by Joan Holub
One thing was clear though. Whatever happened tomorrow, she would need to be careful to keep her wits about her with those tricky sisters!
When Gretel got up the next morning, Red was already gone. Her roomie had said something about a Saturday morning play rehearsal when the girls were all catapulting stuff off the roof last night. It seemed that Red would be starring as the female lead in Haplessly Ever After, an upcoming play in which a series of funny misfortunes befall a prince and princess. Red’s crush, Wolfgang (a boy who could shape-shift into a wolf), would star as the prince. They were the most talented actors at GA!
Gretel stood before the mirror that hung on the outside of her armoire and brushed out her red-brown hair. She had always worn it in the same braid, which reached her waist. Washing and drying her long, thick hair took a lot of time, however. Maybe she was ready for a change. To a style that looked … older.
On the spur of the moment, she grabbed some scissors from her desk drawer and started cutting. Snip! Snip! By the time she was done, her hair was a more medium length. It was curlier now, too, and bouncier. It felt good.
After dressing, Gretel packed a small, bright-blue backpack with necessary hiking supplies like first-aid stuff, candles, matches, her cloak (in case it got cold), a canteen of water, and so forth. She also tossed in her trusty pocketknife, which she never went hiking without. Finally, she pulled on her boots and laced them up.
Before leaving to meet Malorette and Odette out on the sixth-floor stone walkway as planned, Gretel paused to straighten the row of carved wooden animals on her desktop. Each figure was about four inches high. She’d carved them herself with her handy-dandy pocketknife. Among them were a crow with outstretched wings, a bear with a fish clasped in its paws, and a rabbit with tall, straight ears. She’d bumped the squirrel with a long, bushy tail out of line the day before and now moved it back into place.
Her grandfather had been famous for his woodcarving skills and Gretel liked to think she’d inherited some talent for the craft from him. Even when she was little, she’d loved watching him carve and he’d taught her the skill. And while they worked at it together, he’d tell her stories as they sat around an old potbellied stove in the shop where he sold the things he made.
He had promised to carve something special for her for when she was older. However, sadly, he’d died when Gretel was only seven years old and Hansel was eight. Although she’d never gotten that special gift from him, she figured that carrying on the tradition of the carving craft in her family was her gift to her grandfather. Maybe she would find some good pieces of wood for new figures while out in the forest today, she thought as she turned to go.
Spotting the small basket full of assorted hair ribbons on the corner of her desk, she said, “Oops! Almost forgot.” Pausing, she grabbed a handful of them and stuffed them into the pocket of her dress. Ribbons were another thing she never went hiking without.
Malorette and Odette were already waiting for her by the time she reached the stone walkway. She could tell they noticed her new hairstyle, but when they didn’t mention it, she started to wonder if it looked bad or something. She hoped not.
When they all reached the first floor, the Steps immediately made for the castle exit.
“Wait! I thought we could get some breakfast before we start out?” Gretel suggested, pointing toward the Great Hall. “Hiking on an empty stomach is never a good idea.”
Malorette arched an eyebrow. “You haven’t eaten yet?”
“Well, no. I was busy packing stuff and —”
“We’ve already been to the Great Hall for breakfast,” Odette huffily interrupted her. “We expected you to eat before we met!”
“Then you should have said so,” Gretel couldn’t resist saying.
Malorette frowned at her. “We need to get going. Now.”
“Why? What’s the rush?” asked Gretel. “Just how far away is this secret place anyway?”
“Shh! Tell the world, why don’t you?” hissed Odette. She glanced around to remind her they could be overheard by any of the other students passing them in the hall. Then she explained vaguely, “It’s a ways.”
Lowering her voice, Gretel started backing away from them toward the Great Hall. “I’m starving. It’ll just take me a few minutes to run into the Hall and get a few things to put in my backpack to eat along the way. Wait for me, okay?”
“Oh, all right.” Malorette tapped her foot impatiently.
