Wow. For someone so thin, she sure is strong. Hulk strong.

Her grip is so tight I can’t get away.

“Come, kiddies,” she says, dragging us back through the door. “Let’s go inside.”

“No!” I say. “Wait! There’s a big misunderstanding!”

“Yeah!” Jonah cries. “We’re not Hansel and Gretel! We just look like them!”

“Who?” the witch asks.

“Hansel and Gretel!” Jonah says. “They’re the ones you were supposed to catch. But they stole our way home!”

The witch throws both of us on the floor. She uses her foot to slam the door closed. Then she stands on her tiptoes, feels for the bolt, and locks it.

She’s taller than I realized. That lock is really high up. How are we ever going to get out of here?

“I don’t know this Hansel and Gretel. But I’m happy to eat any children who wander near my house,” she says. She looks me over. Then she eyes Jonah. “Yes, most definitely a stew,” she says as if thinking out loud. “Or kid casserole of some kind?”

Kid casserole? Jonah and I look at each other and both scream, “AHHHHHH!”

Ruff! Grr-ruff! Prince barks furiously at the witch.

“What is that annoying sound?” Patty asks, peering down. “Is that a cat? Every witch needs a cat.” She peers closer. “Oh, perfect! A cat! Come, darling,” she says to Prince. “I have a tasty bit of spinach for you.”

Hrmph? asks Prince, tilting his head to the side.

“Do you eat enough spinach?” she asks. “It’s very healthy. It’s a superfood.”

She must have really bad eyesight. Prince is all dog.

“Maybe that’s what I’ll name you,” Patty tells Prince. “Spinach! Or Spinny for short. Hi, Spinny! I love you, Spinny!”

Jonah and I give each other horrified looks. Spinny is officially the worst name for a dog — or a cat — ever.

Hmm. Maybe now that she thinks she has a cat, she’ll let us go? Maybe all she really ever wanted was a pet?

Not that I’d leave Prince behind. No way, no how. I can’t have her making a dog stew.

“Hmm,” Patty says again. She’s rubbing her chin. “A kid casserole sounds divine. With peas. Do I have any whole wheat noodles? I can’t remember.”

Please, please, please let her be out of whole wheat noodles. And non–whole wheat noodles.

She pulls both of us up. She pushes me toward the kitchen and then brings Jonah over to the cage.

“Let me go!” Jonah says.

“Why would I do that?” the witch asks.

“Because I asked nicely?” he tries. He gives her a big smile that normally works on grown-ups.

“That was asking nicely?” Patty snorts. “I don’t think so. And anyway, I’m not letting you go. I’ve been trying to trap a kid for weeks. Now here you are. It’s my lucky day.”

“Is eating kids what gives you your magical powers?” Jonah asks.

“I don’t have magical powers,” she says. “I’m not sure who started that rumor. I think everyone just calls me a witch because of the eating-children thing.”