The Gretel Series: Books 1-3 (Gretel Series Boxed set)

by Coleman, Christopher

  The cloth sack was loosely tied at the top by some type of vine or grass. As she stood to leave, the woman pulled the vine with her in one motion, and the cloth sack unfolded, falling flat, opening like a cloth napkin. In the middle of the fabric sat a berry so orange that it looked as if it had been painted.

  “What is it?” Anika asked.

  “I don’t know.” Noah said, sounding rapt.

  “Oskar?”

  “Thunta?” Oskar asked, translating for her.

  The man spoke two or three sentences, and Oskar relayed the rendition to Anika. “You take this. It makes you sick, but it will give you time. Slow the sickness. But no cure. The cure is in the book only. And maybe no time for to come back here. You sick, Anika. They say you not have so much time. Even with berry.”

  “What?” Anika was dismayed, and tears welled in her eyes.

  Oskar just shrugged and looked away, and Anika thought she saw the glint of water in his eyes too.

  Anika reached for the berry, and the man immediately placed his hand over it, blocking her. He peered up at Oskar with a look that signaled he wanted Anika to be sure she knew what she was signing up for.

  “You going to get sick,” Oskar warned again.

  Anika shifted her eyes from the man and then back to Oskar. “How sick?”

  “People die from it. They have died. But when you don’t die, you get more time. Makes the sickness weak. Not for so long, but more time. He can’t know how long.”

  Anika looked at Noah, who nodded, having nothing further to offer in the translation.

  Anika signaled her awareness to the old tribesman with a head dip and a long blink, and the man removed the canopy of his hand; the bright berry winked at Anika, its color as potent as its rumored effects. Anika assumed his warning of sickness and death was a formality, a necessary advisory to any who indulged, just in the off chance some terrible side effect occurred. And anyway, what difference did it make now?

  Anika grabbed the berry and, just as she was to toss it past her lips, the tribesmen grunted in unison. Anika looked up and saw one of the men making a chewing motion with his mouth while simultaneously waving his hands and shaking his head. Swallow it whole, he was saying. She got the message.

  The berry entered her throat and belly and, at first entry, rested benignly in her stomach.

  By nightfall, the poison was flowing through Anika fully, and the fever inside her was a raging storm.

  Chapter 25

  Hansel, Gretel, and Petr stood on Ben Richter’s porch. The sun had risen less than an hour ago, which meant, based on Gretel’s calculations, they each got about four and half hours of sleep. Not much, but considering the circumstances, it wasn’t too bad. Time was critical, of course, but if the woman was waiting for them, luring them as Gretel suspected, maybe things weren’t quite as urgent as she had originally thought.

  And besides, they had to sleep.

  Petr gave a quiet rap on his friend’s front door, and seconds later, a boy about the same age as Petr peeked through the foyer window, holding up one finger and making a signal of someone shaking a keychain.

  “Why won’t he let you just borrow it?” Gretel asked Petr, her tone indicating that they may have to consider another option if his friend insisted on going with them. The sleep had stabilized Gretel’s emotions, and she was thankful for the time they had before the impending confrontation with the witch. But additional players in the game felt like added weight of responsibility on her shoulders.

  “I may have burned a few bridges as it pertains to Ben Richter’s truck. He’s a nice guy, but—”

  “Are you all ready?” Ben joined the children on the porch, keys jangling.

  “Ben, I know I always say this, but I need to go alone this time. This is important.” Petr was somber, curt with his syntax.

  “Alone? So you’re going without these two then?” Ben smiled at the siblings. “Hi, I’m Ben. Ben Richter. Petr has never been great with introductions.”

  “Hi,” Gretel said, “I’m—”

  “Oh I guessed who you were the second I saw you. Petr spent a good deal of conversation on the great Gretel Morgan.”

  Gretel blushed and recognized the same color in Petr’s cheeks.

  “And anyway, you’re somewhat of a celebrity in these parts, Gretel.” Ben looked at Hansel. “And you, I presume, are the brother. Hansel, eh?”

