous and beloved. So I started a company to provide products to people who want to be more like me.”