In the distance a thunderous bellow rang out followed by the terrible sound of falling trees and a stampede of terrified animals It was coming and there was no way to outrun it Still Sabrina and Daphne had to try They sprinted as fast as they could fighting with every step the dense forest branches that scratched at their faces and arms We have to find a way to stop it Daphne cried between gasps Sabrina knew her little sister was right But how They were two children versus a vicious monster I’ll think of something she said dragging her sister behind an enormous oak tree for a much-needed rest Sabrina squeezed Daphne’s hand to reassure her while she forced air into her own burning lungs Her words sounded empty in her ears She didn’t have a plan and even if she did it wouldn’t make a difference The creature was on top of them Splintering wood and damp soil rained from the sky as the tree they crouched behind was violently uprooted The two girls looked up into the horrible face above them and felt scorching breath blow through their hair What has happened to our lives Sabrina wondered When did the world become unrecognizable And what had happened to her the eleven-year-old girl who only two days prior had been an orphan on a train
1 Two Days Ago I’m going to die of boredom here Sabrina Grimm thought as she looked out the train window at Ferryport Landing New York approaching in the distance The little town seemed to be made mostly of hills and trees next to the cold gray Hudson River Endless acres of evergreen forest surrounded it as if trying to hide its existence from the rest of the world A few two and three-story buildings huddled around what appeared to be the town’s only street Sabrina couldn’t see any movie theaters malls or museums and she felt using the word town to describe Ferryport Landing was a bit of a stretch The weather wasn’t helping It was raining and rain always made her melancholy It had been raining the day her parents abandoned her a year and a half ago and it still made her heart ache She remembered the day clearly rushing home that afternoon with a report card safely tucked inside her raincoat Excited about her As in math and English and her B in science and a little disappointed by her C in gym She proudly taped her grades to the refrigerator for everyone to see when they got home It seemed odd that her parents weren’t there but Sabrina didn’t worry until Daphne’s kindergarten teacher called to find out why no one had picked up the little girl That night the girls slept in their parents bed waiting for them to come home while thunder crashed in the sky outside When the social workers came three days later to take them away it was still raining and Sabrina’s report card was still hanging on the refrigerator awaiting its praise For all Sabrina knew it was still there The police investigated the disappearance They searched the family’s New York City apartment for clues They interviewed neighbors and coworkers They dusted for fingerprints and filed reports but Henry and Veronica Grimm had vanished into thin air Months later the police found their abandoned car deserted in a lonely park fifty miles north of the city The only clue was a bloodred handprint on the dashboard that turned out to be paint but didn’t lead to anything else The investigation came to a dead end and the cops eventually gave up the search The girls were placed under the care of social services at first A nice but overworked man named Todd searched for a next of kin someone who could take them in but came
up as empty as the police No aunts uncles grandparents brothers sisters or even distant twice-removed cousins existed Todd promised to keep trying but when Sabrina and Daphne were moved to an orphanage they never saw him again Sabrina shook off the sad memories and tucked her long blond hair behind her ear She felt like crying but couldn’t let her sister see her blubbering She needed to be the strong one after all she was almost twelve years old Not that Daphne would have noticed At the moment Sabrina’s seven-year-old sister had her face pressed against the train’s window as she had for the entire two-hour trip She marveled at each ugly little dot on the map they rolled through like they were Paris Rome and Los Angeles She only took occasional breaks from the view to ask questions about their destination Do they have bagels in Ferryport Landing Ms Smirt Daphne asked the woman sitting across from them Ms Minerva Smirt was the girls caseworker from the orphanage She was a pinch-lipped humorless woman in her late fifties As usual her hooked nose was buried in a book Sabrina knew she was reading only so she wouldn’t have to talk to them Ms Smirt looked up at Daphne with an annoyed scowl and sighed as if the little girl’s questions were more than she could bear Of course they have bagels They have bagels everywhere Ms Smirt snapped Not on the moon Daphne replied matter-of-factly as she returned her gaze to the window Ms Smirt snarled and Sabrina snickered It was so easy to get on the woman’s nerves and Daphne was particularly good at it Smirt had made a terrible mistake when she chose a career working with children Sabrina thought especially since she didn’t seem to like them The woman complained whenever she had to touch their sticky hands or wipe their runny noses and reading bedtime stories was completely out of the question She seemed to especially dislike the Grimm sisters labeling them rude uncooperative and a couple of know-it-alls So Sabrina was sure it was Ms Smirt’s personal mission to get the girls out of the orphanage and into a foster home So far she had failed miserably sending them to live with people who were usually mean and occasionally crazy Some used them as maids and house sitters while others just plain ignored them This time however Smirt had gone too far This time she was sending them to live with a dead woman I hope you won’t bother your grandmother with all these ridiculous questions Ms Smirt said curtly which was how she said most things to Sabrina and Daphne She is old and cannot handle a lot of trouble She’s dead I’ve already told you a million times our grandmother is dead said Sabrina We did a background check Sally Ms Smirt replied She is who she says she is
