Once Upon a Crime (The Sisters Grimm, Book 4)

by Michael Buckley

  "You're talking in circles, Wizard," Puck said, drawing his wooden sword from a loop around his waist.

  "Kids--they always want the short version. Fine. One day, I was approached by a man who offered me something more. He promised me that there would come a day when the city would need a leader to rule both Everafter and human alike. So I signed up to be a member of the Scarlet Hand."

  Sabrina gasped. "Then you killed Oberon. You put the mark on his chest!"

  "Oh no, Moth killed him. I just took advantage of the situation in order to announce the coming of my master's army. I put the mark on Oberon's chest when I found him dead, then escaped just before his body was discovered. I'm no murderer."

  "But you are a kidnapper. How else would you have my mother's journal?"

  "It was part of my deal with the master, Sabrina. In exchange for your parents I get to rule this city."

  "And how do you plan on doing that?" Puck asked

  "Why, by taking over the world," he said. "The master is attempting nothing short of world domination, and not a minute too soon, either. The humans have had control for long enough. Look at what they've done with their time. The world is a cesspool of pollution, hate, and greed. It's time for the Everafters to start running the show."

  "And Henry and Veronica were in the way," Granny Relda said.

  "I'm not proud of what I've done but, unfortunately, yes. Veronica was a brilliant, insightful woman with big ideas. She wanted to unite this city under one government. She actually thought these fools could work together. I couldn't allow that. I have to keep this community in chaos until I can claim the city as mine. An organized population of Everafters would be difficult to topple."

  "So, you kidnapped my mom and dad! You put them to sleep!" Daphne cried.

  "Yes to the first, no to the second. I lured them out, promising your mother I would help her with her speech and encouraging her to reveal her double life to your father. Once I had them, I turned them over to the master. I had no idea they were still alive until you arrived here."

  Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the lights went off in the building. The security guards were closing the store.

  "Now, about that book. There's a speech inside that I need to get back. You can keep the journal. But no one can ever hear Veronica's speech. You and your family can go back to Ferryport Landing. Your mother and father's usefulness to the master is over and as long as you stay out of the way you'll live. Not a bad trade."

  "No chance," Sabrina said.

  The Wizard reached into his pocket and removed his small, silver remote. "Then, so be it." He pushed a button and at once every little robot head turned toward them with electrical eyes blazing. The machines that could move charged at them, some dragging half-assembled bodies. Puck swatted a few away with his wooden sword, but one of the mechanical birds swooped down and snatched the journal out of Sabrina's hand. It immediately flew back to Oz and gave him its prize. Then Oz ran.

  The family had to fight through the crowd of misfit robots to chase after him as he dashed out of the workroom and t

  hrough the empty store. It was mostly dark but there were a few security lights on, so it was easy to follow him. But he kept overturning racks of clothing and merchandise in the family's path.

  Puck stopped, spun around on his heels, and quickly transformed into a bull with huge horns. He bent his head down, stomped his front hooves a few times, blasted a breath out of his nostrils, and then charged forward, tossing the obstacles out of the way. The women raced close behind.

  They watched Oz take the escalator up to the floor above. Puck transformed back to his normal state, then raced up the escalator two stairs at a time. Sabrina wasn't far behind. Daphne stayed back to help Granny along.

  They chased Oz up five flights, with Puck still in the lead. They were racing through the sporting goods department when Sabrina saw Puck flail through the air and slam into a nearby wall. Then, something came around the corner at her. Sabrina had seen it many times before as a young girl. She had associated it with sugarplum dreams. Now it made her think of nightmares. It was a seven-foot-tall Nutcracker, painted to look like a red-coated soldier with a white beard. Its most horrible feature was a gaping mouth that smashed closed every few moments as if it were gnashing its teeth.

  "Oh dear," Granny said as she and Daphne came up behind Sabrina.

  Puck crawled to his feet, rushed behind the Nutcracker, and delivered a well-placed kick to its behind. The robot turned and lunged at him.

