by Tom Percival
‘Hmm, backup would be a good idea . . .’ said Gretel. ‘But it would take too long –’
‘– and as we’ve come this far,’ added Hansel, ‘maybe we should just take a quick look inside?’
‘Wow!’ said Wolfie as he poked his head up over the top of the wall. ‘Just, you know . . . wow!’
‘What is it?’ asked Hansel, who was climbing up behind him.
‘It’s troll central in there!’ replied Wolfie. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many trolls, outside of a Where’s Trolly? book!’
There were huge earth trolls with dull green skin and thick, muscular bodies, and blue water trolls with scales and webbed fingers and toes. There were even a few wind trolls, tall and thin, with long hair that billowed out, even when the air was perfectly still.
‘What are they all doing here together?’ asked Hansel. ‘I thought the different troll clans didn’t really mix.’
‘No idea!’ replied Gretel. ‘But forget that – how are we going to find the cutting from the Story Tree?’
‘Forget that!’ said Wolfie. ‘How are we even going to get in?’
On the other side of the wall was a large courtyard filled with ferocious statues of wild animals. Trolls milled around, carrying crates of supplies and weapons or just sitting around playing cards. In the middle of the courtyard rose a huge, living palace. It was made in the same way as the wall they were perched on – trees and plants had knitted together and grown into towers, rooms, roofs and windows. The whole thing was covered with a tangled mass of dark, thorny brambles.
‘We have to split up,’ said Gretel. ‘We’ll get spotted for sure if we try to get in together, but if we go one-by-one we should be OK.’
Wolfie shuddered at the use of the word ‘should’. ‘How about I wait here?’ he suggested. ‘And keep lookout?’
‘We’ll cover more ground if we all go in,’ said Gretel firmly.
‘Mmm, right,’ muttered Wolfie. ‘Is there a secret signal for if we get into trouble?’
‘How about we bleat like a goat?’ suggested Hansel.
‘A goat?’ asked Wolfie. ‘Are you serious? Trolls eat goats – they’ll come running!’
‘Good point,’ said Hansel. ‘How about a raccoon?’
‘What do they even sound like?’ asked Gretel.
‘An owl?’ suggested Wolfie.
‘It’s the middle of the day!’ protested Hansel and Gretel.
‘All right,’ said Wolfie sarcastically. ‘How about we just yell, “Help! I’m in trouble!”?’
‘Works for me,’ replied Hansel. ‘I guess if things get that bad, then it won’t really matter anyway!’
Hansel and Gretel looked bright-eyed and excited. Wolfie looked like he wanted to be sick.
Hansel climbed silently down the thorn-covered wall. He moved like water, flowing from hiding place to hiding place. It was as though he knew exactly where each troll was, without even having to look. Within seconds he had dashed over to the wooden palace. He paused to give a quick thumbs-up to Gretel and Wolfie, before inching a door open and slipping inside.
‘Whoa! How did he do that?’ asked Wolfie. ‘That was amazing!’
Gretel shrugged. ‘When you spend enough time on your own you get good at looking after yourself! But you’d know all about that sort of thing, being a wolf, right?’ She grinned at Wolfie as she scrambled down the wall, darting across the courtyard and taking cover behind a barrel. When there were no trolls looking she shot across to a pile of crates near a large locked door and managed to climb up to an open window without making a sound. She twisted in through the small opening and was lost from sight.
Wolfie sat on the top of the wall, sweating with fear. He lowered one of his paws on to the branch below and had to clamp his mouth shut as he stepped on a big thorn. He was probably bleeding! Maybe he’d get rabies, or tetanus, or some other horrible infection . . .
After taking a few deep breaths, he carried on clumsily, hardly daring to look down and hoping with all his heart that if he couldn’t see the trolls, then they couldn’t see him. After what felt like forever, he finally had both feet safely on the ground. He cowered behind a big pile of ropes and wondered what he was going to do next. Just then a bell rang out and a voice bellowed, ‘Dinner’s ready!’
All the trolls hurried off into a small, leafy canteen building, chattering about what they hoped was going to be for dinner and, if there was going to be pudding, whether it would be goat ice cream – which they all seemed to agree was their favourite.
