A/N: Yep. Another story. I really like this first chapter. I've worked on it all night. It's currently 1:38 and my back hurts because I've been writing so much, hunched over the keyboard. It's 3 whole pages on Word, not counting the A/N's, in size 12 font. I'm very proud of myself! I don't think I'll be losing inspiration in this one!
Disclaimer: I do not own SG, The Wizard of Oz or any of the Wild West Romance novels I mentioned! I'm sad about the whole SG and The Wizard of Oz but not so much about the romance novels. Not really my thing.
She knew what she wanted. She just had to find a way to get it. She needed her brothers help to get the slippers. It was the only way. She wanted something more than what she had. She wanted the extreme power that came with the slippers. She wanted to be able to go anywhere she wanted at any time. All she had to do was click her heels three times and poof… she'd be there.
When Granny Relda heard that THE slippers had gone missing, she had to do something. Dorothy had gotten her out of a lot of scrapes. Dorothy was frantic and calling everybody to see if they had seen it.
Granny Relda assured Dorothy that someone would be down there to help her. Sabrina just didn't understand why it had to be her and Puck. Granny Relda explained that there was nobody else. She had checked everybody's schedule and they were the only ones available.
It was obvious that she didn't trust either of them enough to send them alone though she would never admit it. She had protested heavily when Granny Relda had told her. She had even played the 'I'm not old enough' card. Granny had responded saying, "Sabrina Grimm. You are 14 years old, you are going with a 4,000 year old boy and you are going to stay with a 110 year old woman. I think you will be just fine."
When Puck had heard the news, he had grinned and said, "A trip to New York with Grimm is fine with me as long as my folks don't know. Plenty of prank opportunities and the chance to be back in the Big Apple without my mother fussing and fawning sounds good to me."
The day that they left for the city was not a happy one for Sabrina. She was annoyed that she had to get on a train with Puck. She was annoyed that getting Puck through the barrier had made her have to get up at 5 in the morning. She was annoyed that she had to catch the train at 7 A.M.
There was one thing she was happy about. It was that she would get to shop in New York. She was running out of clothes that fit her and most of the clothing stores in Ferryport Landing were closed due to the Queen of Hearts time as mayor. She had run most of the humans out of town.
For half of the hour long train ride, Sabrina and Puck rode side by side in silence. Then, out of the blue, Puck said, "Hey. Are you excited about going back?" Sabrina nodded and was about to say something snarky when she realized that they kind of had a quiet peace right now and she didn't want to disturb it. Instead she asked him, "Have you ever been to Dorothy's flat?" He nodded and answered, "Yep. I'll warn you, it's very Western themed. She spent years out in Kansas chasing tornadoes and now she's kind of obsessed. I'm serious, cow print, cow skulls, paintings of cowboys, fringe and leather. You name it, she's got it." Sabrina laughed and said, "Well. Thanks for the warning. I'll watch out. I don't want to be impaled by a cow horn."
For the rest of the ride they made polite conversation. When the train pulled into the station, they gathered up their stuff and got off the train. They stood waiting to see Dorothy when a pretty woman in a western style button down, blue jeans and a cowboy hat walked towards them. She had brown hair that was pulled into two braids, freckles and blue eyes. "That's her." Puck whispered to Sabrina.
When Dorothy reached them, she said with a slight Southern twang, "Puck. I would recognize that face anywhere! And you must be Sabrina. Nice to meet you darlin'. I'm Dorothy. You are the spitting image of your mother." Sabrina smiled nervously and nodded. Dorothy was very overbearing. She then turned and opened her arms to Puck for a hug. He gave her an incredibly awkward one and she made a face.
She ushered them to the car and then began firing questions. "So. Puck? What made you grow up? You're obviously older than you were when I last saw you. Are you in love?" Sabrina made a horrified face.
Puck blushed and murmured, "Um. I don't think I'm in love. I just grew up." Dorothy cocked her head and said, "What was that? I couldn't hear you." Puck repeated what he had said. "You're obviously in love. Ah… when the everafter falls in love with a human. It's so romantic." She concluded.
She then turned to Sabrina and started her barrage of questions, "How old are you Sabrina? How long have you been in the fairytale detective business? Have your parents woken up? How is Relda? How is Canis?"
