The explosion shook Sabrina Grimm so hard she swore she felt her brain do a somersault inside her skull. As she struggled to get her bearings, a noxious black smoke choked her and burned her eyes. Could she escape? No, she was at the mercy of a cold, soulless machine: the family car.
"Isn't anyone worried that this hunk of junk might kill us?" Sabrina yelled, but no one heard her over the chaos. As usual, she was the only person in her family who noticed anything was wrong. Murder plots; horrifying monsters; the shaking, jostling, rattling death trap the family used to get around: Sabrina had her eyes wide open to trouble. She was sure if she didn't stay on her toes her entire family would be dead by nightfall on any given day. They were lucky to have her.
Her grandmother, a kind, sweet lady, was in the front seat, buried in the same book she had been reading for the last two hours. Next to her was the old woman's constant companion: a skinny, grouchy old man named Mr. Canis, who drove the family everywhere. Sharing the backseat with Sabrina was a portly, pink-skinned fellow named Ernest Hamstead, and nestled between them was Daphne, Sabrina's seven-year-old sister, who slumbered peacefully, drooling like a faucet onto Sabrina's coat sleeve. Sabrina gently nudged her sister toward Mr. Hamstead. He grimaced when he noticed the drool and shot Sabrina a look that said, Thanks for nothing.
Sabrina pretended not to notice and leaned forward to get her grandmother's attention. Granny Relda set her book down in her lap and turned to Sabrina with a smile. The old woman's face was lined in wrinkles, but her pink cheeks and button nose gave her a youthful appearance. She always wore colorful dresses and matching hats with a sunflower appliqué in the center. Today she was in purple.
"Where are we?" Sabrina shouted.
Her grandmother cupped a hand to her ear to let Sabrina know she hadn't heard the question over the car's terrific racket.
"Are we getting close to the fairy kingdom yet?"
"Oh, I love chili, but I'm afraid it doesn't love me," Granny shouted back.
"No, not chili! The fairy kingdom!" Sabrina cried. "Are we getting close?"
"Why no, I've never kissed a monkey. What an odd question."
Sabrina was about to throw up her hands in defeat when Mr. Canis turned to her. "We are not far," he barked, then turned his gaze back to the road. The old man had better hearing than anyone.
Sabrina sighed with relief. All the rumbling and sputtering would soon be over, and it would all have been worth it to help save Puck. The shivering boy was huddled next to her grandmother, his blond hair matted down and his face drenched in sweat. Sabrina felt a pang of regret. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been on death's door at all.
She sat back in her seat just as the car came to a stop at an intersection. She looked out the window. To the left was farmland as far as she could see, to the right a dusty country road leading to a tiny, distant farmhouse. Behind her was her new hometown, Ferryport Landing, and ahead…she wasn't sure. A place where Puck could get some help for his injuries, a place her grandmother said was filled with people like him-fairies.
As the car rolled forward, Sabrina lost herself in memories. She'd once been a normal kid living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, with a mom and a dad, a little sister, and an apartment near Carl Schurz Park. Life was simple and easy and ordinary. Then one day her parents, Henry and Veronica, vanished. The police searched for them, but all they found was their abandoned car and a single clue-a red handprint left in paint on the dashboard.
No one came forward to take care of the girls, so Sabrina and Daphne were dumped into an orphanage and assigned to Minerva Smirt, an ill-tempered caseworker who hated children. She took a special dislike to the Grimm sisters and for almost a year and a half she placed them with foster families who used and abused them. These so-called loving caregivers forced the girls to be their personal maids, pool cleaners, and-once-ditch diggers. More often than not, the families were in it for the state check, but some were just plain crazy.
When Granny Relda finally found the sisters and took them in, Sabrina was sure the old woman was a nutcase, like all the rest. Their father had told them that his mother had died before they were born, so this grandmother had to be an imposter. When the old woman moved the girls to a little town on the Hudson River called Ferryport Landing, miles from civilization, she claimed her neighbors were all fairy-tale characters. She told the girls the mayor was Prince Charming, the Three Little Pigs ran the police department, witches served pancakes at the diner, and ogres delivered the mail. She also claimed that Sabrina and Daphne were the last living descendants of Jacob and Wilhelm, the Brothers Grimm, whose book of fairy tales wasn't fiction but an account of actual events and the beginning of extensive record-keeping by each new generation. Granny said it was the Grimm legacy to investigate any unusual crimes and to keep an eye on the mischief-making fairy-tale folk, also known as Everafters. In a nutshell, the girls were the next in a long line of "fairy-tale detectives."
