Hansel in Distress

Chapter Three - Golden Feather

I would be terribly remiss as a narrator, if I did not use this opportunity to acquaint my dear readers with the names of our heroines. I should perhaps have done so much earlier. However, for reasons best known to myself, I rather chose to withhold this important information.

At any rate, I will now mention their names in no particular order:

Petra

Anna

Rosina

Sophia

Now that the formalities are out of the way, we may now proceed with the rest of the story.

...

"The witch cannot have gone very far," Petra said. "If we make haste, we may yet overtake her."

"And what shall we do THEN?" Rosina asked. "I don't suppose she'll release Hansel if we ask politely."

"We'll have to cross that bridge once we get to it," said Sophia.

The girls rose from their seats and rushed out of the kaffeehaus.

They scanned the street – there were a few people here and there, but the witch was nowhere to be seen.

"Look!" Rosina exclaimed, pointing at a feather about ten paces away. "That is Hansel's. It is golden, like his hair."

"At the very least, we know now that the witch must have taken this path," Sophia said.

They hurried in the direction of the feather. Anna stooped to pick it up, while the other girls walked past it. She sped up to catch up with them.

"Why did you take it?" Rosina asked.

"I think it might help us find Hansel."

"I was to help mother prepare sweets," said Sophia.

"And I was to do the shopping," said Petra.

"I was to look after little Johann," said Rosina.

"Yet Hansel is infinitely more important than sweets."

"He is more important than groceries."

"He is far more important than little Johann."

Here Anna looked shocked, but only for a brief moment. "I daresay you are right."

The girls paused. They had arrived at a crossroads.

"I fear it may be necessary to split up," Sophia said.

"No, not at all," Anna said. "The feather, it will guide us."

Sofia and Rosina did not know what to say in response to this.
Petra simply sniffed. Yet it was a powerful sniff, a sniff of contempt and incredulity.

Completely unfazed, Anna held out the feather in her palm. "O feather, do help us find handsome Hansel."

The feather made no reply.

"O feather," she repeated, this time more melodically, "do help us find handsome Hansel."

The feather made no reply.

Sophia had had enough. "As I said earlier, we have to split–"

A mysterious breeze suddenly lifted the feather from Anna's hand. The feather floated towards the middle of the crossroads, where it turned left and continued in that direction.

"How did you know that would work?" Sophia asked.

"I've read something similar in a fairy tale."

The girls followed the golden feather, and Anna took the lead. She had just displayed her superior knowledge, after all.