Wolfie watched one last hungry-looking troll lope into the canteen. Aside from the scary animal statues, the whole place was completely deserted. He smiled slightly as he crept out of his hiding place and scampered across the courtyard.
Hansel crept down a long, dark tunnel. He strained his ears for the sound of any approaching trolls, but could hear nothing. The corridor was uneven and plants and ferns grew everywhere, blocking his way. He tiptoed along, not knowing exactly what he was looking for, but hoping that he’d know it when he saw it.
What he wasn’t expecting to find was Gretel. They both silently crept around a corner and came face to face with each other, eyes wide with surprise.
Hansel wiggled one eyebrow to mean: ‘Have you seen any trolls?’
Gretel shifted her eyes to the left to reply: ‘No, I’ve not seen a single troll since I came in.’
Hansel wrinkled his nose to say: ‘Me neither. Perhaps it’s only the outside that’s guarded?’
Gretel grinned and shrugged to say: ‘Then why aren’t we talking out loud?’
‘No idea!’ whispered Hansel. ‘Come on, let’s see what we can see!’
Together they explored the living palace, looking in every room. Just as they were approaching the end of a corridor, there was a blue-grey blur as something disappeared around the corner.
‘What was that?’ asked Hansel.
‘I’ve got no idea—’ began Gretel.
‘Help!’ interrupted a nearby voice. ‘Please, you must help me!’
Gretel shot a worried look at her brother.
‘Please . . .’ continued the voice desperately, ‘you have to help me!’
Gretel raised an eyebrow to say: ‘What should we do?’
Hansel narrowed his eyes, meaning:
‘We’d better investigate!’
The twins peered into a room that was empty, apart from a large golden mirror. It had curling decorations all around the frame and a glassy surface that shifted and swirled with different colours. In the mirror was the reflection of a man – even though the room was empty.
‘Whoa!’ breathed Hansel. ‘A magic looking glass!’
The figure in the mirror peered out with scared eyes. ‘Oh, please say that you’ll help,’ it begged. ‘Please!’
‘Why?’ asked Gretel from the doorway. ‘What’s happened?’
‘It’s my master, the Green Man!’ gasped the mirror. ‘The trolls have placed him under a spell and are using his powers to keep a cutting alive from a tree that can grow stories!’
‘We know that the trolls took a cutting from the Story Tree,’ gasped Hansel.
‘We saw it happen!’ added Gretel.
‘I know where the cutting is being kept!’ said the mirror. ‘You have to help me get the cutting away from here, so I can break the trolls’ spell and free my master. Will you help?’
‘If we do help –’ began Gretel.
‘– can we take the cutting back to Tale Town?’ finished Hansel.
‘Of course!’ said the mirror. ‘I just want my master back. So you’ll help me?’
Hansel and Gretel looked at each other. ‘Yes,’ they said. ‘We will.’
‘Marvellous!’ exclaimed the mirror. ‘Well, come in, come in!’
Hansel and Gretel stood at the edge of the room, looking at the magic mirror. The figure behind the glass smiled warmly at them. ‘Sorry . . . could you both just come a bit closer please?’ it asked. ‘My eyesight’s not
what it used to be.’
‘OK,’ said Gretel as they walked into the room. ‘So . . . where’s the cutting?’
‘Gosh! Aren’t you keen!’ exclaimed the mirror. ‘I must say, I simply couldn’t do this without you! Fnnnnrrp!’
‘Sorry, what was that?’ asked Hansel.
‘What was what?’ replied the mirror.
‘That sort of snort,’ said Gretel.
‘Like you were trying not to laugh?’ added Hansel.
‘Oh, that?’ replied the mirror. ‘No, no, no . . . it’s just . . . I get hay fever at this time of year.’
‘Right . . .’ said Hansel, glancing over at Gretel suspiciously.
Suddenly the door swung shut behind them with a loud bang, and the mirror laughed a long and horrible laugh. ‘Ha!’ exclaimed the mirror. ‘Now you are at my mercy!’ The reflection paused and patted down all of its pockets. ‘Now, where did I put my mercy? I’m sure I put it somewhere? Oh yes! Now I remember! I don’t have any – I am mercy-less! MERCILESS!’ It laughed again.