Sabrina had been sure this "grandmother" had forgotten to take her medication-that is, until a giant came along and kidnapped the old woman. Suddenly, her stories held a lot more weight. After the sisters Grimm rescued her, they agreed to become fairy-tale detectives-Daphne enthusiastically, Sabrina reluctantly-and plunged headfirst into investigating the other freaky felonies of their new hometown.
Daphne loved every minute of their new lives. What seven-year-old wouldn't want to live next door to her favorite bedtime stories? But Sabrina couldn't adjust to the strange characters they encountered. She distrusted the Everafters, and it was no secret that many in the community felt the same way about her family. Most thought the Grimms were meddlers. Others downright despised them. Sabrina really couldn't blame them. After all, the Everafters were trapped in Ferryport Landing because of a two-hundred-year-old magical spell cast by her great-great-great-great-grandfather, Wilhelm Grimm. Ever since, a magical barrier surrounded the town in an invisible bubble that no Everafter could pierce. Wilhelm had been trying to prevent a war, but all the Everafters, whether good or bad, were trapped. Many of them looked at the Grimms as if they were prison guards.
But the real reason Sabrina didn't trust the Everafters was that red handprint. It was the mark of a secret organization called the Scarlet Hand, and it was popping up all over town. No one knew the identity of its members, or that of the mysterious leader they followed, a shadowy figure known only as the Master.
There was some good news: Henry and Veronica were physically recovered from their kidnappers and at that moment were safe in Granny's home. But, unfortunately, they were under a magic spell of their own-one that kept them from waking up. Uncle Jake was with them now, working hard to find a way to interrupt their seemingly eternal sleep.
Puck had been injured helping to rescue them. He and the Grimm sisters fought the demented Red Riding Hood and her ferocious pet, the Jabberwocky. The monster had ripped Puck's fairy wings off of his back, and now he was dangerously ill. Lucky for everyone, the Grimm family had in its possession an enchanted sword called the Vorpal blade that they used to kill the Jabberwocky. Rumor had it the steel's sharp edge could cut through anything, including the magical barrier. The rumors proved to be true. Mr. Canis used it to cut a hole big enough for the family car to drive through, then he hid the sword in a place where Uncle Jake could find it later in order to store it safely.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sabrina spotted blue-and-red lights flashing behind them.
"What's going on?" Sabrina asked.
"The police are asking us to pull over," Mr. Hamstead said. He and Mr. Canis shared a concerned look, as the old man steered to the side of the road. Canis himself was not well. Lately, he'd been experiencing a change in his appearance that got more and more obvious by the day. Sabrina quietly prayed the officer wouldn't notice.
There was a tap on Mr. Canis's window, and a very angry police officer, wearing a short navy blue coat and sunglasses, peeked inside.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?" he asked.
"Were we speeding?" Mr. Canis asked.
"Speeding? No, I pulled you over because this…this tank you're driving is violating at least a hundred different environmental and safety laws. Let me see your driver's license."
Mr. Canis shared a troubled glance with Granny Relda, then turned back to face the policeman. "I'm afraid I don't have one."
Sabrina cringed. This was news to her.
The policeman laughed in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me. OK, folks, everyone out of the car."
"Officer, I'm sure we can-"
The officer bent down. "Step out of the car," he said sternly.
"OK, let's get out." Hamstead said calmly.
Daphne was still sound asleep, so Sabrina shook the little girl until she opened her eyes.
"Whazzabigidea?" Daphne grumbled.
"Get up, we're going to jail," Sabrina said, helping her up.
They were stopped on a bridge, and the wind coming off the water below was brutal. Cars and trucks whizzed by, kicking up even more wind. The cold air chilled Sabrina to the bone. It was a terrible day, and the dark clouds hanging in the sky warned that it was only going to get worse. "Officer, if I could be of any assistance," Mr. Hamstead said as he tugged his pants up over his belly, "I happen to be the former sheriff of Ferryport Landing, and-"
"Where?"
"Ferryport Landing. It's about two hours north."
"Well, as a former sheriff you should know it's against the law to ride around with someone who doesn't have a driver's license, let alone someone who is driving a toxic death wagon like this one." The policeman poked his head back into the car and spotted Puck.
"Who's the kid?"
"He's my grandson, and he's not feeling very well. We're taking him to a doctor," Granny said.
"Not in this thing, lady," the policeman said. "I'm impounding this vehicle for the good of humanity. I'll call an ambulance and have him taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital."
He barked an order into his walkie-talkie as he eyed the family suspiciously.
