by Todd Loyd
The authority of the man's voice surprises the wolf.
“But she is all I have ever wanted.”
“No, she is not. You once made a foolish choice, and you ended up here in this world. You were imprisoned by the Queen.”
With the mention of her, the wolf redirects his gaze from Amy to the hapless witch. He sees that the flames have subsided and she is being assisted by Victor, who is cradling her fallen body.
“You were trapped in the ride,” continues the narrator. “You were a simple attraction for people to fear, until the day she could use you as a pawn. Then, when she sensed the time was near, you were released to help the Queen realize her schemes. She wanted them to fear you and run to her, to fear you and embrace her.”
The wolf knows this is true, but in spite of the new reality, he still wants the girl. He considers that he can wait a little longer and see how things play out.
His attention turns to the Queen and Victor, who is helping her to her feet, and he beholds a ghastly sight. The Queen's face is scorched. One of her cheekbones is exposed, the flesh devoured by the licking flames. The wolf is not sure what is more surprising: the fact that the Queen is still alive and now on her feet or the hideous state of her body.
Chapter 140
Jack watches as Douglas Finch assists the Queen to the door of the gingerbread house. In spite of her pitiful state, Jack feels little sympathy for the woman who had attempted to enslave them all. He wonders, Is she going to get away? Is the narrator just going to let her walk?
As the Queen and Victor proceed to the door of the palace, a mutilated jaw lowers from the witch's mouth, and she weakly says in a low raspy voice, “This is not over yet. I will have revenge.”
Then she coughs and gives a moan of pain. Her gnarled body is assisted by Victor as they proceed toward the door, but once they arrive at the threshold, she stops and turns back with a wild look that's apparent even through her horrid features. It appears as if she is muttering something, and she painfully straightens herself and attempts to lift an arm.
“We have had enough of that,” the narrator speaks coldly. “Leave us.”
Resigned to defeat, she sags back down into a pitiful hunch and disappears through the door of her palace.
However, before Victor can pass into the house as well, the narrator calls out, “Douglas Finch.”
The duplicitous man stops halfway through the door.
“It is not too late for you,” the narrator asserts. “Your story is far from finished. She does not have to control you any longer.”
Douglas looks at the narrator and also at the kids. Then for a second, the man looks into the house at the Queen before looking back at the narrator. With a frown of resolve, he turns and shuffles through the door to rejoin the witch.
Next, turning to the wolf, the narrator reminds the beast, “This also applies to you.”
The wolf does not react. He simply stands there with his eyes on the man.
Thus far, Jack had been fixated on the grim scene so much so that he had forgotten to check on his friends. Now, he sees Mason doubled over and holding his stomach, and Scotty looking around and waving his arms, apparently delighted at his ability to move. Then his eyes rest on Amy. He doesn't go to her immediately but simply watches her.
Amy says, “Mr. Wolf?”
Jack is shocked by this but not as surprised as the wolf, who, wideeyed, is obviously taken off guard so much so that he takes a step back.
Amy continues, “I just wanted to thank you for helping us.”
The wolf quietly examines her, then looks to the others, and rests his eyes on the old man.
Chapter 141
The wolf appears unable to move, though the witch's binding spell is no longer affecting him.
Now Amy walks toward Jack. She starts crying.
There is a lump in Jack's throat that feels to him to be the size of a bowling ball. He stands his ground, not knowing exactly what is to come.
The girl's arms wrap around his waist, and her head nuzzles into his chest. “I'm sorry,” she sobs.
He wants to scream, “No!” but holding back this urge, he simply whispers, with his mouth close to her ear, “No, I'm sorry.”
For the first time since entering the ride, he embraces her in full view of the others. Immediately, he quickly looks over to Scotty and Mason, but then chides himself for caring what they think about it. With unabashed freedom, he kisses her on the forehead. Together, the couple stands in silence as the others watch for what seems like an eternity.
Amy looks up into Jack's eyes and says, “I'm sorry I treated you like that tonight.”
