A sound like a steam whistle filled Sabrina's ears and green gas blasted out of the top of the cocoon, filling the bathroom with a funky fog. It seeped into Sabrina. It was in her hair, in her socks-she could even taste it. She pinched her nose tightly but it didn't help.
"Sabrina, are you okay in there?" her grandmother said as she tapped on the door. "No!" Sabrina cried.
"It sounds as if your dinner isn't agreeing with you. Is there anything I can do? The hotel might have some antacids for your belly," the old woman said.
There was another knock on the door. "Hey! Light a match in there," Daphne shouted.
Suddenly, the door burst open and Moth shrieked in rage.
"How dare you!" she cried.
"My goodness gracious," Granny Relda said. "What is going on in here?"
"This thing just blew up on me," Sabrina cried as the cocoon continued to spray her with fumes. "Make it stop!"
"What you've done is unforgivable!" Moth seethed. "You have stolen my right!"
"I didn't steal anything!" Sabrina cried. "It followed me in here."
"Moth, could you tell us what is happening?" Granny asked.
Moth growled. "During the larval stage, when a fairy is most vulnerable, he chooses the one person in the world he trusts the most to look after him. Once the choice is made the cocoon marks the person with a special scent, one the cocoon can easily follow. This is an honor that should have gone to me.
"Well, then," Granny said as the last of the gas fizzed out of the top of the cocoon. "I suppose congratulations are in order."
The smell was all over Sabrina and no amount of washing could get it off. She took six showers, washed her hair, and scrubbed every inch of her body, but each time the smell returned with a vengeance. She could even smell it on her toothbrush. If she hadn't been so angry she might have cried.
Still, the smell was only half the nightmare. Sabrina discovered that wherever she went the cocoon hovered behind her, step for step. She shouted at it, hid from it, even threatened to drop-kick it out the hotel window, but nothing would stop it. As she couldn't reasonably walk the streets with a flying, eggplant-shaped gas bomb hovering at her shoulder, Granny and Daphne went out in search of something that might work as camouflage.
Left alone with an angry Moth, Sabrina ignored the fairy, watching talk shows she was certain were inappropriate for her. Moth stalked around the room with clenched fists, muttering bitter words under her breath.
"What's this?" Sabrina said when her grandmother and sister returned with a long piece of string.
Granny tied one end of the string to the bottom of the cocoon and handed the other end to Sabrina. "Now, isn't that a lovely balloon?"
Sabrina grumbled, knowing she looked like an unhappy child at the worst birthday party ever.
Mother Goose's directions were far better than any Bess or Oz had given the group. Momma knew exactly where to find the dwarfs. They lived in an abandoned subway station underneath the mayor's office downtown. The City Hall station had been closed decades ago, when the new, longer subway cars had made the platform impractical.
The walk to the station was chilly and the Grimms were glad to have scarves and mittens. Even Mr. Canis had found a big pair of gloves for his claws and a scarf to wrap around his whiskered head. Moth, Mr. Hamstead, and Bess didn't seem bothered by the cold, Moth because of her fairy blood and Mr. Hamstead and Bess because they were too busy giggling and holding hands to notice the temperature.
The group crossed a small park and found the steel door in the sidewalk that Momma told them led into the ancient subway station. There was no one out in the harsh weather, so they didn't have to worry about being seen when Canis pulled the door open, revealing a flight of steps that led down into darkness. Mr. Hamstead insisted that he go first, claiming his police training prepared him for any kind of danger. It was obvious his boasting was for Bess's benefit, but Sabrina held her tongue.
Hamstead led the group down the steps and when everyone was inside, Canis pulled the door closed, plunging them into darkness.
"Creepy," Daphne said.
"Just be patient, liebling.
Your eyes will adjust," Granny promised.
"Man, it smells foul down here," Bess said.
"I believe that is the girl," Canis said.
"Uh, hello? I'm standing right here!" Sabrina said.
Before long, their eyes adjusted, and Mr. Hamstead was leading them along a damp concrete passageway lined with huge pipes and electrical wiring. Every once in a while they would pass under a dingy, flickering lightbulb, which helped them see a few feet ahead.
"We are close," Canis said, sniffing the air. "I smell them."
The tunnel opened into a huge station with an arched ceiling held up by elegant columns and cut through with skylights that allowed rays of light to shine down on the gold-tiled walls and floor. The room looked like the lost tomb of a pharaoh. At the center was a single train track, where a lone subway car was parked. Sabrina had been in many subway stations in New York City, but this one, by far, was the most beautiful.
"Hello?" Granny shouted out. Her voice bounced off the walls and echoed back. "Is anyone here?"
"They have obviously abandoned this station," Moth said.
Something flickered in the corner of Sabrina's vision. She spun quickly and thought she saw movement in the shadows along the far wall. She turned to Mr. Canis, whose senses were much more acute than hers. He held his finger to his lips to let her know he had seen something, too, and to be quiet.
"What are we waiting for?" Moth continued as she headed for the train car. "We should take their train and search the tunnels ourselves."
Before she could step into the car, the station erupted with movement as five tiny men bore down on them, flipping and jumping, shouting and screaming. They stopped just short of the group, surrounding them like tiny ninjas from a martial arts film.
The door to the subway car opened and a sixth little man with a long, white beard stepped out and eyed the group angrily through round glasses. He wore a blue uniform jacket with a patch that said MTA. Sabrina knew what the letters stood for-
Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The little man worked for the subway.
"You're trespassing in the domain of the six dwarfs," he said, signaling to the others to close in on the group. "Invaders get a beating."
Sabrina watched as one of the little men slipped a set of brass knuckles on his hand.
Granny stepped forward. "We're not here to invade your territory."
A second dwarf clenched his fists. He had greasy little half spectacles on his nose. "These are our tunnels," he said. "We'll fight every one of you, chickadee!"
Mr. Canis growled. Sabrina could see he was losing his patience, again.
"We're looking for someone and we were told you could help," Sabrina said quickly. "A fairy flew down here last night. We think he's hiding in the tunnels."
"A fairy!" cried the dwarfs in horror. "No fairies in the subway! Your kind isn't welcome here."
"We're not fairies," Daphne said. "Well, except for her," she added, pointing at Moth. "We're detectives."
Suddenly, the white-bearded leader of the group cried out. "My oh my, it's you! It's Veronica's girls."
The little men immediately lowered their fists and smiled. They crowded around Sabrina and Daphne, offering up praise for their mother.
"Veronica was a gem."
"A real inspiration!"
"We loved her."
"What charisma!"
The men smiled and introduced themselves. Each had a different story about Sabrina and Daphne's mother. They all seemed to idolize her and regretted the day she had disappeared. The day of the "big speech," they added. It was clear they thought the speech would have changed their lives.
When it grew quiet again, the leader, who called himself Mr. One, spoke. "What are you doing down here?" he asked.