"If Puck is sent to a hospital, they're going to discover he's not human," Sabrina whispered to Granny Relda.
"The boy needs a special kind of doctor," Relda said to the cop.
"And the devil needs a glass of ice water," the officer snapped back. "You should be worrying about yourself. You're going to be lucky if you don't spend the night in jail. Do any of you have identification?"
"Of course," Granny Relda said as she reached into her handbag. "It's right here, somewhere."
But the police officer wasn't focused on the old woman. His eyes were glued on Mr. Canis and the big brown tail that had slipped out of the back of the old man's pants. The cop studied it for a moment, unsure of what it was, and then circled Mr. Canis to get a better look. Canis had suddenly grown several inches taller, and fangs were starting to pop out of his mouth.
"What's your story, buddy?" the policeman asked. "Are you going to a costume party or something?"
Canis's expression was nervous and angry. It was the same look he got when he struggled with his self-control.
"Stay calm," Sabrina whispered to Mr. Canis, but he didn't seem to hear her. A change was coming over him. His nose morphed into a hairy snout, and fur grew on his neck and hands. His body expanded, filling out the oversized suit he always wore. Black talons crept from the tips of his fingers. He was changing into the monster that lived inside him-the Big Bad Wolf.
The cop stood bewildered for a moment, then reached for his weapon.
"What are you?" he cried.
"Oh, here it is," Granny said as she pulled her hand from inside her purse, opened her fist, and blew a puff of pink dust into the cop's terrified face. He froze, and a look of befuddlement replaced his fear. His eyes went glassy, and his jaw went slack.
"You know, some days, being a policeman can be downright boring," Granny said as she placed a calming hand on the officer's shoulder.
"You're telling me," he said in a drowsy voice.
"Like today. Nothing interesting happened at all. You didn't even hand out a single speeding ticket."
"Yeah, today was real dull."
"Still, it was a nice enough day. In fact, you had a great afternoon out on patrol," Granny said.
"I did?" the officer said. "Yeah, I did."
"Thanks for your help, Officer, but we don't want to keep you any longer."
"I should be going," he said. Moments later, he hopped into his squad car and drove away.
"Lucky I brought the forgetful dust," Granny said. She rested the same calming hand on Mr. Canis's shoulder, and his savage transformation stopped, then slowly reversed, though the tail and enormous height didn't go away.
"Relda, I am sorry," he said. "Any little thing seems to set me off these days."
"No harm done," the old woman said. "But for the rest of this trip I suggest you hide your tail."
The old man nodded and did his best to tuck it into the back of his trousers.
"Wait a minute!" Sabrina exclaimed as she watched the squad car disappearing in the distance. On the back bumper, painted in bright white paint, were the letters NYPD. "That guy was a New York City cop!"
"Well, of course he was," Granny said as she pointed beyond the side of the bridge. Massive buildings reached skyward, as if competing for heaven's attention. Airplanes and helicopters flew above them.
Daphne squinted at the sparkling metropolis. One building stood taller than those around it, tapering at the top into a fine silver point. She grabbed her older sister's arm and pointed at it.
"That's the Empire State Building!" she cried, quickly placing the palm of her hand into her mouth and biting down on it. It was one of Daphne's many quirks-the one that signaled that she was happy and excited. "We're home!"
Sabrina's throat tightened as she fought back happy tears. "We're in New York City," she whispered.
The girls jumped up and down, chanting the sentence over and over, louder and louder.
Mr. Hamstead approached the bridge railing to take in the view. The girls noticed his eyes welling with tears.
Daphne rushed to his side and wrapped him up in a hug.
"Don't cry, Mr. Hamstead. You'll make me cry."
"I never thought I'd see this place," he said. "I've been trapped in Ferryport Landing for a long time. Wolf, you should see this."
Mr. Canis joined him at the rail and gazed out at the marvelous city.
"Look at what we've missed," Hamstead said.
The two men stood in silence. The significance of the moment became clear to Sabrina. The whole world had kept spinning while the Everafters were stuck in Ferryport Landing. Cities had risen, diseases had been cured, men had walked on the moon, and Canis and Hamstead had missed it all.
"You're going to love New York!" Daphne squealed. "This city is the best! There is so much to do and see and eat! Oh, I can almost smell the hot dogs from here."
"Hot dogs!" Hamstead cried as his nose morphed into a runny pink snout. Hamstead rarely slipped out of his human form, but when he got very excited his true identity as one of the Three Little Pigs was revealed.
"What did I say?" Daphne whispered to Sabrina.
"Hot dogs are made from pigs," Sabrina whispered back.