‘Wow, that was the lamest joke ever!’ whispered Hansel.
‘Yeah!’ agreed Gretel. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here!’
They turned to run out of the room, but their legs stiffened and slowed down, until they couldn’t move at all.
Hansel gave Gretel a look that said: ‘This isn’t good!’
Gretel thought a message back to her brother: ‘Shall we use the secret signal?’
Hansel nodded in agreement and then they both yelled as loud as they could:
‘Help! We’re in trouble!’
Wolfie frowned as he padded down another empty corridor. It was as though the wooden palace was completely deserted. He’d seen no sign of the Green Man, or any trolls, but that was no bad thing. He wasn’t entirely sure what his plan would be if he got spotted by a troll, but he thought it would probably involve quite a lot of running away, screaming ‘AAAaaaaarrrrghhhh’.
A distant sound made Wolfie’s hair stand up on end. He could hear the signal for help echoing down the corridors.
‘Help! We’re in trouble!’
With barely a thought to his safety – apart from the obvious things, like how he really didn’t want to get trapped, or hurt, or kidnapped, or eaten, or squashed, or bruised, or anything horrible like that – Wolfie turned and ran to help his friends.
Neither Hansel nor Gretel could move their legs at all. They stood there, frozen, as the door swung open and a few blue-grey imps scampered into the room and dragged the mirror round on a small wheeled trolley so that it was facing them again.
‘Nice of you to stick around,’ said the magic mirror.
‘What do you want?’ asked Hansel coldly.
‘Well . . . you, I suppose,’ replied the mirror.
‘You see, I’ve always been rather held back by the whole “magic looking glass” thing. I mean, I can leave for a short while . . .’
Hansel and Gretel both gasped as the reflection stepped out of the mirror, right in front of them.
‘But it’s not enough!’ complained the reflection, swiping its hand soundlessly through Hansel’s chest, making him flinch although he felt nothing.
‘I can’t actually touch anything!’ explained the reflection. ‘I’m not really real! But with one of your bodies, and my troll friend’s help? Well, then I can be real – and it will be you rotting away in this mirror instead!’
Wolfie’s breath came in gasps as he ran as fast as he could down the hallway, knocking over plant pots and breaking saplings that grew up from the floor in his hurry. From behind a half-open door ahead he could hear a voice he didn’t recognize saying, ‘All I have to do is summon the troll warlock, and then I will be free of this mirror – forever! I’ll be able to dance outside in the rain, feel the wind on my face! I’ll be able to actually smell flowers as I brush my hand against them and kick down small children’s sandcastles – it’s going to be amazing!’
Wolfie held his breath as he pressed himself flat against the wall and peered through the doorway. Hansel and Gretel looked very uncomfortable – their legs frozen in a running position.’
‘You’ll never take my body!’ yelled Hansel.
‘Or mine!’ spat Gretel.
‘Oh but I will! said the mirror. ‘I can do whatever I like! Witness: I shall swap your personalities! As simply as . . . THIS!’ The reflection laughed as it pointed at each twin and then crossed its hands over. A glow trailed from each hand, swirling around Hansel and Gretel’s heads, and for a moment, both of their faces went limp.
The reflection clicked its fingers. ‘There! You have had your personalities switched! Your minds are in the wrong bodies! I can only imagine the horror! The fear that you must feel right now! Now do you see? Now do you feel the awful depths of my power?’
Wolfie looked around. He had to do something to help – but what? He didn’t have any tools or weapons. It was hopeless! Then he spotted a wooden bucket of muddy water.
‘I wonder . . .’ he thought as he grabbed the bucket.
Inside the room, the reflection gazed expectantly at the twins, and then frowned.
‘Whoa!’ said Gretel from Hansel’s body. ‘This is kind of weird – I never realized that you don’t like broccoli?’
‘No, not really . . .’ admitted Hansel from Gretel’s body. ‘It looks a bit too much like a tiny tree, you know what I mean? Anyway, I like how you have your hair a bit longer. It feels nice!’
