The Council of Mirrors (5 page)

“Lesson number two!” Henry shouted to the girls. “The first thing you do when you are about to fight someone—or something, for that matter—is take them off guard. Screaming like a maniac startles your opponent. The confusion will allow you to observe his weaknesses. While Puck was freaking him out, I was looking for a place to attack. Look at his left knee. See? It’s bigger than the right one. It’s bulging and red and the skin is pulled tight around it. It means he has an infection, which also means that if I kick it . . .”

Henry delivered a vicious kick with his boot heel. Grendel shrieked and bent over to protect his injury.

“Your grandpa Basil taught us to have careful eyes,” Henry continued, circling around the creature until they were nearly face-to-face. “Now, while Grendel is bent over we can get a closer look. Notice his left eye. The pupil is milkier than the right eye, which means he’s going blind in it, which also means he can’t see me as well when I’m standing on this side of his body. Which also means he can’t see this!”

Henry punched Grendel in his left temple. The monster fell to the ground and lay there silently.

“Whoa,” Daphne said.

Sabrina was just as surprised. What happened to her super-careful father? Henry was a man who refused to step off the curb to hail a cab. He wouldn’t eat hot dogs from the carts in Times Square because he was afraid of food poisoning. He never left the house without antibacterial spray. Who was this . . . man of danger?

“You knocked him out? Awww, man! Who am I supposed to throw the rest of these balloons at?” Puck complained when he landed next to the fallen monster. “It’s no fun to pelt someone when they are unconscious.”

He threw one of his balloons at Grendel and it exploded on his cheek.

“OK, it’s still fun, but not as much fun! If I don’t hit someone
with the rest of these, they’ll go to waste.” He turned to Sabrina and grinned.

“Don’t even think about it, dog-breath,” Sabrina warned.

“Geez, he’s big,” Henry said as he knelt down to get a closer look at Grendel. “He’s gotta be nine feet tall and mostly muscle. Your uncle and I used to peek through the window in his door but this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to him. Some say his father was a dragon, and his mother . . .”

“What about his mother?” Sabrina asked, unsure if she really wanted an answer.

“Forget it. That will give you nightmares,” Henry said, standing upright again. “All right, we need to get him back to the Hall of Wonders. He’s too dangerous to be running loose—” But Henry didn’t get to finish his sentence. Grendel was up in a flash.

“DAD!” Sabrina screamed. Henry somersaulted out of the way just as the brute’s hulking fist shattered the ground where he’d been standing. A wicked backhand followed, but Henry’s fast action avoided the blow. The tree behind him was not so lucky. It cracked in half and exploded all over the forest floor in a shower of sawdust.

“Puck!” Henry shouted. “A little help, please.”

The fairy blasted the creature with more of his gag bombs
while buzzing around his head. Grendel swatted and roared, nearly blind from the sickly syrup, but still dangerous.

“Girls, get back!” Henry demanded just before Grendel connected a brutal punch to his chest. Sabrina watched as her father fell to the ground and rolled violently into a nearby tree. She raced to his side and cradled his head in her lap. He was unconscious and bleeding from his left ear.

“Is he OK?” Puck cried as he continued his assault.

“He’s breathing, but we have to get him into the mirror,” Sabrina shouted.

“I’ve got this covered,” Daphne said. She fumbled through the front pocket of her sweatshirt. A second later she was spilling objects onto the ground: bejeweled rings, a pair of red shoes, a few wands, and some odds and ends. “He’s messing with the wrong family.”

“You brought magic weapons!” Sabrina exclaimed, overjoyed.

“It’s not much. The bad guys took all the good stuff.”

Sabrina pointed out a ring with a rose decoration cut into its clear crystal. “What’s that? Does that kill monsters?”

“That’s the Kingmoor Ring,” Daphne said. “It stops a nose bleed.”

“So all we’ve got is the magical equivalent of tilting your head back with a wet rag on your face?”

“You won’t need any of those trinkets,” Puck said as he continued to taunt the monster. “I think he’s getting tired!”

With a burst of speed, Grendel landed an uppercut so powerful it sent Puck sailing straight up into the sky and into the clouds.

With Puck in the air and Henry knocked out, it was just the girls and Elvis versus Grendel. The big dog stood between the girls and their opponent, barking and baring his fangs, which only made the hideous creature do the same. It was a momentary distraction, but Sabrina hoped Daphne would take advantage of it.

She turned back to her sister, praying Daphne had found a magic sword or a Sherman tank inside her pockets, but she was sorely disappointed. Daphne waved a long silver wand with a glittering star on its tip. It looked like part of a cheap Halloween costume, but Sabrina knew what it really was—a fairy godmother’s wand. She’d seen one do some amazing things, but could it stop this creature? Daphne must have gone crazy.

When Grendel charged them, the little girl flicked her wrist. The monster vanished into a puff of purple smoke and light—then there was a loud thump, followed by a groan.

“Daphne!” Sabrina cried through the smoke. She could barely make out her own hand in front of her face and couldn’t see Daphne at all.

“I took care of it,” Daphne said as the haze began to dissipate. Daphne stood over the fallen Grendel, her wand in hand and Elvis by her side. Grendel squirmed and struggled to escape a formfitting silver taffeta dress.

“I don’t think he likes the dress,” Sabrina said as Grendel ripped the gown off his back.

“It doesn’t go with his shoes. I’ll try another,” Daphne said, flicking the wand once more. The silver gown vanished in another puff of smoke and was replaced by a clown outfit, complete with floppy yellow shoes, rainbow fright wig, and bright red nose. Grendel looked down at himself, completely perplexed.

