Tales from the Hood (22 page)

“Mirror! It’s an emergency!”

Sabrina handed him her set of keys and moments later he returned with a small leather case. Inside were the kind of tools Sabrina had only dreamed about when she and her sister were wards of the state. There were picks of all shapes and sizes, and she tried each one until the handcuff snapped open. Free, she rubbed her sore wrist, and turned to Briar.

“Maybe we should wake your grandmother?” Briar said as she hesitantly handed over her magic seed.

“No time,” Sabrina said, and turned to Puck. “Hand over the dirt.”

Puck did as he was told and Sabrina approached the traveler’s chest.

She knew if she walked down the steps now, she’d wind up outside of the Hotel Thérèse, far from where she needed to be, so she closed the lid and removed the key. “I want to go to the second-floor observation deck of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France,” she said aloud. Then she inserted the key and opened the lid. Inside she found a completely different set of stairs.

“Be careful,” Briar said. “And tell your uncle to do the same.”

“I will,” Sabrina said as she descended. She hurried down the stairs and into the dark until she found the door, but this one did not have a doorknob. Instead, she found a button. She pushed it and it lit up, but nothing happened. She was considering turning back when the door slid open. She immediately saw her sister and uncle.

Sabrina stepped out, realizing she had just gotten out of the elevators on the second level.

“What are you doing here?” Uncle Jake asked.

“Your girlfriend sent me with some help,” Sabrina said as she hurried her family to the broken elevator shaft. There she took Puck’s dirt and placed it in a heap on the floor. She then took Briar’s crusty brown seed and buried it in the small pile of earth. Then she stood up and dusted herself off.

Before she was finished, a tiny green sprout appeared in the dirt. It grew and grew, becoming plump and fat until it was as thick as a tree trunk and covered in roses. In no time it was as tall as Uncle Jake and had pointy thorns sprouting out of its sides.

“My girlfriend is full of secrets,” Uncle Jake said as the bush rocketed into the air. He grabbed Daphne in his arms and reached out for a branch. “See you at the top, ’Brina.”

A moment later, he was yanked off the ground and sailing skyward as the rosebush grew at an impossible rate. Sabrina grabbed a vine. The strength of the growing bush was incredible. She wondered if her arm might be yanked from the socket, but she held on with all her strength. Sabrina sailed higher and higher and faster and faster until she reached the top of the Eiffel Tower, where the rosebush stopped and the branch eased her gently to the platform.

Sabrina stood for a moment, trying to regain her bearings and feeling the building sway in the powerful wind. She didn’t like heights, especially heights moving under her feet.

“She’s here!” Daphne cried as she raced across the platform. Goldilocks lay on her back, motionless. Sabrina dashed to her side, with Uncle Jake in tow.

“Is she—?”

“She’s alive,” Uncle Jake said as he knelt to find a pulse. “It looks like she’s unconscious.”

“But how?” Sabrina asked.

Her answer came in the sound of running feet. Before anyone could react, the menacing motorcyclist had charged across the platform and tackled Uncle Jake. Caught off guard, Jake was helpless and took several brutal punches to the face and stomach. Sabrina watched him try to defend himself, but the dark rider was fast and fierce.

Sabrina and Daphne rushed to help him, but they were nothing more than mosquitoes to the mysterious villain. He slapped Sabrina with a vicious backhand that sent her tumbling to the floor. When Sabrina righted herself, she realized Daphne was injured as well.

“Uncle Jake!” Sabrina shouted as she watched the two men circle one another. Jake assured her that everything would be fine, but he never took his eyes off the mysterious man.

“You must think you’re pretty tough, hitting women and children,” Uncle Jake said to the man. He replied by lunging with his knife, slashing and striking out, but Sabrina’s uncle was fast and leaped away from every deadly attack.

“And the outfit, hiding your face. Then again, if I were slapping people around who couldn’t fight back, I’d want to hide my identity, too.”

