“So what? Who’s Bluebeard?” Sabrina asked impatiently.
Puck wrapped his hand around her mouth. “Shhhh!” he whispered, then turned back to watch the man. “Bluebeard is famous for being married almost fifty times, and each of his wives had a nasty habit of losing her head.”
“You mean he drove them crazy?” Daphne asked.
“No, I mean he chopped their heads off with an ax, duh!” Puck snapped.
“Gross!” Daphne said, peering around the corner to get a better look at the man.
“That’s only half of it,” Puck said. “He stored his wives’ bodies in a secret room in his home. He used the room to test his new wives. He forbade them from entering it and if curiosity got the best of them, he added them to his collection.”
“If he’s so evil, why are we standing here watching him?” Sabrina said.
“’Cause I’m trying to get up the courage to go over and ask him for an autograph,” Puck said.
Sabrina watched Bluebeard study a shelf holding several leather-bound books. He took a few large volumes off the shelf and put them on a nearby table. When he had a big pile, he sat and started flipping through them and taking notes.
“What do you think he’s doing here?” Daphne asked.
No one knew, and it was clear that they shouldn’t stick around to find out. The man made Sabrina nervous. Even from across the library she could feel the darkness inside him. It felt hot and angry.
Unfortunately, before they could leave, they were stopped in their tracks by a familiar face. Snow White had several books in her hands and she set them down at an empty table near where Bluebeard was studying. Snow White was stunning, with creamy white skin, coal-black hair, and twinkling blue eyes. Her beauty was so profound it seemed unnatural, as if she didn’t belong to the human race.
“Should we say hi?” Daphne whispered.
Snow White had been a good family friend, but none of the Grimms had heard a peep from her in more than a month. She was very angry with Granny Relda, so angry that their friendship was in ruins. Granny had let Snow’s former fiancé, Prince Charming, sleep on the family couch when everyone thought he was missing and maybe dead. Snow, heartbroken with fear and worry, felt betrayed when she discovered he was safe and sound and hiding in her best friend’s home. Sabrina couldn’t blame Ms. White. Charming should have told her where he was, but he claimed Snow’s life was in danger. He wanted to save her without her knowing it, but his plan blew up in everyone’s face when Snow dropped by unexpectedly and discovered him alive and well.
Unfortunately, the beauty’s arrival at the library was noticed by Bluebeard as well. Snow White’s presence tore his attention away from his books; he seemed hypnotized by her. He studied her the way an art collector looks at a rare painting. His gaze didn’t fall on her so much as it seemed to reach out for her, coaxing her to come closer. Sabrina was reminded of a film she had seen in school about spiders catching flies in their webs then eating them from the inside out.
“Snow White?” Bluebeard said, standing up from his table.
Snow turned to face him, her ever-present smile lighting up the room. When she saw him her grin faded. “Oh, hello, Mr. Bluebeard.”
“Snow, I haven’t seen you in years. You’re looking wonderful,” Bluebeard said as his eyes darted over her body.
“Thank you,” the teacher muttered. Sabrina could tell Ms. White was nervous. The beauty dropped one of the books she was holding. Bluebeard swooped down and retrieved it, but he didn’t hand it back, ignoring Snow’s outstretched hand.
“It’s such a small town, but I never run into you like this,” Bluebeard continued.
“Well, I keep quite busy.”
“Oh, it’s good to be busy. Keeps the mind from wandering,” the man said. “You know what they say, ‘idle hands are the devil’s playground.’”
Sabrina watched Snow force a smile onto her face and nod.
“We really don’t get to see enough of each other,” Bluebeard continued. “Perhaps I can persuade you to accompany me to dinner. I’d love to ‘catch up,’ as they say.”
Ms. White squirmed. “I’m afraid I’m very busy.”
Bluebeard’s eyes flashed with anger. “You’re saying ‘no’ to me?”
Snow stood up, knocking her books to the ground, but Bluebeard shoved her back into her chair.
“I’m trying to be nice, Ms. White,” he hissed.
“We have to stop this,” Daphne declared.
“What do you want to do?” Sabrina asked.
Daphne was about to march up to them and interrupt when Puck grabbed her by the back of the collar. He murmured, “Listen, this isn’t a guy you play around with. If you go over there and get into his business, he’ll turn his anger on you.”
“She needs our help,” Daphne said.
Sabrina glanced around, looking for something that might distract Bluebeard. All she saw were books, and rows and rows of shelves. They couldn’t exactly start tossing books at a man who cut people’s heads off. Then she spotted the Scarecrow. He was at the top of a bookcase, halfway across the room, and as before, the case was teetering back and forth. Sabrina got an idea.
“Help me push this bookcase over,” Sabrina said. She pushed on the frame and it leaned a little. With Daphne and Puck helping it was soon rocking back and forth, but with all the books weighing it down, the bookcase seemed like it might fall back and collapse on them.
“I think we need a little something extra,” Sabrina said to Puck. The boy grinned, spun around on his heels, and, in a flash, he morphed into a bull with long, white horns. He huffed and stomped his feet.
“We should get out of his way,” Sabrina said, pulling her sister aside. With a bellow and a grunt, Puck ran forward, head first, knocking the bookcase hard. It toppled over, crashing into another bookcase right next to it and causing that one to fall over, too. That bookcase fell onto the bookcase beside it, starting a chain reaction throughout the library like dominoes. Books and magazines flew into the air, as did the Scarecrow, who was buried beneath them.
“Oops,” Sabrina said, as she, Puck, and Daphne dashed toward the doors. Snow was right in front of them, hurrying to the parking lot. Once outside, they found Ms. White leaning against her car and breathing hard. She was obviously unnerved by her encounter with Bluebeard and was doing her best to calm herself.
“Are you OK, Ms. White?” Daphne asked.
“Daphne?” Snow replied. “Yes, I just ran into . . . well . . .”
“We know,” Sabrina said. “Bluebeard.”
“Yes,” Snow said. “He’s always had a thing for me but I . . . wait a minute, are the three of you responsible for all that chaos?”
Puck nodded and bowed. “At your service.”
“Why haven’t you returned any of Granny Relda’s calls?” Daphne asked. “She wants to apologize.”
“Daphne, when you grow up you’ll find that being an adult is complicated. It’s not as easy as picking up the phone and saying ‘hi.’”
“First of all, I am grown up,” Daphne said. “Second, you don’t understand. Granny feels terrible about what happened. Mr. Charming begged us to keep it a secret. He said he was doing it for your own good.”
“How is pretending to be dead supposed to be for my own good?” Snow asked.
Sabrina and Daphne shared a knowing glance. “I wish we could tell you but he’s sworn us to secrecy,” Sabrina said.
“See, that’s the problem,” Ms. White said. “Everyone is keeping secrets from me and they tell me that it’s for my own good.”
“We’re trying to protect you,” Daphne said.
Snow White groaned. “Everyone wants to protect Snow White. Well, I’m not a little girl, Daphne. I was fighting my own battles before Billy Charming came along.”
There was a long, uncomfortable silence until Snow spoke again. “The three of you should get home. Relda is probably worried sick about you.”