The Problem Child (The Sisters Grimm, Book 3) (5 page)

"What about the Jabberwocky thing?"

"I'll deal with that if and when I have to," Sabrina said, trying to sound confident. Her sister's doubtful expression told her the words didn't sound as convincing as she'd hoped.

"Then we have to take Puck with us," Daphne declared.

"No way!" Sabrina said. Her anger at the boy felt almost physical, like it might bubble over inside her body and pour out her ears.

"Yes way," Daphne insisted. "If you're going to make me break a promise to Granny then you're going to have to let him come along."

"Then I'll go on my own," Sabrina snapped.

"And I will scream at the top of my lungs and wake Granny before you get a chance to go."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me!"

Sabrina snarled. "Fine!" she said as she marched to the door at the end of the hall. On it was a crude drawing of a crocodile that read INTRUDERS WILL B EATIN. Ignoring the sign, Sabrina turned the doorknob and dragged her sister into the room.

Puck's room was every little boy's fantasy come to life, but it wasn't exactly a room. In fact, the only thing about it that even remotely resembled a bedroom was the door that led to it from the hallway. Where the ceiling should have been was an open night sky filled with thousands of twinkling stars shining down on a lagoon below. A roller coaster rolled along a track above the water, and an ice cream truck sat parked on the shore. There was a boxing ring set up off to the right, where a kangaroo wearing boxing shorts and gloves slumbered peacefully. Sabrina noticed a new addition to the room, a mechanical bull splattered with eggs. Dozens of cracked shells and empty egg cartons lay below it.

Puck was nowhere in sight, and the only sounds were those of chirping birds and what was probably a chipmunk digging in the brush. Sabrina shouted for the boy but there was no reply.

"Should we look for him?" Daphne asked.

Sabrina shook her head. "The last time we barged in here we wound up in a vat of glue and buttermilk," she said. She was still having trouble getting the gunk out of her hair. "Hey ugly, we need to talk!" she shouted.

"Maybe he's busy," Daphne said.

"Busy doing what? Picking his nose?"

Just then a spotlight illuminated a book lying on the beach by the lagoon.

"Puck, what's going on?" Sabrina said, suspiciously. Puck didn't reply.

"I want to see what it is," Daphne said and she marched to the lagoon and snatched the book off the sand. She flipped it open before Sabrina could stop her.

A couple of pages into the book, Daphne put the palm of her hand into her mouth and bit down hard. She always did this when she was excited. Sabrina walked over to see what was so interesting.

She found pages of cute baby animals cut from magazines and books glued inside. There were puppies playing with kittens, little foxes peeking their heads out of bushes, a pony racing along a field with its mother, little bunny rabbits eating lettuce, and precious white-furred baby seals frolicking on a beach. Sabrina thought her heart might melt. "Oh, they're so cute," she said out loud.

"I could just eat them!" Daphne said.

And that was when the rope whipped around their legs, flipped them upside down, and yanked them high into the air.

"Puck!" the girls screamed.

The fairy boy stepped out from behind a row of trees. He was wearing a green camouflage helmet of the kind Sabrina had seen on soldiers in old war movies. He had on his usual filthy green hooded sweatshirt and ratty jeans, but he was covered in medals and ribbons as if he were some kind of eleven-year-old five-star general. Spilling out of the woods behind him came a dozen chattering chimpanzees. Each had on the same helmet as their leader but wore bright-red overalls. They all had very eager faces, and water balloons in their hairy hands.

Puck walked over to a small table where an old record player was sitting. He picked up the needle and set it down on the record. A rousing patriotic song filled the air.

"Our plan has worked, men!" Puck shouted over the music. "I told you our enemy could not resist photographs of cute baby animals!"

"Puck, get us down now!" Sabrina demanded. The blood was racing into her broken arm and making it throb with pain.

"Keep your distance, men. Don't be fooled into believing that our enemies are helpless. These 'girls,' as they call themselves, are a crafty bunch. I've seen inside the thing they call a 'purse.' It is filled with all kinds of toxic sprays and pointy things they wouldn't hesitate to unleash on us."

The chimps looked at him with great respect.

"Now, unfortunately, the laws of war prohibit us from killing these two, but I believe we can have them deliver a message to the rest of their kind."

