Gretel Pushes Back by Joan Holub

Author:Joan Holub
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2016-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

“Riding on high,

I trick the eye.

If you wish to fool,

Press my center jewel.

Where once was something

will appear nothing.”

It hadn’t taken Snow long to figure out what the riddle meant. To make her tiara work, she only needed to set it atop her head and press the turquoise jewel on its center front.

“So what makes you tick, stick?” Gretel asked. “I don’t see a card or note anywhere. Of course, that isn’t unusual. Not all magic charms come with instructions. Snowflake’s wand didn’t. Neither did Rapunzel’s magic comb or Rose’s magic hairpin. But if you are my charm, a few hints about how you work would really be helpful.”

She waited, but no hints came.

“Well, I guess it’s up to me to figure out what you can do,” Gretel mused, trying not to feel discouraged. “I don’t suppose you could fetch me some food and water?” But still the walking stick didn’t react, not even a jiggle.

“So does that mean fetching isn’t something you can do? Just asking because Red’s basket can fetch snacks. But come to think of it, a basket has a place to carry them in and you don’t.”

Knowing that charms often responded to rhyme, she decided to try something different. Rephrasing her request, she said, “Hey, stick. I’m in the mood for food.”

To her surprise, the walking stick gave an abrupt, hard jerk. And then she found herself being propelled forward as it began to thump through the forest again, with her hand attached to its handle.

“Whoa! You sure can move fast when you want to,” Gretel told it as she held on tight and breathlessly ran to keep up. “Are you leading me back to the Academy? That would be perfect. There’s food and water there, and my bed. And two sisters I’d like you to thump. Well, I don’t really mean that. If they are there, I’ll just give them a very big piece of my mind!”

She turned her head this way and that, all the while trying to keep up with the stick. “Hey, I’m not doubting you or anything, but I don’t recognize this part of the forest. Are you sure you’re going the right way?”

She didn’t expect an answer and didn’t get one. The walking stick was probably just taking her on a different (and, hopefully, quicker) route through the woods to GA.

When they came to a really dense thicket of bushes and brambles, the stick raised its tip and swished back and forth over the bushes. At once they magically parted to create a path where none had been before, allowing Gretel to walk through easily.

“Wow. Good work,” she praised her probably-charm. “You sure know how to blaze a trail!”

Seemingly delighted at her compliment, the stick leaped free for a moment to twirl in the air like a baton. Then it settled under her hand again and went back to work, parting the bushes and guiding her forward. And a minute later, when a creeping vine made a grab for her ankle, the stick gave it a sharp rap, which caused the vine to quickly withdraw.

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