  “Yes, hi,” Hansel said.

  Gretel interrupted the charm before it got out of hand. “Petr’s right, Ben, you shouldn’t come with us. It could be dangerous.”

  “That’s right,” Hansel chimed. “It’s probably best you stay. Like Gretel says, it could be dangerous.”

  Gretel couldn’t help but grin, proud of her brother’s assertion.

  “Well now I’m definitely going. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing more dangerous than missing out on danger. Also, we have a stop to make on the way to wherever it is we’re going.”

  “No!” Petr yelped. “Ben, no, this is real. We need your help, we need your truck, so you can call it the way it is. But we need to go now. Quickly.”

  Ben nodded, dropping the playfulness from his expression. “Fine, but I told her I’d get her.”

  “Who?”

  “Sofia. She needs a lift. She asked me a week ago. And I don’t like to let people down. You know that about me, Petr.” Ben looked at each member of the group. “But if it’s out of the way from where we’re going, I’ll leave her.”

  “You promise me, Ben. If it’s out of the way.”

  “Of course. It’s a promise. You’re in a hurry though, right? So let’s get off this porch.”

  The four kids walked to Ben’s truck and hopped inside, with Ben and Petr flanking Gretel in the middle of the bench seat. Hansel sat alone on a fold-down seat just behind the driver’s seat.

  “Sofia?” Gretel asked. She looked over at Petr, an eyebrow raised.

  “Do you know her?” Petr sounded surprised.

  “If it’s Sofia Karlsson, then of course. Everybody knows Sofia Karlsson. That is who you mean, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “She was the most popular girl in school from the moment she moved here. Moving up to the big time, I see.”

  “And she’s quite smitten with Mr. Stenson,” Ben added.

  “All right, that’s enough. And it’s not true.”

  Gretel smiled and looked at Ben for the truth. Ben smiled back, wrinkled his nose and nodded, affirming the rumor.

  “So where are we going, Petr? What’s the emergency?”

  “The Northlands.”

  Ben looked wide-eyed at his friend; there was nothing else to say. “I had a feeling you were going to say that. But you know what that means, right?”

  “Yeah, I get it.”

  Gretel’s smile faded. “Does that mean Sofia is coming with us?”

  “No,” Petr corrected, “it means she’s getting a ride to her stop on the way. She’s not coming with us.”

  “Yes, right, that’s what I meant.” Gretel turned and stared through the windshield at the road unfolding before them, and within a few minutes was sound asleep, dreaming of how she would kill the witch for good.

  “HI, SOFIA.”

  Gretel awoke to the sound of Ben’s delightful voice greeting Sofia.

  Sofia. The name had a lovely timbre, and it roused Gretel as if she were tickled by a feather.

  “You remember Gretel, right? And this is her brother, Hansel.”

  Gretel shook her head clear and forced a thin smile.

  “Of course. Hi Gretel, how are you?” Sofia’s intonation was laced with sympathy and paternalism. “And you’re Hansel. Hi.”

  Petr jumped down and pulled the seat forward, allowing Sofia to take the position opposite Hansel in the back seat.

  “Hi Sofia, it’s nice to see you again. You look great, as always,” Gretel replied, the civility and compliments painful in their delivery.

  “Thanks. Where are you all
off to so early? It was such a surprise when Ben called and told me you were on his porch. I almost didn’t believe him.”

  Gretel looked back at Hansel, a glean of warning in her eyes. “Uh, my grandfather’s house. There are some things there that still need to be cleaned out from his basement. Petr’s helping me. Us.”

  “That’s very sweet of you, Petr.”

  Petr barely nodded, keeping his gaze forward.

  “When did you get back in town?” Sofia asked, and Gretel detected just a hint of suspicion in the girl’s voice.

  “Yesterday. Late.”

  “Wow! You’re all very ambitious. Getting right to work then. How is your mother?”

  Gretel started getting the itch of irritation, as if she were being interrogated. “We’re all fine Sofia. How have you been? Still the queen of the school?”

  “Gretel, come on.” Petr said, trying to calm the tension.