Daphne cringed. "I mean, uh, I would never, uh, eat a hot dog, you know…they're…uh, gross. What I meant to say was pepperoni pizza!"
The little girl looked at Sabrina for reassurance, but Sabrina couldn't give it to her. "Pepperoni, too."
"It is?"
Sabrina nodded.
Daphne cringed again. "I mean broccoli. There's nothing like walking around the city munching on a big ol' head of broccoli."
"Oh yeah, New York is famous for its broccoli," Sabrina said.
Daphne stuck her tongue out at her sister.
"Wait? Why are we here? I thought we were going to save Puck," Daphne said.
"We are, liebling. The fairy kingdom is in New York City," Granny Relda replied.
"What?" Sabrina felt her face grow hot. The ground seemed to shift, and she fell forward. For a moment there was nothing but blackness, and then she was on the ground looking up at her family.
"Liebling, are you OK?" her grandmother asked. Mr. Canis lifted Sabrina back onto her feet, but the girl still felt dizzy and slightly nauseated. "You must have fainted."
"You didn't tell us there were Everafters in the city!" Sabrina said as she struggled to stand on her own. "I thought they were all back in Ferryport Landing."
Granny frowned. "Sabrina, the Everafters had been in America for almost twenty years before the magical barrier was constructed. Some of them moved to other cities."
"How many?" Sabrina demanded.
"Cities? Why, heavens, I couldn't begin to guess," Granny Relda said.
"No, Everafters. How many live here?" The idea of her hometown having its own secret Everafter community was revolting to her. The world only worked if all the crazy stuff surrounding her family occurred in one place-Ferryport Landing!
"I don't know, Sabrina," the old woman replied. "The family logs didn't track who left town, only those who stayed."
"It could be hundreds," Hamstead said. "Not to mention all the Everafters who came to America on their own, later. It's really hard to say."
Tears gushed out of Sabrina's eyes and froze on her cheeks. She prided herself on being strong, but she couldn't help it. This was a shock. Sabrina had always planned that she and her sister would return to the Big Apple once their parents were rescued. She'd assumed they would all resume their old lives, away from fairies and witches and talking animals. Now she knew there was no escape from them.
"Sabrina, what's the matter?" Daphne asked.
She said nothing. Instead, she turned away from her family and stared out at the city skyline. The initial joy at seeing her home was spoiled.
"It must be all the traveling," Granny said, rubbing Sabrina's back affectionately. "You girls are hungry and exhausted. We need to get you something to eat. Maybe some hot soup would help."
There was an uncomfortable silence among the group until Mr. Canis spoke. "First we must find Puck's people. Where is this fairy kingdom?"
Granny sighed. "Unfortunately, the family journals are also a little thin on New York's Everafter community. I do know it's hidden somewhere in the city." She fished into her handbag and pulled out an envelope with some writing on it. "All I have to go on is this letter from an old friend."
Daphne took the letter and read it aloud, stumbling over some of the words.
Mrs. Grimm,
I'm sorry for your loss. Basil was like a father to me. It breaks my heart that I can't be there for you and your sons, worse because I know I am partially to blame for this tragedy. I hope you know that Jacob and I never believed my escape from Ferryport Landing would bring anyone harm. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us. I've found a group of Everafters living in a kingdom called the Greenery hidden in the Big Apple. I've been invited to stay there until I am settled. Their leader, King Oberon, and his wife, Queen Titania, are…well, I'm sure you've heard the rumors. Once I've found work and made a little money, I plan to travel and see this big world for myself. Until then, if you are ever in New York City, drop by the park and tell Hans Christian Andersen a knock-knock joke.
Love,
G
"Who's G?" Daphne asked.
"An old friend of your father's," Granny said. Sabrina and Daphne shared a knowing look. They knew their father had once been in love with an Everafter before he met their mother, though everyone was tight-lipped about her identity.
"Can't we call this old friend and get another clue?" Sabrina asked.
"Perhaps one that makes sense," Canis said.
"Is there anything else in the envelope?" Daphne asked. Granny Relda looked inside. It was empty.
"I'm afraid the note is all we have to go on," the old woman replied.
"Well, let's go find Hans Christian Andersen," Daphne said.
Granny shook her head. "Daphne, Andersen wasn't an Everafter. He was a writer and detective, just like Jacob and Wilhelm. He died a long time ago."
"You know that, silly," Sabrina said. "We read it on his statue in Central Park."
"There's a statue of Hans Christian Andersen in Central Park?" Granny asked. "Sabrina, you're a genius. Can you take us there?"
Sabrina nodded reluctantly. "What good is a statue going to do us?"
