"Next time, why doesn't one of you tell me to shut up?" Puck cried.
Daphne and Sabrina looked at each other incredulously.
“I am so going to have nightmares about this," Daphne whined.
Puck sailed through the forest, barely managing to avoid the giant cedars and fir trees that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He ducked between branches and flapped fiercely to raise the girls over the brush and pricker bushes on the forest floor. One desperate effort to dodge a huge Chinese maple tree forced him to dive close to the ground, where one of the rabbits leaped up and sank its teeth into Sabrina's pant leg. She shook it off and it disappeared into the furry sea below.
"Head for the river," Sabrina cried. "They can't follow us over the water."
Puck frowned at her. "I know what I'm doing," he growled.
"If you knew what you were doing, we wouldn't have two million zombie bunnies chasing us!" she shouted.
"Guys," Daphne said, trying to get their attention, but her sister was too angry to listen.
"How was I supposed to know that kid was mentally unhinged?" Puck said.
"I don't know," Sabrina snapped. "Maybe when we found him running from a dead body?"
"Guys!" Daphne shouted.
"What!" Puck and Sabrina snapped.
"LOOK OUT!"
Sabrina looked up to see a fifteen-foot-high fence in front of them. Puck made a desperate swerve and narrowly missed smashing into it, but the near collision didn't slow down the argument.
"I don't know why I'm involved in this, anyway!" he cried. "I'm one of the bad guys!"
"The only bad thing about you is your breath!" Sabrina shouted. "All we ever hear about is Puck the villain! What kind of villain has creamed corn all over his shirt?"
The boy snarled, made a dramatic turn to the left, and looked Sabrina dead in the eye.
"You want to see how bad I can be?" he growled. "I'll show you what I'm capable of!"
He soared into the backyard of someone's home, a stocky senior citizen who was puttering around his yard. As the trio flew past him they heard the man shout, "Agnes! The rabbits have been digging up the yard, again. I swear, the next one I see is going to wish it hadn't been born!"
Puck howled with laughter as he led the bunnies right through the poor man's yard. By the time the old fellow saw them coming, it was too late. Sabrina caught a glimpse of his shocked face as the first wave of rabbits knocked him to the ground. "Agnes!" he cried. They hopped over him as if he wasn't even there.
"That was mean!" Daphne shouted at Puck.
Flapping vigorously, the boy flew across the street just as an old woman's car came to a stop at the intersection. She was a tiny old lady who could barely see over the dashboard. She must have been legally blind, too, because she waited patiently, unblinking, for Puck and the two girls to fly across the road, followed by a couple thousand rabbits. When her way was clear, she drove off as if nothing unusual had happened at all.
"People are going to see us! You've got to get us off the street," Sabrina insisted.
"Oh, you want me to get us off the street? Fine, your wish is my command," Puck yelled. He flew straight toward a house where a tall man had just opened his front door. As the man bent over to pick up his newspaper, Puck flew inside.
"No! Don't," Daphne cried as Puck sailed through the living room, into the dining room, and flapped awkwardly over the table. Below them, two small children were setting the table, oblivious to the scene above their heads. They were hungrily eyeing a glistening golden ham in the center of a dinner feast. Puck dipped lower and Daphne accidentally kicked the ham and a bowl of mashed potatoes onto the floor. The family's two hyperactive English springer spaniels then raced into the room and tore into the fallen food.
"Chelsea! Maxine! No!" the mother shouted, running in from the kitchen and desperately trying to drag the remains of the ham from their greedy mouths. "Bad dogs!" She didn't look up, but the children did.
"So sorry," Daphne shouted to the open-mouthed children as Puck flew into the kitchen. They found the back door. Sabrina opened it and they zipped outside. The rabbits had noticed their detour and now tumbled through the house, knocking over furniture and sending lamps crashing to the floor. They blasted out of windows and knocked the back door off its hinges and still managed to gain ground.
Sabrina looked up at Puck and saw the proud grin on his face.
"That wasn't funny," she snapped.
"Yes it was," he said.
"They're still coming," Daphne cried. "We have to go somewhere they can't go."
"We're on our way," Puck crowed. Soon they were out of the neighborhoods and flying back over acres of overgrown woods. In no time, the Hudson River stretched out before them.
"If we fly out over the river, they won't be able to follow," Sabrina said.
"Oh, we're going over the river all right, but not to save you from the rabbits," Puck cried. "We're going over because you questioned my villainy."
Sabrina looked up into his face. "You wouldn't dare!"
"That's another thing you shouldn't question!"
He flapped his wings hard and soon the three were soaring over the rocky cliffs, high above the Hudson. Sabrina watched as the rabbits raced to the cliff's edge and then abruptly stopped.
"Anyone ready for a swim?" Puck asked.
"Don't do it!" Sabrina demanded.
"Next time you talk to me, maybe you'll do well to remember that I am royalty."
