The Fairy-Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, Book 1) (14 page)

"We should send Elvis up first," Sabrina said.

"Good idea," Daphne replied.

Sabrina turned to the Great Dane. "Elvis, there's someone upstairs. Go get him!"

Elvis sat down on his hind legs and used his back paw to scratch his neck. If he understood the order, he wasn't letting on. Discouraged, Sabrina turned back to her sister and Puck. "We'll go together and sneak up on him."

They nodded in agreement, and all three took the first step up the stairs. Their "armor" clanged and knocked around, causing a tremendous racket. By the time they got to the top of the steps, Sabrina realized that a sneak attack was probably no longer realistic, so she went with plan B.

"Whoever is up here better leave, 'cause we're armed to the teeth. I wouldn't want to be you when we find you!" Sabrina shouted. Her threat was met with silence.

"Maybe he's gone," Daphne said hopefully.

"I say we bust the door down and skin him alive," Puck said loudly.

"There's going to be no skinning of anyone," Sabrina said as she fumbled in her pocket and pulled out the key ring. She started the tedious work of finding the right key, and soon one went in the lock and clicked.

"Just stay together and, most of all, stay calm. If we don't panic, we can take this guy ourselves," Sabrina said.

"On three," Daphne whispered, giving her frying pan a practice swing.

"ONE, TWO, THREE!"
Sabrina screamed, pushing the door open and rushing into the room. The trio swung their weapons frantically, slashing at whatever enemy dared to face their deadly kitchen utensils. After several minutes, and zero deadly hits, Sabrina stopped and looked around the room. In the moonlight from the single window, she could see it was empty, except for a wood-framed, full-length mirror that hung on a wall.

Puck, who was lying on the floor laughing hysterically, roared,
"STAY CALM, YOU SAY?"

"Where did he go?" Daphne said, as she peered behind the door and found no one.

"Maybe we imagined it," Sabrina said, scowling at the boy's laughter. "C'mon, let's get back to work."

She turned to leave, but Daphne said, "Granny's note said that all the answers we need would stare us in the face." She pointed at the mirror.

"It's just a mirror," her sister argued.

"It can't hurt to take a look!" Puck said, and trotted over to it. Sabrina switched on the room light and reluctantly joined him, followed by Daphne, and together they looked at their reflection.

"I think I see something," Daphne said.

"What? What is it?" Sabrina said.

"A booger. It's in your nose." The little girl laughed. "Gotcha, again!

Puck laughed so hard he snorted, but then saw Sabrina staring and stopped abruptly.

"WHO ARE YOU?"
a loud voice suddenly bellowed from within the mirror. Sabrina looked into its reflection and felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. A face was staring out at her but it was not her own. Floating without a body, the face was that of a man with a bald head and thick, angular features. He stared at the children with eyes like blue flames flickering a mixture of rage and disgust, as if the children were rodents found munching on the turkey during Christmas dinner. Terrified, the children ran back toward the door, but a blue ray shot from the mirror, hit the door, and slammed it shut, trapping them inside.

"WHO ARE YOU?"
the head bellowed.
"TELL ME NOW OR I WILL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!"

'd like to see you try," Puck said defiantly. A six-foot-high circle of fire snaked around the group, trapping them inside. The flames licked at the pots and pans the children had hoped would act as armor, and managed to scorch Sabrina's hand. She pulled it close to her and rubbed the painful burn.

"I WILL ROAST THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES!"
the face threatened. Dark gray clouds framed the bulbous head in a violent thunderstorm. Lighting crackled around the face, exploding in light and sound with every twitch of its eyebrows. "Who dares to invade my sanctuary?"

Sabrina pulled Daphne close to her, while Puck stepped between them and the closest flame, thrusting his little sword into the wall of fire. "We're not invaders! We live here!" he shouted over the roaring fire.

The face cocked an eyebrow and looked at them sternly.

"You're the grandchildren?"

"Yes! Sabrina and Daphne!" Sabrina shouted.

"And Puck!" Puck chimed in.

Suddenly, the fire puttered out, as if someone had turned off a stove.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought carnival folk had broken into the house," the head cried. "You can hardly blame me, three kids break into my room and they're dressed like escaped inmates from the Ferryport Landing Asylum. You may not have heard, but the whole circus-clown-meets-crazy-street-vagrant-look is so over."

Sabrina looked down at her outfit: the torn, bright-blue pants, the orange sweatshirt with the monkey, the pressure-cooker lid strapped to her behind. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she took off her spaghetti-strainer helmet.

"What are you?" Sabrina asked, regaining her composure.

"I'm not a what, I'm a who!" the face in the mirror croaked, looking deeply insulted.

"Then who are you?" Sabrina said impatiently.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, why I'm the seer of seers, the visionary of visionaries, the man who puts the fun in your reflection," he replied with a dramatic flourish.

Sabrina looked at her sister for help. Daphne had read more fairy tales than Sabrina, but the little girl returned her sister's glance with a dumbfounded shrug. The face in the mirror frowned, sensing that the girls were far from star-struck and, in fact, had no idea who he was.

"I'm the magic mirror!" the face snapped.

"We could have guessed you were a magic mirror," Puck muttered.

"Not a magic mirror! The magic mirror! 'Mirror, mirror, on the wall'?"

"From 'Snow White'?" Daphne asked.

