Sabrina was sure there was only one explanation for everything she and Daphne saw that day. She and her sister were the butts of some elaborate joke. Mrs. Grimm and Mr. Canis were trying to make them look like fools. It explained why the old woman talked to the house and served her crazy food. It was why Mr. Canis nailed the windows shut. This was some kind of twisted joke.
When they got back to the house, Sabrina fully expected Mrs. Grimm to confess and reveal that she and Canis were pulling a gag. Unfortunately, the prank kept going when the old woman placed a weathered book in Sabrina's lap. It was called Grimms' Fairy Tales.
"So we've got a mystery on our hands, lieblings, and a good detective starts every case by doing research."
Sabrina handed the book back to the old woman. "OK, you've had your fun," she said. "Don't you think we're a little old to fall for your jokes? You know, we're not dumb. We know there's no such thing as giants."
Mrs. Grimm turned to Mr. Canis.
"It appears that Henry did not tell them," he said.
When the old woman looked back at the girls, a crease formed between her eyes and her face went pale.
"No wonder the two of you have been looking at me like I'm batty," she cried.
"What didn't Dad tell us?" Daphne asked.
Mrs. Grimm snatched the book from Sabrina and flipped through it like a maniac.
"This!" she said as she shoved the book back into Sabrina's hands. She jabbed her finger at the portraits of two old men. "Do you know who these men are?" she asked.
They didn't look familiar to Sabrina.
"Oh, dear," Mrs. Grimm said. "Girls, these men are Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm."
"They have our last name," Daphne said.
"That's because you're related to them, liebling. Wilhelm was your great-great-great-great-grandfather, and with his brother, Jacob, he wrote this book," said Mrs. Grimm as she pointed to the thinner of the two men. He had a large nose, tiny eyes, and long hair. "People call them the Brothers Grimm."
"We're related to the fairy-tale guys?" Daphne cried.
"Yes, liebling, the fairy-tale guys. But there is nothing in this book that's a fairy tale. These stories are their case files. The brothers were detectives, just like us. Every story in this book really happened."
"You might want to lie down, lady," Sabrina said. "You're talking crazy again."
"I am perfectly sane, Sabrina. Oh, how could Henry keep this from you? There's a whole family history you don't know anything about…All right, where do I start?
"OK, back when Jacob and Wilhelm were alive, Everafters were still living among humans," Mrs. Grimm continued.
"What are Everafters?" Daphne asked.
"That's what fairy-tale creatures call themselves, and they can be quite touchy about it. After all, fairy-tale creatures implies that they are all monsters or animals. Most of them are human, or once were, before a spell changed them. So, like I was saying, Everafters still lived side by side with human beings. Back then, you really could find an ogre living under a bridge, or fairies in the forest, or knights fighting a dragon. For thousands of years that was how everyone lived. Then things started to change. Humans grew afraid and suspicious of Everafters. I blame the trolls. You can eat only so many peasants before people start to get nervous. Tensions grew, violence swept the countryside, and laws were enacted that discriminated against Everafters. Magic was made illegal, and dragons were captured and caged. Some Everafters were run off their land or had their homes burned to the ground. Others were attacked in the streets, all because they were different."
"That's mean," Daphne said.
"Indeed! But people do terrible things when they're afraid. The brothers saw all of it happening and thought they could help. When something bad happened involving an Everafter, they helped solve the crime, hoping to clear the accused Everafter's name or to negotiate peace when the Everafter was guilty. They wrote down everything they witnessed and collected cases that occurred hundreds of years before they were born, and they put them all in this book. It's a reference guide for the next generation of Grimm detectives."
"Hardy-har-har," Sabrina said, holding the book out to the old woman. "Even if what you are saying is true-which it isn't-how did all the Everafters get to America? It says here that these two dudes lived in Germany."
"Eventually the brothers realized humans and Everafters couldn't live together any longer so they found ships and used their connections, and like generations of poor and persecuted people before them, the Everafters decided to move to America."
