CHAPTER

GRETEL

Gretel stumbled to her knees as she landed on the other side of the fence. “Hansel!”

“Run!” he screamed.

“No! Hansel!” The witch was going to eat him! If Gretel hadn’t given in to her hunger Hansel wouldn’t be caught. Gretel got to her feet. The fence was too high. She ran to the gate and shook it. Icy black bars burned her hands. She shrieked as she yanked her fingers away and stared at the burns.

“Run, Gretel!” Hansel yelled again.

His voice sounded different. Gretel tore her gaze from her reddened palms to Hansel. She gasped. Before her eyes, Hansel’s skin turned from pale to golden-brown, and his beautiful eyes changed into white icing, along with his mouth. His hands and fingers blurred into rounded stumps, while his arms and legs straightened and froze in place as his entire body shrank to a foot high.

The witch had turned him into a gingerbread man.

“Hansel!”

He didn’t answer. Maybe he couldn’t talk anymore. His icing eyes stared straight through her. Guilt stabbed into her heart. This was all her fault! Uncaring about her burns, Gretel braced her feet, grabbed the gate and pulled. It didn’t budge. She gritted her teeth and pulled harder. Human skulls perched on fence posts laughed at her through toothy grins.

The witch carried Hansel into her house and the door slammed. The earth shook and the cottage, fenced garden and all, rose into the air. Gretel tried to keep her fists closed around the metal posts, dangling, but the house spun around and sent her flying. She crashed into a tree trunk and collapsed to the ground, her ankle twisting painfully beneath her as the cottage ran away on two giant chicken legs.

Tears streaming down her face, heart breaking into pieces, Gretel limped after the cottage, but it was too fast and she fell behind until it disappeared into the distance, taking Hansel with it.

“Hansel,” she whispered, utterly bereft. He was always protecting her, and she’d failed him. Because of her, he’d been caught by a witch and turned into a cookie! What should she do? What could she do? Father would know! He knew the forest better than anyone.

Wiping her eyes, Gretel limped to the place the cottage had rested and scanned the ground. She found the trail of white pebbles that Hansel had left and hobbled as fast as she could. It was so dark, but she had to find help. Gretel sobbed relief as her house came into view. She opened the door and stumbled through. “Father!”

But he wasn’t there. Only Hansel’s mother talking to a big, bearded man in the kitchen. Gretel’s entrance attracted their attention. Her stepmother’s face looked like she’d eaten something sour. The man stroked his beard as his eyes ran over her in a way that made her shiver. Gretel backed toward the door. “Where is Father?”

“Not here.” Hansel’s mother turned her lips down in a sneer. “You can take the brat. And her fancy bauble. If she wasn’t so selfish, we could have sold it and dined like royalty for years.” She lunged and snatched at Gretel’s necklace.

“No!” It was the only thing Gretel had left from her mother. She wasn’t supposed to take it off. Ever! The chain didn’t break, just bit into her neck. “Stop!” Gretel clung to the golden ball. Magic swirled inside it. “We have to help Hansel!”

The man halted Gretel’s struggles by trapping her arms with his huge hands. She hadn’t thought she had anything else to lose tonight, but as the necklace slipped over her head, her soul splintered. The man let her go, and her stepmother placed the necklace in his greedy palm. As Gretel’s necklace traded hands, pain spiked through her and she held out her arms, silently beseeching the return of her gold ball.

The man laughed and held her necklace out of her reach. She couldn’t take her eyes off the magic swirling inside that gold ball. He put the necklace in his pocket and turned toward the door. “If you want to see your bauble again, you’ll behave, girl. Heel.”

Gretel blinked as the gold ball disappeared from sight. She planted her feet and tried to rebel against the order, but against her will, her feet took steps to follow him.

“No!'” Tears streamed down her face as the man led her away from the only home she’d ever known. “Hansel! Help me!”

But he couldn’t come. He was trapped with the witch because of her. Her heartache moved to her stomach and she doubled over with an agonized moan. Her feet stopped moving and she fell to her hands and knees in the dirt. She didn’t want to go with this man. She couldn’t!. She had to fight so she could get help for Hansel.

“Father,” Gretel croaked. Where was he? Had Hansel’s mother done something to him, too? A strange feeling made her blood run hot. Fury. Rage. Gretel had never felt like this before. The very idea that this man and her stepmother had hurt Father blurred the world in shades of red.

Gretel screamed as agony ripped through her. Popping and cracking sounds filled her ears. Her skin burned and itched. Muscles stretched and tore. A trembling took her body and she lay in the dirt, shaking uncontrollably.

Exhausted and panting, Gretel lay where she’d fallen and blinked. She could see into the forest. Her body felt strange. Smaller and lighter. She rocked from her side and tried to get up, but her balance was all wrong. What was wrong with her? She glanced down at herself and screamed. Her scream came out as more of a bark. She… She had fur! Reddish-brown like her hair, but short, not long. And paws, four of them, and a bushy tail.

Everyone living in the forest had heard stories about people who changed into animals. Especially wolves and bears. She touched her face with one of her paws and felt a long nose and sharp teeth. She was too short to be a wolf, and too small to be a bear. Fox. She was a fox.

That knowledge should have scared her, but somehow, being in this form felt right, and instead of being frightened, curiosity filled her mind with questions. How had this happened? Was this why she wasn’t supposed to take off her necklace? Could she be a girl again? Was she a girl at all, or had she been a fox in girl’s clothing her whole life? Had her mother known? Did Father know? Would he still love her? Would Hansel?

Hansel! Gretel sucked in a huge breath. She’d always had a keen sense of smell and loved Hansel’s scent. His warm scent was everywhere in and around the cottage, but new fox nose could follow Hansel’s enticing aroma straight to him.

Staggering to her feet, Gretel swayed with her first steps, pleased that her ankle no longer pained her. It only took a moment to steady her balance. She was getting accustomed to this body. A fox could run faster than a girl, and see better. Gretel got all her feet sorted and took a few steps, trying to coordinate her movements. Gathering her paws under her, she sprang into the air. Strength flowed through her.

“Stop.”

Her body froze, muscles cramping, and she crashed to the ground in a twitching heap. The bearded man walked around in front of her, holding out her gold ball. Gretel snarled. That was hers. She needed it!

“That is not behaving, girl.” The man twirled her necklace out of her reach. “But you’ll learn, one way or another.” He took some rope from his pocket and tied it around her snout. One of his hands drew back, curled into a big fist, then swung forward. A sharp pain burst in her head, and everything went black.