Once Upon a Crime (The Sisters Grimm, Book 4) (15 page)

"Daphne Grimm! Well done!" Mr. Hamstead said. "If we follow these prints they'll lead us right to him."

Everyone nodded, even Moth, and they set out to follow the tracks.

As they walked, Sabrina tried to engage her sister. "That was stupid of you to get into that fight," she said. "You're stupid," Daphne said.

"You could have been hurt. Why would you take such a risk?"

"I'm going to have to take bigger risks now that I'm on my own," Daphne replied.

Sabrina stopped in her tracks, and watched as her sister hurried to catch up with Mr. Canis, who was leading their group.

Granny joined Sabrina and gave her a sad smile. "This is her choice, liebling,"

"So I should just let her get killed?"

Granny shook her head. "As long as I'm around I won't let that happen."

The prints led into Battery Park. In warmer weather, the park would be filled with tourists waiting for the boats to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Now it was almost empty. The Staten Island Ferry, a commuter boat that took people to the city's remote island borough, docked nearby as well, and it was into the ferry terminal that Cobweb's tracks led. Sabrina helped her grandmother up the snow-covered ramp to the waiting room inside. There the group drew many stares from the terminal staff. Sabrina realized that most were gazing at Mr. Canis--all seven feet of him.

"Look, there's Cobweb!" Moth shouted. Sabrina turned in the direction the fairy girl pointed only to see a boat pulling away from the dock. Cobweb sat on the railing looking back at them. His face was grim and cold.

"I'll get him!" Moth said as her fairy wings popped out of her back.

Granny snatched her arm and held the girl back. "We'll wait for the next boat." Moth reluctantly retracted her wings.

"By the time we get to Staten Island, Cobweb will be long gone," Daphne said.

"You have bigger problems than that," a rough voice said from behind them. Sabrina turned around and saw a half-dozen men with skin the color of copper and jet-black hair coming toward them. Their leader had dark eyes as fierce as any she had ever seen. He spoke again, "You know as well as I do that fairies are not welcome on docks controlled by Sinbad the Sailor."

Sabrina instinctively stepped between her sister and the stranger. She'd read

The Arabian Nights recently, researching jinnis that might help her rescue her parents. The story of Sinbad was fresh in her memory. He'd gone on seven voyages and each trip had nearly killed him, though he had seen some fairly amazing things, including ogres, jinnis, and fish disguised as massive islands. He'd killed hordes of monsters, too. She didn't remember him as a villain, but she'd learned the hard way that sometimes the good guys switched sides.

"Is that so?" Moth said angrily to Sinbad. "Well, what are you going to do about it?'

The sailor's men pulled nasty-looking daggers out of their coats.

"No fairies on the ferry," Sinbad said. "Oberon may have been able to force us to pay his lousy taxes, but he's dead. I'm not about to let some other fairy come in and take our hard-earned money."

"We're not fairies," Daphne said. "We're detectives and we're trying to find the person who killed Oberon."

Sinbad cocked an eyebrow. "Praise be! Can it be you? Can it be that I am in the presence of Veronica Grimm's children?"

Daphne nodded, and the men put their daggers away.

"I am honored to meet you," Sinbad said. "It was a dark day in my heart when your mother vanished. What brings you here?"

"The fairy who killed King Oberon is on the boat that just left," Granny Relda said.

Sinbad looked at his men and then looked back at the group. "I may be of some assistance," he said and led everyone to the next docking station. He took out a key, unlocked a huge door, and slid it open. Behind it was a second ferryboat.

"You've got your own boat?" Hamstead asked.

"I

am the harbormaster for the Staten Island Ferry," Sinbad said proudly. He helped them onboard, then led them up a flight of steps to the bridge. He started the boat's engine as his men untied its mooring lines from the dock. When the boat was free, the men shouted up to their captain, and he pulled down a lever, easing the ferry away from the dock with expert care. In no time they were cruising away from Manhattan in pursuit of Cobweb.

"Chasing a murderer… is this not dangerous work for young girls?" Sinbad asked.

"We're Grimms, this is what we do," Daphne said.

Sinbad laughed. "Your mother used to say the same thing whenever I had to help her out of one of her many close calls. Not that I minded. I have to admit, I myself was much smitten with her."