"Yay!" Daphne cheered.
"But America had its problems, too," Mrs. Grimm explained.
"Boo!" Daphne moaned.
"The brothers bought almost twenty thousand acres of rocky, unfarmable land on the Hudson River, the site of the future Ferryport Landing, and with the help of some magic and some hard work, they transformed it into this beautiful town. The Everafters built homes and settled in, and when things were going well, they sent word back to Europe. More Everafters came, some from as far as China and Russia. They joined the growing community, and for a long time everyone lived together in peace-that is until humans started moving into Ferryport Landing."
"Uh-oh," Daphne said.
Sabrina scowled. The woman's insane story had her sister listening with bated breath.
"By that time, Jacob had passed away and Wilhelm was left alone to convince the Everafters that there was nothing to worry about from their new neighbors, but many believed it was just a matter of time before they would be forced to move again. A few even called humanity an infestation and claimed that it needed to be rooted out. A rebellion grew, as did a plan to attack the neighboring town of Cold Spring to expand the Everafters' territory. Wilhelm knew innocent people would be killed, so he did something drastic that changed the town and our family's destiny forever. He asked for help from the most powerful witch in town, a dark Everafter named Baba Yaga. She agreed to help, and cast a spell on the entire town, circling it with an invisible wall, a barrier, locking every Everafter inside and stopping the attack."
"So it's a happy ending?" Daphne asked.
Mrs. Grimm shook her head gravely.
"No, Daphne." The old woman sighed. "Magic has a price. What it gives it also takes, and to get Baba Yaga to cast such a powerful spell, Wilhelm had to sacrifice something that was dear to him as well-our family's freedom. Our family is also trapped here. One member of our family must remain in this town at all times. If we all leave, or are killed, the Everafters will be free-including the very, very bad ones. It's why I couldn't come to the orphanage and get you myself. I'm the only Grimm in town-at least I was until you two arrived."
"Plot hole!" Sabrina shouted. "If you leave or die, the barrier comes down. So what keeps everyone in this town from killing you?"
Mrs. Grimm gave a quick look to Mr. Canis.
"I've made a few friends who look after me," she explained. "And many of the Everafters have grown to love this little town; they don't want anything to happen to jeopardize their presence here. They have married and started families, and some have begun small businesses-they have built lives in Ferryport Landing. A few have even given up their magical possessions in hopes of living a more normal life. And, with a couple of exceptions, things have been pretty peaceful in Ferryport Landing. But we stay for ever vigilant. We watch the town, investigate anything strange or criminal, and document what we see, just like all the Grimms who came before us. You'll do the same, as will your children, and their children. We are Grimms, and this is what we do."
"But if it's the family responsibility, why did Dad leave it behind?" Daphne wondered.
"Your father met your mother and fell deeply in love. The two of them went back and forth from here to New York City while they courted. When they got married, they planned on living here full-time, but when his father died, Henry's grief was too much. Veronica was already pregnant with you, Sabrina, and the two of them decided that this life of ours was too dangerous. Henry wanted to protect you, even if it meant keeping our family legacy a secret and telling you I was dead."
Sabrina's blood boiled. This joke was no longer funny! "Don't talk about my mom and dad like you knew them!" she shouted. "You are not our grandmother! Our grandmother died before we were born! My dad told us so."
"Henry lied to you, liebling."
"My father never told a lie in his life!" Sabrina was furious.
The old woman laughed. "It sounds like he hid more from you than the family history. Liebling, I suggest you take a look at that book and get to know the cases as best you can. Right now, I have some things to take care of upstairs. This evening we'll go to the hospital to see the poor farmer who owned that house. We'll investigate this crime, as Grimms have always done. I don't expect you to believe what I'm saying, liebling. I know it's a lot to take in at the moment. Perhaps Mr. Applebee will give you the proof you need to help you believe me. When you do, we will prepare you for what lies ahead. We are Grimms, Sabrina, and this is what we do."