Jack quickly responds, not wanting her to feel any blame, “No, I'm sorry. It's my fault, remember? I got you into this mess.”
Amy knows this is a sincere apology, and her tears dampen his badly torn shirt.
The embrace continues in silence until Mason cannot hide his disdain any longer, “Barf, are you serious? All that mushy kiss-and-make-up stuff right in front of us?”
Scotty's eyes are the size of saucers, indicating that he's finally in on the secret.
The narrator approaches the couple and says, “Well, you acted very bravely, Jack.”
The boy relinquishes his embrace of the girl and takes her hand. Then Jack looks up at the narrator and says, “Thank you. If you had not come when you did—”
“Well, you asked me to come.”
Jack is confused, thinking, When did I ask for help?
Scotty approaches the narrator now, holds out a hand, and says, “Thanks, uh, Sam, right?”
“Yes, and thank you, brave apprentice. You all have truly done something marvelous here today.”
“But we were the ones who stole your book,” Jack admits while glancing over at Mason, who is still standing awkwardly just a few steps away from the others.
“Yes, that…well…,” the Narrator acknowledges.
Jack proudly hands the book to the narrator and says, “Here, we are giving it back now. I am truly sorry.”
Jack waits for the response. The narrator simply looks at the book and then lowers it in one hand to his side. No words follow.
From the corner of his eye, Jack watches Mason, and he wonders, Is he going to say anything? Thank the man? Anything?
Mason sees Jack watching him and finally speaks, as if he has to, asking, “So do we get out now?”
How can he be so ungrateful? Jack thinks. He shakes his head at Mason, letting him see the disappointment.
The narrator responds, “Well, the story is not finished yet.”
Jack asks, “The story is not finished?”
“Why, yes, you still have a little way to go.”
The narrator, with book in hand, turns to leave.
This new revelation crushes Jack, and he can tell the other teens are exasperated as well. He asks himself, Is he really leaving us? What more do we have to do? Is this because we didn't follow his rhymes?Jack looks at the wolf, whose eyes still remain focused on Amy, and the boy wonders, If the narrator leaves, what will this beast do?
Nervously, Jack begs the narrator, “Don't leave. Stay with us; help us.”
“Well, Jack, I would, but you still have some things to do on your own.”
“Like what? You've never really come out and told us what you wanted us to do?”
The narrator looks into Jack's eyes and says, “You have to make things right.”
“But how? Just tell us, please.”
“Jack, just think about it. You need to make amends. I cannot do it for you.”
The tone of the narrator makes it clear to Jack that the conversation is over.
Amy clasps Jack's hand and tells him, “We can finish this, Jack.”
A little frustrated by the last few words of the Narrator, Jack watches as the old man approaches the entrance to the passageway from which the wolf had emerged.
Then, just as the man is about to disappear, a loud crash echoes through the room. All four
teens, the wolf, and the narrator are jolted by the sound.
Soon, another crash is heard, and then, another. Each time, the floor shakes and the walls vibrate.
“What is going on?” Jack yells.
Amy cries, “What now?”
A thunderous voice says, “Fee fi fo fum!”
Chapter 142
The echo of the booming voice reverberates through the room and shakes Jack's nerves.
“What is that?” Mason cries.
“That's trouble, big trouble,” growls the wolf. He scurries behind the gingerbread house.
For a moment, everything is silent.
Amy clings to Jack. Scotty holds his place. The narrator, who had seconds ago been on his way out of the room, is now standing fast.
Mason, on the other hand, makes a dash to the door. Upon reaching it, he pulls at the handle wildly.
“It's still locked!” he calls out. Then he tells the narrator, “Open this thing, come on, man! Do something. We've got to get out.”
Showing no emotion at all, the narrator simply replies, “It's too late.”
As soon as the narrator utters those words, the wall to their right collapses in piles of dry wall and stones. Jack ducks down and tries to shield his face and Amy from flying fragments as white dust fills the air.
