Jazz sat in a chair with Ali's arm wrapped around her. That in itself was odd, I noted, but her pale skin tone and the pure fear flitting across her face was worse.
"What's the matter?" I quietly asked Ginger.
"She got a text from Bella. Or rather, from her husband Beastly. Bella's been poisoned," Ginger whispered back.
Bella Beastly was mostly famous for willingly going to stay with Adam Beastly to free her father after he was imprisoned by Beastly.
They eventually were married, which had everyone at the wedding discreetly murmuring "Stockholm syndrome!" under their breaths, but the two seemed genuinely happy to be together.
"Pinnochio and I are going over there right now. You should go home. Gran, watch Jazz, okay?" Ginger instructed.
"But-" I began
"Listen, kid, the last thing we need is you dying on us, too. Go. Home. That's an order."
I didn't dare protest. Ginger seldom got angry, but when he did, he was explosive.
Ginger dropped me off at my apartment on the way to Beastly Estate and I trudged inside.
Hansel raised an eyebrow. "Where have you been?"
"At work." I washed my hands in the kitchen sink.
"Why don't you go to school? I mean, you're, like, seventeen," Hansel pointed out.
I shrugged. "I finished school online so I've been volunteering at the GGPD to see if I'll get accepted into the academy," I explained, only half paying attention.
Gretel stumbled out of their bedroom, her eyes glazed. "Red? I think I broke something," she said, her voice soft and pitiful.
Hansel jerked up from the kitchen table and followed her into the bedroom with me hot on his heels.
The bed was missing. There's no explanation, no dolled-up terms for the fact that the bed was just... gone.
I raised an eyebrow, looking down at Gretel. "What- what did you do?"
Gretel's eyes widened. "It just- disappeared!" she insisted.
"Um, no. Contrary to popular belief, bed's don't just disappear," I said.
Hansel furrowed his brows. "No one believes that."
I ignored him, still focused on Gretel. "So what did you do?"
Gretel wove her fingers together. "I dunno."
"How do you not know? It's a bed! It cannot be that easy to vanish!"
Gretel's face crumpled. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice thick with tears.
I froze. Cry children terrified me. "What do I do?" I hissed to Hansel.
He rolled his eyes. "Give her a minute. I bet she's faking it."
Sure enough, Gretel's tears quickly dried. She pouted. "I don't know where the bed went," she insisted.
"Well, you're going to have to find it," I instructed. "I can't have you sleeping on the floor."
"Wow, is Red Bennett... starting to care about something?" Hansel said sarcastically.
I stared at him. "Uh, no, that bed was just super expensive and we've already covered the fact that I don't have a legitimate job."
Gretel poked my side. "I think the bed is on the street."
I turned to her. "Really? Why?"
"Because," she pointed out the window, "there are people trying to drive around it."
I ran to the window and cursed under my breath. There it was, plain as day, the bed I'd set up for the kids that Gretel had somehow teleported to the middle of the street.
I did not sign up for this.
I thought about calling Gran, which is what I generally did in emergencies, but I figured the case was more important than the bed.
"Alright." I rubbed my hands together. "Here's the plan. We're going to go down there, and the two of you are going to levitate the bed back into the building into the elevator. And we have to do it fast, before the cops get here. Ready?"
Both kids nodded, their eyes bright with excitement. Why were they excited, you ask? I could not tell you. I can attest to the fact that in contrast, I looked like I might murder someone soon.
We raced down the stairs very literally, (Hansel won) and ended up in the middle of the street, dodging cars. I realized that the kids could very easily get hit by a car and regretted not planning this out better.
Then I realized the cars were somehow directed around us. They couldn't come near us if they tried, like a protective bubble surrounding us.
Gretel, I thought. The defenseman.
Hansel levitated the bed easily and had nearly got it through the door when a cop car pulled over.
"Drop the bed, son," the cop instructed. A second cop glared at us through mirrored sunglasses. Both were in their mid-twenties, and I didn't recognize them, which meant they were probably from a different precinct.
Hansel glanced at me and I nodded. He allowed the bed to drop and it thudded to the ground, cracking bits of cement.
"Hansel! He didn't literally mean drop it!" I scolded.
Hansel smirked. "He should say what he means."
"Not the time." I sent him a warning look before stepping towards the car. "What can I do for you, officers?"
"Are these your kids?" The cop stared at them doubtfully.
"I'm watching them," I said vaguely. "Why?"
"We got reports of a rogue bed in the middle of the street. Any idea why that is?"
I swallowed. "This one- Gretel- she just learned she's magic so... she accidentally... what did you do, anyway?"
Gretel's face crumpled again. "I don't know!" she wailed. I could tell these tears were fake, but the cops obviously could not.
The cop looked terrified. "It's okay," he said weakly. "Don't cry?"
His partner elbowed him. "Not helping, man."
"I'm s-s-s-sorry," Gretel hiccupped.
The second cop removed his glasses, revealing sympathetic brown eyes. "Hey, it's okay, doll. Learning magic is hard."
Gretel managed a watery smile. "Th-th-thank you, Mr. Policeman."
"Just help your brother get the bed out of here and don't get your poor babysitter into any more trouble, okay?"
Gretel nodded and started helping Hansel lift the bed.
"Sorry about that, guys," I said in false sweetness, leaning towards the cop car.
"It's not a problem, miss," the second officer replied, smiling.
The first officer stared at me. "I think I recognize you."
I shrugged. "I'm around the 84th precinct a lot- I consult there quite a bit- maybe that's why?"
The officer raised an eyebrow. "I see."
I stared down at the pavement for a second, hearing the bed thud behind me. "I'd better go, you know, make sure they're doing okay. Have a lovely afternoon!"
The car didn't drive off until we'd fit the bed into the elevator, as I gave a hard no when Hansel offered to levitate it up five storeys.
Finally, we'd gotten the bed into the guest room. I made a mental note not to leave the kids alone anymore.
"I have work for the next couple days," I began, "but if something like this happens while I'm not here, I can't have you guys getting hurt."
Hansel shrugged. "I can handle it."
"I bet you think you can, but I don't really want to gamble on that so we're going to find another solution."
Hansel rolled his eyes. "Really? What other solution?"
"I don't want a babysitter," Gretel said stubbornly.
"I'll work something out. You can come to the precinct with me for now."
Hansel tried not to show his excitement. Gretel looked confused. I pushed my hair out of my eyes.
"Does anyone here actually know how to take care of kids?"
Silence.
"No? Okay. Well, I'm just guessing, so let's see how this goes."
Gretel patted my arm. "You're doing better than our stepmother who tried to murder us," she said reassuringly.
"Well," I sighed, slumping onto the couch. "At least I have that. Who wants pizza?"