She vanished up the stairs with Canis in tow. The girls could hear her jangling keys and knew she was opening the "off-limits" room with the mysterious houseguest.
"She's a lunatic," Sabrina whispered.
"She is not!" Daphne cried. "What's a lunatic?"
"Someone who can't tell the difference between a kid's story and the real world. Daphne, we can't stay here."
"You want to run away again? What if I don't want to go this time?"
"You don't get a say. Mom and Dad put me in charge when they weren't around, and you have to do what I tell you to do."
"You're not the boss of me." Daphne crossed her arms in front of her chest and huffed indignantly.
"We're out of here as soon as I see a chance," Sabrina declared.
After a dinner of purple meatloaf smothered in a pungent sauce that Daphne swore tasted like pizza, they were off to the hospital, with Mr. Canis again driving. Sabrina's stomach was grumbling, but she had once more refused the old woman's cooking; even if her theory about poisons in the food was contradicted by Daphne's continued survival, she wasn't going to risk it.
Once they arrived at the hospital, Mrs. Grimm said to the children, "OK, let's review what we know so far. It's important for detectives to review their clues. First, a farmhouse was destroyed by what appears to have been a giant's foot. A footprint surrounded the destruction. Second, a giant beanstalk leaf was found at the scene, a definitive sign of a giant. And it has been touched by a giant."
"How do you know that?" Daphne asked.
"Because Elvis smelled his scent on the leaf."
"How does Elvis know what a giant smells like?"
"Because," Mrs. Grimm said, pulling the brown fabric out of her handbag that she had held under the dog's nose that morning, "he smelled this. It's cloth from a giant's trousers. Take a sniff."
Daphne smelled the piece of cloth and looked as if she might be sick. "Egad!"
Sabrina declined the offer.
"Everything has its own particular smell, but giants are really stinky," the old woman explained. "Everybody and everything they touch will stink like them, too."
Sabrina shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Of course, there's also the lens cap from a video camera we found on the hill overlooking the farm," the old woman continued. "My guess is the criminal wanted to videotape the giant when he arrived, though I'm still not certain why. And lastly, Mayor Charming showed up, and he's-"
"Is Mayor Charming an Everafter?"
"Why, yes, liebling. He's Prince Charming."
The little girl squealed in delight. "We met a celebrity!"
Mrs. Grimm chuckled, and then broke into a full laugh when she noticed the scowl on Mr. Canis's face.
"As I was saying, Mayor Charming showed up and tried to get us to quit our investigation," Mrs. Grimm continued. "If the house had really just fallen down like he said, he wouldn't have bothered to come by and check on it. He knows something he's not telling us."
"When he first showed up, he was angry that someone he called the Three hadn't done a good job cleaning up the place," Daphne offered.
"The Three isn't a person. They're a coven of witches: Glinda the Good Witch, Morgan le Fay, and the gingerbread house witch, Frau Pfefferkuchenhaus. They work for the mayor as magical advisors, but what they really do is sweep trouble under the carpet."
"I thought you said that Everafters gave up their magic," Sabrina snapped, hoping she had caught the old woman in a lie.
"No, I said some of them did. I'm sure there's plenty of stuff hidden away in closets and attics all over Ferryport Landing," Mrs. Grimm replied. "Including, apparently, a magic bean I wasn't aware even existed. Let's go inside."
Ferryport Landing Memorial Hospital was tiny, at least compared to the giant skyscraper hospitals Sabrina was familiar with in New York City. It had two floors and no ambulances in front of the emergency room door. They left Mr. Canis in the car and, as they headed inside, passed a short, squat man with two huge companions waiting by the hospital door. They were impeccably dressed in expensive suits, perfectly tailored to fit their extreme frames. The short man stared at Sabrina, sending a flash of heat to her face.
