There’s no movement in the house at all. And if the witch were here, wouldn’t she have come out by now? There are four kids to grab. That’s four potential kid pies!

She must be somewhere else.

“The window box is made out of peanut brittle!” Gretel says, breaking off a piece. “Mmm! So good!”

I look closer at the window box. The dirt is chunks of chocolate! And the stems are green licorice. And the flowers are … gummies?

And the flowerpots are made of Skittles.

Mmm. I love Skittles.

“This gingerbread sure is delicious,” Gretel says, munching on a shingle. “Aren’t you guys going to have any?”

“C’mon, Abby!” Jonah begs. “Can’t we have a little?”

I look at the walls. The strawberry shortcake walls. Mmm. I love strawberry shortcake.

But I don’t want my brother going nuts.

“ONE bite of ONE thing,” I tell Jonah.

He grins and rips a piece of cake off the roof. “Mmmm, icing!”

I dip my finger into the strawberry shortcake and take a scoop. It’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.

“Yuuuuuuum,” I say.

I have another little bite.

One more. So good.

Ooh, are those lemon drops? I step closer to the line of little, round yellow balls dotting the windows. I pull one off and pop it in my mouth. Amazing.

I look back through the window, and I see the cage again. It’s really creepy.

I start to feel a prickling down my back. Should I not have led Hansel and Gretel here? Was that a mistake? They’re about to get trapped. In the original story, they escape, but what if something goes wrong this time? What if the witch wins? What if she ends up hurting them and it’s all our fault? My heart starts to race.

Through the window, the jewels on the table catch the last of the sun’s rays and sparkle.

Hmm.

I turn to my brother. “Maybe,” I say, “we let them skip the whole being kidnapped part, and just take the witch’s jewels.”

Jonah’s eyes widen to the size of cookies. “You want us to steal the witch’s jewels?!”

“Witch’s jewels?” Gretel asks, her mouth filled with taffy. “Kidnapped? Excuse me? Would you mind telling me what’s going on here?”

Oops. Should probably have used my indoor voice. I guess I’ll have to tell them the truth now.

“Um, see, this is a witch’s cottage,” I admit. “She lives here.”

“A witch lives here?” Gretel shrieks.

“Yes,” I say.

“Are you sure?” Hansel asks.

“Yes,” I say. “We lied to you before. We’re sorry. We shouldn’t have. But see, the witch is going to pretend to be nice and trap you. Eventually, you trick her and save yourselves and take her jewels … but you’re supposed to be stuck here for a few days.”

“But how do you know all that?” Gretel asks.

“It’s in the story,” Jonah says. “We were trying to keep it the same. But now Abby thinks you should take the jewels and just go home.”