"Is there another?" The face growled. "You can call me Mirror. Your grandma told me you were coming from New York City, though she didn't tell me she was giving you a set of keys."

"She didn't. Granny threw hers to us before she was carried off by a giant," Daphne explained.

Mirror's eyes grew wide with astonishment.

"Well, there's a sentence you don't hear every day." He chuckled. "And I suppose you are in the midst of a rescue plan?"

"They are," Puck said defensively. "I'm a villain."

"So, let's hear this thrilling plan," said Mirror.

"We haven't got all the details worked out yet," Sabrina said, trying to make herself sound older and more mature.

"You don't have a plan!" Mirror exclaimed.

"We're still working on it," Sabrina muttered. "We thought there might be something up here that could help us."

"You're just like Henry." Mirror sighed. "Ready to jump headfirst into an adventure, hoping he'd come up with a plan along the way."

The girl was shocked. Headfirst didn't sound like her dad at all. My dad read the labels on cans of food before everyone could eat, she thought.

"You knew our father?" Daphne exclaimed.

"Knew him? I was Henry's babysitter most of the time. I saw him off to the prom. I was even invited to your parents' wedding. They propped me up on my own seat. I am a member of this family, after all."

"Sorry, we didn't mean to offend you," the little girl said. "So if you're the magic mirror, what do you do?"

"I can show you anything you want to see; all you have to do is ask," Mirror said proudly.

"What are you talking about?" Sabrina asked with growing impatience. All this chatter was keeping them from acting. Who knew what that monster was doing to Granny and Mr. Canis.

"You got a question. I got an answer," the face bragged. "All you got to do is ask."

"Are Granny Relda and Mr. Canis still alive?" Daphne asked.

"Sorry, kiddo, that's not how it works. You have to ask me the right way."

"What's the right way?" Sabrina demanded.

"Well, if you're going to be cranky, then just forget it!" Mirror said. He jutted out his lower lip.

Puck swung his carrot peeler menacingly at the face, then realized what he was doing, and flashed his little sword. "Listen, Mirror, you tell us what we want to know or you're going to find yourself cracked and broken all over the floor!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Just see if I wouldn't!"

Daphne tugged on Puck's arm. Acting as the diplomat for the group, she apologized to Mirror. "We're just very eager to find our granny and Mr. Canis, and we don't understand what you are saying."

The face's expression changed to a huge smile. "Apology accepted. Now, like I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted," he said as he eyed Sabrina disapprovingly, "you have to ask your questions in a special way to activate the magic. You have to . . ."

"Rhyme them!" Daphne interrupted with a happy cry.

"Bingo!"

The little girl turned to the other two. "We have to rhyme the question. Like, mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"

A blue mist filled the mirror's surface and the face faded away, only to be replaced with the image of the most beautiful woman Sabrina had ever seen. She had black hair like Daphne's, and flawless, porcelain skin. She was standing in front of a classroom, teaching. Every boy in the class stared at her like a lovesick puppy, and there was a stack of apples on her desk.

"That would still be the lovely Snow White," Mirror said.

Just then, all the students got up from their seats and exited the room. When Snow White was finally alone, she tossed the apples into a garbage can and slid it under her desk.

"OK, how about this?" Sabrina said. "Mirror, mirror in a beehive, is Granny Relda still alive?"

The man in the mirror's face reappeared and he was frowning. "In a beehive?"

"All you said was it had to rhyme. You didn't say it had to make sense."

"Very well," said the face, and the blue mist returned. "Your grandmother is alive and well, for now."

"Where is she?" Daphne asked.

"Uh-uh. One question at a time, and that one didn't rhyme, anyway."

"Mirror, mirror we're just kids, can you show us where our grandma is?" Puck chimed in.

"Sorry, that doesn't technically rhyme," Mirror argued.

"It's close enough!" the children shouted.

Mirror frowned but misted over and, suddenly, Granny and Mr. Canis appeared in the reflection. They were climbing on top of their car, which was enclosed in what could only be described as a giant bag. Mr. Canis pulled the fabric down and the two of them looked over the edge. They were still in the giant's shirt pocket.

"They're alive." Daphne sighed with relief as the image zoomed out to show the giant. The ugly brute was asleep, lounging against a huge rock outcropping.

"He's up in the mountains," Puck said.

"You've probably tossed kids off of that very cliff," Sabrina commented.

"A few," Puck agreed, making Sabrina wonder if he was serious. "Look at the size of that beast. I'm going to need a bigger sword."

"We'll come with you," Daphne said.

"You aren't going anywhere," the boy replied. "The last thing I need is a couple of girls bawling while I fight the giant. You two are staying here."

"What are we supposed to do while that's happening?" Sabrina asked.

"Women's work. You can clean up that mess in the dining room."

"Women's work!" the girls cried.

"Oh, you've said it now," Mirror warned Puck.

"If anyone's going up there, it's me!" Sabrina declared. "I can't expect some smelly kid who lives in the woods to save my grandmother. You couldn't even push me into a pool. You stay here and keep an eye on Daphne!" she commanded.

'"Keep an eye on Daphne?'" Daphne repeated indignantly. "I'm not staying here! She's my granny, too!"

"What you need is someone who has had experience with giants," Mirror interrupted.

"What we need is someone who can kill a giant," Sabrina said.

"Like the Big Bad Wolf," Daphne suggested.

"No, tougher than that."