One of the chimpanzees raced to his side and handed him a fat, sloshy water balloon.

"Puck! Don't you dare!" Sabrina demanded.

"Oh, but I do dare, Captain Doodieface," Puck said, turning to his army. "Men, fire at will!"

The first wave of balloons hit Sabrina in the chest and splattered onto Daphne's face, but instead of drenching them in water, they covered the girls in something that smelled a lot like a combination of mayonnaise and grape jelly

The chimpanzees tossed balloon after balloon at the girls. Each one exploded on contact, soaking them in the foul-smelling glop. By the time the army ran out of ammunition, the sisters were covered from head to toe.

Puck pulled his wooden sword from his belt and stepped over to his prisoners. He poked Sabrina in the side with his little weapon.

"Now you know what happens to people who do not pay their debts," Puck said.

"One of these days I'm going to get my revenge, fairy boy," Sabrina said. "You won't know when it's coming but it's coming, buster. It'll happen when you least expect it."

"Your threats are boring me, Captain. B-O-R-N-G, boring!"

"I am going to--"

"Puck, we were just thinking of sneaking out and getting into some trouble." Daphne said, interrupting her sister's tirade. "We thought you'd like to come along."

The boy cocked an eyebrow. "What kind of trouble?"

"We want to go back up to the hospital and look for clues about our parents."

"Boring!" Puck shouted as he pretended to yawn. "This is important!" Sabrina begged.

"Which makes it even more boring," Puck said. "I've got better things to do."

"When we're finished we could go to the overpass and toss eggs at passing cars," Daphne offered.

Puck's eyes lit up. "Cut them down, men."

* * *

After the girls got cleaned up and put on some warm clothing, the trio was off. The little snow-covered town lay sleeping, unaware that a flying boy and two young girls were floating high above. As angry as Sabrina was at Puck, she found herself envying him once again. Puck was a genuine pain in the butt, but he had powers and those powers made him useful. If only she could do something special, too.

"I still can't believe Little Red Riding Hood kidnapped Mom and Dad," Daphne said. "She's the hero of that story."

"Well she jumped off the crazy bridge long ago," Sabrina said. "She and the Jabberwocky nearly killed us."

"Nearly killed you,"

Puck argued. "I beat the stuffing out of that overgrown lizard."

Sabrina rolled her eyes and then spotted the hospital below.

"There it is," she cried, pointing at the burned-out shell. Part of the roof was still intact and much of the right wing of the hospital was still standing, but otherwise the place was in ruins.

"There's not much left, Grimm," Puck said as he set the girls on the ground. The wind was picking up and the damaged beams swayed under its force.

"I guess we start in the part that's still standing," Sabrina said.

Puck took out his little flute and blew a few notes. Soon, the children were surrounded by thousands of pixies. "Minions, we need some light."

Instantly, the glow around the little beings grew brighter and brighter. The pixies went from looking like fireflies to looking like light bulbs. Soon, the entire top of the mountain was illuminated in their dazzling radiance.

"Nice trick," Sabrina said as she led the group into the ruins. Everywhere they looked they saw burnt papers and furniture. They went from room to room, finding no clues. Every file cabinet was empty or welded shut by the flames. One tiny room, covered in what looked like cushions, was untouched by the fire. A crumpled white coat with dozens of buckles and belts lay on the floor--a straitjacket. It was a creepy reminder of what the building had once been.

"Well, this was an enormous waste of time," Puck grumbled. "Let's get going to the overpass. Those cars aren't going to egg themselves."

"I agree," Daphne said. "I am totally freaked out, anyway."

Sabrina's heart sank. The others were right. Anything that might have pointed toward her parents' location was now ashes. Without a word, she turned and marched back the way they came.

"Slow down," Daphne said. "I'm scared."

"There's nothing in here that's going to get you. Stop being a baby!" Sabrina said over her shoulder.

Suddenly, there was a horrible crashing sound and a short shout from her sister. Sabrina spun around to see what was the matter, only to find a hole where Daphne had been. The burnt boards had collapsed beneath her feet. Sabrina rushed to the hole and stared into the darkness below. "Daphne!"

There was a long silence. Sabrina's voice echoed back at her and then she heard her sister's voice.

"Sabrina?"

"Daphne! Are you okay?"

