Page 68 of The Lookback

“It’s a good question,” Mrs. Lyons says. “Should you draw the witch, you’ll be the only one in the game who can murder the others. The stepmother will help you, because she only wins if the witch wins, and if the witch inadvertently kills the stepmother, the witch will lose, so she must be careful to defend her ally. And here’s the real catch. The paper with the stepmother on it will tell whoever draws it which color paper is the witch. The Gretel card, on the other hand, will identify who the stepmother is. That means that the stepmother will be known to Gretel, and the witch will be known to the stepmother. The witch won’t know who’s on her side and who’s against her, just as the witch in the story was blind.”

“Lemme get this straight,” Jed says. “If we draw the witch, we know nothing, but we’re supposed to kill everyonebutthe stepmother?”

“Right,” Mrs. Lyons says. “So it would be wise for the stepmother to reveal herself in some way. Of course, the others will also be watching.”

Tommy’s frowning now, too.

“But,” Jed says, “if we’re Gretel, we have to. . .what? How can we win?”

“Great question,” Mrs. Lyons says. “The witch wins by killing everyone except the stepmother, but Gretel only wins if she can retrieve the necessary objects and slay the witch before dying herself.”

“So other than Gretel, the witch, and the stepmother, we’re all pawns?” Tommy asks.

Mrs. Lyons shrugs. “Sort of,” she says. “Except you’ll be doing activities that require you to be graded, and so anyone could conceivably still win for prom queen or king based on their overall scores.”

“What are the objects?” I ask.

“You’ll hear about them once we’ve drawn,” she says. “Be patient.”

Presumably those things are hidden beneath the additional tents. None of us look very excited, and the audience looks almost as irritated as we do. I think the Lyons let this get a little too complicated.

“Well, let’s get going,” Mrs. Lyons says, probably more worried about the half-confused, half-bored audience than I am. “Jed, you draw first. Then Tommy. After that, Janet, then Jerry, Greg, Denise, and finally Mandy.”

I’m dead last. Of course I am. Stupid wood-cutting chore.

I watch as Jed draws a blue card, Tommy, a green one. Then Janet draws black, Jerry draws white, Greg grabs purple, Denise grabs yellow, and all that’s left for me is bright red.

I read my card.

CONGRATS. YOU ARE GRETEL, YOUR STEPMOTHER’S CARD IS GREEN.

I scan around the circle, trying to remember who drew green. My eyes stop on Tommy, where he’s eyeing me curiously.

Great.

My best friend is the stepmother, one of two characters bent on destroying me. How typical for my life. My one real ally is my enemy. Now I just need to watch him to see whether he sends the witch a signal of some kind, but I can’t make it obvious that I’m watching him, or I’ll give myself away.

“Wait,” I ask. “How does the witch kill people? You never said.”

Mrs. Lyons says, “The witch’s paper comes with small stickers, and if he or she manages to put one on you, you’re dead.”

“I guess that means she’s not the witch,” Jed says. “Or she’d already know that, right?”

“Or she’s really smart and realized that no one would know what a sticker meant without her drawing attention to it.” Tommy shrugs.

Jed rolls his eyes.

We all shove our papers into our pockets.

“Now, our first task is one of art. You’re all going to make candy houses, and the audience is going to vote for which one is the best.” She points, and Principal Lyons yanks the cover off the largest tent-structure. It also happens the be the farthest from us. It’s nearly all the way across the arena by the stands. I’m sure that’s by design, so the paying spectators can see us fail miserably to stick a cookie house together with frosting.

“But that’s not all,” Principal Lyons says. Could he be any more corny? “Each seat here has the cookie parts necessary to build a house, and the individual sheets are equipped with frosting as well. But, each seat has only one type of candy decoration. In order to make the most beautiful house possible, you’ll have to negotiate with the others for a trade.”

Of all the ridiculous. . .

“Now, the fastest of you will get the best seats. Go.”

Oh, good grief. I wasn’t chosen for my athletic ability, but I hoped I’d at least beat Denise, Gregory and Jerry. When I come in dead last, it’s a little depressing. It also leaves me with the last seat of all, which has a huge bowl of. . .Bit-O-Honey? Really? How exactly am I supposed to do to decorate my house with a bowl full of sticky brown taffy?

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