A trail of crumbs
“Hansel! Gretel!” called the woodcutter in surprise.
The stepmother heard their names and froze. “Drat,” she snarled. “They’re back.”
“We’re starving,” moaned Hansel.
“Well ,I didn’t save you any lunch-or dinner,”
Gretel asked.
“here, you can have my read,” said the woodcutter.
His wife scowled at him.
That evening, Hansel And Gretel were relieved to be in their own room. But they didn’t trust their stepmother at all.
With his ear to the door, Hansel heard the stepmother’s voice grow louder.
“We’ll take them deeper into the forest this time,” she declared. “they’ll never find their way out!’
“You heartless woman,” muttered the woodcutter.
“What?” she barked. “Do you want us all to starve?
Hansel and Gretel lay trembling in their beds. When all was quiet, Hansel crept off to find more pebbles. But he couldn’t open the front door.
His stepmother must have locked it.
“Wakey-wakey, rise and shine,” said the stepmother, early next morning.
She forced Hansel and Gretel out of bed, gave them a slice of stale bread to share and marched them in the forest
Hansel’s tummy was grumbling but he didn’t eat his half of the bread.
Instead, he crumbled it along the way to leave a second trail.
Soon, the trees were so thick they blocked out the sky.
“Another lovely place for a rest,” said their stepmother, cheerfully.
The woodcutter sighed and made a fire. He couldn’t bear to look at his children.
“Don’t panic,” Hansel said to Gretel, when they were alone. “We can follow the breadcrumbs home.”
He turned to see a blackbird pecking at a crumb. “shoo!” he cried, chasing the swooped and took another crumb.
“No!” shouted Hansel.
Bird twittered from every tree. Hansel and Gretel looked for more crumb, but not a single one was left.
“What do we do now?” asked Gretel, shivering.