We look like idiots, Sabrina thought as she tried to tug her high-water pants down a little.
Inside, doctors and nurses rushed around the brightly lit hallways. The place smelled of cleaner and antiseptic. The three Grimms managed to maneuver through the chaos and approach the information desk, where a portly receptionist sat talking on the phone. His round face was friendly, and when he saw them he put the phone to his chest and smiled.
"Can I help you ladies?"
"We're here to see Mr. Applebee. He was in an accident recently," Mrs. Grimm said.
"Oh, yes, Thomas. He's in room 222," the receptionist replied. "Popular fellow. He just had three visitors."
Mrs. Grimm cocked an eyebrow. "Indeed? Where do I sign in?"
The receptionist handed the old woman a clipboard, and she signed her name. Before she handed it back, she quickly pointed out three names on the list to the girls: a Mr. William Charming, a Mr. Seven, and a Ms. Glinda South.
She rushed the girls down a hallway and through two double doors, then made a left, stopping at an elevator. She impatiently pushed the up button several times.
"Why are we rushing?" Sabrina asked.
"Because Charming is here to erase the farmer's memory!" the old woman said as the elevator doors slid open and they stepped inside.
"To do what?" Sabrina cried, but Mrs. Grimm ignored her question.
They got out on the second floor, found room 222, and hurried inside. On the bed was Thomas Applebee, a weathered old man with his left arm in a sling. His right leg was encased in plaster and held above the bed by a pulley system. Sabrina winced at how painful it looked and thought he was lucky to be asleep. Standing over him were Mayor Charming, Mr. Seven (still wearing his insulting hat), and a woman wearing a diamond tiara and a silver-and-gold dress. She was slowly emptying a bag of pink dust onto Mr. Applebee. When she saw Mrs. Grimm, she dumped the entire contents out all over the man and shoved the bag into her purse.
"Glinda!" Mrs. Grimm cried. "I thought you were supposed to be a good witch."
Glinda's face flushed bright red.
"We all have to pay our bills, Relda," she said as she lowered her head and quickly made her way to the door.
"Save your indignation," Charming added as he and Mr. Seven followed. "This is part of my job."
"Oh dear. Applebee will never be able to tell us anything," Relda Grimm said loudly, as if for the benefit of Charming and his team. "Without an eyewitness, we're never going to get to the bottom of this mystery."
She looked at the girls and pressed her finger to her lips so they would be quiet. After several seconds, she poked her head out of the room.
"They're gone."
"What are we doing here?" Sabrina asked. She didn't feel comfortable waiting around in the hospital room of a man she didn't even know. Especially since people were dumping what looked like the contents of vacuum cleaner bags all over him.
"We're waiting."
"For who?" Daphne asked, but no sooner had she said it than a thin, frail woman with gray-streaked black hair entered the room.
"Can I help you?" she asked, eyeing the old woman and the girls with some suspicion.
"Mrs. Applebee, I'm Relda Grimm, and these are my granddaughters, Sabrina and Daphne. We heard about the accident. Are you all right?" Mrs. Grimm asked.
"Oh, I'm fine. Thank you for asking. Do you know my husband?"
"No, but I happen to do a little detective work from time to time, and I was thinking I might be able to help. How is he?"
Mrs. Applebee gazed down at the injured man and smiled sadly. "To be honest, I'm a little worried about him. He was raving earlier. He told the wildest story. The doctors gave him a sedative to calm him down…Wait a minute, he's waking up," she said as he began to stir.
"Thomas, how are you feeling?" Mrs. Applebee asked as she sat next to his bed and rubbed his hand.
"Debra, who are these people?" the farmer asked his wife.
"They're with the police," Mrs. Applebee replied.
Mrs. Grimm stepped forward. "Not the police, dear. Detectives. It's kind of a hobby. My granddaughters and I are very glad to see you weren't too badly injured, considering…"
"You three are detectives?" Mr. Applebee looked from Mrs. Grimm to the children suspiciously.
