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She closed the last of her share of the journals and sat back in her chair. “I’ve got nothing.”
Gra
Daphne looked up from her book. “What does the word mani . . . mani . . . fest mean?”
“You mean manifest. It’s a list of items that are shipped on a train, bus, truck, whatever,” Gra
“Where’s your dictionary?” Sabrina asked.
Daphne stuck her tongue out and turned her attention back to Gra
“Sure,” the old woman said. “What did you find?”
“This. It looks like a list of the passengers on Wilhelm’s boat,” the little girl said, handing several sheets of paper to her grandmother.
Gra
Sabrina reached over and took the list from her grandmother. Sure enough, there was no “woodcutter” on the list. “If only we knew what his name is,” she said.
“Well, we don’t need that. We know everyone else’s name. Let’s go through the list and find the people we’ve never heard of,” Gra
Puck wasn’t thrilled. “Is this going to take long? I have plans.”
“The handcuffs were your idea, buster. Any chance we’re going to see that key pop up?” Sabrina said.
Puck shook his head.
The Grimms went through the list, checking off everyone they knew by name. There were quite a number of people in Ferryport Landing who just had titles for names: the Mad Hatter, the Beast, the Sheriff of Nottingham, or the Queen of Hearts, for example. That made the search much easier. Soon, there was a list of only twenty citizens neither Gra
Just then, the phone rang. Gra
Gra
“What’s going on?” Uncle Jake asked.
“Bluebeard has a new witness and they’re starting the trial early today. We have to go over there now!”
“Who’s the witness?” Daphne asked.
“His name is Howard Hatchett,” Gra
Sabrina sighed. “He’s on our list. Howard Hatchett is the woodcutter.”
The group drove up and down Main Street looking for a parking space. Gra
“I’ve heard of people robbing banks, but I’ve never heard of anyone stealing the bank itself,” Uncle Jake said as Gra
“That’s quite peculiar,” Gra
Daphne poked her head out the window and craned her neck for a better view. When she pulled herself back inside the car she looked panicked and nervous. She turned to Sabrina and mouthed the words, “What happened?”
Sabrina shrugged, though her heart burned for the betrayal she was committing. Sabrina knew what was going on in her sister’s mind. Daphne believed the weapon was lost. Sabrina knew she should tell, and from the look on Puck’s face, he agreed, but she wasn’t sure how to explain. When Daphne reached up to touch the necklace, Sabrina could almost hear the remorse ru
Uncle Jake finally parked the car and the family trudged up the steps toward the courtroom. Once inside, Daphne yanked on Sabrina’s sleeve and told Gra
“OK, I was wrong,” said Daphne as she leaned against a wall. The little girl looked like she needed it to prevent herself from collapsing. Her face was red and tears were swimming in her eyes. “We should have gotten the weapon while we could. Now, we’ll never get it. You saw the bank. It’s gone.”
Sabrina nodded but said nothing.
“I should have listened to you,” the little girl continued.
“Yes, well, it’s too late for that,” Sabrina said. “You wanted to be in charge and—”
Puck kicked her in the leg and gave her an angry look.
“What are we going to do about the weapon?” Daphne cried. “What if we didn’t go get it ’cause I was being stubborn and it turns out we need it?”
Puck glared at Sabrina. “I have a feeling it will turn up.”
The courtroom door opened and Gra
The courtroom was standing room only and curious citizens were spilling out into the hall. News of the trial had obviously spread, and Everafters from all over town had come to see what everyone was referring to as “the trial of every century.”
Mayor Heart and Sheriff Nottingham gazed at the capacity crowd with delight. Sabrina overheard Heart suggesting that they should have sold tickets. Nottingham agreed and they both broke into laughter.
Several of the family’s friends came over to offer their support. Gepetto had closed his toy store to come and be by the family’s side. Cinderella and her human husband, Tom, came over and offered to bring the family di
“I’m sorry, Snow,” the old woman said.
“I know you would never do anything to hurt me on purpose, Relda. I’m sorry, too,” Ms. White replied.
Briar Rose joined the group. She sat down next to Uncle Jake and took his hand. Uncle Jake smiled. “You sure you want the whole town knowing you’re dating a Grimm?”
Briar nodded and kissed him on the cheek. There was a light in the couple’s eyes and laughter in their voices. Sabrina had seen the same expressions on her parents’ faces every day that she could remember. The sleepy princess and her swashbuckling uncle were in love.
Robin Hood and Little John entered the courtroom just as several card soldiers led Mr. Canis to his table. Robin patted him on the shoulder, then opened his briefcase. He rifled through some papers and watched Bluebeard out of the corner of his eye. Bluebeard stopped at the Grimms’ row and bent in close to smile at Ms. White.
“Snow, someone should arrest you. It has to be a crime to be so beautiful,” he said.
Snow gave a forced smile, but when the creepy man turned away, Sabrina caught her rolling her eyes in disgust. Sabrina looked over and spotted her little sister doing the same.
“All rise!” the Three of Spades shouted. “The honorable Judge Hatter is now presiding.”
Judge Hatter marched through a side door. He was carrying a sledgehammer on his shoulder and tripping over his long black robes. When he got to his seat, he set the sledgehammer down and looked around the courtroom.
“Oh, you’re back. Well, I suppose we should start the trial,” he said. He picked up his sledgehammer and slammed it down on the desk, practically destroying it. “Mr. Bluebeard, do you have another witness?”