A Faerie Tale, Broken

Epilogue:

It has been true knowledge that forever Faerie Tales of old bring us great stories of hope. They preach moral lessons, romance, violence, and the deepest well of human emotion. Many carry temptation, and the darker side of things. Of course, all tales are open to their own brand of interpretation. And keeping that in mind, we pass now to the Broken, Twisted Tale of Hansel and Gretel. It may not be as sweet as you remember it to be.

Chapter One: A Starving Home

The problem with being raised on a poor farm is that one was always at mercy of the seasons. If drought or flood hit the land, then no crops would grow. No money would be made, and no food would be set upon the table. Of course, this leads to empty stomachs and a sour disposition.

Gretel was raised in such a place. The daughter of her father's first wife, their small family had lost the addition of their mother when a sweeping plague of wet lung spread across the country. Though his small daughter had survived, the man soon found that a single pair of hands to do the required planting, and to mind his child, was not enough.

After the customary mourning period had passed, he quickly sought himself a new wife, Laudia. Chosen due to the harshness of the circumstances, his new bride brought a coffer of coins and two cows as her dowry. It was not a match based on personality or any sort of kind feeling. Rather, it was a convenient solution to both their losses. And with her, she brought her own daughter, only a year younger than Gretel.

It was clear early on at this arrangement, that Gretel was not particularly liked by her step-mother. The woman's own child was lazy and forced Gretel to work doubly hard at the tasks they were given to avoid the nightly beatings.

Now that is not to say that the step-mother was 'evil' in a historical sense of these tales and step-mothers. She was merely hard working and stern minded. The laziness was no excuse to get a chore done, and with Gretel being the oldest of the pair, it was pushed upon her to assume the responsibility of the daily chores. Thus, she became the scapegoat at Brianna's poor tasks.

Our story picks up some seven years after this merger occurred. Gretel is but twelve summers old, her golden hair and wide blue eyes awkward on a face that promised beauty in the coming years. Famine had once more scorched the fields into fallow and grain was becoming increasing short. As time passed, with no hope of rain to sooth the parched earth, Laudia turned to her husband one night and discussed their options.

"We have too many mouths to feed, husband. At the rate of two growing children, and sustaining ourselves, the food will be gone well before the summer ends." Listening to his wife, the farmer replied, "Then what are we to do? Neither is old enough to marry. We have no dowry even if they were. No merchant or farmer would take them in as laborer or worker, their own stores are short."

As they both fell into silence, Laudia finally voiced the thought that had been stirring in her mind all day. "We must send Gretel into the mountains and the forest. In the morning, we will tell her to gather us blueberries. And that she may not return home until her basket is full."

Protesting a moment, the farmer responded, "There are no blueberries that would survive in this weather. To send her on such an errand, she would surely lose her way and be lost to the wilderness."

Non-phased, his wife pressed on. "If she does find them, think of the money we would gain. Just a single basket would surely feed us all for a month. And if she does not return, then our own stores will last. My own daughter does not eat nearly as much as your own."

Unable to argue with those words, the farmer finally relented. Though he certainly had a father's affection for the child, if she did not leave, then they would all die of starvation. And if she did happen to find the precious berries, then they could be spared another month of waiting for the rains to fall.

With the situation decided, the pair rolled over and were quickly off to sleep.

***

Unbeknownst to this scheming pair, darling Gretel had awoken shortly before their conversation. Thirsty, and in want of a drink of water, she had crawled out of the bed shared by Brianna and crept her way quietly to the door. As she heard their conversation, her skin, tanned by the days pulling weeds and doing chores beneath the harsh sun, paled greatly.

If she went alone into the forest, she would certainly lose her way. Such trips were always done in the presence of her father, whom knew the secrets of the woods that would tell him which way was home again. Filled with pain at the betrayal, and anxiety of the trip, she went to the single window of her room and pulled open the sashes.