"Yes," Mrs. Grimm said, causing Daphne to practically swell with pride.
"Well, I think a crime has been committed, Mrs. Grimm," Mr. Applebee said.
"You do?"
"They should arrest whoever dressed your granddaughters this morning."
"Thomas, be nice! I think they look adorable," Mrs. Applebee cried. "I'm sorry, he's been a grouch since we got here. He doesn't like hospitals."
Sabrina looked down at her goofy outfit and seethed with anger. Who would buy a girl who was almost twelve a shirt with a monkey on it?
"Well, what can I do for you, Mrs. Grimm?" Mr. Applebee grunted.
"Do you remember anything about the accident?" the old woman said.
"What accident?" the farmer asked.
Mrs. Grimm frowned.
"What accident!" Mrs. Applebee exclaimed. "Thomas, the house has been destroyed. I found you lying in the field unconscious. You don't remember?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. There's nothing wrong with the house," Mr. Applebee argued.
"Oh, dear, the painkillers are really doing a number on him," Mrs. Applebee said, shifting in her seat to face them. "Mrs. Grimm, I don't think my husband is up to talking right now."
"I understand. Perhaps you might have a moment to spare us, then?"
"Of course." Mrs. Applebee gestured for them to follow her into the hallway.
"So sorry to trouble you," Mrs. Grimm said to the farmer as they walked toward the door. "I do hope you feel better soon, Mr. Applebee."
Daphne stopped and turned to the injured man. "I like my outfit," she said and stuck her tongue out.
Mr. Applebee stuck his tongue out, too, and the little girl stomped out of the room.
"He's acting very odd right now," Mrs. Applebee said when they were in the hallway. "I'm considering taking him out of this hospital."
"Oh, I'm sure he's in good hands. So you said he was raving about something," Mrs. Grimm prompted.
"It's silly. He swore he'd seen…well, this is crazy, but he said he'd seen a giant."
"He did?" Sabrina gasped.
"Wouldn't that be a sight." Mrs. Grimm chuckled.
"But I have a different theory about what happened," Mrs. Applebee explained. "There was a man who came out to the farm several times, asking us if we would rent the place to him for a night. He said he was making a movie, or something, and was very friendly at first, but when Thomas refused, he got quite nasty."
"How unfortunate. Has he come back?" Mrs. Grimm asked.
"Well, that's just it. A week later he did come back and apologized for being so rude. He said he wanted to make it up to us, so he booked us into a fancy hotel in New York City, all expenses paid, with tickets to a Broadway show. I haven't had a vacation in years-farming is a tough business-so I was thrilled."
"How nice. Did you enjoy your vacation?"
"Not at all. When I got there, I found that the hotel didn't have any record of our reservation, and the tickets to the show were counterfeit," Mrs. Applebee said angrily. "I should have stayed home with Thomas."
"Didn't your husband go with you?" Mrs. Grimm asked.
"Oh, no, he doesn't care for the city much." Mrs. Applebee sighed. "I took my sister. We had to use our own money for a hotel and the only place with a room was infested with bedbugs."
"How dreadful," Mrs. Grimm sympathized. "Mrs. Applebee, this man's name didn't happen to be Charming, did it?"
"Oh, no, it was Englishman," the woman replied, sniffing. "I remember, because Thomas said he had one of those accents they have over there. I thought it was a funny coincidence. You know, his last name and the accent."
"What did this Mr. Englishman look like?"
"I'm sorry, I never saw him. Thomas had all the dealings with him."
"Mrs. Applebee, I'm sure you want to get back to your husband, but I have one last question. Do either of you own a video camera?" Mrs. Grimm took a clean handkerchief out of her handbag and offered it to the woman. Sabrina noticed a soft, pink powder fell from it as the woman wiped her eyes. It was the same color as the stuff Glinda had dumped all over the farmer.
