The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy Read Free Book Online Page A

woman’s hair made Hansel remember a jar of honey, the comb dark gold and the liquid honey lighter gold around it. He knew she wasn’t fat. She had a baby inside.
    The woman turned and saw the boy. She stared at the child, her skin glowing in the watery light of winter, her cheekbones like wings, full lips curving into a smile. Hansel felt a smile pulled out of him in return. The woman went into the hut and the door closed behind her.
    “Someone’s come.”
    “Hide,” Gretel whispered and scuttled between the trees like a squirrel in the snow.
    “She’s all right.”
    “How do you know?”
    “Her hair looks like honey.”
    “Gretel? Hansel? Come inside.” Magda called from the hut.
    Gretel moved behind a tree, but Hansel ran to the door and went in.
    “I’m Nelka, Magda’s great-niece, Hansel, so we are related now.”
    He had never seen anyone so beautiful. It wasn’t just the color of her hair. It was that she looked happy. And her eyes weren’t afraid. They looked Hansel full in his face.
    She isn’t scared, Hansel thought, and she wasn’t angry either. Everyone was afraid except the Germans, and they were angry.
    “How did you know my name?”
    “A bird told me.”
    Magda snorted. “A bird called Telek. Telek knows everything that happens.”
    The woman laughed. “Telek travels all over the woods to gather firewood and snare rabbits.”
    “Telek is in love with you. You ought to take him on.”
    “I’m married.”
    “A Polish husband in Russia is a dead husband.”
    There was silence in the hut, and Hansel didn’t hear the door open and Gretel creep in.
    “Hello, Gretel. I’m Nelka. I’m your cousin now.”
    Gretel stood and thought. “Magda is your aunt?”
    “Great-aunt. Yes.”
    “Enough of this fine family feeling.” Magda began to smooth the blankets on the sleeping platform. “Bragging about it, almost.”
    “Magda’s brother is the priest. Priests don’t have children.” Gretel stared at Magda.
    “Did you drag yourself out here to discuss the family tree, child?”
    “I came to see what you’re up to, dirty old woman.”
    Hansel took Magda’s hand. “She isn’t that dirty.”
    “Too dirty for me and everyone else, and so are you. We’re going to get the big tin tub and fill it with water and wash all of you in it.”
    “All at once?”
    Nelka laughed. “Come on, Hansel, let’s ask Telek to bring water for us.”
    “No one’s out there.” Gretel knew she would have seen him.
    “If Nelka is here, then Telek is here, poor fool.” Magda shook her head.
    Opening the door Nelka called, “Telek, can you help us?”
    “The power of this girl,” Magda sighed.
    Telek stepped from behind a tree. Gretel’s mouth fell open. He had not been there before. She would have sworn it.
    “We need water. We need a fire to heat it. These children are filthy. Please.”
    He nodded and walked back toward the creek and became lost in the trees. His clothes were the color of bark and dead leaves. His hair was blond but dirty-colored like leaves too. He was strong looking, but he moved so softly that he seemed smaller than he was.
    “How does he do that?” Hansel asked.
    “He spent most of his life living in the forest.”
    “You should marry him, girl,” Magda said. “He’d keep you safe. And I don’t need to wash. I’ll get the grippe and die if I get wet.”
    “First Magda, and then the children. Then we’ll do the walls and blankets.”
    “You can’t wet the blankets. They’ll freeze.”
    “We’ll pass them over the fire and drive the lice out. You know the children are crawling.”
    Nelka grabbed Hansel and handily lifted his shirt. “Look.” She pointed to the red bites of lice made worse by his scratching.
    “Set the tub on the floor, Telek.”
    Gretel saw how Telek looked at Nelka. As if none of them existed except her. His face was bony like a fox’s, and when he turned to glance at Gretel, his eyes were chips of light blue. His eyes were the only color