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"Attention!" he shouted. "There has been a great upheaval in the last few days. My father, your leader, lies dead. I have returned to the kingdom to rule."
"Get on with it, Puck!" one of the dwarfs shouted. "We lost patience with you nearly half an hour ago."
Puck sneered and gestured to Sabrina and Daphne. The girls stepped onto the stage and stared at the crowd.
"Now, I know they are terribly ugly and difficult to look at," Puck said, causing Sabrina to growl. "But these girls have got something to say. When they are done, you fools can go back to fighting if you want."
He turned to Sabrina and frowned. "Good luck," he said. "They're a disrespectful bunch."
Sabrina looked down at the speech. "This was written by my mother," she said.
"We can't hear you!" someone shouted.
"Speak up!"
Sabrina looked to her sister for help.
"You may not talk a lot but you've never had a problem with volume," Daphne said.
Sabrina cleared her throat and started again. "This was written by my mother on the eve of her disappearance almost two years ago."
Suddenly, the crowd was silent. "I'm afraid that I will probably never be the speaker my mother was but I will read it word for word. It outlines her ideas for you. I hope it helps."
Sabrina looked at her mother's writing, studying the curves of her letters, trying to understand the mind that wrote the words.
"I will not stand here and claim to know your hearts. You have had difficult lives. You've seen dreams ripped apart. You've watched as suffering came to you like floodwaters. I am human. I am blessed. I live in a world that believes in me. Your very existence defies what humanity can accept. You are supposed to be bedtime stories-not flesh and blood. Thus, you have had to live in the shadows, accepting the table scraps you could find and yearning for the life humans take for granted.
"It doesn't have to be like this. You are few, but together you are many. Combining your talents, working for one another's benefit, lifting one another up when you fall-this is the path to your happiness. If you could work together as a community, you could build empires with your small numbers, but instead you have chosen to squabble and divide. Well, I say it's time to put hatred aside and hold your brothers' and sisters' hands. You don't need humanity to believe in you. You only need to believe in each other."
Sabrina continued reading. She did her best to make eye contact with those in the crowd and she held Daphne's hand for support. She could feel her mother's thoughts inside her, how Veronica felt about every word she had put in the speech. Veronica described a world that Everafters could embrace, a world where they could work together, for the benefit of one another. It was a simple plan based on common sense and a common purpose. She described a government where majority ruled the day but a passionate minority could not be trampled. She recommended that leaders be elected rather than born. She talked of schools and hospitals. She spoke of science and technologies helping them keep pace with the modern world, but mostly she spoke of finding common ground.
"You are all Everafters," Sabrina concluded. "Your neighbor's needs are your needs. His passions are your passions, and his heartbreak is your sorrow as well. If you can treat his struggles as your own, you will celebrate your successes together. It doesn't matter that he may be feathered or furry. It makes no difference if he is on two legs or twenty. Don't waste time finding differences. When you talk to your neighbors, close your eyes and you will truly see them."
After she spoke the last words, she thanked them and stood back, wondering if they would choose her mother's ideals over their own isolation and squabbling. For a long moment there was silence. Sabrina looked to Puck and Daphne and Gra
And then Mother Goose stood up. "Thank you, Sabrina Grimm, daughter of Veronica. You have served your family well," she said, and she began to clap. Others joined her, and soon the entire audience was on its feet clapping: Yahoos, dwarfs, pirates, fairies, and goblins alike. Moments later, a familiar chant began.
"Grimm! Grimm! Grimm!"
Tears ran down Sabrina's cheeks. They weren't tears of sadness but of great pride. Their mother had tried to build something important. For Sabrina, it was the first time since discovering her family history that she truly understood it. Being a Grimm wasn't just being a fairy-tale detective. It was being the person who helps when no one else will lend a hand. Being a Grimm was something to be proud of, not something to run from.
Gra
"I'm ready to be part of this family," Sabrina said.
"I never had any doubts, child," the old woman said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I never had any doubts."
Daphne hugged her sister tightly. "I'm glad you're back. I can't do this without you."
The family found their car parked under three feet of snow. Mustardseed blasted it with a little fire and it was clean and clear in no time. Mr. Canis got in awkwardly. He was still seven feet tall and found it difficult to get behind the wheel. He started the car's engine and allowed it to warm up.
Hamstead stood nearby. He hadn't spoken to anyone since Mr. Canis had found him sitting in his darkened hotel room. Now he shuffled his feet and looked down at the pavement. Sabrina understood. His broken heart had crushed his spirit. Sabrina was brokenhearted, too, though she was working hard to hide it. Not only was Puck not coming back to Ferryport Landing with them, he hadn't come to say good-bye.
"You've given us some hope for the future," Mustardseed said to her.
"Good luck," Sabrina said. "And don't let your brother ruin everything. If he has his way he'll turn the city into a junkyard he can play in all day."
"Yes, I remember him suggesting just that," Mustardseed said. "Don't worry. The Trickster King has other plans."
"Well, we better get home and find out how to wake up your mom and dad," Gra
"Training? What have we been doing all this time?" Sabrina asked.
"Following me around and getting in trouble," the old woman said. "Now that you both are ready and willing, we're going to explore what's inside the Hall of Wonders. You girls are going to learn to be proper fairy-tale detectives."
Gra
Suddenly, there was a rapping sound on the roof of the car. Sabrina craned her neck but couldn't see anything. Another pounding occurred and then a fiery blast raced past the car. The fire streaked high into the air and then came down in front of the automobile. Canis slammed on the brakes. Sabrina watched it all, slowly realizing that the blast was attached to a person, a woman in fact, who came down from the sky wearing what appeared to be a rocket pack strapped on her back.
"Bess!" Mr. Hamstead cried.
"Ernie!"
Mr. Hamstead looked bewildered. He leaped out of the car and everyone followed.
"Don't go, Ernie!" Bess cried. "Bess, what are you doing here?"
"I came to stop you. I love you. I don't care about your secret. It doesn't matter to me that you're a pig," the woman cried, rushing to Mr. Hamstead and taking his hand.