Michael Buckley - The Unusual Suspects

One chapter, entitled "The Power of Rumpelstiltskin," contained theories on the source of the little man's powers. Matilda believed he was like a walking battery. He stored energy and converted it into destructive power. Unfortunately, the more of Matilda's theories Sabrina read, the more questions she had.

"It doesn't make any sense," Sabrina cried. "What do Rumpelstiltskin, the Pied Piper, the children of Everafters, and a bunch of tunnels under the school have in common?"

"The barrier," Puck replied.

"What?" Sabrina asked.

"The barrier runs very close to the school," Puck said. "We flew into it, don't you remember?"

"You're just telling me this now?" Sabrina cried.

"Seemed obvious to me," the Trickster replied.

"They're digging to the barrier," Snow White gasped. "Baba Yaga's spell is probably not as strong underground. But what would be the point? They'd still need a powerful magic explosion to get through it."

"I think they've got one," Sabrina said, holding up her great aunt's book. "Matilda thought Rumpelstiltskin was a walking nuclear bomb. He might be able to make a crack in it."

"Still, they have the river to worry about. The waters would drown them all," Snow White pointed out.

"Maybe not!" Daphne said, rushing to the bookshelf and snatching down one of the family's journals. She ran over to the table and put it down in front of Sabrina. It was their grandfather Basil's journal.

"Granny had this out one afternoon and forgot to put it back," the little girl said. "I was flipping through it and found some maps Grandpa Basil drew of the town." She flipped it open and searched for a page. When she found it, she pointed for her sister to read.

Today I did a little amateur mapmaking of the elementary school construction site, claiming I was just interested in the building. Charming hates when he thinks I'm snooping, but I wanted to make sure no one got any ideas about digging the holes deeper or building a tunnel over the river. The barrier is much weaker underground. Baba Yaga compensated though by extending it over the Hudson River. If anyone tried to tunnel through, they'd drown. The only chance they'd have would be to somehow dig through the bedrock under the river over to Bannerman’s Island, but without an army of miners, they'd never get close. I feel pretty confident that it’s impossible. -April, 1957

Sabrina flipped the page and found a hand-drawn map of the town and the surrounding areas. A circle enclosed the town and Grandpa Basil had written THE BARRIER on it as a label. She had to admit, the circle wasn't very big. Mount Taurus was inside it, as well as the edge of the Hudson River, but it wasn't a lot of room. She found the very spot where Puck had slammed into the barrier and dumped them all into the river. It was close to the school-as was a tiny island that sat right on the barrier. Sabrina had never noticed Bannerman's Island before, but there it was on her grandfather's map.

"Kids, let's just calm down," Snow White insisted. "Your grandfather was right. Without a crew of workers, it would take Rumpelstiltskin decades to tunnel to the barrier. Your grandmother and the sheriff will stop him and the piper tonight."

"See, that's where I'm confused," Sabrina said. "What does the Pied Piper have to offer in all this? If Rumpelstiltskin can blow a hole in the barrier, then what does he need with a guy whose claim to fame is leading a bunch of rats out of town?"

"Maybe he's using the rats to chew through the rocks," Puck said.

"That's stupid!" Sabrina snapped.

"You're stupid!" he shouted back.

"Maybe he's not using rats," Snow White said uncomfortably.

"What else could he use?" asked Sabrina.

"You don't know how the Pied Piper's story ended, do you?"

The girls shook their heads. Apparently, their father's no-fairy-tales rule was coming back to haunt them again.

"He drowned the rats and became a hero, right?" Daphne said.

"Well, he did drown the rats, but he didn't do it to be a hero. He did it for a paycheck. In his day, he used to travel from town to town, using his pipes to clean up messes. He drove the spiders out of Paris, the monkeys out of Bombay, and snakes out of Prague. But he did it for money.When he showed up in Hamelin, the townspeople were desperate. They were completely overrun with vermin."

"What's verminmean?" Daphne asked.

"Rats and mice," Sabrina explained.

"Rats were everywhere," Ms. White continued. "They spread a lot of disease and people were getting sick. Everything the town had tried hadn't worked. So the piper agreed to handle their problem, and in no time he was leading the rats right into the ocean where they drowned. But that wasn't the end of the town's problems. When the piper came back, he wanted payment, but the town refused to pay. They had used him and he was furious."

"What happened?" Sabrina said, already sensing the story's unhappy ending.

"He gave them twenty-four hours to come up with the money and when the time was up, they just laughed at him. So, he blew into his bagpipes and the town's children congregated around him. The piper marched out of town with the children following behind him, just as the rats had. Their families tried to stop them, but reports say the kids were in a trance and kept on following the music. The families never saw them again."

"So, of course it makes a lot of sense to hire him to be principal of an elementary school!" Sabrina said angrily.

"Rats or brats," Puck said, before Snow White could explain. "What's the difference?"

Suddenly, the truth dawned on Sabrina. "He's providing the workforce!" she cried.

"What are you talking about?" Daphne said.

"The piper has been using his magic to force the students to work at night. You've seen the kids in my classes. They're exhausted. It's because they've been working all night. We have to warn Granny!"

"We can't do that," Snow White said.

"But, Ms. White! We have to!" Daphne cried, rushing to the closet and returning with her deputy's hat tied to her head.

"The sheriff and Mr. Canis are with her," the teacher replied. "They'll figure this out before anyone gets hurt."

"What if they don't?" Puck asked. Sabrina was surprised. The boy usually acted as if he didn't care. "What if they don't find out? We saw those tunnels. They go on and on. If Rumpelstiltskin blows a hole in the barrier, those walls will collapse on everyone inside."

Now Sabrina was stunned. "I thought you were a villain. If you come along, you're going to have to be a hero."

"As long as I'm ruining someone's day I'm in," Puck said.

Snow White looked from child to child and then reached for her car keys.

"Get your coats on," she said. "But if I think it's too dangerous, we turn right around."

Soon they were rushing out the front door. They were in such a hurry, Snow White didn't see Mayor Charming coming up the path, and the two ran right into each other.

"Snow," Charming said, surprised.

"Billy," the teacher whispered.

They stood holding hands in the cold night air. Sabrina rolled her eyes.

"We're not going to go through this again, are we?" she cried. "We've got to get going."

"What's the rush?" Charming asked.

"Rumpelstiltskin and the Pied Piper have been tunneling under the school for months and are looking for the weak spot in Baba Yaga's barrier so they can try to crack a hole in it and escape, and Granny, the sheriff, Mr. Canis, and Wendell are there now trying to stop them, but they don't know that Rumpelstiltskin is like a living battery and he has the power to create the hole, but if he does he'll collapse the tunnel and everyone inside will die," Daphne said, breathing heavily.

Charming stood still with wide eyes. "What was that again?" he asked.