Odette rolled her eyes. “Meet us on the drawbridge. Make it fast.”
Leaving the sour sisters to make their way out of the castle without her, Gretel rushed into the Great Hall. Just outside the serving area she stopped by the snacks table and grabbed several apples and oranges, and a couple of bags of trail mix (which was mostly walnuts, hazelnuts, and raisins). After stuffing the snacks into her backpack, she slung it over her shoulders again and started back out of the Hall.
She was almost to the door when she heard someone call her name. She wheeled around as Hansel and Jack came up to her. Jack’s forehead was still bandaged, she noticed. He always seemed to heal quickly, though, so the bandage would probably come off in no time.
“Where are you going?” Hansel asked, gesturing toward her backpack and glancing down at her boots.
“Dancing,” she said, joking around. Then she added casually, “Kidding. I’m just heading out for a morning hike.”
Smiling his adorable dimpled smile, Jack asked, “By yourself?”
“Uh, yeah,” Gretel lied.
Hansel lifted his brows, a sure sign he didn’t believe her. But knowing he didn’t trust Malorette and Odette, there was no way she would tell him she was going with them. And into Neverwood Forest of all places! She didn’t relish having him warn her off and scold her, thank you very much. Especially not in front of Jack. If Malorette and Odette were telling the truth, this hike was a real opportunity. And if not, well, she would be on her guard.
“If you give us a few minutes, we’ll put on our boots, too, and …” Hansel began.
Uh-oh. Time for a little more pushback. “I kind of feel like doing a hike alone right now. Okay? See you guys later,” Gretel said quickly. As she shot away, she could feel two pairs of suspicious boy eyes boring into her back though.
“Hey,” Jack called after her. “I like your new hair!” His voice wasn’t all that loud, yet it seemed to fill the entire Hall. Heads turned to look at her.
He likes it! He likes it! After the way the stepsisters had ignored the new style, Gretel was extra thrilled by his compliment. She waved and smiled her thanks back at him. Of course, it wasn’t like she could glue her hair back on if he didn’t like it, so she was glad he did. Anyway, she didn’t stop moving, for fear that Hansel would pipe up and insist on tagging along.
Once outside, she heard distant shouts coming from the Once Upon River. Glancing toward the sound, she saw that several boats filled with students were making their way over to Ice Island. Others already on the island were zooming around on skates. Most were heading for the new castle Snowflake had built after the collapse of her first one. It had lots of cool features like ice slides, ski jumps, and even a bobsled track with a smooth floor, walled straight sections, and banked curves.
For a moment Gretel found herself wishing she and Jack (and maybe Hansel, too) were heading for fun on Ice Island as well. But no, she had hiking and some important sleuthing to do!
Malorette and Odette were waiting for her at the far end of the Pink Castle drawbridge. “Took you long enough,” Malorette complained when Gretel came up to them. Odette thrust the map from yesterday into Gretel’s hands and the girls were off.
As they entered Neverwood Forest, Gretel tried to put on a brave face to hide her fear. But when a loud, piercing howl came from somewhere close by, she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Wh-what was th-that?” she asked shakily.
“Probably a wolf,” Malorette said matter-of-factly. With a snide grin she added, “You’re shivering. Not scar
ed, are you?”
“N-no, not a bit,” Gretel lied.
“Ha!” cackled Odette. “Then why are your eyes as big and worried as Mr. Hump-Dumpty’s?” Their Grimm History egg-teacher had eyes as big as melons.
“I said I’m not scared,” Gretel insisted. There was no way she was going to admit to the sisters how petrified she really was. “I was shivering because it’s cold.”
“Uh-huh,” said Odette in a way that showed she didn’t buy it. For some reason the sisters seemed totally unfazed by the forest’s creepiness.
It was chilly here in the woods, though. The trees grew so thick they blocked out most of the sunlight. And the path was still damp from all the recent rain. Gretel thought about pulling her cloak from her backpack and putting it on, but didn’t bother. She knew she’d warm up the more she hiked.