But before Puck could dump them into the icy water, his body buckled as if he had flown into a brick wall. Sabrina lost her grip on him and dropped like a stone, landing hard in the freezing river below. She sank deep into the river then swam frantically to reach the surface in time to see Daphne splash down beside her.
"Daphne!" she screamed as her sister sank below the surface. Sabrina dived into the water and, after several moments of frantic searching, her already numb fingers found something soft and fluffy. It was Daphne! Sabrina wrapped her arms around her sister and pulled her to the surface.
The little girl gasped for air and started choking as a mouthful of water spilled from her lips.
"Where's Puck?" she asked, between painful coughs.
Sabrina scanned the waves nearby, but there was no sign of the boy.
"Puck!" she shouted. There was no response.
Sabrina turned her sister toward the shore. "Can you make it?" she asked.
Daphne nodded. Sabrina let her go and the little girl doggy-paddled toward land. Luckily, their father had taught them both how to swim at the YMCA near their apartment and Daphne had taken to it like a fish. She'd be fine.
"Puck!" Sabrina shouted again. She took a deep breath and dived back into the cold water, knowing she didn't have a lot of time. The water was so icy she was losing feeling in her feet. She moved back and forth, searching in the dark waters with her hands, but finding nothing. Finally, her lungs ached for oxygen, and she was forced to return to the surface.
Gasping for breath, she noticed something odd floating in the distance. When she looked closer she knew what it was—giant, glittery wings. She swam as hard as she could and found Puck facedown in the water. She turned him over. His face was blue. She wrapped her arm around his cold body and swam to shore as best she could. There, Daphne helped her drag the motionless boy onto dry ground.
"Please don't be dead, Puck!" the little girl cried.
"Stand back," Sabrina said. She tilted the boy's head and looked in his mouth for obstructions. She had taken life-saving lessons in school but had only tried CPR once on a rubber dummy—never on a real, live person! Worse, she remembered her teacher had given her a C-minus for the course.
She took a deep breath and placed her mouth on Puck's, blowing all the air she could down his windpipe. Nothing happened. She did it again. She remembered to press on his sternum to force air in and out of his lungs. She counted off fifteen compressions and then returned to blowing into his mouth.
Suddenly, his ey
es opened and he shoved Sabrina away.
"I'm contaminated!" he cried, wiping his mouth.
"Puck, you're alive!" Daphne shouted and hugged the boy.
"Of course I'm alive," the boy said, crawling to his feet. His wings disappeared into his back. "I happen to be immortal."
"We thought . . . you were ... I tried," Sabrina stammered.
"You thought you'd give me a kiss while I was vulnerable," Puck said indignantly. "I guess I'm going to have to stop taking baths if you can't keep your hands to yourself."
Sabrina was so angry she was sure steam was coming out of her ears.
"What happened to you?" Daphne asked.
"I forgot how close the old witch's barrier was. I slammed into it pretty hard." Puck laughed.
"You think this is funny?" Sabrina snapped. "We could have died out there."
"Children?" a soft voice called out from behind them. They spun around and found Ms. White standing on the banks of the river. "We need to get you out of this cold."
************************************
"Well, I knew something was strange. I'd never had a student ask me for a detention before," the pretty teacher said, winking at Daphne, who sat in the front seat of the car with her. Puck and Sabrina huddled in the backseat under a blanket.
"Knowing your father as I did, I figured the two of you were up to something, so I thought I'd better come down to the detention room and find out what was going on. When I got there, the Queen of Hearts was trying to fight off the monster with a chair," she continued.
The children were stunned.
"Monster!" they said in unison.
"Was it a giant spider or a frog-girl?" Sabrina asked.
"Neither!" Snow White replied. "This was more like a wolf or a Bigfoot. I think it ate Charlie. It was going after the queen next, but lucky for her, I arrived. I managed to distract it, but I knew I couldn't fight it by myself."
"What did you do?" said Daphne.
"Nothing. I didn't have to. Wendell saved us," the teacher continued. "He blew into his harmonica and it seemed to stop the monster, at least for a second, but then it jumped out the window and ran off. Wendell was chasing after it when you saw him. I suppose if he were older he could have stopped the thing all together. His dad has been known to halt elephants in their tracks."
"So Wendell can control things with his harmonica," Sabrina said, her voice full of suspicion. "Just like his father, the Pied Piper. How do you know he was trying to save you? Maybe he was trying to help that thing escape."
"Oh, no!" Snow White argued. "That sweet little boy had nothing to do with this."
"Ms. White, when we confronted him, he sent an army of rabbits after us," Sabrina said. "Besides, he's an Everafter."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the teacher said.
"It means he has secrets," Sabrina said. "All of you walk around here, hiding behind your magic and when something bad happens, you just make it disappear. Poof, and the problem is gone!"
"Sabrina, shut up!" Daphne cried.