  "They don't sell explosives in this store, do they?" Puck shouted, as he dodged the creature's massive arm.

  "They sell everything else," Sabrina said, glancing at a store directory on the wall. "Wait a minute. Sporting Goods! We're on the sporting goods floor!"

  With Puck keeping the monster's attention, she and her family raced around, choosing weapons. Daphne found a tennis racket, which she swung wildly at the robot, but her racket turned into splinters when it got caught in the Nutcracker's deadly jaws. Granny found a couple of soccer balls, but when she raced back to use them on the robot, it easily deflected her blows.

  "What's that thing?" Puck said. He was pointing to an odd machine that said PITCHMASTER on the side. The contraption had a pump that shot balls through a tube at super speeds. Sabrina guessed it was to teach batters how to hit fastballs.

  Fastballs!

  She flipped the machine on and pushed a button, and a baseball rocketed out of the tube and hit a nearby mannequin, knocking its head off its shoulders.

  "Oh, I've got to get me one of those things!" Puck said. "Do you think it will shoot balloons filled with donkey poo?"

  Sabrina ignored Puck's disgusting idea and shouted to her sister, "Help me turn this toward the Nutcracker!"

  When they had the machine lined up, Sabrina hit the button again and a ball screamed out of the tube and hit the Nutcracker in the chest. The force was so incredible it left a huge dent.

  The creature turned, a red light flashing in its mechanical eyes. It rushed at them so quickly, the only thing to do was push the button on the ball machine and hold it down. A ball crashed into the robot's face, knocking a metal panel off and revealing its wiring. Then another slammed into its right leg. Each ball knocked the robot back, but each time it recovered and kept coming at them.

  Sabrina quickly studied the pitchmaster's controls. There was a button that read LIGHTNING FASTBALL. She pushed it just as the Nutcracker's hand reached out for her. A ball shot out of the machine's tube and hit the creature between the eyes. Smoke suddenly billowed out of its head, and little sparks of fire popped around inside what had been the robot's brain. A second later the creature fell over and moved no more.

  There was a loud clang and Sabrina turned. Oz had been hiding nearby and knocked over a rack of bicycles in his effort to escape. He raced to the escalators and the entire family took off after him. As soon as the Wizard reached the top of one escalator, he hurried to the next until he had quickly reached the top floor of the store. When the Grimms and Puck finally got there, he was nowhere in sight.

  "Oz, we know you're up here," Granny Relda called out.

  "Yeah, you can't hide from us or from the beating you're going to get when we find you," Puck said.

  "Shut up! You're not helping," Sabrina said.

  "Don't tell me to shut up. I'm a king," Puck said.

  "You're an idiot."

  Just then, an enormous glowing head materialized out of thin air. It seemed to be made of emerald-green fire and had horrible black eyes. When its mouth opened, Oz's voice came bellowing out. "I have never had luck with children. I have to admit I've always underestimated them and they have been my undoing."

  Puck snatched a giant candy cane decoration off a wall nearby and swung it at the head. "Aw, shut up." The cane passed right through the head, breaking up the image only temporarily.

  "Look at Dorothy," the head continued. "That little girl was a moron, I tell you. I mean, dumber than a box of rocks
. She comes to me asking for a way back to Kansas. I mean, if you could have a wizard grant a wish, would you waste it on going to Kansas? And her friends! 'Give me a heart!' 'Give me a brain!' 'Give me courage!' What they needed was a clue. So, I sent them to see the Wicked Witch of the West. Who would have thought they'd ever come back? They ruined everything for me. Well, I won't let it happen, again. It's time the Wizard got a wish of his own."

  Sabrina motioned for everyone to follow her. Oz had to be hiding somewhere nearby.

  "You're not going to get away with this," she muttered.

  "Oh, but I am," Oz cried as the head followed her. "After all, I'm the great and terrible Wizard. I can do magic, child, and I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve."

  They turned a corner and found the man standing in plain view. He was busy working the buttons on his silver remote control, pounding them frantically and causing the little device to squeal and honk. When he finally noticed the family, he groaned. "Don't look behind the curtain," he said with an uncomfortable laugh.