"You had a crush on our mother?" Daphne asked.

"I'd hardly call it a crush. I was head over heals, to be honest. Veronica was quite a woman and I've known a great many in my day. She was brilliant and strong, if a bit stubborn."

"Sounds like someone I know," Granny said, flashing Sabrina a smile.

"I asked her to run away with me nearly a thousand times, but she always rebuffed me. She said she had eyes for only one man. I suppose it was your father she spoke of. The fates were smiling on him the day he met her."

Sabrina was livid. Hearing him talk about her mother this way was infuriating. Sinbad noticed and smiled.

"Little one, allow a man to dream. Your mother never took my advances seriously. Most of the time she was too busy with her big plan to fix our community to even notice I was flirting."

One of Sinbad's crew raced to the bridge. He looked nervous and sweaty. "My lord, we have a big problem."

"What is it?"

"Pirates!"

"Again!" Sinbad scowled. "It is the third time this week!"

"Pirates? What pirates?" Sabrina cried, but Sinbad rushed out onto the deck with his man. The Grimms and their friends dashed after him and found the entire crew standing on one s

ide of the boat peering at something through binoculars.

Sabrina snatched a pair of binoculars from the nearest sailor and scanned the horizon. Sailing near the Statue of Liberty was a boat with a black flag waving in the wind. The flag had a skull and crossbones on it.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sabrina said, handing the binoculars to her grandmother.

Just then, an enormous explosion could be heard coming from the pirate boat. A moment later something big crashed into the water not far from the ferry.

"They dare fire on me? Sinbad? Master of the sea? Turn this ship toward them and see how brave they are with our cutlasses at their throats," the captain cried. His men cheered and several raced to the helm. The ferry made an abrupt turn and headed straight for the approaching pirates.

"Turn this ship around!" Mr. Canis cried. "We're after a killer. We have no interest in your petty turf war!"

"You have nothing to fear, my large friend, praise be. I am Sinbad and I have faced these foul vermin before. Of course, maybe we should arm you. Men, hand out some steel!"

The men shoved large swords into everyone's hands.

"What are we supposed to do with these?" Sabrina asked, alarmed.

"They're quite useful for killing pirates," Sinbad said as he hurried back to the bridge.

"I don't think I'm allowed to kill pirates!" Daphne called after him. She looked up at Granny Relda. "Am I?"

The old woman shook her head, collected the children's swords, and handed them to one of Sinbad's men.

Another of the crew rushed toward them with life jackets.

"What do we need these for?" Hamstead asked as there was another loud splash off the side of the boat.

"In case we have to jump," the man replied.

"Why would we have to jump?"

"If the boat were about to blow up," the sailor said as if he were talking about something as ordinary as gardening or making toast.

Hamstead cringed and turned to Sabrina. "Pigs don't swim," he whispered nervously.

There was an enormous crash, and the cabin wall they were standing next to exploded, sending wood and glass everywhere. Sabrina tumbled to the floor.

"We've taken a hit!" Sinbad shouted. "It's time to show those devils what kind of men we are! Let's do this old school, shall we?"

The crew roared in approval. One of Sinbad's men rushed to a panel on the wall. Inside was a red button, which he pounded hard with his fist. He turned to the passengers with a wide smile. There was an odd mechanical grinding and then the sound of rockets firing. Suddenly, the top of the ferry flew off and crashed into the water. A hole opened up in the deck and a long wooden pole soared skyward. Farther down the deck, an identical pole was rising, and when both had extended as far as they could, huge rolls of fabric unfurled from the top. The fabric squares had ropes attached to their corners. It quickly dawned on Sabrina that they were sails, and the crew went about tying them into position. The cold winter wind heaved against the boat and Sabrina felt it pick up speed.

Sinbad's voice rose above the noise, saying, "Stand clear for artillery upload."

Suddenly more slots opened along both sides of the boat and out poked heavy black cannons, each with a pyramid of cannonballs stacked next to it. Several of the men rolled huge wooden kegs into place next to the cannons. The kegs had the words GUNPOWDER and DANGER printed on the side.

