Michael Buckley - Once upon a crime

"Moth, find Cobweb-quickly!" the woman said to the girl. "Tell him to bring his medicines."

"But-"

"Go!" Puck's mother shouted. Moth cringed and raced from the room as the woman turned her attention back to Mustardseed. "Where did you find your brother?"

"You're his brother?" Sabrina said. "But you're so… clean." Puck was usually covered in food and whatever he had found in the forest to roll around in.

Puck has to be adopted,

Sabrina thought to herself.

"They brought him," Mustardseed said to his mother, gesturing to the Grimms.

"What did you do to my boy?" Puck's mother studied the group for the first time, her face full of suspicion.

"He was fighting a Jabberwocky and it ripped off his wings," Sabrina explained, feeling a lump of guilt lodge in her throat. He'd been trying to protect her.

The woman eyed her coldly. "And where would my son encounter a Jabberwocky?"

"Ferryport Landing," Daphne replied. "He lives there with us."

The woman scowled. "So, that's where he went."

"Ma'am, my name is Relda Grimm. I've been looking after Puck for some time, now. These are my-"

"Grimm!

More troublemakers?" the woman bellowed, cutting Granny Relda off.

Sabrina sighed. Everywhere the family went they got an angry reception from Everafters. Was this just old hatred of Wilhelm… or had her father, Henry, been meddling in Everafter business? Sabrina's heart sank. Had her father been secretly doing the detective work he'd left Ferryport Landing to avoid?

"You must know our father, Henry," Sabrina said, testing her theory.

"Your father? No! I'm talking about Veronica Grimm," Puck's mother said. "Veronica?" the Grimms cried in unison. "You know our mom?" Daphne said.

The woman fell back as if she'd been slapped. "Veronica Grimm had children?"

At that moment, the little fairy girl known as Moth returned to the room. "Your Majesty, Cobweb is on his way."

"Very good. Mustardseed, escort these people to the street," his mother snapped. "Their presence is no longer required."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Mr. Hamstead said. "Let's all calm down. Now we all want what is best for Puck, so-"

"You can leave on your feet or in a box," the woman threatened.

Mr. Canis stepped forward, eyes flashing. He started to open his mouth but was quickly interrupted by an angry voice.

"If anyone is leaving in a box it will be you!"

Sabrina spun around and found three large men standing behind her. Their leader was a tall, bearish fairy roughly the same age as Puck's mother. He had a big, thick face and thinning hair. He was wearing a black pin-striped suit, expensive shoes, and a gold watch. His wings were fluttering furiously. The other two men were the ones Sabrina had seen when she had first entered the Golden Egg, the track-suited bouncer and his bulldog-faced partner. They were carrying violin cases.

Their leader charged at Puck's mother, grabbing her roughly by the wrists and shaking her violently. "You've pushed me too far, Titania."

"Get your hands off me, Oberon!" the woman roared, pulling her hands away.

"Get this traitor out of here!" Oberon cried, pointing at Puck. His two huge cohorts moved toward the sick boy.

"He's hurt," Mustardseed said as he stepped in their path to protect his brother.

Oberon turned his anger on his son. "Would you like to join your brother in banishment? Do you want to be liosta dubh, as well?"

Mustardseed shook his head. Still, he stood his ground.

"Puck is your son and he's hurt, Oberon," Titania pleaded.

"He's no son of mine," the king snarled, standing over Puck's weak body with clenched fists. "He betrayed me. He turned his back on thousands of years of tradition. In the old lands, the King of Faerie would have had his head on a pike for such disobedience."

"What's a pike?" Daphne whispered to her sister.

"A long pointy stick," Sabrina replied quietly.

Daphne curled her lip.

"Just like your traditions, the old lands are dead and gone," Titania said. "Bah!" Oberon cried. "Not for long!"

Just then, a tall, thin man with long, black hair and a dark face entered the room. His eyes were sunken and purple. He carried a black case in one frail hand.

"You called for me," he said.

"Cobweb, I'm afraid you've wasted a trip. We won't be needing any medicine today," Oberon said, dismissing the fairy with a flick of his hand.

Sabrina was stunned. Would he really let Puck die?

"No! Wait!" Titania cried. She pulled her husband aside and her voice suddenly softened. "Let Cobweb heal Puck and I will give you a present."

"What could you give me that I would ever want, Titania?"

"Power, Oberon," Titania said. "I can give you power over the entire community."

"I already control them," the fairy leader said with a laugh. His goons giggled with him.

"Perhaps, but you don't command their respect. I can give you something you've always wanted-their support," Titania argued. "I can give you something that will help you rebuild your precious Faerie kingdom."

"And what would that be?" Oberon said.

Titania gestured to Sabrina and Daphne. "The children of Veronica Grimm."

Oberon looked stunned for a moment, then laughed. "Another one of your lies."

Titania grabbed Sabrina roughly by the wrist. "Tell him who your mother was, human."

"Veronica Grimm," Sabrina said, yanking her hand away. "But I think you've got the wrong Veronica Grimm. She wasn't involved in any Everafter nonsense."

Oberon's eyes flashed so brightly Sabrina had to look away. Then he turned to Cobweb. "Heal the boy!" Oberon turned back to his wife. "But when he is well he can go back to whatever rock he has been living under for the last ten years."

Mustardseed and Moth looked saddened by Oberon's declaration, but Titania nodded and thanked him.

Oberon spoke to the fairy in the tracksuit. "Bobby Screwball, I need the Wizard."

Bobby Screwball nodded, reached into his violin case, and took out a long, thin stick with a big silver star on the end. He waved it in circles above his head and with a flick of his wrist a man suddenly appeared from nowhere. He was short and paunchy with thinning hair and a big, bulbous nose. He wore gray trousers, a white shirt, and an emerald-green apron covered in oil and dirt. He seemed completely bewildered, his eyes darting around the room in panic. Then he frowned.

"Aw geez, Your Majesty," the man cried in a thick Southern accent. "I was in a staff meeting. An entire group of trainee elves and Santa Clauses just saw me disappear into thin air. They're probably all freaked out. You may think that forgetful dust grows on trees, but you're wrong. It's very expensive and harder and harder to get!"

"Wizard, I need your particular talents," Oberon said. "Tonight we're having a celebration. I want to see every Everafter in town. Tell them I have… a special surprise for them."

"You're kidding me, right? A party? Tonight?" the Wizard cried. "Impossible. I can't just walk over and have the signal turned on. These things have to be planned."

The fairy with the bulldog face stepped over to the Wizard, grabbed him by the shirt collar, and pulled him close. "You're the Wizard. Nothing is impossible."

"Call off your goon!" the little man cried.

"Let him go, Tony Fats," Oberon said. The fairy frowned but released the squirming man.

"Fine! But don't expect a miracle," the Wizard grumbled.

"That's what I like to hear," the king said. He turned to his men and gestured at Sabrina and her family. "Keep them somewhere safe. We don't want the community's Christmas present damaged before they get it."

"Will do, boss," Bobby Screwball said as Oberon marched out of the room.

"I will need a little privacy with Puck," Cobweb said as he opened his case. He removed several vials containing powders, a few empty glass jars, a mortar and pestle. Then he began mixing things in the mortar.