“Thanks,” he says, and smiles.

The two of us walk separately through the patches, carefully studying the ground, until my brother hollers, “Here it is! I found it! My hat!”

Prince and I run over as Jonah places the Cubs cap squarely on his wet head. He points to the patch on his left. “That’s it, right, Abby?”

“I think so,” I say, squeezing his shoulder. “Good job.”

Prince looks at us and barks. Then he jumps on the spinach patch and smashes his paw against it.

It turns purple and starts to spin.

Oh! “Look! Maryrose is opening it for us. Wahoo!” I cry, filled with relief.

“Yes!” Jonah shrieks. “Bye, Vegetopia!”

Jonah and I hold hands. Prince is ready to jump. And on my count of three, we all leap in.

CLUNK!

The three of us land right on the basement floor. Home, sweet home.

I’ve never been so happy to see the basement of our house in my entire life.

“Should we try to talk to Maryrose?” Jonah gasps as we scramble to our feet. “To find out where Hansel and Gretel are?”

I look around the basement. It’s empty. No Hansel and Gretel here.

“Let’s just show our faces to Mom and Dad and make sure we’re not in huge trouble or that the police aren’t searching all over Smithville for us,” I say.

But they must be. We’ve been gone all day.

“Right,” Jonah says. “Let’s go. Come on, Prince!”

Jonah and I go racing up the stairs. I hear voices coming from the kitchen. My mom and dad. Are they talking about us? Wondering where we could possibly be?

No. They’re not, actually.

“I’ve always loved creamed spinach,” my mom is saying. “Even as a kid. I could eat an entire bowl of it!”

I hear laughter.

“I was like that with mashed potatoes,” my dad is saying. “I could eat two bowls full. Especially with sour cream. Mmm. I’ve always loved sour cream.”

I stop just to the side of the kitchen doorway, out of sight. I look at Jonah and hold a finger up to my lips.

Now my dad is telling some story about getting caught feeding his Brussels sprouts to his dog when he was a kid.

Huh? Why are they talking about vegetables? Why are they laughing? Shouldn’t there be a search party out looking for us?

We’ve been missing for almost nineteen hours! Has my horrible class picture not been featured on the nightly news?

“Abby, honey, can you pass the steak?” I hear my mom say.

Wait. What? Did she just say Abby? Who is she talking to? There is no way my mom can see me from where I’m standing. I inch closer to the doorway.

“Sure, Mom!” I hear a voice say. A voice that sounds a lot like mine. Except it’s not my voice. Obviously.

It’s GRETEL’S.

I stare at Jonah. He stares back, his eyes huge.