After the initial implosion, Jack stares into the gaping hole in the wall. He can make out a very large hairy arm that's holding a club the size of Jack's entire body.
“Fe fi fo fum!”
Jack coughs from the powdered air but holds his gaze at the hole as the dust begins to settle. Now, he sees a giant bare foot breaking through the haze. More of the wall implodes as the remainder of the leg flings through the expanse. The Giant is clearly visible now. He has a thick black beard that reaches down to his chest, and a similar black mane of hair hangs down from his head to his shoulders. He's wearing a ragged green shirt and ripped brown pants, both of which cling to his enormous frame. One of his feet, which are roughly the size of canoes, is in a boot, and this comes to rest inches away from Jack.
Then as the Giant slings his club out of the gap, it crashes into the side of the small gingerbread house, which collapses like a stack of cards. The Giant forces the rest of his body through the gap and appears to fill up nearly half of the room. Even as he is hunched over, his head brushes the ceiling.
“I am here for the thief!” the Giant exclaims.
Jack's terror is now on overload.
“Which one of you stole my goose?”
Panic eclipses every other emotion in Jack's mind. He clings even tighter to Amy who is still plastered to his chest. The tension is unbearable. Jack looks desperately to the narrator, who is watching the scene with no expression on his face.
“It's him. He's the one who stole your goose,” Mason cries while pointing at Jack as he walks toward his friend.
Tearing her head away from its nesting spot in Jack's chest, Amy angrily cries, “Mason!”
Scotty, also outraged by the decree, joins his sister, asking, “What are you doing, Mason?”
So much for anonymity, thinks Jack. The gig is up. His only outward reaction is to simply shake his head in disbelief at Mason's betrayal.
“Well, boy,” the Giant says as he casts his enormous yellow eyes down at Jack. “You shall return what you have stolen.”
The stare of the Giant shakes Jack. In fact, he is so utterly terrified that he cannot speak, and only a ramble of guttural noises escapes his lips.
“Jack, come on, just give him the goose,” Mason implores.
The backpack. Where is it? Jack thinks. He contemplates if the Giant would simply accept the goose and leave them alone.
Jack gently separates himself from Amy's embrace and begins scanning the floor. He tells the Giant, “Uh…hold on just a second. I have it here somewhere.”
The boy tells himself, Think, Jack, think. Where is it? He recalls that the Queen sat it down somewhere when she healed his hand, and he walks a few feet behind him to locate the spot. Unfortunately, the area has been covered by fragments of the crumbled wall. Still, Jack knows he must try to recover the backpack, so he begins digging around in the debris. Scotty and Amy soon join him in the search, but Mason only watches as does the wolf, who has moved to not be in the way of the excavation.
Jack quietly says, “It was here. I remember the Queen set it down.”
After a few more seconds of rummaging, Scotty announces, “Got it.” He lifts the pack above his head as if it were a treasure of great value unearthed for the world to see. Then Scotty steps over a large piece of dry wall and hands the pack to his friend.
To Jack, it is indeed priceless. “Thank you, Scotty,” he says.
Jack is relieved, but he's still unsure whether or not the Giant will take the goose and leave.
Immediately, Jack unzips the pack, and as he does so, he tells the Giant, “Uh…sir, I do have the goose. I didn't know it was yours.”
“Give it to me,” the Giant bellows.
Jack reaches into the pack and rifles through its contents. However, Jack is unable to feel the smooth object he's looking for. He opens the pack wider and looks inside. A mortifying fear emerges in him when he realizes the goose is missing.
“It's not here!” he cries.
With a panicked reply, Amy questions, “It's not there?”
Jack spills the contents of the bag on the ground. There are the cups he won earlier along with the small red ball and, also, the package of Twizzlers he had totally forgotten about, but there is no goose. Where is it? Jack wonders. He replays the events of the last few hours and thinks, How could I have lost the goose? Did I leave it in the key slot? No, I remember I grabbed it out.