"No, no-Mr. Applebee is a little tight with the money, if you know what I mean."
Suddenly Sabrina noticed a change in the woman's face. It seemed to wipe itself of all emotion, and her eyes drifted into a blank stare.
"What were you saying?" she asked in a distant voice.
"I hear you had a wonderful time in New York City," Mrs. Grimm said. "The musical was the best thing you have ever experienced."
"OK," Mrs. Applebee said. Then she turned and went into her husband's room without saying good-bye.
Mrs. Grimm pulled her notebook out of her handbag and scribbled away. "So the plot thickens. More proof of our giant."
"That man is full of medications. He doesn't know what he's talking about. There's no such thing as giants!" Sabrina said, a bit louder than she meant to. The declaration echoed down the hospital hallway.
"Sabrina!" Daphne shouted.
"Listen, I don't know where you live, but my sister and I are here on Earth, where things can easily be explained without having to consider giants," Sabrina said in a much lower tone. "This Mr. Englishman wanted to rent their farm to make a movie. When the farmer wouldn't agree, he tried to trick them into leaving town so he could do it when they weren't around. Something went wrong on the set and he accidently blew the place up. Charming has an English accent. He's Englishman."
"Sabrina, I'm proud of you!" Mrs. Grimm said as she led them into the elevator. "You have incredible skills of deduction. You looked at the clues and chose the most likely path to solve the crime. You're going to make a great detective. But your theory only raises more questions. First, Charming isn't a filmmaker. Why would he want to videotape the farm? Secondly, what about the giant footprint?"
"Maybe Charming is making a campaign commercial. He is the mayor, after all. And as for the house, maybe it was a gas leak. Buildings blow up all the time in New York because someone left the stove burning."
"Brilliant! The town does have an election in the near future, so the campaign commercial is worth considering. And the gas leak is a valid theory. Still, there's one loose end. When things blow up, pieces fly everywhere. Applebee's house is all in a pile, like it was squashed from above," Mrs. Grimm pointed out.
The elevator stopped, and the Grimms stepped into the busy emergency room lobby.
"I agree with Granny. The house was stomped on," Daphne said.
Sabrina shot her an angry look.
"And I think I know who is responsible," said Mrs. Grimm.
"Really? Who?" Daphne squealed.
"I think you'll enjoy it more if it's a surprise."
"Excuse me, ladies," a voice said as three men emerged from the deep shadows that lined the pathway to the parking lot. They were the same men in suits who had watched them when they'd entered the hospital. The small dumpy one held a crowbar he kept smacking into his gloved hand. The men on either side of him stood like huge muscle-bound bookends to their much shorter leader. One glance told Sabrina the men were trouble.
"We hear you've been asking some questions about a certain farm," the dumpy leader continued.
"Then you've heard correctly," Mrs. Grimm said as she placed herself squarely between the girls and the thugs. Daphne grabbed her sister's hand and squeezed tightly, but Sabrina hardly noticed. She was too awestruck by the old woman's courage.
"Just a friendly warning, Relda. If you know what's good for you, you'll just forget about the whole thing," the leader said with a dark smile.
"If I knew what was good for me, I wouldn't be in this line of work," Mrs. Grimm replied. "I seem to be at a disadvantage, young man. You know my name, but I don't know yours. Or better yet, who the unfortunate employer is who hired the likes of you three. Tell him he should know it takes more than three goons to scare me. Now, good night."
She tried to pass the men, but as she did, the leader grabbed her arm and pulled her close to his fat face.
"Some people can't take a hint," he barked.
"Young man, if you don't let us pass, you are going to regret it," Mrs. Grimm said.
Sabrina's heart began to pound. How could Mrs. Grimm be so calm? These men were about to tear her apart!
"Is that so?" the head goon growled.
The old woman pulled a little silver whistle from around her neck and blew into it. No sound could be heard-it was broken. When she put it back inside her dress, she smiled.
"Yes, that's so."
