She sat down on the stoop, contemplating her limited choices, when a crazy thought popped into her head. Why not break into the bank? She had done lots of crazy things since moving to Ferryport Landing. Why would this one be any crazier? She could break a window and crawl inside. If she hurried, she could open the safe-deposit box, grab the weapon, and escape before Nottingham arrived. It was as good a plan as any.
She stood up and studied the bank, sizing it up like it was an adversary. She had broken out of many places in her lifetime. As foster children, she and her sister were constantly escaping the lunatics the state sent them to live with. She recalled the Deasy family, who owned and operated an ostrich farm in Hoboken, New Jersey. The birds were mean and frightening, chasing Daphne nearly nonstop for the first three days. When one of them spit in Sabrina’s face, she knew that the sisters Grimm had to go. After a week of trying, Sabrina managed to pick the lock on the front gate, freeing herself and Daphne and the entire herd of stinky giant birds. She and her sister hopped the gate on the underground train that led to New York City, and they were back in the Big Apple hours before the Hoboken Police Department managed to track and capture the first of the Deasys’ twenty-five ostriches. If Sabrina could pick a lock, she could certainly throw a rock through a window.
Sabrina searched the street for a stone heavy enough to crack the bank’s thick security windows. She found a good sharp one and headed back to spot a place to fling it. She circled around the back of the building, found a window low to the ground, and peeked inside. There were wires attached to the window that led to a bright red bell on the wall. She guessed the bell would start to wail if the windows were broken. Once she was inside, she’d have to act fast. The last thing she needed was for Nottingham to show up and decide to be a police officer for once. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, then reared back, aimed, and tossed the rock. She prepared for the shattering of glass but it never came. Instead she heard a voice.
“Sabrina Grimm turns to a life of crime. I’m so proud of you.”
Sabrina recognized the voice immediately. It was Puck, and he had her rock clenched firmly in his hand.
“What are you doing here?” Sabrina demanded, dragging him into the shadows.
“Keeping an eye on you,” Puck said. “You slipped past all my security.”
“I’m not going to stay locked up in the house just ’cause you say we should,” Sabrina said. “I can take care of myself.”
“You are truly an ungrateful jerk. Do you know how much money I have to pay the troglodyte to sit inside the dirty clothes hamper? Not to mention the brownies living in the bushes outside and the ogre under the couch. Professionals are not cheap. Plus, I have to pay their dental insurance and contribute to their 401(k) plans. But do you appreciate it? NO! You run around this town willy-nilly, as if you had a death wish. Well, listen, bub, if your family gets killed, then I’m out in the cold. That means no more free meals. No more cable TV. Do you know what would happen to me if I had to go back down to just three or four channels?” Puck shuddered.
“Listen, everyone appreciates what you’re trying to do,” Sabrina said. “But at the moment, it’s getting in my way. Now, hand over that rock. I need it.”
“Hey, you don’t have to tell me about the need to break things,” Puck said. “If I don’t smash a window four or five times a day I don’t feel like myself. Still, it doesn’t seem like your style.”
“I’m not breaking windows just to break something. I need to get into the bank. There’s something inside I have to get,” Sabrina said.
“That’s what all the bank robbers say.”
“I’m not robbing the bank!”
“Then what are you going to steal? They chain the pens to the counters, you know.”
“I’m not stealing anything. I’m breaking in to get something that was given to me, and I can’t wait for the bank to open.”
“But you plan on breaking something to do it, right?”
“Yes.”
“OK, I’ll help.”
Sabrina felt like telling Puck to get lost, but she realized the fairy boy had some skills that might come in handy. Puck could do all kinds of things that human beings couldn’t.
“Actually—” Sabrina said.
Puck grinned and tossed the rock aside. “Allow me to call some friends.” He took a small wooden flute from his pocket and blasted a few notes into it. Moments later, they were standing in a tornado of little lights. There were hundreds of them buzzing past Sabrina’s face, clicking and chirping. Puck raised his hands and all the lights stopped in midair. Sabrina had met these creatures before. They were pixies, and they obeyed every command Puck gave them.
“Minions,” he said, “we need to get into this bank.”
The group of lights squeaked and flew toward the bank’s window. They seemed to study it for a moment, then they flew off, circling the building as if looking for a crack or crevice to invade. Moments later, Sabrina saw a few of them flying around inside the bank. They hovered in the window and buzzed to Puck.
“They’re opening the door for us now,” Puck said. Sabrina and Puck rushed around to the front door and hurried inside. Sabrina closed the door behind them in case anyone strolling down the street noticed it was wide open.
“I believe the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you,’” Puck said.
Sabrina rolled her eyes. “We’ve got to act fast. This place might have a silent alarm, and if that’s the case, Nottingham is probably on his way.”
“What are we looking for?”
“Safe-deposit boxes. You’ll find them in a room with little drawers built into the walls.”
Puck repeated the description to the pixies and they flew off in different directions. Sabrina went searching on her own, opening one door after another. Each room she searched was a dead end, and each dead end made her more and more aware that Nottingham could arrive at any moment.
Luckily, Puck called out that the room had been found. She raced back the way she came and found him hovering in a doorway at the opposite end of the building. In the room they found three walls, each lined with little silver doors. The fourth wall supported an enormous round door that protected the valuables in the bank’s vault. Sabrina studied one drawer carefully. It had a number carved into its door and a tiny lock. Sabrina reached into her pocket and removed the silver key. The number printed on it read TH192.
“I need to open TH192,” she said, scanning the wall. There were so many doors. It could take hours to find the right one.
“What’s the big deal about this safe-deposit box?” Puck asked as he joined the search. Sabrina knew she couldn’t keep her secret from him any longer.
“Before we left New York City, Sheriff Hamstead gave Daphne this key and told her it opened a box that contained a powerful weapon. He told her to get it if Mr. Canis ever lost control of the Wolf. Hamstead said it was the only thing that could truly stop him.”
“If he gave it to Daphne, then how come you have it?” Puck asked.
Sabrina felt her face go red. “She doesn’t understand.”
“You stole it?”
Sabrina nodded. “I had to.”
Puck looked surprised.
“What? Are you disappointed? Is the Trickster King going to give me a lecture on being a good person? I’m doing this for the good of us all,” Sabrina argued. “This weapon might be able to fix Mr. Canis, too, and fight the Scarlet Hand. Then you could let your security guards go.”
Puck said nothing; he didn’t have to. Sabrina could sense his disapproval, though it boggled the mind. Who was Puck to tell her how to behave?
“Here it is,” he said.
Sabrina rushed to his side and checked the number on the drawer—it matched the one on the silver key. She slipped the key into the slot, turned it, and felt the latch open. Inside was a long metal box with a handle. She pulled it out, her mind swirling with possibilities. Carefully, she opened the top of the box. Inside was a small blue velvet bag tied at the top with string. The words the north wind were stitched on the fabric in gold. Sabrina took the bag in her hand. Whatever was inside was small and cylindrical. She was surprised by how light it was.