“Listen, everyone appreciates what you’re trying to do,” Sabrina said. “But at the moment, it’s getting in my way. Now, hand over that rock. I need it.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me about the need to break things,” Puck said. “If I don’t smash a window four or five times a day I don’t feel like myself. Still, it doesn’t seem like your style.”

“I’m not breaking windows just to break something. I need to get into the bank. There’s something inside I have to get,” Sabrina said.

“That’s what all the bank robbers say.”

“I’m not robbing the bank!”

“Then what are you going to steal? They chain the pens to the counters, you know.”

“I’m not stealing anything. I’m breaking in to get something that was given to me, and I can’t wait for the bank to open.”

“But you plan on breaking something to do it, right?”

“Yes.”

“OK, I’ll help.”

Sabrina felt like telling Puck to get lost, but she realized the fairy boy had some skills that might come in handy. Puck could do all kinds of things that human beings couldn’t.

“Actually—” Sabrina said.

Puck grinned and tossed the rock aside. “Allow me to call some friends.” He took a small wooden flute from his pocket and blasted a few notes into it. Moments later, they were standing in a tornado of little lights. There were hundreds of them buzzing past Sabrina’s face, clicking and chirping. Puck raised his hands and all the lights stopped in midair. Sabrina had met these creatures before. They were pixies, and they obeyed every command Puck gave them.

“Minions,” he said, “we need to get into this bank.”

The group of lights squeaked and flew toward the bank’s window. They seemed to study it for a moment, then they flew off, circling the building as if looking for a crack or crevice to invade. Moments later, Sabrina saw a few of them flying around inside the bank. They hovered in the window and buzzed to Puck.

“They’re opening the door for us now,” Puck said. Sabrina and Puck rushed around to the front door and hurried inside. Sabrina closed the door behind them in case anyone strolling down the street noticed it was wide open.

“I believe the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you,’” Puck said.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “We’ve got to act fast. This place might have a silent alarm, and if that’s the case, Nottingham is probably on his way.”

“What are we looking for?”

“Safe-deposit boxes. You’ll find them in a room with little drawers built into the walls.”

Puck repeated the description to the pixies and they flew off in different directions. Sabrina went searching on her own, opening one door after another. Each room she searched was a dead end, and each dead end made her more and more aware that Nottingham could arrive at any moment.

Luckily, Puck called out that the room had been found. She raced back the way she came and found him hovering in a doorway at the opposite end of the building. In the room they found three walls, each lined with little silver doors. The fourth wall supported an enormous round door that protected the valuables in the bank’s vault. Sabrina studied one drawer carefully. It had a number carved into its door and a tiny lock. Sabrina reached into her pocket and removed the silver key. The number printed on it read TH192.

“I need to open TH192,” she said, scanning the wall. There were so many doors. It could take hours to find the right one.

“What’s the big deal about this safe-deposit box?” Puck asked as he joined the search. Sabrina knew she couldn’t keep her secret from him any longer.

“Before we left New York City, Sheriff Hamstead gave Daphne this key and told her it opened a box that contained a powerful weapon. He told her to get it if Mr. Canis ever lost control of the Wolf. Hamstead said it was the only thing that could truly stop him.”

“If he gave it to Daphne, then how come you have it?” Puck asked.

Sabrina felt her face go red. “She doesn’t understand.”

“You stole it?”

Sabrina nodded. “I had to.”

Puck looked surprised.

“What? Are you disappointed? Is the Trickster King going to give me a lecture on being a good person? I’m doing this for the good of us all,” Sabrina argued. “This weapon might be able to fix Mr. Canis, too, and fight the Scarlet Hand. Then you could let your security guards go.”

Puck said nothing; he didn’t have to. Sabrina could sense his disapproval, though it boggled the mind. Who was Puck to tell her how to behave?

“Here it is,” he said.

Sabrina rushed to his side and checked the number on the drawer—it matched the one on the silver key. She slipped the key into the slot, turned it, and felt the latch open. Inside was a long metal box with a handle. She pulled it out, her mind swirling with possibilities. Carefully, she opened the top of the box. Inside was a small blue velvet bag tied at the top with string. The words the north wind were stitched on the fabric in gold. Sabrina took the bag in her hand. Whatever was inside was small and cylindrical. She was surprised by how light it was.

Sabrina untied the string and opened the bag. Wary of touching a magical item, she peered into the sack. She expected to find an ancient amulet that could shoot electricity or perhaps a magic wand, but instead, much to her surprise, she found a kazoo.

“What is it?” Puck said. He pulled the kazoo from the sack and examined it closely. “This is your secret weapon?”

Sabrina was too crushed to speak. She felt as if someone had just punched her in the stomach. All of her hopes, all of her needs, and all of her plans had just vanished before her eyes, replaced by someone’s idea of a twisted joke. “It’s a toy,” Sabrina said. “It’s a child’s toy.”

“How is this going to stop the Big Bad Wolf?”

“It won’t, you idiot. It’s a kazoo. Can’t you see? It’s someone’s idea of a prank.” She stormed out of the room and out the front door of the bank. Somehow that triggered the alarm and an earsplitting bell started ringing.

“Hey! You can’t just walk away on your own,” Puck said, chasing after her. “You need protection.”

“Why?” Sabrina said as she stepped out into the street. “What does it matter? The whole town is trying to kill us. My grandmother’s best friend is a murderer. We’re all dead anyway.”

“You still have me,” Puck said.

Sabrina scowled but said nothing.

“You don’t think I can protect you, do you?” Puck asked.

“I don’t think anyone can, Puck,” Sabrina cried. “At least not now.”

Puck’s face flushed red, but he said nothing.

“C’mon, we better get back to the house,” Sabrina said, changing her tone. She knew she had hurt him, but did he really expect that she would put her family’s safety in the hands of an immature fairy whose biggest enemy was a bar of soap?

“Just a minute,” Puck said as he stared at the little toy flute. “Maybe there’s something more to this kazoo. How does it work?”

“It’s a toy, Puck,” she said, snatching it out of his hands. “You blow into it.”

She put the kazoo into her mouth, took a deep breath, and blew. She had used a kazoo before. She knew there was a trick to making the sound—a sort of hum/blow into one end that makes a fuzzy musical note come out the other. But this kazoo didn’t do that. Instead, she felt the familiar uncomfortable tingle of magic. Then there was a horrible whooshing sound and an intense whipping wind and right before her eyes the windows of the bank imploded. The roof flew off the building and the walls crumbled. Even the paint on the sign peeled off and blew away, along with every nail, screw, and two-by-four. In a matter of seconds there was no evidence that a bank or any other kind of building had ever stood in front of her. When the wind died down, all that was left of the bank was the alarm, ringing loudly as if there was still something to protect.