“Court is in session. No one can enter,” the Eight of Diamonds said.
“You let me in right now, or I swear the two of you will get the shuffling of your life,” Granny said.
Befuddled, the guards stepped aside and Granny threw the doors open. Every person in the packed courtroom turned to gape at the noisy newcomers.
“Uhm, as I was saying,” Judge Hatter said. “Has the jury reached a verdict?”
The man in the black cloak stood up from his seat. He held a folded piece of paper in his hands. “We have,” he said. There was something familiar about his voice, but Sabrina couldn’t place it.
“Very good. Read your verdict,” Hatter replied.
The man cleared his throat and unfolded the paper. “We the jury find the accused guilty of murder.”
Sabrina gasped. Most of the audience cheered, though Sabrina heard some angry boos coming from their loyal friends. The noise banged against Sabrina’s eardrums like a wooden spoon on an old pot. She felt dizzy and sick to her stomach. Granny and Daphne looked no better.
“I see,” Hatter said when the crowd grew quiet. “Then I suppose we need to sentence him, and I tell you folks, I’m going to give him a full sentence. Not a sentence fragment but a whole sentence with a verb and a noun and possibly an adjective. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a conjunction in there as well. I can’t stand these judges who run around with their half-baked sentences. That’s how you get salmonella poisoning! Thus, I sentence the Wolf to death by hanging!”
The crowd leaped to its feet. Some were dancing and clapping; others laughed and howled with twisted joy. Only Sabrina, her family, Briar Rose, Snow White, and their Everafter friends were brokenhearted.
“Order! Order in the court!” Hatter cried, striking his head with his gavel again. “The Wolf will be hanged tomorrow in the center of town at noon. I believe we should make an example out of the monster. This case is over!”
Hatter leaped to his feet and rushed out of the room. Bluebeard, however, stood beaming proudly at the Grimms. Robin Hood and Little John pushed through the crowd to them. Their long faces spoke a thousand words of remorse. Granny thanked them for trying then moved to the front of the court where Mr. Canis was being dragged away by a dozen soldiers.
“Old friend!” she said.
“Old friend,” Canis said, his features now almost completely those of the Wolf’s.
“We’ll work on another way,” Granny said. “There’s no reason to worry.”
Canis shook his head. “It’s over, Relda Grimm. It is how I want it.”
He turned and allowed the guards to lead him out of the courtroom.
Daphne hugged her grandmother and wept into the old woman’s dress. Tears were rolling down Granny’s face as well. Even Uncle Jake was shaken and pale. Puck, however, was furious.
“I’m going to rescue him!” he shouted angrily. His wings sprang from his back and his eyes turned coal black. He snatched his sword from his waist and flew toward the door that Canis had been led through, but Granny pulled him back by his foot.
“No, Puck!”
“He needs our help, old lady!” Puck shouted.
“No! Not here. Not this way. If you go after him they will arrest you next. Stay with us, Puck. I can’t bear to lose another member of my family.”
“What now?” Sabrina asked her grandmother. For the first time since she had met the old woman, her granny was speechless. She seemed dumbstruck by something at the far end of the room. Sabrina followed her gaze and saw the man in the black cloak staring back at them. Bluebeard joined him and shook his hand, as did Heart and Nottingham. And then something so much more shocking occurred than even Canis’s death sentence. The man reached up and removed his hood, revealing his identity. The man in the cloak was Prince William Charming.
Snow White saw the unveiling as well. Her already pale complexion grew whiter. She bit her lower lip and a tear rolled down her cheek. She turned to Granny Relda. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I can’t be here.”
Snow turned and ran out of the room. Charming watched her go, but then turned back to his new friends. Sabrina glared at the man like he was mold on the bottom of a toilet. She had never trusted Charming, but she had secretly hoped that Daphne was right about him. The little girl always believed he was a hero waiting for an opportunity. Even though he had come to the family’s aid occasionally, Sabrina had continued to have her doubts. It had never felt so miserable to be so right.
Granny Relda wrapped herself in a rain jacket. Uncle Jake stood beside her holding an umbrella over her head. Sabrina recognized it as the same umbrella Mr. Canis had held over her the day she and Daphne arrived in Ferryport Landing. At first the children were told they had to stay home. Then Granny seemed to realize they’d sneak out anyway, and so she agreed to let them come along to say good-bye, but they were not to watch the execution. Sabrina knew it might be the last chance she had to apologize to the man who had been her family’s protector for almost two decades. She wanted to tell him how wrong she had been about him. He had never deserved her distrust.
The family drove to Main Street in their old jalopy. Sabrina sat remembering the times she had had with Canis. For the first time, the chaos and noise of the car went unnoticed.
They parked on a side street and walked up the block. In the center of Main Street, a large platform had been constructed. It had two levels. One was wide and close to the ground, the second was at the top of a tower, high above the other. A wooden beam held a noose above the second platform. A huge crowd had already gathered. Sabrina and her family moved to the front. Along the way, Everafters shouted angry comments and filthy words at them: The Grimms were a blight and a menace. They were disgusting and filthy humans. They were inferior and stupid and the cause of everyone’s suffering.
Bluebeard, Nottingham, Mayor Heart, and Charming appeared on the first platform. The crowd cheered their arrival and Heart waved like she was in a beauty pageant.
“We’ve waited a long time for this, haven’t we?” she shouted into her megaphone. Many in the crowd roared back at her. Most wore the mark of the Scarlet Hand. Heart raised her hand for their attention, then turned her gaze on the family. “But trust me, people. Today is just the beginning. Bring out the Wolf!”
The crowd cheered and broke into a chant of “Bring out the Wolf!”
Half a dozen card soldiers appeared with Canis in their midst. He towered over them, but they had swords, and Canis did not look as if he was going to put up a fight. The guards pushed him up to the second tower and the Ace of Spades wrapped a noose around his thick, hairy neck.
“I’d like to speak to my friend,” Granny said. She pushed her way to the tower and climbed the stairs.
“You’ll be up there yourself, soon!” someone shouted from the crowd.
Sabrina watched her grandmother talk to Canis. She couldn’t hear what she was saying, but it was obvious to her that Granny was begging him to break free and escape. He shook his head and spoke to her softly.
“What is she doing?” a voice said from behind them. Sabrina turned and found Snow White.
“I think she’s trying to convince him to make a run for it and kill anyone who gets in his way,” Uncle Jake said.
“He doesn’t seem to be listening,” Snow said.
“That’s because he’s smart,” another voice said. This one belonged to Bluebeard, who was standing uncomfortably close to the beautiful teacher. “Personally, I think he’s welcoming the opportunity to end his suffering. He’s committed so many atrocities. It must be hard on his soul.”