Granny shrugged. "I don't have the foggiest, but it's a place to start."
Minutes later they were over the bridge and cruising through the city's grid of streets and avenues. Daphne gawked at the passing sights, pointing out her father's favorite diner and the playground their mother used to take them to on Sunday afternoons. Sabrina wanted to look out the window, too, but everything seemed ruined. There were few people who would describe New York City as normal, but now that Sabrina knew Everafters were crawling all over it, it seemed tainted, ugly.
Granny turned in her seat and handed the book she'd been reading to Sabrina.
"You and Daphne should probably read this," she said. "It's going to tell you everything you need to know about the fairy folk."
Sabrina glanced down at the book. It was a play by William Shakespeare, entitled A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Daphne snatched it from Sabrina and flipped through the pages. "What language is this?" she asked.
"It's English," Granny said. "Early Modern English. If you have any questions about words, just let me know."
The book was a nice distraction. Traffic was especially bad that afternoon. Christmas was only days away, and shoppers rushed into the streets carrying huge bags, slowing the family's progress dramatically. But they eventually made their way southward through the city, and after much searching, Mr. Canis found a parking spot a few blocks from Central Park. The family bundled Puck up in as many blankets as possible and trudged up the snowy, walled path until they found an entrance. Sabrina knew the park like the back of her hand, so she led them down a path that twisted and turned until they came to a man-made pond surrounded by benches. In the summertime, the boat basin was the home of miniature-boat enthusiasts who guided their tiny ships across its mirrorlike surface. Sabrina's mother had loved this part of the park. Veronica brought the girls there on many weekends, and they spent hours eating ice cream and people-watching.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Mr. Hamstead asked.
Sabrina nodded and pointed across the pond. There sat a bronze statue of Andersen himself, dressed in a suit, tie, and top hat. He was looking down at his most famous story character, the ugly duckling, though Sabrina now wondered whether the duck was fiction or a real, flesh-and-blood animal.
"I think this 'G' is playing games with us, Relda," Mr. Canis snarled as they approached the statue.
Granny Relda reread the letter aloud. "It says we're supposed to tell a knock-knock joke to Andersen."
Canis grumbled. "What is a knock-knock joke?"
"You don't know what a knock-knock joke is?" Daphne asked in disbelief.
"He doesn't do jokes," Hamstead said.
"Well, it goes like this. Knock, knock?" Daphne said, playfully tapping the statue with her knuckles.
Mr. Canis said nothing.
"You're supposed to say 'Who's there?'"
"Why?"
"You just do," the little girl said.
Mr. Canis took a deep, impatient breath. "Who's there?"
"Cows go."
Again, Canis was confused.
"You're supposed to say, 'Cows go who?'" Granny explained.
"Fine!" Canis snapped. "Cows go who?"
"No, they don't," Daphne said. "Cows go moo."
Hamstead snorted with laughter, and Granny giggled, but Canis flashed them both an angry look and they stopped.
"You're not going to get much of a laugh from this statue," Sabrina said, rubbing her hand across the figure's bronzed head.
"Well, it can't hurt to try," Granny said as she stepped in front of the statue. "Knock, knock?"
Unfortunately, nothing happened.
"Maybe we need to be louder?" Hamstead offered, then shouted the words as loud as he could. A man on a nearby bench watched them with curiosity. He mumbled "freaks," then got up and staggered away.
"Well, this is real fun," Sabrina grumbled. "Anybody else have an idea before we all end up in straitjackets?"
"Wait. Where's Daphne?" Granny asked.
Sabrina scanned the pond, but her sister was nowhere in sight. "Daphne!" she shouted, as a nervous pain bubbled her belly. She should have been paying attention to her sister. Daphne was her responsibility.
"She was standing right here!" Hamstead cried.
"I do not smell the child," Mr. Canis said as he sniffed the cool air.
Suddenly, Granny smiled and set her hand on the statue. "Let's try this again. Knock, knock?" she said, and in a blink she vanished into thin air.
"I think we've found the front door," Mr. Hamstead said, placing his hand on the statue as well. Canis joined him, shifting Puck in his arms to free a hand. Together the men said the magic words, and they disappeared, too, leaving Sabrina alone. She looked into Andersen's face, took a deep breath, and secretly prayed that her family was safe.
Knowing my luck, I'll end up in the belly of a monster that enjoys goofy kids' jokes, she thought.
She reluctantly took a deep breath, put one hand on the statue, and whispered, "Knock, knock?"
The statue's head turned to her, flashed a big smile, and boomed, "Who's there?"