“Can’t you put him in a straitjacket or something?” Sabrina cried.

“I’m trying. This isn’t as easy as it looks,” Daphne said, twirling the wand erratically, then zapping the creature over and over again: tuxedo with tie and tails, conquistador suit, ballerina tutu complete with tights and slippers, Raggedy Andy overalls, and a life-size banana costume complete with necktie. Each abrupt change only caused Grendel’s rage to grow, and eventually he snatched the little girl, jerking her off the ground and forcing her to drop her magic wand.

Sabrina jumped to her feet and grabbed the magical weapon
but immediately threw it to the ground. She was hit with the rolling nausea that overtook her every time she touched anything enchanted. If she held the wand much longer, she wasn’t sure what would happen. She might lose control of herself.

She was going to have to fight Grendel without magic. But how? What had her father said about the monster’s knee? Yes, it was swollen and infected—if only she could give it one of her patented kicks to the shin. Being an orphan had taught her a lot about kicking and punching.

“Just run to the mirror,” Daphne begged.

Sabrina was incensed. “Now you’re doing it.”

“Doing what?” Daphne said as she dangled high above the ground.

“Treating me like a baby! Since when am I the helpless one in this family?”

She wanted to rail at her sister but she realized Grendel was now standing over her, Daphne in his claw, his good eye staring at her with hungry curiosity. Slick saliva as murky as swamp water dripped from his broken, jagged teeth. His breath was like a coal oven and each blast smelled of charcoal and charred meat. When his jaw opened up to swallow her, Sabrina figured she was about to become Grendel’s breakfast.

“I hope you choke on me!” she shouted defiantly, then swung a fist that popped the monster in the nose.

And much to Sabrina’s surprise, Grendel cried out in agony. She looked down at her hand, unsure of her own strength. Then there was a flash of fur and claws. Something was attacking the monster, but the action was too fast to follow. Sabrina was not responsible for Grendel’s pain.

In an effort to protect himself, Grendel dropped Daphne, and the little girl fell into a wet mound of leaves. She staggered over to Sabrina, who had rejoined their unconscious father, and the two watched the fight. They soon realized that they owed their lives to three massive brown bears. But these were no ordinary bears. The biggest wore overalls, another had on a dress, and the littlest one had a beanie cap with a propeller on the top. Sabrina recognized these bears—all three of them.

“Goldilocks,” Sabrina gasped as the stunningly pretty woman stepped out from behind the trees and extended a helping hand.

“Let’s get your father to safety,” Goldi said. Her eyes were sky-blue, her hair seemingly made from gold. She had sun-kissed freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. She and another woman helped Henry to his feet. This second woman had long auburn hair, creamy skin, and eyes the color of a meadow. No wonder they called her Beauty.

“I don’t think your bears can take him, Goldi,” Beauty said. “Mind if I cut in?”

“Be my guest,” Goldilocks said.

Beauty turned to Grendel and started to sing a sweet lullaby, each note soothing the brute like he was a baby on his way to dreamland. As her perfect voice and lyrics filled the air, the fight drained out of Grendel, and he stood before her in a happy daze.

“That’s right,” Beauty said as she caressed his horrible face. “You know I like a man with a big smile. Can you smile for me?”

Grendel did as he was asked, and then he cooed like a newborn babe. It was nauseating.

“Oh, we’ve got a real charmer on our hands here.” Beauty giggled.

“Can you get him into the Hall of Wonders?” Henry, now conscious, said weakly.

“Right now I could get him to do the cha-cha!”

Henry turned to Goldi. “Thank you. You saved my daughters’ lives.”

Goldi rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly, Hank.”

“It seems I owe you my life, too.”

“For like the fifty millionth time,” the woman said with a knowing smile. Henry smiled back and Sabrina watched as a lifetime of memories seemed to pass between them. Sadly,
Goldi’s eyes hinted at a world of heartache, too. This peculiar woman still loved her father dearly.

Suddenly, three of Puck’s disgusting balloon bombs fell from the sky and hit Grendel in the face. He was so enraptured by Beauty he didn’t even notice.

“Yes, my weapons have paralyzed him with fear,” Puck said as he drifted down from above. “Like I said. The Trickster King has got this under control.”

“What are you two doing out here?” Henry asked Beauty and Goldi.

“Looking for you,” Beauty explained.

“Us?” Sabrina cried.

“Yes, and we have to hurry,” Goldi begged. “We need your help with Jake.”

“You know where he is?” Henry asked. “The magic mirrors couldn’t find him.”

“He’s with us,” Goldi said, “back at our camp. It has a diversion spell around it. That’s probably why they couldn’t locate him. But Hank—he’s not himself.”

“He did just lose Briar,” Henry said. “He went through something like this when our father was killed.”

“It’s more than grief,” Goldi said.

“He’s losing his mind, Henry,” Beauty said bluntly.

Everyone turned to look at her.

“Sorry, but you need to know what to expect,” Beauty said. “He’s talking to himself. The things he says—it’s very troubling stuff.”

“Like what?” Henry asked. “What’s he talking about?”

Goldi looked pained, as if what she was going to say would injure herself and everyone around her.

“What is it?” Sabrina asked.

“He’s talking about murder.”

ctober 14 (part 2)

Thought I better update the journal while I’m back in the Hall of Wonders. Dad and Beauty are locking Grendel up in his old room. It’s scary to think the Hall used to house hundreds of monsters like him and that they are all running around town now doing who knows what. Dad tried to put a happy face on it by reminding us that now that we have Grendel we have one less freak to worry about. I reminded him that now we were sleeping next door to said freak. He told me to zip it
.