"We have to get off this thing!" Sabrina cried. She grabbed her sister and grandmother and raced to the edge of the boat, looking back to make sure Puck's cocoon and the rest of her group were safely behind her. Then she turned and peered into the black water below and realized how very cold it would be--the freezing temperature would mean almost certain death. They were trapped onboard, and worse, the crew of the ferry seemed to be loving the situation. When a cannonball landed just short of the boat and splashed into the water, they booed as if they were disappointed in their attackers' aim.

"Ladies, would you like to set off the return volley?" Sinbad asked, suddenly appearing before them, sword gleaming at his side. He was holding a flaming torch, which he offered to them.

Sabrina looked at the weird smile on the man's face. He was enjoying this nightmare. He might have been good to her mother, but it seemed he couldn't care less if Veronica's family were blown to bits. Sabrina thought about how she so often found herself in these situations, the kind where people got hurt, and she wasn't going to take it anymore. Without even thinking it through, she lunged forward, snatched the sword from Sinbad's belt, and leveled it at his head.

"Take us back to the dock," she said calmly.

"You look so much like your mother right now," Sinbad said, shifting his eyes back and forth from her face to the sword pointed at his throat.

"I've had enough of this craziness. Turn the boat around and take us back to the dock. You're not going to get us killed, especially before I get to retire," she said.

"Child, we are in the middle of a fight. If we turn this boat, the pirates will fire on our port side and we'll surely go down," Sinbad explained.

"Sabrina, give him back the sword," Granny Relda demanded.

"NO! This is exactly what I'm talking about when I say I don't want to be a Grimm. Look at these maniacs. They're having fun. And you know why? Because they can't die unless someone tries really hard to kill them. This is just a stupid game to them. Well, I can die, Granny, and so can you and Daphne. So, Sinbad here is going to turn this boat around right now."

Daphne rushed to Sabrina's side and snatched the sword away. "You're being a jerkazoid!" she shouted.

"I'm trying to protect us. I'm trying to save us all!" Sabrina cried.

"So is he," Daphne said, pointing at Sinbad. "Those pirates fired on us first."

She handed Sinbad back his weapon.

"You're a spirited girl," Sinbad said to Sabrina. "If a bit odd-smelling."

Before Sabrina could argue with her sister, she heard a hollow horn blast and watched as the men adjusted the sail riggings and tied them down tight. The sails trapped the wind, and again the ferry raced across the water. Sabrina could hardly believe the power of the blustery winter air; the boat was cutting through the waves as if propelled by rockets.

Sinbad took out his binoculars again and peered through the lenses. "We're close enough to see the faces of the mongrels now." He handed the binoculars to Hamstead, who took a peek as well.

"Uh, those aren't pirates," Hamstead said. "They're wearing suits and ties."

Sabrina snatched the binoculars out of his hand and saw that Hamstead was right. The approaching boat wasn't a pirate ship at all but a yacht. Its passengers were wearing black tuxedos and seemed to be sipping cocktails between cannon shots.

"Is this a joke?" Sabrina said, yanking on Sinbad's sleeve.

"What do you mean?" the roguish sailor said.

"Those aren't pirates. They look like they work on Wall Street."

"What's the difference?" Bess asked.

Just then, the bridge above exploded. A cannonball had smacked into it, sending wood and glass in all directions. The two men steering the boat had jumped to safety at the last second.

Sinbad shouted to his men. "They're coming alongside! Let's show them what we're all about, praise be."

The men cheered, and when the "pirate" boat was close enough, Sinbad leapt onto it and started fighting a man wearing a three-piece suit who was brandishing a nasty-looking dagger. The two fought fiercely, their blades slashing through

the air. Several of the pirates, who were also very well dressed, mimicked Sinbad's bravery and jumped from the yacht onto the ferryboat. Sinbad's crew charged them, and a savage battle began. In no time, the family found themselves in the midst of clanging blades and shooting sparks.

Mr. Canis snatched up Sabrina and Daphne, and led Granny and Moth through the melee, doing his best to avoid getting slashed himself. Puck's cocoon floated close behind, missing several near punctures. Hamstead and Bess followed, and together they all raced down a flight of steps that led into the boat's hull. Unfortunately, they were followed by an ugly brute with a wicked scar running from the tip of his right eye to the edge of his lip. He was dressed as well as the other pirates but his clothing didn't lend him any charm. He roared at the family, and Canis roared back. The pirate stood there for a moment, apparently trying to understand who or what Canis was, and then ran back up the steps.