  “I’m teasing, Petr, so you come on. Sofia knows I’m kidding her.”

  “I’ve been fine, thanks.”

  As coincidence would have it, Sofia was headed to a park only an hour from where the witch’s cabin stood, and thus the truck ride was long and awkward and mostly silent. When they came to Sofia’s exit, the one that would take them at least a half an hour out of the way, Sofia decided to speak bluntly. “Are you going to her cabin?”

  “What?” Petr blurted, just a beat too quickly in Gretel’s estimation. “Why did you ask that?”

  “Are you? Hansel?”

  Cheap shot, Gretel thought to herself. The pretty, teenage girl extracting the truth from a boy Hansel’s age. Gretel saw in the rearview mirror, the blush blossoming on his face.

  “Sofia, what are you doing?” Ben said, taking charge of the conversation in his truck.

  “Nothing. I just think you guys are up to something. And I want to go.”

  “No!” Petr barked.

  “So you are going.”

  Gretel stared over at Petr, frowning, as if to ask, how did you just fall for that?

  “Yes, we are. But you’re not.”

  “Why? Is she there? Is she alive? Were you right this whole time, Petr? Oh my god, you were.”

  No one answered Sofia, giving her all the answers she needed.

  “Listen,” she continued, “if you go straight to her cabin you’ll save forty-five minutes. At least. Once you take this exit, it’s another twenty miles. And then twenty back to the Interways. Just keep going, Ben. Go straight there and save the time.”

  “Don’t you have to be somewhere, Sofia? Isn’t that the whole point of why you’re here in the first place?” Petr was stammering now, as if he was helpless to stop where this train was headed.

  “Yes, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s a family thing that no one thought I was coming to anyway. Ben was able to give me a ride at the last minute, so I decided to go.”

  “I thought you arranged this a week ago?”

  Sofia ignored Petr. “I was going to surprise some people. Just show up. But no one will miss me. It’s settled. I’m going with you guys.”

  “Sofia, listen—”

  “Fine,” Gretel interrupted, the command in her voice resonating through the truck like timpani.

  “Gretel, no! I’m not going to put her at risk. You know more than anyone what that woman will do. What she has done to people.”

  “So does Sofia. Don’t you? You know my story by now.” Gretel gave a half-look over her shoulder. Sofia nodded, and Gretel thought she detected a grin from the girl. “And besides, she’s right, it will save time. If she wants to come, it’s up to her. She knows the risk. And who knows? Maybe she can help us.”

  “Yes, Gretel!” Sofia was giddy, clapping like she’d just been selected to come to the stage to be the volunteer in a magic show.

  “I don’t agree with this, Gretel. For the record, I don’t agree. I would never have agreed to this.” Petr was sulking now, a look of betrayal on his face.

  “It’s Mrs. Klahr, Petr.”

  “I know who it is! I’m the one who stayed here! I’m the one that had to listen to her cry every night for the first month. You were the one who left. You left us behind!”

  Gretel held Petr’s stare, allowing him to finish unloading on her whatever resentment he still held, bubbling beneath the coolness that he presented to her and the rest of the world most of the time. His breathing was heavy now, as if ready to begin another verbal outpouring, but he said nothing else.

  “I don’t have to go,” Sofia offered quietly. “I didn’t mean to start this trouble.”

  Gretel turned toward Sofia and studied her peer’s face like a scientist. Sofia blinked meekly and demur, evading Gretel’s examination. “I would like you to come,” Gretel said. “I don’t want to put you at any risk—this isn’t your fight—but the truth is we could probably use your help. This isn’t an adventure though, Sofia. There won’t be any fun involved. You need to know that going in. Petr is right about the danger. If anything, he’s underplayed it.”

  Sofia nodded, giving Gretel’s words real consideration. “I understand. I want to help Petr. And you.”

  Gretel looked from Sofia and then to Petr, silently regrouping everyone, making sure there was a tacit understanding that everyone knew what they were getting into. She straightened her back and looked coldly toward the front of the truck, watching the road. “Ben, do you know where you’re going?”