As they moved along, Gretel began to suspect that the two sisters must have been in Neverwood Forest before. Because they didn’t look at the trail markers or seem to need the map or any directions from her. Did they really even need a guide at all? Maybe they were only pretending to need her help. But if so, why? It didn’t make sense.
When they came to a T, the sisters went left before Gretel could even consult the map. It was as if they already knew which way to turn. And that made her even more suspicious about why they’d asked her to come.
Hearing a slithering sound, Gretel glanced down just in time to see a vine at the side of the trail shoot out and begin to wrap itself around one of her ankles. “Get off me!” she yelped, jumping around. As she shook her booted foot high in the air, the sisters stopped in the middle of the path and laughed uproariously. At the sound of their screechy cackles, the vine let go and crept away.
Gretel ran down the path past the sisters to get far away from that creeping vine. Then she stopped, her heart going a mile a minute. To calm herself, and because she was feeling hungry, she slipped off her backpack and took out an apple. “Want something?” she asked Malorette and Odette when they caught up.
“No, thanks,” said Malorette.
“We had breakfast, remember?” Odette added.
Gretel shrugged, slipped the pack onto her shoulders, and then marched onward just ahead of the sisters. Turning her head over one shoulder, she munched her apple and tried to talk to them at the same time. “If oo change yer mindz, lemmee no. I brought pleny snacks for olive us.” She’d probably never win them over as friends, but she could still set a good example by being kind.
“Uh, thanks,” said Odette. She exchanged a sly look with her sister that Gretel had no idea how to interpret.
As the three girls hiked farther into the forest, they eventually veered off the well-beaten path they’d been following. There were lots of other paths branching off along the one they traveled. So to mark their way, Gretel stopped every now and then to tie one of the bright-colored hair ribbons she’d brought to a bush or a tree branch.
“Is that really necessary?” Malorette asked, watching her tie a blue one to a branch. “I mean, we’ve got the map. And you slow us down every time you stop.”
“When hiking a new and unfamiliar trail, it’s always important to mark it,” Gretel replied firmly. She shifted from foot to foot as she spoke, just in case any creepy vines were around, planning a sneak attack on her ankles. “That’s why I always bring hair ribbons. Because we don’t want to get lost, right? What if we strayed from the map accidentally and needed to retrace our steps? The ribbons will make finding our way back out a snap. We won’t even need the map.”
“But Mr. Hump-Dumpty doesn’t want everyone to know about his secret place,” objected Odette. “Your ribbons will lead them right to it.”
“Not a problem,” Gretel told her. “I always take down the ribbons on my return trip, so we’ll do that on the way back to the Academy later.”
“Great idea,” Malorette exclaimed a little too exuberantly. She and Odette grinned at each other. Were they mocking her? Gretel wondered. Whatever. It was impossible to figure them out sometimes, but she really, really did hope they were telling the truth about the so-called secret destination they were heading for.
She munched trail mix as they all continued through the forest, and tried to keep her feelings of terror at bay whenever she heard strange noises, such as the thumps that came from behind them at regular intervals. It kind of sounded like someone was following them. Every time they stopped, the thumping stopped. But since Malorette and Odette didn’t mention the sounds, she didn’t either, for fear of being teased half to death about being a chicken.
Several times leafy tree branches grabbed at her hair or her gown or her backpack and she had to shake herself free, just as she’d done with the vine. She noticed that the vegetation left Malorette and Odette alone, however. Was that because the trees were more frightened of the evil sisters than the sisters were of them? Probably. Because the very next time she became entangled in a tree, Malorette narrowed her eyes at it and barked, “Let go of her this instant or I’ll break off all of your branches!” Her threat was effective. The tree practically bent over backward to lift its branches high and away.
“So how much longer do you think it will take to get to Mr. Hump-Dumpty’s secret place?” Gretel asked after they’d hiked for a couple of hours.
