Hey everyone. I am so so so sorry it took me so long to update, but the muse hasn't been with me, if you will. Plus I've been busy. Oh, and guys: if you read WHIP, you already know this, but my favorite cousin is getting MARRIED! Yay! Anyway, congratulations to her, and thanks for reading! Enjoy chapter nine. =]

Chapter Nine

I'm not really sure where we are exactly. I don't think it's a magical land, there's only one place that feels magical. Being an Everafter, I can sense it, and the only thing on the radar is the Golden Mountain.

I gaze around, trying to find a landmark I recognize. Waaaiiiittt a second. This doesn't look a thing like New York City. So, where are we? Bob did seem to have taken us to the Mountain, but this was not a big city. It was a gorgeous spot on the coast. A coast, anyway. Who knew which one? It had to be way far away from Ferryport Landing, though, for the weather to be this different. It looked like late spring or early summer.

Sabrina frowned. "This is definitely not New York."

"Really? No way," Daphne snapped.

"Well, the mountain is over there," Mrs. Grimm said, her faint German accent more pronounced. She always does that when she's upset.

"Then we should check it out! We don't have all week," I exclaimed.

"He makes a point. We need to find out where we are, anyway. Maybe whoever's up there knows."

I turned my head. Pan was here? I thought Bob had left him back at the Blue Plate Special. Great. I was having a wonderful day. But he did have a point, there. It sure looked like a Golden Mountain, and we needed to know where exactly we were, as this was obviously not New York.

However, Pan was not calling the shots. "Let's go, then," I ordered, heading off toward the mountain. Everyone followed me. I noticed Pan rolling his eyes, but he followed Daphne.

It really was a gorgeous place. But I didn't like it. It felt like something bad was going to happen.

Yeah, something really bad. The mountain looked like a giant gold cone turned upside down, with little turrets near the top, windows that looked like arrow slits, and a gate with a drawbridge and a small moat. The drawbridge was up and the gate locked. Well, we'd figure that out when we got there.

"Who's going to stay with Sabrina?" I asked. I would have liked to stay and protect her, but I was probably going to be our best bet for accomplishing whatever task there was to perform inside.

"What? Stay with me? I'm going too!" she gasped, looking shocked that I might think that a five months pregnant woman isn't the ideal person to take into a magical mountain run by a homicidal lunatic.

"No, you're not," Henry said. Excellent! I was getting some support on this.

"You can't make me stay!"

Daphne sighed slightly. She pulled a tiny needle from her pocket and sidled over to Sabrina. Sabrina was so busy yelling she didn't notice Daphne prick her arm with the needle. Sabrina fainted instantly. I caught her and held her bridal style. She weighed more, now, but she still wasn't that heavy.

"You have any more of those, Marshmallow? I have to get one!" I said. That thing could come in handy. It's rare, but I do occasionally lose a bet. I would be tempted to use it on Sabrina, too, sometimes, if it weren't for her addiction. She was only to be around magic as part of the rehab program that Morgan le Fay, Snow White, and Nurse Sprat had devised, or a situation like this, where it was necessary.

"Nope, sorry. There's only one in the world. It's the Little Tailor's needle sword. He's only about three inches tall, but he won tons of fights. Uncle Jake suspected that it was more than just a needle, and so we went and sniffed it out. It's one of a kind! Sorry."

I shrugged. "No worries. But someone does have to stay with Sabrina."

"Daphne and I could," suggested Pan. I would have loved to leave him behind, but not with Marshmallow. She could take care of herself where enemies were concerned, but I wasn't sure about friends. I was going to have to suck it up, and ask Pan to go with us.

"No," I said. "I'm gonna need some back up. The o- Mrs. Grimm and Veronica can stay."

It sounded reasonable to me. Mrs. Grimm was getting old, so she shouldn't go in, and Veronica was an amazing fighter. She fought her best when she was teamed up with Henry, but I would still bet money on her against most of the humans, and some of the Everafters, that I know.

But of course, she interpreted that as me trying to keep her out of it.

"Oh no! I'm going too, and there's nothing you can do about it! Henry can stay."

"What? I think not! I'm going to have to do that task, probably, and-" poke.

"Dad will only be out for five minutes," Daphne said. "He can stay with Sabrina and Granny."

"The Marshmallow makes sense," I agreed. "Mrs. Grimm, do you mind?" Asking was overkill. She was staying whether she liked it or not. But my other tactics hadn't worked, so I was trying a new one.

"No. I am an old lady. I will be no help, and Sabrina might need something."

I nodded. "Great! Let's go." I hugged Mrs. Grimm, kissed Sabrina, and strode off towards the mountain, moving quickly. I wanted to be inside before Henry came to. Just in case he decided to come along after all.

We reached the drawbridge in just a couple of minutes. I frowned at it. I was just about to fly over and see if there was any way to force the gate when the drawbridge swung down.

I looked at the others. They nodded. I walked across it and knocked on the gate.