  "Oz, give me the book," Sabrina said.

  "I can't, child," he said. The Wizard shook his head as he pushed a button on his remote, then backed away from the group.

  Suddenly there was an incredible rumbling beneath them. The building shifted as a fissure opened up, snaking across the entire floor. Puck and the Grimms were knocked to their knees. The floor was splitting in two to make way for something big, round, and green. It rose higher and higher, and got bigger and bigger, until it nearly filled the entire store. With nowhere else to go, it pushed through the ceiling, causing concrete and wood to crash down around everyone.

  "Is this another one of his robots?" Puck shouted as he clung to Sabrina.

  "No! It's something else," she said as a large woven basket rose up from below. It was attached to the giant green orb by ropes and had a silver furnace inside it. The Wizard climbed into the basket and then it too lifted upward. Suddenly, Sabrina knew exactly what the thing was. "It's a hot-air balloon."

  The basket rose through the hole in the ceiling and the balloon was aloft.

  "Give me the journal, Oz!" Sabrina cried.

  "Is that the wish you want the mighty Oz to grant?" he cried as he rose higher and higher. "Then you will have to do something for me first."

  "Stop playing games!" Granny Relda cried.

  "You know the story, people. You can have your heart's desire but you have to do something for me. You have to kill the Wicked Witch of the West!" Sabrina saw Oz push another button on his controller just as the balloon disappeared from sight.

  "I don't think he's my favorite anymore," Daphne said.

  "I'll get him," Puck cried, beginning to flap his wings; but suddenly there was more loud rumbling from below and he spun around, midair. Sabrina felt it, too. It seemed as if the entire building was being rocked back and forth. Then, all at once, the shaking stopped.

  "Uh, what was that?" Sabrina said.

  Granny looked around nervously. "I don't know and I don't like it."

  The old woman grabbed Daphne and Sabrina by the hands and hurried them over to the emergency exit. Puck flew after them. Together, the group raced down nine flights of stairs.

  They finally reached the ground floor of the department store and found it a disaster. Racks of clothing and broken bottles of perfume were scattered over the floor, and hosiery was draped everywhere. Worst of all, an enormous canyon had opened up in the floor.

  "Find an exit, children," Granny said. But, before they could take a step, a big, black, metallic cone began to rise out of the breech in the floor. It rose and rose, expanding as it came.

  "This can't be good," Puck said.

  Soon the enormous cone was completely revealed, but beneath it came another object. This one was also made of metal, though it had a sickly green tint to it. It rose higher and higher, revealing a pair of eyes, one covered in a black patch. Then came a long, pointy, wart-covered nose. Then a mouth with jagged steel fangs. Sabrina knew what was erupting from below. The cone was a hat, and the face was one she'd seen in a book. She grabbed her sister and her grandmother, shook them until they took their eyes off the growing horror, and together with Puck ran for the closest door.

  "What is that thing?" Puck shouted.

  "It's the Wicked Witch of the West!" Sabrina shouted back. She pushed hard on the door, but it was locked tight. She had forgotten the store was closed. She pounded on the glass, hoping that it would shatter, but she wasn't strong enough. Thankfully, Puck understood the situation. He morphed his arm into that of a gorilla's and punched the door with all his might. Not only did the glass break, but the door flew off its hinges and the family raced out into the snow.

  Unfortunately, they were not alone. The streets were packed with people. Taxis, trucks, and cars were everywhere. It was then that Sabrina realized how much easier it was to handle these types of disasters in Ferryport Landing, where the downtown a

  rea was usually barren. But here, in New York City, the city that never slept, every corner was as crowded as a parade.

  "Run!" Granny Relda yelled, and the family took off down the sidewalk.

  "Get off the streets!" Sabrina shouted to the crowd. "There's a monster!"

  People ignored her and went about their business, but she still tried to get their attention. "There's a giant robot coming! Run for your lives!"