As the cool air of the night permeated the room, she felt herself calming. She was a smart girl, and ever resourceful. It was then that an idea fell upon her. Taking a swift look at her sleeping sister, she gathered up her traveling smock and took their small stool to the window. Climbing up and out, she spent the next hour filling the pockets with as many small rocks as she could find and carry.

Satisfied with herself, once the pockets were full, she climbed back inside. Closing the sashes again, she stored her smock away for morning and eased herself back into bed.

Even with a plan in mind, however, the poor girl was plagued with nightmares. Wolfs and bears, and all sorts of creatures threatened her. It was a restless night indeed.

***

The next morning, as they had discussed, Laudia demanded that her step-daughter take a basket into the forest and fill it with blueberries. Without even giving the child a chance to break her fast, she pushed a basket with a single measly crust of bread and the mold rind of last week's cheese into the girl's arms. Then, telling her to get dressed, she would be leaving before the sun had even fully colored the sky.

Once in her smock, and with a slightly teary kiss on her father's cheek, she started up the winding trail into the mountains.

***

It took Gretel an hour to walk the path to its end before the trodden dirt broke into wild, though dry, grass and brush. Taking a deep breath, she stuck her fingers into her pockets and withdrew a small handful of pebbles. Every so many steps, she would drop one along her path as a marker of where she had come from. Soon she was meandering in no direction particular. It was soon, and rather quickly, apparent that she had gotten herself deeply lost among the trees.

Finally, sometime around the mid-day, Gretel sat upon a tree stump and pulled out her small meal. It would not have been enough to even last the day, and it was with painful protesting of her stomach that she chewed each bite as long as possible in an effort to trick her stomach into thinking there was more food than she was really eating.

With her basket empty, and nothing more to eat, she finally sunk her face into her hands and began weeping. Her step-mother had been right. She would never find what she had been sent in for and would surly die of hunger if the beasts in the night did not rend her first. Sniffling, she got up to brush out her skirts. Wiping the tears from her face, it was then that she saw a hint of color in the corner of her eyes.

Turning, she could not believe herself. As if by magic, a lush bush grew a few paces on, hidden by thorns and brambles. Walking closer, she found her luck to be doubly blessed. It was laden down, branches drooping almost to the ground, in large plump blueberries. Taking up her basket, she let out a great shout of laughter and fought her way through the thorns.

Many scratches later, and with a few tears in her skirt, she made it to her prize. With so much fruit, she knew she could easily fill her stomach as well as the basket. Plucking one, she did not believe her fortune. As it rolled across her tongue, she bit into it to find it sweet and juicy. Her fingers and lips were quickly stained a violet tone as she indulged in one of the best meals she had eaten in weeks.

After satisfying her own hunger, she quickly filled her basket. Even with blueberries threatening to pour over the rim, the plan still looked full and inviting. Smiling, she quickly made her way back to the fallen log she had used for lunch and began following her stone trail back to her home.

***

Not only was everyone astonished to see a happy Gretel as they sat down to their evening meal, but she had returned, indeed, with a basket full of the best blueberries they had ever seen. After putting aside enough to make a decent pie, Laudia jarred the remaining fruit for the farmer to take into town and sell at the market. Perhaps, even, he could travel a few days to their Lord's estate. Surely the man would pay handsomely for such a lavish treat in this weather.

Happy with his daughter, and quite glad that he did not have to live with that on his conscious, he pushed the guilt of his attempt out of his mind. They all lived quite happily off of Gretel's fortune. For a time..

***

Now it came to pass, that the Lord had paid enough to them to last not one month, but six. However, seeing that her own daughter was growing into a rather unattractive woman in both looks and personality, she convinced the farmer to put aside a hefty sum for her own daughter's dowry. She, of course, reminded the man of the money she had brought to him upon her own marriage. Unable to ague with the woman, he conceded.

