Free Sisters Grimm 05 Magic and Other Misdemeanors by Michael Buckley
Authors: Michael Buckley
go back," Puck said. "Baba Yaga is very punk rock."
"Sabrina, of course we have to go back when we find her wand," Granny said, kissing her on the forehead. "Now, hurry up and eat and then get dressed. We've got another busy day ahead of us."
"Are we back on the case?" Daphne asked in between bites. Granny nodded. "But first we have to pay our taxes."
* * *
The courthouse was a grand building with a dome and marble columns. It sat just a few doors down from the police station. Outside, a huge crowd of people milled around carrying signs and shouting angrily.
"Looks like a protest," Sabrina said, noticing a sign that had the word tax painted on it with a big red slash through it.
Mr. Canis pulled the car over to the side of the road to park. "Relda, I don't believe it would be wise for me to walk through that crowd in my current condition."
Granny agreed. "Yes, a seven-foot man with a tail might attract some attention. Stay here. We'll be back in a jiffy."
The Grimms eased their way through the angry mob and up the steps of the building. The people they passed looked desperate. An elderly man grabbed Sabrina by the arm and pleaded, "They can't do this to us. We've got nowhere to go."
Frightened, Sabrina pulled away and caught up with her grandmother and sister. They entered the double doors of the courthouse and immediately spotted an armed guard who gave them directions to the tax assessor's office.
"Is there much of a line?" Granny asked the man.
The guard shook his head. "You're the first people I know of who have the money to pay."
Following his directions, they soon came to a door at the end of a long narrow hallway, tax assessor's office was stenciled on the door and a little red tag hanging from the doorknob read b e back in 15 minutes.
"I guess we have to wait," Granny said.
Fifteen minutes turned into two and a half hours. Eventually they spotted a short, stocky person approaching from the other end of the hallway. As she came closer Sabrina recognized Mayor Heart, the former "Queen of Hearts" from the famous Alice adventures documented by Lewis Carroll. Sabrina thought she looked like a demented beauty pageant contestant. Her face was painted in bold, harsh colors--bloodred lips, dark purple eye shadow, mahogany brown eyebrows, and a black hole of a beauty mark on her left cheek. She was wearing an elaborate crimson gown of silk and lace that had little red hearts sewn into it. She also held an electronic megaphone in one bloated pink hand. The angry mob followed behind her, waving their tax assessment letters in the air furiously. Mayor Heart seemed to be enjoying their frustration and hopelessness, or perhaps she had applied a permanent smile with her obnoxious makeup. Sabrina couldn't be sure.
"People, what's done is done," Mayor Heart said through the entirely too-loud megaphone. Her words blasted the people and echoed off the walls, causing a high-pitched feedback that rang in everyone's ears. "The city needs the funds, and you're going to pay them or you're going to move."
"I'll get a lawyer!" a man threatened.
"Feel free," Heart snapped. "But I have a feeling any lawyer in this town is in the same boat as you. Now, get lost or I'll have the sheriff lock you all up."
"For what?" one man shouted. "It's still legal to protest in this county."
"Then I'll have you locked up for being ugly. Now, scram!"
The people filed out slowly, muttering threats at the mayor until she and the Grimm family were left alone. Heart looked at them and let out a little laugh. She took out a key and unlocked the door to the tax assessor's office, snatching the little note off the door as she stepped inside.
Granny Relda and the girls followed her through the door. They found themselves in a small, windowless office lined with big gray file cabinets. There was a single well-worn counter separating the room into an office area and a waiting area. Heart stepped behind the counter and set a bell down on top of
"Sabrina, of course we have to go back when we find her wand," Granny said, kissing her on the forehead. "Now, hurry up and eat and then get dressed. We've got another busy day ahead of us."
"Are we back on the case?" Daphne asked in between bites. Granny nodded. "But first we have to pay our taxes."
* * *
The courthouse was a grand building with a dome and marble columns. It sat just a few doors down from the police station. Outside, a huge crowd of people milled around carrying signs and shouting angrily.
"Looks like a protest," Sabrina said, noticing a sign that had the word tax painted on it with a big red slash through it.
Mr. Canis pulled the car over to the side of the road to park. "Relda, I don't believe it would be wise for me to walk through that crowd in my current condition."
Granny agreed. "Yes, a seven-foot man with a tail might attract some attention. Stay here. We'll be back in a jiffy."
The Grimms eased their way through the angry mob and up the steps of the building. The people they passed looked desperate. An elderly man grabbed Sabrina by the arm and pleaded, "They can't do this to us. We've got nowhere to go."
Frightened, Sabrina pulled away and caught up with her grandmother and sister. They entered the double doors of the courthouse and immediately spotted an armed guard who gave them directions to the tax assessor's office.
"Is there much of a line?" Granny asked the man.
The guard shook his head. "You're the first people I know of who have the money to pay."
Following his directions, they soon came to a door at the end of a long narrow hallway, tax assessor's office was stenciled on the door and a little red tag hanging from the doorknob read b e back in 15 minutes.
"I guess we have to wait," Granny said.
Fifteen minutes turned into two and a half hours. Eventually they spotted a short, stocky person approaching from the other end of the hallway. As she came closer Sabrina recognized Mayor Heart, the former "Queen of Hearts" from the famous Alice adventures documented by Lewis Carroll. Sabrina thought she looked like a demented beauty pageant contestant. Her face was painted in bold, harsh colors--bloodred lips, dark purple eye shadow, mahogany brown eyebrows, and a black hole of a beauty mark on her left cheek. She was wearing an elaborate crimson gown of silk and lace that had little red hearts sewn into it. She also held an electronic megaphone in one bloated pink hand. The angry mob followed behind her, waving their tax assessment letters in the air furiously. Mayor Heart seemed to be enjoying their frustration and hopelessness, or perhaps she had applied a permanent smile with her obnoxious makeup. Sabrina couldn't be sure.
"People, what's done is done," Mayor Heart said through the entirely too-loud megaphone. Her words blasted the people and echoed off the walls, causing a high-pitched feedback that rang in everyone's ears. "The city needs the funds, and you're going to pay them or you're going to move."
"I'll get a lawyer!" a man threatened.
"Feel free," Heart snapped. "But I have a feeling any lawyer in this town is in the same boat as you. Now, get lost or I'll have the sheriff lock you all up."
"For what?" one man shouted. "It's still legal to protest in this county."
"Then I'll have you locked up for being ugly. Now, scram!"
The people filed out slowly, muttering threats at the mayor until she and the Grimm family were left alone. Heart looked at them and let out a little laugh. She took out a key and unlocked the door to the tax assessor's office, snatching the little note off the door as she stepped inside.
Granny Relda and the girls followed her through the door. They found themselves in a small, windowless office lined with big gray file cabinets. There was a single well-worn counter separating the room into an office area and a waiting area. Heart stepped behind the counter and set a bell down on top of