  The family dashed in and out of the crowd and quickly reached the corner of the street. The traffic was intense so they couldn't just run out into it. They were forced to wait for the light, which gave Sabrina a chance to look back at the store. She did so just in time to see the entire front of the building collapse and a huge leg step through. That got the New Yorkers' attention. Cars drove into trucks. A taxi crashed into a newspaper stand.

  When the light changed, the family raced across the street, continuing to shout warnings at everyone they saw. Sabrina heard a huge pounding noise and looked back again. The robot was completely free of the store now. It stood nearly six stories tall. It scanned the streets and then fixed its horrible electronic gaze on Sabrina. It began to walk in her direction, kicking a taxicab out of the way. The cab slammed into a light pole and then skidded into the intersection. A truck that had the misfortune of driving near the creature's shoe was knocked aside and sent into a nearby building.

  The family kept running, but now the pedestrians were getting smart. Suddenly, the wave they had been fighting against turned, and crowds of New Yorkers ran with them. Many looked back as they ran, and a young woman knocked Daphne to the ground in her panic. Puck swooped up the little girl before she was trampled.

  "How are we going to stop this thing?" Puck shouted. "I think it's going to take more than a couple of fastballs."

  "Look!" Daphne said, pointing above them. Sabrina saw Oz's hot-air balloon sailing into the sky. It was strangely close to the Empire State Building. In fact, it was too close. The spire at the top had caught the balloon.

  "He can stop the witch!" Sabrina shouted. "Head for the Empire State Building!"

  The family raced on, but the enormous witch grew closer with each giant step. By the time they got to the skyscraper the robot was right on top of them. They pushed through the revolving doors of the famous building and dashed into the bronze-covered lobby.

  A security guard got up from his desk and held up his hand. "We're closed, folks. Come back next week."

  "We've got to get to the top now," Sabrina said.

  "No can do, people…" he said, his voice trailing off. Sabrina realized something had captured his attention. She turned to follow his gaze and saw the witch's good eye staring through the front doors. A second later, its enormous hand smashed through the entrance and snaked down the lobby. Its huge, greedy fingers were aimed right at the Grimms and Puck.

  Sabrina did the only thing she could think of. She dragged her family past the security guard and into the waiting elevator at the end of the hall. She scanned the dozens of buttons and found the one she w
anted--OBSERVATION DECK. Then the doors closed and the elevator started to rise.

  "You know, I lived in this city for years and I've never been to the top," Puck said. "I hope the souvenir shop is still open."

  The elevator came to a stop. When the door opened, a blast of cold air and snow hit their faces. Through it they could just see the outline of a hot-air balloon, tangled on top of the building.

  Oz was frantically trying to unfasten several ropes that had caught on the building's spire. The basket swayed dangerously in the wind, dumping some of its contents onto the roof of the building.

  "Turn the witch off!" Sabrina shouted. Oz looked down and snarled.

  "Mr. Diggs, someone is going to get hurt," Granny added. "That is, if they haven't already."

  "You fools!" Oz shouted from his basket. "What do I care if a bunch of humans die? The master has promised me that I will rule over them all. A few lives mean nothing to me."

  Sabrina looked over the edge of the building. The witch had begun to climb the facade, digging her huge hands into the building's concrete frame. It reminded Sabrina of a movie she had seen once.

  "Oz, you told me you were my mother's best friend," she called out to the Wizard. "She trusted you. Regardless of your plans I don't think you wanted to hurt her."

  "I didn't. He told me he had a big plan for your parents. He said they'd give birth to a future where Everafters ruled the world."

  Sabrina glanced down again. The witch was now only a dozen floors away from them. Oz paid no attention. He continued to cut his ropes one by one.

  Puck's wings popped out of his back and flapped fiercely. "If you try to fly away from here I will blast a hole in your little balloon. I swear it."

  If Oz was worried by the threat, it didn't stop him. He cut the last rope and then waved good-bye. In a flash, Sabrina did something she never would have guessed she had the courage to do. She grabbed the loose rope.