As the months changed the season from summer into fall, the gold soon ran out, and the luck of rain never appeared. With the first frost having fallen upon the ground in a frenzy of crystals, the woman once more pressed her husband with the very real fact that they would all starve in the coming months. Arguing that he had done that to his daughter once, and would not do so again, Laudia was relentless. After another failed argument to dip into the dowry money, of which Laudia adamantly refused, the farmer was once again forced to agree that his daughter would return to the forests. This time it would be in the futile search of strawberries.

Having once more overheard the conversation, the growing length and scarcity of the meals cluing her into the fact that what had happened before may repeat itself, Gretel bit her lip in panic. The rocks she could gather, that was no problem, but strawberries after first frost would be impossible. With a heavy heart, she waited until her parents' snores told her they were asleep. And this night, instead of going now to her bed, she once more opened the window and snuck out into the darkness.

Filling her smock with rocks was doubly hard now. Her fingers were cold and frozen once the work was done, and she happily crawled into her room and shut the shades tight. Crawling into bed with Brianna, she rolled over to traverse the planes of restless sleep once more.

***

In the morning, she was once more given no opportunity to break her fast. Handed the basket, and told to dress, she tried without success to argue that strawberries would not be found. With her words falling on deaf ears, she took her measly meal and set out.

As history repeated itself, she made her way into the forest and began to leave the stones in her path. She wandered for hours, here and there, without much hope that luck would be upon her once again. However, to her amazement, she did indeed happen upon a patch of wild strawberries shortly after her mid-day meal.

As before, they were ripe and juicy, having been protected by the frost by thick rambling ivy. After eating her fill, she filled her basket and went skipping her way home, humming a merry tune into the air.

The astonished faces upon her arrival were even more so than they had been the last time. With a trip to the local Lord filling their pockets with enough coin to last the winter, the small family settled down for the snowy months to come.

***

As lucky as Gretel had been, it was with equal unluckiness that the spring brought rain. At first, it was welcomed after the parch of the previous year, but it soon became apparent that the sun would be nothing but a fond memory. The seeds sown into the fields quickly rotted, and the grasses the cows fed upon drowned. Once more, the step-mother found the mouths too many, and her step-daughter would have to be sent away again.

This time for good...

With the two trips bringing them luck, the local villagers had begun coming to them for an arranged marriage between one of their daughters. Of course, even with the power of the dowry backing her own child, the fathers soon saw the working ethic and budding beauty of the girl named Gretel. Brianna was rude, despite her mother's admonishments, and sent the fathers quickly asking for Gretel's hand.

Not wanting her own blood to be shunned, she decided to kill two birds with one stone. After another long argument with her husband, it was agreed that they would send Gretel out in the morning. She was to fetch peaches, and not return home until they were found. Now, knowing that two such endeavors had actually been successful, Laudia wondered how the girl managed to find home after discovering what she had been sent for.

Pulling her daughter to the side before the pair went off to bed, she asked Brianna what she knew of it. Her daughter responded with an explanation of a dream she thought she had had. "I dreamt that Gretel opened the window, though the night was quite chilly. She snuck out the window and into the darkness. When I arose to see why she had gone, thinking she was sneaking off to trade kisses with a boy, I instead found her picking at the ground like a hen after feed. She was collecting small rocks, and sticking them into her pockets."

After this description, and a search of the said smock, Laudia did indeed find the remnants of a few pebbles that had not been emptied out. With a plan in mind, she plotted against her step-daughter.

The next day, Laudia made a trip to the village, apparently to see if there was any seed left to plant once it dried up and how expensive it would be. Upon her return home, she immediately fell into a tale of woe. "There are bandits traveling the countryside. They sneak into homes in the dead of night through any unlatched doors or windows. They murder everyone inside, and steal what they might. What horrid times we live in that even those desperate cannot be safe from such devilry. Indeed I will not feel safe in this home until every window is barred and every door has a lock."

At her insistence, the farmer indeed spent the rest of the day driving nails through wooden planks. An extra special barrier was created over the window in the girl's room. "I would not live with myself if they got a hold on our precious daughters." It was all the motivation the farmer needed.