“You dare question my honor?” a muffled voice said from behind the helmet. “I’m the Black Knight, you fool.”

“I thought knights rode horses,” Uncle Jake said.

“I upgraded,” the Black Knight said.

“Who knighted you?” Uncle Jake said as he continued to dig into his pockets. “That king must have been pretty hard up for heroes.”

“I serve no king,” the knight growled. “Only the Master and his glorious vision of the future. When Everafters take their place as rulers of the world, your kind will be in cages, serving us.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Uncle Jake mocked. “You Scarlet Hand losers sure do love the whole ‘we’re going to rule the world’ bit. It seems to me the only thing you’ve got power over is my boredom.”

“Hold your tongue, fool, or I will cut it from your mouth.”

At that moment, Sabrina’s uncle took a small ring from his pocket and slipped it on. “Well, pal, if you’re feeling froggy, take a leap.”

The Black Knight dove for Uncle Jake and the two men toppled over one another. Sabrina watched Jake lock his hand around the knight’s wrist, limiting his ability to use his deadly blade. But the knight’s other hand was free, and he punched her uncle several times in the jaw. They rolled over each other, kicking and punching along the way. Every time the knight seemed to get the upper hand, Uncle Jake managed to pummel him and gain control, but it never lasted long. The Black Knight was obviously stronger than Uncle Jake and a much better fighter. Sabrina could only watch in horror when the dark villain clenched his free hand around Jake’s throat to choke him. Daphne scrambled over once again to lend a hand but was tossed aside. She fell hard on the floor, but her eyes were still open.

“Leave him alone!” Sabrina begged, but the knight ignored her. He continued to squeeze, and Jake’s face turned blue. In desperation, he raised his hand to the knight’s face, and a blast of red-hot energy exploded out of the tiny ring on his pinky finger. It temporarily blinded Sabrina, but when her eyes adjusted she saw the Black Knight was unfazed.

“My Master has given me a special gift, fool,” he said. “Your silly magic won’t work on me. Sadly, he won’t see your death himself. He so wanted to witness it.”

Spittle came out of Uncle Jake’s mouth and his eyes started to bulge. The knight was killing him, and there was no one to stop him. No one except for Sabrina. She reached into her pocket, found the kazoo, and aimed it right at the killer. She hoped she could direct its power away from her uncle. Then she blew into it. The wind it produced swirled around the knight like it was a living creature, a bird made of nothingness, circling and howling. It lifted the Black Knight off the floor and in his effort to stay down he released Uncle Jake. The wind carried the knight over the edge of the tower, and he sank out of sight. Sabrina heard his fading screams and rushed to the side of the tower. There, trapped in the vines of the magical rosebush, was the knight. It had saved his life, but it wrapped around his arms and legs to prevent him from escaping.

Sabrina rushed to Uncle Jake’s side and helped him sit up. The man’s face was raw and red and he coughed violently, but when he got to his feet, Sabrina was sure he would be OK. Daphne raced to the fallen Goldilocks and shouted her name until she woke.

“What happened?” the woman asked.

“Don’t worry,” Sabrina said, hurrying over. “You’re safe. The Black Knight is gone.”

“It’s you!” she said, her voice higher and more feminine than Sabrina had imagined. She turned to stare at the others until her eyes focused on Jake. She looked startled at first, but then smiled.

“You’ve come to take me back?” she said, as if in surrender.

Uncle Jake tried to talk but couldn’t. All he could do was shake his head.

“We’re not here to force you back to Ferryport Landing. We’re here to ask you to come back on your own,” Sabrina said.

“Who are you?” Goldilocks asked.

“My name is Sabrina Grimm and this is my sister, Daphne,” Sabrina said, motioning to the little girl.

“We’re Henry Grimm’s daughters,” Daphne added.

Goldilocks studied their faces. “I see a lot of him in you,” she told Daphne, then looked at Sabrina. “So he married that girl, huh? You look just like her.”

