The Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child

The Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child — page 3 — war on humans The spell could be broken only when the last member of the Grimm family died or abandoned the town Sabrina warned her sister that the old woman’s stories were nonsense but when Relda was kidnapped by a two-hundred-foot-tall giant Sabrina could no longer deny the truth Luckily the girls found a way to rescue their grandmother and ever since they had found themselves knee-deep in the family responsibility of being fairy-tale detectives solving the town’s weirdest crimes and going head-to-head with some of its most dangerous residents As they solved one mystery after another the girls started to uncover a disturbing pattern Every bad guy they faced was a member of a shadowy group known as the Scarlet Hand whose mark was a bloodred handprint just like the one the police had found in Sabrina and Daphne’s parents car Sabrina knew one day she would come face-to-face with the group’s leader and her parents kidnapper and now as she stared at the strange little girl in the red cloak she was shocked She’d never thought the person behind all her misery would be a child Sabrina clenched her fists ready to fight her parents captor only to have a pain shoot through her left arm that nearly knocked her to the floor It was broken She shook off the agony and fixed her eyes once more on the child The little girl was no older than Daphne but her face was that of a twisted rage-filled adult barely containing the insanity behind her eyes Sabrina had seen a man with that expression on the news once The police had arrested him for strangling five people Get away from my parents Sabrina demanded as she grabbed the little girl’s cloak in her good hand This is my mommy and daddy the little girl shrieked as she jerked away I have a baby brother and a kitty too When I get my grandma and my puppy then we can all be a family and play house The girl raised her hand It was covered in what Sabrina hoped was red paint She turned and pressed it against the wall leaving an all-too-familiar scarlet print There were more just like it on the walls floors ceilings and windows I don’t need a sister the girl continued But you can stay and play with my kitty She pointed at the monster which was swatting at Puck with its enormous clawed hands The fairy boy leaped out of the way barely dodging the kitty’s lightning-fast strikes It whipped its tail at Puck missed then sent a filing cabinet careening across the room The drawers swung open and hundreds of yellowing documents spilled out C’mon ugly you can do better than that Puck crowed just before the Jabberwocky caught him with its long tail and sent him flailing across the room He crashed against a wall and tumbled to the floor but quickly sprang to his feet and snatched up the little wooden sword he kept in his belt With a thrust he bonked the beast on the snout Sabrina turned back to the little girl Who are you she asked

The Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child — page 4 — You don’t want to play do you the girl said as a frown cracked her face She reached into her pocket and removed a small silver ring slipped it onto her finger and held out her hand A crimson light engulfed her and Sabrina’s sleeping parents Kitty we need to find a new playhouse Burn this one down The monster opened its enormous mouth and a burst of flame shot out The folding blinds on the dingy windows ignited and flames crept up the walls turning the weathered wallpaper to ash The beast blasted another wall and then another sending sparks and cinders in all directions Within seconds the entire room was on fire Who are you Sabrina screamed Tell my grandma and my puppy that I’ll see them soon Then we can play the demented child said in a singsong voice The world seemed to stretch as if someone were pulling on the corners of Sabrina’s vision and in a blink the strange child vanished into thin air taking Sabrina’s parents with her No Sabrina cried rushing to the empty bed as flames ate at the walls around her It wasn’t long before everything was devoured by fire and smoke A terrible groan came from above and a huge section of the ceiling collapsed right on top of the beast The two children staggered back from the pile of smoldering debris Puck grabbed Sabrina and dragged her toward an exit as parts of the ceiling rained down around them I think this party is over he said Wait Sabrina shouted There could be a clue here to where she took my parents Any clue is kindling now Puck replied pulling her down a hallway We can’t go If you get killed the old lady will never let me hear the end of it They passed by open rooms with doors torn off their hinges Each was full of hospital beds rusty metal carts and more sheets of yellowing paper scattered on the floor In every room she saw more of the horrible red handprints What is this place Sabrina wondered The children rushed on through the choking black smoke until they found a door that led outside Puck forced it open and a blast of icy wind nearly knocked them down Snow blew into their faces temporarily blinding them We’re in the mountains I think he shouted Can you fly us out of here Sabrina asked The wind is too strong Puck said wrapping his arm around her and guiding her through the snowdrifts They’d barely taken a dozen steps when the wall surrounding the building exploded behind them sending brick and mortar flying in every direction Through the gaping hole stepped the massive scaly foot of the Jabberwocky Its head followed whipping around on its long neck as its fiery eyes searched for the children When it spotted them it let out a roar that sent snow tumbling from nearby trees

The Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child — page 5 — The children raced away darting down a steep embankment and into the woods The leafless trees provided few hiding places and less protection from the brutal wind which felt like little razor blades cutting Sabrina’s face Their only chance was to keep running She and Puck scrambled down some rocks to a clearing but it ended with a four hundred-foot drop to the Hudson Valley below Puck I The boy turned to her I know what you are going to say and I think it’s an excellent idea I’ll leave you here and save myself That’s not what I was going to say at all Sabrina shouted I was going to ask you if you had any ideas for getting us out of this Not a one Grimm you usually handle the running and crying part If only we had a sled she mumbled as she looked down the steep snowy hill Puck’s eyes lit up He turned around and got down on his hands and knees What are you doing Sabrina asked Climb on my back Puck insisted I’ve got an idea Sabrina was all too familiar with Puck’s ideas They usually ended in a trip to the emergency room but with the monster lumbering down the rocky hillside behind them there were few alternative options Sabrina sat on the boy’s back with a leg on each side of him OK what now Grab my tusk Grab your what Puck turned his head toward her His face had transformed into that of a walrus He had two long tusks protruding from his mouth and a mustache of thick bristly hair His nose had vanished into his oily black face and his eyes were large and brown Sabrina cringed but reached around with her good arm and grabbed firmly onto one of his tusks Please don’t do this she whimpered This is such a bad idea The only bad ideas are the ones never tried Puck said as his body began to puff up Layers of blubber inflated under Sabrina Puck’s shirt disappeared replaced by a super slippery skin Keep your hands and feet inside the ride until it comes to a complete stop he shouted Here we go Puck leaped forward just as the beast reached the clearing and his slick walrus body rocketed down the steep slope toward town They zipped between trees and bounced over jutting rocks Sabrina turned back confident the monster wouldn’t follow them on this desperate flight only to see it plowing down the hill after them knocking over trees as if they weren’t even there JABBERWOCKY They shot down the bank of a frozen stream ramping off a rocky outcropping and

The Sisters Grimm: The Problem Child — page 6 — soaring into the air and fell for what seemed like forever They hit the ground hard narrowly missing the spiky branches of an oak tree Sabrina clutching her broken arm and gasping for air turned again to mark the monster’s progress It too had used the rocky ramp and sailed into the air Flapping its wings it soared higher and higher then a strong wind knocked it off course and it slammed hard against the mountainside Moments later Sabrina lost sight of it completely though she could still hear it braying in the distance I think we lost it We’re safe she cried just as the ground leveled off Unfortunately they didn’t slow down In fact they continued zipping along as a four lane highway of speeding cars appeared in front of them They zoomed into traffic spinning several times as they tried to avoid a pickup truck The startled driver slammed on his brakes Tires squealed and bumpers crunched Shrill horns filled the air but the children kept going On the other side of the road was another steep hill and they whipped down it heading right for a ramshackle old barn Its doors were wide open and they slid inside crashing at last into the far wall of an empty stable

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