"I'm not hiding, young lady," Ms. White replied coolly, as she pulled her car into Granny's driveway. "Everafters are not all alike."
Before Sabrina could argue, Granny Relda and Elvis came running out to meet them.
"Lieblings, where have you been?" their grandmother said, rushing down the driveway as the children climbed out of the car. Elvis was so excited to see Daphne, he accidentally knocked her down with a series of excited kisses.
"In the river," the little girl said. "It was fun but very cold."
"In the river?" Granny Relda asked. "Why were you in the river?
"The rabbits chased us there," Daphne replied matter-of-factly.
The old woman threw her hands into the air. "What are you talking about?"
"They've had quite an afternoon, Relda," Ms. White said as she got out of her car. "They could use some warm clothes and some soup."
"Thank you for bringing them home, Snow," the old woman said, taking the teacher's hand.
"My pleasure," Snow White said. She turned and went back to her car, but then, suddenly, she turned and eyed Sabrina. "I hope you'll think about what I said. You can't judge the many by the actions of the few."
Granny raised a curious eyebrow at Sabrina as the teacher drove away.
"Lieblings, we have to get you into the bath," the old woman said. "Daphne, you go first, and make that water good and warm."
Daphne nodded and rushed into the house, with Elvis at her heels.
"I think I'll go up to my room," Puck said, spinning around and heading for the stairs.
"Absolutely not!" Granny Relda commanded. "You're next in the bathtub."
The boy's face tightened as if he had just bitten into a lemon. "I've already had all the baths I'm ever going to take. We're not going to make this a habit. I have a reputation. I'm a master villain. What will people say if they hear an old lady is forcing me into the bathtub every ten minutes?" he demanded. "I'll be the laughingstock of every tree gnome, pixie, hobgoblin, and brownie from here to Wonderland."
"Well, everyone is just going to have to think a little less of you then, Mr. Master Villain," Granny said. "Now, rush upstairs and change out of those clothes and don't put on that ratty green sweatshirt and jeans. Put on something clean!"
Puck pouted, but Granny Relda didn't budge. After several moments of staring her down, he spun around and stomped into the house.
"You, too," the old woman said to Sabrina. "Run upstairs and put on a bathrobe and some warm socks and come back down. I could use your help with the soup."
The old "I need your help" routine, the girl thought as she plodded up the steps to change out of her dripping clothes. Nine times out of ten, when an adult asked a child for help with something, it meant they were planning a lecture. But Sabrina thought it best just to change and get it over with. Once she was out of her clothes and into a warm robe, she headed back downstairs, passing the bathroom door, where she could hear Daphne begging Elvis to get into the tub with her. A tremendous splash told Sabrina that the little girl had gotten her wish.
When she passed Puck's room, she heard a horrible smashing sound inside. Apparently, the idea of another bath was not sitting well with the Trickster King. She wondered what his garden paradise would look like after the fairy prince got through with his temper tantrum.
"Sabrina? Is that you, liebling?" Granny called from the kitchen.
The girl followed the voice and found the old woman had already put a pot of broth on the stove and was chopping carrots and celery into little pieces on a cutting board.
"What are we making?" Sabrina asked sarcastically. "Kangaroo-tail soup? Cream of fungus?"
"Chicken noodle," Granny replied. "Why don't you have a seat on that stool? I think it's time you and I had a talk."
Sabrina rolled her eyes, but sat down.
"You've got a lot of anger in you, child," said Granny Relda.
Sure she was angry! Who wouldn't be? She was tired of the secrets and the lies. Tired of the things hidden underneath, tired of the surprises that popped up every single day. No one in this town was what they seemed. One of them had her parents. Was she supposed to walk around making friends and passing out cookies?
"I get angry, too," her grandmother continued. "My son and daughter-in-law are out there somewhere and I can't find them. Every night, after you girls are asleep, I ask Mirror to let me take a look at them. In a way, it makes me happy that they are still there, sleeping so peacefully, not even knowing all the trouble that we're going through to find them.
"And I crawl back in bed and I want to scream," Granny said, tossing the chopped celery into the big silver pot. "I hate feeling helpless and I blame myself for not being able to find them. After all, there's more magic and books in this house than in ten thousand fairy tales combined, and yet I'm no closer to bringing them home today than 1 was six months ago.
"Sometimes I look around this town and wonder if the person responsible
for all of our heartache is sitting next to me in the coffee shop," she continued. "Or maybe it's the lady behind me in line at the supermarket or the woman who styles my hair at the beauty parlor. Maybe it's the nice man at the filling station who pumps gas into the car. Maybe it's the paperboy or the mailman or that girl who sells cookies for the scouts."
Sabrina's heart began to rise. Granny Relda felt exactly the way she did. Why hadn't she told them her true feelings about the town? It would have kept Sabrina from feeling so guilty and confused about the place.
The Unusual Suspects (The Sisters Grimm, Book 2) Page 12