Once barred in, Gretel had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Her intuition told her something was not right. That night, as Brianna fell asleep beside her, she slipped out of bed to listen at the door.

"Tomorrow morning we will send her out once again. If luck shines upon us once more, then we will have no worries of the months ahead. Your daughter is truly a gift." Heart sinking, Gretel knew that whatever impossible task she was sent upon this time, she would have no stones to lead her home again. With a heavy heart, she slid back to bed and into sleep.

***

"You are to fill this basket with peaches, Gretel. And you may not return home until that is done."

All of her hopes fell with that statement. Peaches would not even have begun to blossom yet, this early in the spring. With a heavy heart, and a kiss upon her father's cheek, she took up her basket. Knowing all to well that he would not see his Gretel again, he made sure that she had a decent meal this time. A half loaf of bread, a few thick slices of cheese, and even a small bottle of wine. Basket in hand, Gretel once more began up the path into the forest beyond.

As she came to the end of the trail, all hope of finding enough rocks along the way to help her travel crumbled. Most had been lodged in mud or were too large to be ideal. Not only that, but once she had begun into the forest, the rocks seemed to disappear altogether into grass.

It was again, at this point, that the young girl fell upon her ingenuity. Pulling out her loaf of bread, she broke it into bits, spreading the crumbs on the ground as she walked. After many hours of wandering, she sat to once again take in her mid-day fast. Tears coursed down her cheeks and woe turned the soft cheese into paste in her mouth. Eating only a small bit, she decided to ration the food. If she could survive the night, perhaps then she would wander enough to find her way back into civilization. When she stood, at the end of her meal, she turned to continue in the way she had been going.

A few more hours of walking, and she found herself in a dead end of thick brambles. Turning about, she began back the way she had been. However, retracing her steps for a few long minutes, her trail began to thin. Not only had the soggy ground turned the bread into almost non-recognizable crumbs, but there were birds now along the path picking at what she had scattered.

With a cry of agony, she realized that she was now truly lost. There was no path home. Even worse than that, she had spent nearly half of her bread on the birds, and eaten another quarter for her meal. It was wasted upon the birds for no reason at all.

Chapter Two: A Lost Hunter

The king was totally, irrevocably, impossibly lost.

The day had started out well enough. The rain had stopped and the sun whispered out from between puffy white clouds. The air was crisp and clean. And best of all, the mud left a plethora of tracks for the hunting party to follow.

Hansel mused silently as he led his horse through the winding trees. It had been his enthusiasm that was to fault. Having just turned eighteen, he was itching to stretch his legs away from the stiff formality of his title. Not that he was in any way displeased with his lot in life. Rather, it was the opposite. He loved his station as heir. The ability to order the most grand of lords on a trivial task, to walk about and have every whim catered to. Even, in these times of strife, to have a table laden with fat geese and custard puddings. Not to mention the fact that every skirt he crossed was always willing for a romp.

As that thought filled his mind, it led to another, and then another, until the gasping image of a very naked serving maid filled his mind. She had stoked the testosterone last night with her pants and squeals as he rutted her mercilessly along one of the service hallways. It was that feisty redhead last night that had his blood pumping so hotly this morning when the boar cut in front of them.

He, naturally, had been the first to spot the creature and kick his horse into action. As they crashed through the underbrush, the creature let out a screech of fear and surprise. It was only after he had fallen the beast, and was in the process of removing his arrows before cleaning the carcass, that he realized he was alone. Not only that, but he had been so attentive in the chase, that he did not know which direction they had gone in.

There was not a single bit of his wood craft or lore he could use to get home. He supposed that he could get his bearings roughly and travel in a general direction until he hit some sort of civilization, but until that point he could be spending days traveling through the forest. It all depended on where this boar had led him. In this moment, Hansel direly wished that he had listened more when given instruction. But, up until this point, he had always had someone trained in this do it for him. At this moment, he could not even remember if moss grew on the south side of trees or the north. Or was that the west?