“How would we know?” Odette replied. “He told us about it, but we’ve never been there before.”
“Can’t you tell?” Malorette replied, gesturing toward the map Gretel held.
Gretel shook her head. “The map shows directions and landmarks but not the distances between them.” After a pause, she asked, “Didn’t Mr. Hump-Dumpty give you some idea of how long the trip is?”
“I think we’ve come about halfway,” Odette replied shortly.
“But since we’ve never been there, we don’t really know,” said Malorette. “We’re depending on you.”
“I saw you heading into this forest yesterday before dinner, though,” said Gretel, without thinking.
Suddenly, Malorette had a strange coughing fit and gazed meaningfully at her sister as if trying to wordlessly send her some message. As soon as she got her cough under control she said, “We’d … uh … actually intended to hike to Mr. Hump-Dumpty’s secret place yesterday, only we decided we’d need an earlier start if we wanted to get back before dark.”
“Yeah, and we also realized we needed a guide,” Odette added.
“Oh, that explains it, I guess.” Looking over her shoulder at the two girls, Gretel saw Odette elbow her sister and smirk. They were definitely up to something. Were they setting some kind of trap for her? When they’d passed her in the Bouquet Garden yesterday, she’d suspected they were going to meet Ms. Wicked. Or even Ludwig Grimm. But why would those two grown-ups be lurking so deep in this forest? She needed to find out what or who actually did lay ahead.
Trying to sound casual, she attempted to get some information out of her companions. “So some students think Ms. Wicked wound up in the Nothingterror when she escaped … uh … left the Academy. Think that’s true?”
There was a moment of silence. Then Malorette said, “No clue.”
Changing the subject, Odette reached out to Gretel. “Hand me your backpack. I’m hungry after all.”
“Me too,” Malorette agreed quickly.
Stopping, Gretel shrugged off her pack. “Here,” she said handing it over to them. “Take whatever you like.”
Malorette grabbed it and then pretended to stagger a bit under its weight. “Whoa! This thing is heavy.” After digging her hand around in it, she took out an orange and began to peel it.
“Can I see the map?” Odette said after she’d helped herself to a handful of trail mix.
Gretel passed the map to her. After squinting at it for a few moments, Odette folded it up and put it in her pocket.
“Let’s keep moving while we eat,” said Malorette. “If we really are only halfway there, we’ve still got another couple of hours to go.”
Gretel reached fo
r her backpack, but Odette slipped its straps over her own shoulders. “I’ll carry it for a while. You brought a bunch of supplies that we’re all using, so it’s not fair for you to have to carry this heavy thing the whole way. We can trade back in an hour.”
“Thanks,” Gretel said, surprised and pleased by this unexpected kindness. They’d only been hiking for another ten minutes or so when they came to a major fork in the trail. “I’d better take another look at the map,” she said to Odette. “I can’t remember if we turn right or left.”
“Okay.” Odette reached into her pocket. As her fingers felt around in it, a strange look came over her face. “Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “The map must have fallen out! I’ll go back and look for it.” She took off down the path the way they’d come.
“I’ll go help her find it. Wait for us here,” Malorette told Gretel.
“We really should all stay togeth —” Gretel started to say, but Malorette had already bounded away.
Oh, well, thought Gretel. The sisters couldn’t possibly get lost with all the ribbons she’d left marking the way they’d come. And she was kind of tired after carrying that pack for most of the hike. She could use a break. She sank down on a fallen log at the side of the path to wait for their return.
Hoot! Hoot! Gretel hunched her shoulders, her eyes darting nervously around the forest. It was filled with spooky sounds. Creaking trees, hooting owls, and howls that may or may not have come from wolves. And that thumping sound was back. It was probably some big bird that was flying around pecking at trees to look for bugs to eat. The noises hadn’t bothered her too much until she was alone.
Where were Malorette and Odette? To bolster her courage while waiting for their return, she belted out her favorite nursery rhyme song. It was the one about her friends Jack and Jill:
“Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