  “No. Not really.”

  “I’m sure Petr can tell you then. I have a feeling he’s been where we’re going more than a few times over the past year.”

  Chapter 26

  “Do you know who I am?”

  Carl Dodd lurched at the sound of the female voice; it was groggy and indistinct, as if seeping through the walls.

  “Excuse me?” Dodd’s voice squeaked. He was irritated at the lack of resonance in his speech. He cleared his throat and hastily stood from his seat. It had been a long night, and he needed more sleep, but it was vital that he remain composed. Going forward, there would be no room for weakness.

  “Do you know me?” the woman asked again. “She’s done this. Please help me.”

  Dodd walked a few paces until he was standing next to the bed where Amanda Klahr had propped herself up slightly on the bed’s lone pillow. He leaned forward and was now face-to-face with the prisoner, studying her dilated pupils and drooping eyelids, an indication that she’d been heavily drugged. He’d seen the look many times in his line of work. “Just rest, Amanda,” he said, “You’ll be okay.”

  “You do know me.” The woman’s eyes fluttered and then fell shut. A second later, her head flopped back down toward her chest.

  Dodd walked out toward the kitchen area, stopping just at the threshold of the stone floor where a thin strip of wood partitioned off the two areas. He stood just out of sight and watched Marlene, who was staring out the window at the front of the cabin. Her eyes were eager, paranoid, like a dog staring at a closed door when it’s heard the growl of an animal on the front porch. For the first time since arriving at the cabin, Dodd began doubting about his decisions. “You don’t plan to kill her, do you?”

  Marlene closed her eyes and dropped the hem of the curtain, slowly turning toward the System officer. She opened her eyes and smiled. “I don’t make plans like that, Officer Dodd. I simply do what is necessary. Nothing more or less. If the death of Anika Morgan’s neighbor brings me closer to my Source, then I most certainly will kill her. It makes no difference to me. Does the fly you swat on your kitchen counter weigh upon your mind?”

  Dodd stayed quiet, understanding the rhetorical nature of the question.

  “When did you know, Officer Dodd?”

  “When did I know what?” Dodd was sure he knew what Marlene referred to, but he asked anyway.

  “When did you know I was alive?”

  Dodd paused, as if considering the question for the first time. “Honestly, I guess I didn’t know until only a few hours ago. But I suspected long bef
ore. Of course, it was obvious to me that you didn’t die in the cannery that night. That was always impossible to me. Your body went missing almost instantly. And the nonsense rumor that you’d been dragged away by a mass of wild animals was absurd. Only a bear, maybe a pack of strong wolves, could have taken your carcass in that amount of time. And no one has seen a predator of that size in these parts for a hundred years.”

  Marlene was rapt with the tale, and Dodd relished the power of his words over this timeless being.

  “Most of us thought you somehow survived the attack and then staggered out of the cannery, delirious and critically wounded before finally collapsing at the shore of the lake where the water took you under. It was possible that you even made it to the deep woods, a place somewhere isolated and dense before you eventually collapsed there to be consumed by smaller, less ferocious woodland beasts than the ones that tend to find their way into such fantastic stories as yours.” Dodd paused. “But my mind was changed within a few minutes of walking onto this property. I knew there was another story that was quite possible.”

  Dodd paused again for effect, sensing the witch’s enchantment.

  “I saw the hole, Marlene. I saw your ditch.”

  Marlene caught her breath.

  “But I wasn’t alone here, of course.” Dodd’s words were fast now, racing. “So I had to be discreet. I lifted the canopy—a brilliantly designed construct, by the way, just amazing—and I saw your body there. It was surreal. Whether you were dead or alive, I didn’t know at first, but you were there. Crumpled and destroyed, an iron hammer jutting from your forehead. But you had made it back somehow, and quickly enough that you arrived back here before the System even knew the story of Anika Morgan.”

  “So why then? Why didn’t you take me away when you had the chance? I never even sensed that you were there. I was as vulnerable as I’ve ever been. Will ever be again. So why did you leave me there?