The Everafter War (11 page)

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.” Red forced a smile on her face.

“Are you hiding back here?”

Red nodded. “I’m trying to stay out of the way. I don’t want to be any trouble.”

“I’m all about trouble,” Puck crowed.

Sabrina leaned against the cabin and pretended to be fascinated with a dusty stone near her foot. She did not want to have a conversation with Red and was surprised by Daphne’s acceptance of the demented child. Just a few days ago Red was locked up in an insane asylum for trying to kill Sabrina’s family, and now, with a little magical help, she was “cured” and living with the Grimms. It was obvious that this “new” Red needed some comfort, but why should Sabrina have to give it?

“You’re not trouble,” Daphne said. “Granny invited you to live with us so that makes you one of us. You don’t have to run off and hide.”

“Your grandmother is very kind,” Red said.

“My grandmother is gravy,” Daphne agreed. “You’ll be safe with her, and plus she’s an excellent cook—”

Sabrina laughed out loud and Daphne flashed her an angry look. “Well, you shouldn’t lie to her,” Sabrina said defensively.

Daphne turned back to Red Riding Hood. “Like I was saying … Granny’s a great cook and soon you will have your own room. Granny promised to build me one, too. Maybe you and I could have a secret door that leads into each other’s rooms—one only we know about.”

“I would like that,” Red said, grinning.

Sabrina bristled. The first time the girls had slept in separate beds had been the night before. Daphne had refused to share a bedroom after Sabrina had lied and stolen from her. Apparently, her sister’s desire to have her own room hadn’t gone away yet. Sabrina knew what she had done was wrong, but they were sisters! Wasn’t blood thicker than water, or whatever the saying was that meant you had to forgive your family’s mistakes?

Prince Charming’s booming voice exploded from a window directly above them.

“What’s going on?” Red asked.

“I think they’re questioning a hobgoblin,” Sabrina said as she got up on her tiptoes to get a peek in the window. The rest of the children did the same, elbowing one another for a good view. Inside, Sabrina saw a hobgoblin sitting on a chair. His hands were still bound and he looked exhausted. Charming and Snow hovered over him while Granny sat in a chair, patiently. Mr. Canis and Mr. Seven looked on.

“Does the Master know where our camp is?” Charming barked.

The hobgoblin smiled and dipped his head. “Not yet, Prince, but soon.”

Charming turned to Mr. Canis and they exchanged a worried look. Snow and Mr. Seven, who stood on the opposite side of the room, shared the same worried expression. Granny Relda, however, seemed relaxed.

“You speak of the Master as if you know him. Who is he?” Granny Relda asked.

Sabrina’s heart skipped a beat. She, too, had wondered who the Master was and why he had caused so much heartache for her family.

The hobgoblin snorted a laugh. “I have not earned the honor of sharing the presence of the Master. But one day I hope to meet him in person and kneel before his feet.”

“So you take orders from someone you have never met?” Snow asked.

“I do not need to meet the man when his genius is so clear. He has a glorious plan for Everafters,” he barked at her.

“Not all Everafters,” Ms. White corrected him. “He has no use for many of us.”

“Nonsense! You have turned your back on him! You’ve turned your back on all of us,” the hobgoblin cried earnestly. “You and Charming and the rest of your ilk mingle with the humans. Worse, you conspire with the Grimm family, the very people responsible for our imprisonment. The Master says you are traitors to our race.”

“What does your Master plan to do about it?” Charming asked.

“He will free us, of course,” the commander said smugly. “He will destroy the barrier that traps us here and we will march through every nation, recapturing land and treasure from the weak and pathetic human population, then ruling over them as it was always meant to be.”

Charming rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard enough from this fool. Was he searched?”

Seven, who had been sitting directly beneath the window, stepped forward and handed Charming a filthy burlap sack. The prince emptied it onto a nearby table and studied each item: a rusty dagger covered in what looked like dried blood, a couple loaves of moldy bread, a compass, a map of the woods, and a small pocket mirror. Charming looked at the mirror with some amusement. “I had no idea hobgoblins were so vain.”

The hobgoblin chuckled, sending a shiver through Sabrina. It was not a nervous laugh. It was the sound of someone who knows a secret.

Charming frowned, then turned to Granny Relda. “Mrs. Grimm, I have a favor to ask.”

Daphne elbowed some more space at the window. “I can’t see. What are they talking about?”

“The Master,” Sabrina said.

“Oh, he gives me the shudders,” the little girl said.

“The ugly one says he wants to take over the world,” Puck added. “Been there. Done that.”

“Did he tell who the Master is?” Daphne asked.

Puck shook his head. “Not even a hint.”

“Wait a minute,” Sabrina said, turning and crouching next to Red. “Haven’t you seen the Master?”

Red Riding Hood shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

“Yes, you have!” Sabrina cried. “You told us that you had talked to him when you first attacked us with the Jabberwocky—”

“I don’t remember,” the child said.

“Sure you do,” Sabrina said. “Who is he?”

“It’s blurry,” Red said as she clamped her hands onto her head. The subject seemed to cause her physical pain.