‘No, no, no, NO!’ shrieked the mirror. ‘This isn’t right! You’re meant to be paralysed with fear, begging for mercy!’
‘Well, you already made that lame joke about not having any –’ said Gretel.
‘– so what’s the point?’ finished Hansel, ‘Besides, you don’t scare us! We’ve seen off worse creatures than you!’
‘Really?’ asked the reflection. ‘Worse than me?’
‘Yeah!’ said Gretel, ‘Together we can do anything!’
The reflection grinned.
‘Well then, let’s see how you like it when you can’t do anything together!’ The reflection pointed at the twins again, a glowing light snaking from its hands towards them. The light grew brighter until, with a brief, blinding flash, it fell away.
Hansel and Gretel were back in their own bodies and free to move again. But instead of looking happy, they looked furious.
‘This is all your fault!’ shouted Gretel at Hansel.
‘No way!’ hissed Hansel. ‘It’s YOUR fault! I don’t know why I’ve put up with you for so long!’
The reflection smiled wickedly.
‘I’m going to do something I should have done a long time ago!’ muttered Gretel, taking a step towards Hansel waving her candy-cane staff in the air.
‘Suits me!’ said Hansel. ‘It’s about time somebody taught you some manners!’ He pulled his candy-cane nunchucks off his back and swirled them through the air.
The reflection gurgled with delight. ‘So now do you feel my powarghhhhhh!’
There was a loud muddy splash as a huge bucket of filthy water was flung over the mirror, completely covering the glass. Wolfie hurled the bucket at the glass as hard as he could, but it just bounced off.
‘You fool!’ yelled the reflection. ‘You can’t break a magic mirror! I am indestructible!’ It tried to look towards Wolfie, but was just as filth-covered as the mirror and fumbled blindly about. ‘Where are you?’ it hissed, trying to wipe the mud from its face. ‘I will find you, don’t you worry about that! And when I do, I’ll swap your eyeballs for Scotch eggs! Out-of-date ones!’
‘Come on, you two!’ yelled Wolfie to the twins. ‘We’ve got to get out of here!
‘Thank goodness somebody sensible’s turned up!’ said Gretel.
‘You’ll regret this . . .’ ranted the mirror.
‘Hey, Wolfie?’ said Hansel as though he hadn’t heard anything the mirror had said. ‘Can you tell my sister that if she’s trying to annoy me, she’s doing a good job!’
‘. . . I�
��ll find out if you like Marmite or not! And if you don’t, I’ll bury you up to your neck in it . . .’ continued the mirror.
‘Oh, really!’ said Gretel, ignoring the mirror’s threats. ‘Well, Wolfie, can you please inform my brother, that I couldn’t give a—’
She stopped speaking as Wolfie grabbed them both by the hand and dragged them out of the room.
‘Seriously! Once that mirror gets cleaned up, it is not going to be happy!’ yelled Wolfie, ‘We’ve got to go – now!’
‘Come on! Hurry up!’ cried the reflection as a handful of imps struggled to wipe the mud off the mirror’s surface. ‘He’ll be here any minute, and I still look filthy.’
‘Who will be here?’ called a voice from a dark corner of the room.
‘Gah!’ shrieked the reflection, leaping high into the air and then trying to make it look as though it had just been doing some exercises. Out of the shadows stepped a magical projection of the troll Hurrilan, flickering in the dim light.
‘Hurrilan! How lovely it is to see you!’ the reflection exclaimed, shooing its imp underlings away. ‘What an honour!’
‘Be quiet,’ said Hurrilan, and the reflection fell silent. ‘The cutting. Is it growing? You’ve managed to use your master’s magic?’ The reflection nodded and Hurrilan looked pleased. ‘That’s good news,’ said. ‘When the Green Man refused to help me, I thought that was the end . . . but with your help, it seems we will have our own Story Tree – at last! Everything is going to plan!’
‘Mmmm . . .’ said the reflection.
‘Sorry, what was that?’
‘Yes, it’s almost all going perfectly!’
‘Almost? Is the cutting safe: yes or no?’ asked Hurrilan.