Sabrina nodded. “Her name is Veronica.”

“I know,” Goldilocks said as she got to her feet. She turned to Uncle Jake and gave him a hug. “It’s good to see you, Jakey.”

Uncle Jake nodded and smiled, then pointed at his throat.

“The knight tried to choke him to death,” Daphne explained.

“Goldie, you have to come back,” Sabrina said. “The town is a disaster and my dad—”

“Tell me he’s safe,” Goldilocks pleaded. Sabrina could see the woman still felt strongly for her father. She wasn’t sure how to react.

“He’s fine, but he needs you,” Daphne said. “He’s under a sleeping spell. We need someone to kiss him. We were told you were the only one who could do that.”

Goldilocks blushed. “A kiss from someone who truly loves him is all he needs. Can’t you get your mother to do this?”

Sabrina shook her head. “No, she’s asleep, too.”

“Never a dull moment in Ferryport Landing,” the blond beauty said. “How did this happen?”

“The Scarlet Hand did it,” Uncle Jake croaked.

“The Scarlet Who?” the blonde asked.

“They’re the bad guys,” Daphne said. “They kidnapped my parents almost two years ago. Now they are running the town. That creepy guy, the Black Knight, he was one of them.”

“He’s been chasing me for a month,” Goldilocks said. “If he is part of the group that kidnapped your parents, they probably don’t want anyone to wake them up. Whoever sent him will send others.”

“Come back and we’ll protect you,” Sabrina said.

Goldilocks looked into Sabrina’s face. “Come back to Ferryport Landing?”

Sabrina nodded hopefully.

Goldilocks shook her head. “I can’t do that. Terrible things occurred just to set me free. Your grandfather died because of it. Your grandmother doesn’t want to see me, and I’m sure Henry wouldn’t want to see me, either. He told me to leave him alone.”

“But we can’t wake him up without you,” Daphne begged. “Without you it’s impossible.”

Goldilocks turned to Uncle Jake. “If I went back, could you set me free again?”

Uncle Jake shook his head. Sabrina wasn’t surprised. After what had happened the first time he shut down the barrier, she doubted that her uncle would ever attempt it again. She wondered if he would even do it for Briar.

“Then no,” Goldilocks said. “I won’t go back. I’m sorry. I wish I could help. Don’t give up hope. You live in Ferryport Landing. Anything is possible there.” She turned and a moment later she was walking down the steps that led to the second level. Sabrina started to chase after her, but Uncle Jake snatched her arm and pulled her back. He shook his head. “Let her go,” he whispered painfully.

“We have to stop her. We can force her to go back with us,” Sabrina said.

“That’s not what we do,” Daphne said, softly. Sabrina noticed Daphne hadn’t looked at her since the Black Knight had been thrown from the building.

“But—”

Again, Uncle Jake shook his head. “We’ll find another way. It’s time to go home.”

abrina watched her uncle pack up the traveler’s chest. An hour later, the same rabbit and tortoise that delivered it came and picked it up. The rabbit hoisted it onto his partner’s shell and walked it over to the little truck. Moments later they were gone, along with the only hope the family had of ever seeing Goldilocks again.

“We could go back and change her mind,” Sabrina pleaded as the family watched the truck disappear down the road.

“She said no, Sabrina,” Jake exclaimed, though speaking still hurt his voice.

“None of you care!” Sabrina raged at her family. “None of you care whether Mom and Dad ever wake up!” She raced upstairs to the room where her parents slept, nestled herself between their bodies, and cried into her hands. Her old thoughts of anger toward Everafters surfaced. Most were betrayers, others couldn’t be counted on. She wept openly, not caring if Mirror or anyone else for that matter heard her railing at the world around her. Mirror’s face appeared briefly in the reflection but then faded away. She silently thanked him for letting her be alone. She lay there for hours, her face and neck drenched in tears, until eventually she was too exhausted to continue.