"Yes. Sabrina?"

"What?"

"I hate you!" the little girl screamed.

Puck grabbed onto the back of Sabrina's coat and together they leaped into the hole. Though she couldn't see his wings, Sabrina knew Puck had released them. The two floated to the floor below, followed by several glowing pixies. Daphne appeared to be safe and sound, though a little bruised. Sabrina reached out to help the little girl up, but her sister looked at the offered hand as if it were a snake and stood up on her own.

"Sabrina Grimm! Of all the stupid ideas you've ever had, this is the stupidest. We could get killed in here!"

Sabrina didn't mean to ignore her sister's anger but now that she could see the room, she was dumbfounded. It wasn't a room like the ones upstairs. It was more of a dungeon, with tall granite walls. In one corner, a pair of enormous chains had been pounded into the rock. Against the opposite wall leaned a large antique mirror. Its reflective surface had been destroyed and fire-blackened shards of glass littered the floor below it. But the oddest of the room's furnishings was the baby crib. It was made from solid oak and had a little blue blanket inside, along with a pacifier and a fluffy white teddy bear.

"What is all this?" Puck asked.

"She said she had a baby brother," Sabrina said. "She's stolen someone's child just like she stole my mom and dad." Daphne opened the top drawer of a small file cabinet in the far corner of the room and yanked out a collection of aging folders. "I think I found something."

Sabrina rushed to her side, grabbed the files, and flipped through them. Soon she came upon one marked PATIENT 67--LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. As she leafed through it, a page fell out. Sabrina picked it up. It was a crayon drawing of a family. There was a father, a mother holding a baby, a grandmother, a small child in a red cloak, a hideous monster that could only be the Jabberwocky, and a ferocious-looking dog.

"This is her medical file," Sabrina said.

"Good. Can we get out of here?" Daphne asked. "I'm totally freaked out and my butt hurts."

Sabrina nodded and turned to Puck. The boy's wings were out and ready to fly them from the frightening room. But just then a man stepped out of the shadows.

"Sabrina?"

Sabrina nearly screamed. She squinted to get a better look at the stranger. He was tall and wore a long overcoat. He was about her father's age, with milky blue eyes, shaggy blond hair, and a nose that had been broken in three places. Around his neck were a dozen necklaces and amulets. Every one of his fingers had a ring on it.

"Girls, I need that file," he said as he stepped toward them.

Puck leaped between the girls and the stranger and pulled his sword from his belt. He waved it in the man's face and bonked him on the nose with its tip.

"Owww!" the man cried.

"I'm going to give you to the count of three to run off or you're going to get a bellyful of steel. One…"

The man chuckled. He had a quirky grin that seemed incredibly familiar to Sabrina, but she was far too nervous to place it. They'd met so many lunatics and nutcases since moving to Ferry-port Landing, she couldn't be sure this man wasn't on the list.

Puck turned to face Sabrina with an embarrassed expression. "What comes after one?"

"Two." Sabrina groaned.

Puck nodded. "Two!"

"Listen, there's been a big misunderstanding," the man said.

"Three!" Puck shouted and then looked over at Sabrina to make sure he was correct. She nodded at the boy and Puck burst into action, quickly bringing his sword down on the man's hand.

"Oww!" the stranger cried. "Cut it out with the sword, kid!"

Puck's wings flapped furiously and he sprang into the air. He did a cartwheel and landed on his feet behind his opponent. "I am Puck, son of Oberon, otherwise known as the Trickster

King, spiritual leader of hooligans, good-for-nothings, and punks," he cried as he landed a kick on the stranger's rear and pushed him to the ground. Puck leaned over his victim, waving the sword in his face. "Had enough?" he asked.

The strange man reached into a pocket of his coat and Sabrina noticed for the first time how unusual the garment was. It had dozens of pockets sewn into it. The man fumbled in one and removed something silver and shiny. He uttered a few nonsensical words and suddenly everything began to shimmer. Sabrina felt queasy, as if she were seasick, and then something unbelievable happened. The man's shadow began to move of its own accord. It pulled itself off the ground with a loud slurp!

and walked around erratically as if it were an actual person shaking off a case of the dizzies. When it seemed to have finally gotten its bearings, it stepped between Puck and the stranger and put up its hands in a boxing stance.