“Jack, did you ever lose sight of it?” Scotty asks.
“No,” he declares. But, even as he says this, he remembers the Queen setting it down at his feet as she was about to heal his hand. He had been inside the gingerbread house when he had dropped the backpack on the floor.
“The Queen took it,” Jack states. The blood in his veins goes cold.
The Giant responds, “You lost it? Someone stole it from you!”
This time, Amy attempts to come to the rescue. She says, “That's right; the Queen took it. Maybe you can find her still. She went into that—”
“Enough!” the Giant declares.
Amy cowers backwards.
“So the burglar has been…burgled—ha—how fitting,” says the Giant, whose cold glare is replaced with a grim smile revealing a jagged row of stubby brown teeth. “If the Queen has it, perhaps I will never see it again.”
Jack sees the hand of the Giant tighten around his club.
“Well, I shall have to have compensation for my loss,” the Giant thoughtfully announces.
In spite of the grim reality of the moment, Jack cannot help but be amused by a Giant using the word “compensation.” All of Jack's stereotypes of Giants have been busted.
The narrator now addresses the Giant, “What would you like as repayment?”
“Well, I think I will take the boy, of course.”
“What?” Jack catches himself yelling.
“You heard me. You will be my compensation.”
Amy rushes to Jack and wraps her arms around him. She shakes her head in defiance and says, “No, Jack can't go; he belongs with us. Find the Queen. She is the one—”
“I will hear no more from you, little lady,” the Giant states while lifting his club and lowering the end just inches from Amy's face.
This silences Amy, and she begins to tear up again.
All of a sudden, Jack is pushed from behind, causing him to move forward a couple of steps.
“Take him, and you will let us go, right?” asks Mason, who glares sheepishly at Jack.
“Mason!” Amy yells.
“Mason, you coward!” exclaims Scotty.
Defensively, Mason retorts, “Don't you remember? This is what it said: three of them will have happily-ever-after. I have
to get home.”
“Of course all I want is repayment. I am not that unreasonable.” explains the Giant, whose voice has changed and now sounds unnaturally pleasant. “Something was stolen from me. I take the boy in return. He pays his debt to me, and we are square. It is only fair. Look here—”
“But that does not seem fair,” Scotty declares. “It was a statue.”
“Fair? I am the one to determine what is fair. After all, I am not the one who stole something from you.”
Jack's head is spinning. He looks at the narrator for help, but the old man simply continues to twirl the end of his white mustache. Then Jack looks to Mason, who seems eager about betraying him. Jack knows he should feel malice toward him, but when Jack sees Mason looking frail and scared, he knows Mason is just doing what he does best, looking out for himself. Instead of malice, Jack feels pity for him.
“Jack, let's run,” Amy urges in his ear.
Where? Jack thinks. He considers that even if they could escape right now, the Giant would continue to hunt them, so they'd never be at peace until the debt was paid. All of sudden, a strange feeling of accountability flashes in Jack's mind: I took the goose. I am the one who got us into this mess. If I leave with the Giant, the others will go free.
Wrestling in his mind with the reality of his guilt, he slowly lifts Amy's chin, looks into her eyes, and whispers, “I'm not running from my mistakes anymore, Amy. The time for running is over. This is all my fault.”
Then, he turns to the Giant and says, “I'll go.”
Chapter 143
Scotty is downright mortified by what's just happened: the Giant's demand, Mason's betrayal, and Jack's acceptance. After everything they had been through during the night, he can't believe that Jack's just going to accept this.
“You're not serious, Jack?” Scotty exclaims.
“No! You can't,” Amy cries. Her face is full of desperation.
The wolf simply shakes his head in disbelief.
Mason, looking at the door, nervously asks, “Okay, so now we can leave?”
Before the Giant can reply, Scotty attempts to reason with the behemoth again. He says, “Sir, we all know the Queen has the goose. What if we were to get it from her and bring it back to you?”