Sabrina widened her eyes at the thought of having to stay with this woman and answered the questions, "I'm 14. I've been in the family business since I was 11, so about 3 years. Yes, they have. Granny Relda is fine. She's currently taken an interest in knitting. Mr. Canis is good. He and Red just started a 3 day vigil in front of the old mental asylum in hopes of helping Red recover her memory. All they do is meditate, eat bread, drink water and sleep."
A dawn of understanding came across Dorothy's face and she exclaimed, "Wait, Puck looks 14 and if you're 14, he's obviously in love with you." Puck and Sabrina both made disgusted faces and shook their heads protesting. Dorothy smiled and said, "I know love when I see it. Trust me. Young love is always sweet."
By the time they got to Dorothy's flat, Sabrina and Puck had been regaled with stories of young love and told how romantic and sweet it was that they were in love at least 15 times. Sabrina was glad to climb out of the car. When they reached the flat, Sabrina realized how right Puck was about it. There was a horseshoe above the door. The couch was suede and had fringe all over it. All the chairs were leather.
"Well, I know my quaint little abode isn't much but I hope you like it. Now, I'll take y'all to your bedroom." Dorothy said smiling. "Wait a second. Bedroom?" Sabrina asked. "Oh yes. I only have one guest room. It has two beds though, so don't worry." Dorothy said giggling.
She took them as far as the door and told them to make themselves comfortable as she had to go out for an hour. Sabrina opened the door and was really annoyed by what she saw. It was so Western, it wasn't funny. The bedspread and sheets on both beds were cow print, but one was pink and white and the other was brown and white. The carpet was brown suede and it was fringed. The wall was white with little cow skulls. There were a series of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings of cow skulls. There was even a book shelf that was stuffed head to toe with cowboy books. There were Wild West romances, comedies, thriller, mystery and so much else. The book shelf also had a collection of mini cow skulls.
Sabrina could only imagine what Dorothy's bedroom looked like. Puck grinned and said, "Well. I'll be taking the brown bed." Sabrina sighed and went to grab her luggage when she realized that Puck had already picked it up. "Thanks." She said smiling. She walked up to the bookshelf and said, "Well. Should I read Tall, Dark and Texan or To Kiss a Texan?" Puck laughed and Sabrina walked away from the bookshelf and plopped down on her bed.
Puck and Sabrina had a long conversation on Western Dorothy and whether they like her or not. They were just getting to talking about Puck's previous encounters with her when they heard a knock on their door and a "Yoo-hoo!" from Dorothy. Sabrina opened the door and Dorothy said, "I'm ready to talk about the theft of my slippers."
Sabrina and Puck walked with Dorothy to the living room. Dorothy plopped herself onto a leather easy chair and Sabrina and Puck sat down on the hideous suede fringed couch. "Now. Tell us what happened." Sabrina said.
"Well. I went out that night to my dear friend Fabiano's Western role playing game party. I play Loretta, the hauntingly beautiful widow who has a horrible past. Well. As I was saying, I came home and was sitting on my sofa reading Cattle Weekly when I just felt that something was wrong. I didn't know what it was until I walked in my room to find the glass case that I keep my ruby slippers in smashed and the shoes gone. I looked all over but there was no sign of my slippers or the intruder. I did notice that my window was open like it always is, but no one could get up to it unless they could fly or they could climb brick walls." Dorothy explained.
Puck nodded and asked, "Do you suspect anybody?" Dorothy leaned forward and stage whispered, "Now. I don't want to point any fingers but there is a group of everafter teens who I think may have took them. They're about y'all's ages. They are all in couples though."
Sabrina said, "Thank you. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to call Granny Relda." Dorothy said, "Oh no. I don't mind." She led me to the phone and I called Granny Relda. I explained the situation to her and she came up with an answer, "If you are going to find out what these kids are doing, you and Puck have to masquerade as an everafter couple and become friends with them." Even as she shook my head and told her no, she knew she was right. Sabrina was going to have to become a couple, fake but a couple none the less, with Puck.
A/N: THANKS FOR READING! I had lots of fun with this chapter. Making Dorothy's persona was really fun, as well as describing her home. Please review! I won't be setting a 'You have to review this many times to get a new chapter' thing but I'd really like to get at least 2 reviews! Thanks! 3