Sabrina was so excited she could hardly talk. “Try! If you tell us who he is then Charming can send people to capture him. Then no one else will be hurt!”

“I don’t think I can,” Red whimpered.

“You have to!”

Daphne stepped between her sister and Red. “Sabrina, leave her alone. She says she doesn’t remember.”

“She’s not trying,” Sabrina said.

“Her memory is messed up. Don’t you remember what Mr. Canis said? Since his madness has gone he can’t remember big parts of his life. It’s the same with Red,” Daphne said.

“Daphne, she’s got to remember. Stopping the Master will end all this nonsense. The town will go back to normal and we can go back to New York City.”

“What? You don’t want to stay?” Puck said.

“Duh!” Sabrina said, spinning on him. “I’ve wanted to get out of this town since the first day I stepped into it. My mom and dad were supposed to make that happen but of course Everafters have to get in the way.”

“Don’t
duh
me!” Puck snapped. “Trying to figure out what you’re thinking from one day to the next takes more brains than I have.”

“Well, maybe you should stop. I’d hate to burn out that little peanut in your head.”

“You wish you were more like me, Grimm. I’m magnificent,” Puck said, puffing up his chest.

Sabrina’s face twisted in anger. “Magnificently smelly. I doubt too many people would list themselves as exceptional when their greatest talent is eating with their feet!”

Daphne laughed but clamped a hand on her mouth when Puck glared at her.

Red watched, bewildered. “Are you two in love or something?”

Daphne lost it and fell to the ground, rolling and laughing beyond control. Perhaps it was Daphne’s amusement, or Red’s embarrassing question, but before Sabrina could stop herself she blurted out the one thing she promised herself she would never tell—the truth.

“In love? As if! How on earth we end up getting married is beyond me! How could I have held my nose long enough to get through the ceremony? Ugh!”

There was a silence unlike anything Sabrina had ever experienced. It felt as if someone had turned the volume knob on the world to the Off position. Her sister’s giggling expression was now replaced with shock. Even Red seemed bewildered. Sabrina was sure she was about to hyperventilate. She closed her eyes and quietly prayed for another rip in time—one that would allow her to go back and kick herself in the rear before she opened her dumb trap. All she could do was hope that Puck was as slow as he seemed and that he wouldn’t understand what she had said. But his face said otherwise.

“MARRIED?”

“It’s nothing,” Daphne said, trying to dispel the tension.

Puck’s huge insectlike wings popped out of his back and lifted him off the ground. He rose a few feet above them and hovered there, flapping his wings furiously.

“Tell me now!” he shouted.

Sabrina tried to talk but all she could do was stammer.

Daphne stepped in to explain. “Do you remember when Cinderella’s husband built the time machine that nearly ate the town? Well, we got pulled into it a couple times and saw the future and—”

“NO!” Puck cried before Daphne could finish.

The little girl nodded. “You two are married in the future!” Daphne confirmed.

Puck’s wings were beating so hard and fast he was shaking the air around him. “I’m a little boy. Little boys do not get married.”

Sabrina’s face was so hot she felt she had somehow taken over the work of the sun. “You grew up.”

Puck’s face fell. “What would make me do that?”

Daphne pointed to Sabrina.

“I would never do that!” Puck roared.

“You’re already doing it,” Daphne said. “Haven’t you noticed you’ve gotten taller lately? I heard Granny tell Mr. Canis you were going through puberty.”

“What’s that?”

Daphne shrugged and looked to Sabrina.

“Oh, now I’m good for definitions?” she fumed. Sabrina had never dreaded explaining a word more than at that moment. “Puberty is when a child starts to become an adult. You’re going to get taller and grow hair on your face and get zits.”

“This puberty you speak of—it must be triggered by some kind of disease. You’ve given me your cooties, dogface!”

“Puck, you’re not sick,” Sabrina said, trying to calm him down.

Blistering flames shot out of Puck’s eyes. “I am the Trickster King. I’m a villain. I am the King of Loafers, the Prince of Low Expectations! The spiritual guide for millions of complainers, criminals, and convicts! Villains do not get married. They do not get zits. You have poisoned me, Sabrina Grimm. This means war!”

“War?” Sabrina repeated.

“Yes, war! And when I’m done you’ll wish the Scarlet Hand had gotten to you first!” Puck blasted into the sky like a rocket. He went so fast there was a loud boom and then he was gone.

“That went better than I expected,” Daphne said.

Before Sabrina could respond, Uncle Jake staggered around the corner. His arm was bandaged in a sling that hung around his neck. He looked pale and in a great deal of pain. “Girls, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I need your help.”

“Uncle Jake, you should be in bed,” Daphne scolded.

“I can’t. I have to go,” he said.

“Go where?” Sabrina asked.

“To rescue Briar Rose. And I need you to help me.”

ncle Jake, we were just out there and we nearly got stomped to death by the Scarlet Hand’s goons,” Sabrina said. “If we walk through the forest we won’t come back.”

“We’re not going to walk,” he replied as he shuffled unsteadily toward the courtyard. “C’mon.”