"What's this?" she said, leafing through it. The pages were filled with tiny, neat writing.
"I've been looking for that for ages," Granny said. "That's a book your great aunt Matilda Grimm wrote."
Daphne took the pamphlet. "Rumpel… rumpel… what's this say?"
"It's called Rumpelstiltskin's Secret Nature," her grandmother said, taking the booklet from the little girl. "Matilda wrote a lot about Rumpelstiltskin. You could say she was one of the few fairy-tale specialists in this family. She had dozens of theories on why Rumpelstiltskin kept trying to trick people out of their firstborn children. You should read it when you get a chance."
"I'll check this out later," Sabrina said, setting the mutations book aside.
"Anyone for more camel hump soup?" Granny Relda asked as she got up from the table.
"This is made from a camel's hump?" Sabrina cried, dropping her spoon as images of a sweaty, flea-covered camel danced around in her mind. She'd seen one at the Bronx Zoo with her father and could still smell its rank breath years later. She felt sick.
"Actually, it's two-hump camel soup but I only use the second hump," Granny Relda explained. "The first hump is a little tough, and besides, it's the second hump that has all the flavor."
The girls stared at the old woman as if she were playing an elaborate joke on them, but Sabrina could see from her expression that she was serious. Of course, Daphne clapped her hands happily, and cried, "I'll have more! And this time make sure there's some extra hump in there!"
Sabrina slowly pushed her nearly empty bowl away just as there was a knock on the front door. Granny, who was on her way to the kitchen, stopped and rushed to answer it, with the girls following right on her heels. There on the porch stood a humongous black crow. Its eyes and beak bobbed nervously, and its squawk was ear-shattering. On one of its legs was a black ribbon, and when it saw the family it dipped its head in what Sabrina guessed was a bow of respect.
"Good afternoon, Widow," Granny Relda said to the bird.
"Good afternoon to you, Relda Grimm," the crow croaked in a scratchy yet feminine voice. Daphne squealed in glee, but Sabrina's stomach did a flip-flop.
More talking animals, ugh.
"Do you know that little brat you sent plucked a feather out of my behind and laughed?" the crow continued.
"I am very sorry," Granny Relda apologized. "I haven't seen you as a crow in some time."
"Well, the boy said it was important, so I did the bird thing. Normally, I'd take the seven down to the forty and get off at Miller Road, but you know that disaster with all the orange cones, and right now the eighteen is backed up for miles. At this time of night flying is really the quickest way," the bird croaked.
"Your English is coming along very well," Granny Relda commented.
"Thank you," the crow cawed. "Some of the others refuse to speak anything but Crowish, but I say you have to adapt. It's good to learn new things. I've even been surfing the Web."
"What fun," Granny said with a smile. "I was wondering if you had heard about the human that was killed today at the elementary school?"
"Yes, I have," the Widow replied. "Want to know how I know?"
Granny nodded.
"A little bird told me," the crow said. For a moment, there was silence. "Get it? A little bird told me?”
"That's very funny," the old woman said, as a pained smile crossed her face. Sabrina rolled her eyes, but Daphne laughed so hard she snorted.
"Oh, I like the little one." The crow chuckled. "You gotta have a good sense of humor to live in this town."
"The death was very suspicious," Granny Relda said, trying to steer the conversation back to the murder. She took one of the black feathers they had found in the classroom out of her handbag and held it out to the bird. "This was at the crime scene."
"I've heard rumblings in the flock," the Widow said, eyeing the feather.
"Rumblings?" Granny Relda asked.
The bird hesitated and looked around as if someone might be listening.
"Some of the crows claim they blacked out. They say they can't account for about fifteen minutes of the day," the crow whispered. "The ones I talked to said they heard music and suddenly they were all standing around the school yard, unsure of how they got there. Sounds like the piper is back to his old games."
"That would be unfortunate," Granny said.
"But I don't think it's your biggest problem," the crow continued. "Someone's sent you a message and I'm warning you, Relda, you don't want to mess with the Scarlet Hand."
"I don't know what you're talking about," said the old woman. "What message?"
"It's all over your house, Relda. Whatever you've gotten involved in this time has attracted the attention of some very bad people."
Sabrina and Daphne ran down the porch steps and looked up at the house. On the windows, roof, and even on the chimney were red-paint hands, just like the one they had found on the chalkboard in Mr. Grumpner's room.
"Who did this?" Sabrina asked.
"We've only been home for an hour," Daphne added.
The Widow hopped down the steps and flew up into the air. "Keep your nestlings close," the crow squawked as it disappeared over the tree line.
"Girls, get back into the house," Granny Relda said sternly.
6
It was obvious to Sabrina that the Scarlet Hand had spooked Granny Relda. The old woman spent the rest of the night silently digging through her old books and taking notes. When the girls announced they were going to bed, she mumbled what sounded like good night, but kept researching.
While Daphne brushed her teeth, Sabrina ran her head under the bathtub faucet and washed her hair for the fourth time that day. She wrapped it up in a towel, and the girls headed for their bedroom. Daphne put on her favorite pair of footie pajamas and pinned her deputy's badge to them. After buffing it into a shine, she went to their father's desk, which the little girl was slowly converting into a beauty parlor, and took a hairbrush from one of its drawers.
"Can I?" she asked. Sabrina nodded and her little sister climbed up on the bed, took the towel off of the older girl's head, and ran the brush over her long blond hair. For some reason, brushing Sabrina's hair helped calm Daphne down so that she could go to sleep. After finding a dead body, being attacked by a frog-girl, nearly dying with Granny behind the wheel of the car, and having the house vandalized right under their noses, Daphne would be brushing for a long time, Sabrina suspected.
"You OK?" she asked.
"I can't get Mr. Grumpner's face out of my head," Daphne replied.
"Try not to think about it."
"But we have to think about it. Now that we're police officers, it's up to us to find his killer."
"I think we should let the sheriff handle this one," Sabrina said.
"We can't. We made a vow. Besides, the town needs us to solve the mystery. We are Grimms and this is what we…"
"What we need to do is find Mom and Dad," Sabrina interrupted.
"We'll find them," her sister said.
"I don't know how. We've been here for three weeks and have spent all our time catching Lilliputians and killing giants. Isn't it time to start putting Mom and Dad first?"
"The mayor needs our help."
"And while we're busy doing the mayor's job, Mom and Dad are still missing," Sabrina snapped. "How do we know that Charming isn't responsible?"