Michael Buckley - Once upon a crime

Granny ushered everyone into a nearby coffee shop and then asked one of its employees where the closest pay phone was located. The old woman bought everyone hot chocolate and then went outside in search of the phone.

"The old woman is a complete incompetent," Moth sneered. "We had Cobweb within our grasp and she let him go."

"You say another bad thing about my granny and you're going to get a sock in the nose," Daphne threatened.

Moth rolled her eyes.

Daphne turned to Mr. Hamstead. "What does incompetent mean?"

"She's saying that your grandmother isn't any good at her job," Hamstead replied.

Daphne shot the fairy girl another nasty look and then turned to her hot cocoa.

"So you don't need me with the big words, anymore?" Sabrina asked, trying not to sound too hurt.

"I never said I didn't need you, Sabrina. I just can't count on you," the little girl answered.

Granny returned, brushing snow off her coat. "All right, everyone, let's go," she said.

"Where are we going?" Daphne asked.

"To see Titania," the old woman said.

"What?" Sabrina cried. "She tried to kill us!"

Granny smiled. "I remember, liebling"

Night had fallen by the time they reached Central Park. They found the Hans Christian Andersen statue, waited while a dark-haired woman walking a little West Highland White Terrier passed out of sight, then said the magic words. As before, the Golden Egg was revealed.

The damage to the restaurant from the night before had been cleaned up, and except for a few broken chairs in the corner, there was no sign that a disturbance had occurred at all. The place was empty except for a cat playing Irish jigs on a fiddle. Momma was behind the bar washing some glasses.

"Good to see you, folks," she said. "Care for something to eat? The kitchen's open."

"No, thank you," Granny said. "We're meeting Titania here."

The woman sighed. "And I just got this place cleaned up."

"Which Everafter are you?" Daphne asked.

The woman smiled. "Mother Goose, in the flesh, or in this case, in the feather." Suddenly, she transformed into a large black goose with a blue bonnet on its head. Daphne clapped and the goose changed back into the woman.

"So, you're part of the Grimm family," Momma said, as she turned back to her glasses. "I was so busy with customers I didn't get a chance to talk to you the other night. I knew Wilhelm pretty well. Nice guy. He was always trying to help. I guess it runs in the family. Veronica was the same way."

Sabrina sat down at a nearby table. "You knew my mother?"

Momma nodded. "Sweet lady. Helped me get into bartending school. Without her, I'd still be living at the Sunshine Hotel on the Bowery."

"The Sunshine Hotel?" Granny asked.

"Yeah, it's a flop house, one of those pay-by-the-day places. Real classy," Momma said sarcastically. "A few Everafters live there-the ones that can afford the rent."

"And the others?"

"They make do in shelters. Some of them live on the street."

"But you're magical beings," Sabrina said. "Why would you live so hard? You don't have to."

"Kiddo, just 'cause I can turn into a goose doesn't mean I don't have bills to pay. It ain't easy being an Everafter. None of us have identification. We can't get driver's licenses 'cause eventually people are going to notice that we aren't getting older. Getting a lease on an apartment without any credit history is impossible. Why, you can't even get a job without a social security number. Technically none of us exist. That's why Veronica was so well liked. She helped us find ways to work around the humans' rules. She cut the red tape when it was possible. When she disappeared, things went from bad to worse. Sad, too, as she told me she was working on a plan for us to help ourselves. She was supposed to give some big speech about it but then she disappeared."

Just then, Titania and Mustardseed appeared. Mustardseed stood close to his mother, holding her hand. Titania's heartbreak was plain on her face. She said hello to everyone, then turned her attention to Moth. "How is my son?"

Moth stepped forward with the cocoon. Titania took it in her hands and held it close to her face. "Get well, my son. You are needed." She handed the cocoon back to the small fairy and said, "Keep him safe."

"Oz said you needed to speak to us," Mustardseed prompted. He was so serious and mature. Sabrina studied his face, looking for signs that he was truly Puck's brother. They shared the same mouth and nose-that was about it.

"Yes, and this is difficult to say, but we can no longer help you solve Oberon's murder," Granny Relda said.

"What?" Daphne cried. Even Sabrina was surprised by her grandmother's words.

"Why?" Titania demanded.

"We were told that Cobweb killed your husband," Granny said. "But Cobweb claims he is innocent."

"Cobweb is lying!" Titania said.

"Maybe so," the old woman replied. "But he also says he cannot turn himself in because he would be executed immediately." Mustardseed lowered his eyes. "So it's true," Granny said.

"Of course it's true!" Titania screamed. "Murderers reap what they sow. That is the way of Faerie."

"So he will not be given a trial?" Granny Relda said.

Titania raged. "You are just like Veronica! She was always forcing her beliefs about justice on the rest of us. Cobweb killed my husband and I will oversee his execution myself!"

"Then you can find him without our help," Granny said.

"Veronica and I obviously share the same sense of right and wrong."

"I have never heard such treachery," Moth cried. "Who are you to tell us how to behave?"

"We will give him a trial," Mustardseed said quietly.

"You are overstepping your authority!" Titania raged at her son. "I am still Queen of Faerie."

"There is no Faerie, Mother. It has been gone for ten years," Mustardseed said. "We're living here, now. It's time to embrace our new home."

"You would throw away thousands of years of our history?" Titania argued.

"No, there is room for tradition," Mustardseed said. "But not traditions that oppress and create mistrust. Sentencing a man to die because that has always been the way of things is wrong. My father struggled for too long trying to rebuild that way of life. I will not allow you or anyone else to do the same. You will fail as he did."

"Mustardseed!"

"Mother, the humans have traditions of their own. Adopting a few of them might do us all a world of good. We will allow Cobweb to defend himself," Mustardseed said, and then turned to Granny Relda. "You have my word."

"Do we have hers?" Mr. Hamstead said, pointing at Titania.

Titania got up and stormed out of the room.

"I will make her understand," Mustardseed said.

Granny regarded the young fairy for a moment and then nodded. "And we will do our best to find Cobweb."

Mustardseed returned the nod, then turned and exited the room.

"So, I guess we're back to the subway," Daphne said.

"It's a place to start," said Granny. "Someone may have seen where he went."

"Or he may still be down there," said Momma. "It's a good place to hide from other fairies since they're technically forbidden to be in the tunnels."

"Great," Sabrina said. "Anyone got a flashlight and two years? Do you know how many miles of subway track there are? Six hundred and fifty six!" She recalled the report she had done in the fourth grade after a trip to the Transit Museum.

"It's the realm of the six dwarfs," Momma said. "They control the underground. If he's down there they'll help you find him."

Granny smiled. "And where would we find these dwarfs?"

Everyone agreed to continue the search for Cobweb in the morning. The sun had set long ago and it had grown bitterly cold, plus they were exhausted.