Hands down Regrettable

Hansel and Gretel were troubled children. They grew up poor and mean, like a pair of street dogs. Their father was a drunk and their step-mom was a low-grade criminal, hiding out in their shack to avoid the police. No one was really surprised when the two children started showing alarming behavior in school.

They stole from, and beat up several other 3rd graders, and were even caught in a cloud of smoke down in the crawlspace under the school’s stage. Hansel seemed to be the brains of the operation, he was constantly under the principal's watch for fighting, bullying and mischief. Little did anyone know, Gretel had her own mean streak which would make Hansel look like a saint.

See, Gretel had a secret fort out in the woods beyond the schoolhouse. She would lead older boys out there and entice them to play doctor. Several of her playmates wound up with cuts and bruises to their groins, while others were landed with anxiety disorders from her ‘experiments’.

Gretel also liked to take in sick birds and hobbled rabbits. At any point in time she might have six animals all tied up and she'd bring little girls down there to show them her collection. It was a long time before they even suspected that it was she who'd poisoned the little robins and broken the rabbits' legs. She used to have all kinds of experiments for her pets. She’d shave off their fur to see the rabbits' survive a winter night without it, and cut the birds' feathers just to watch them struggle.

Needless to say, when the children were caught in their old fort, the two of them tying the knot around a bag of newborn mice, the school counsellor was asked to step in.

Upon investigating their home, Gracy Peters, a child psychologist, saw the full spectrum of their disorders. The tiny log cabin had no running water or electricity. There was a wood stove on one end of the one room home, and only one bed in the place. The children were made to sleep on the floor, although there has been further suggestion that Gretel was forced to share her father's bed. He denies the accusation, but Gretel's promiscuous personality and violently sexual behavior correlate with molestation.

There was no question that the children needed an intervention and there was only one place in the small town that was equipped to handle this situation. Mother Megdeleine's Home of Refuge. Gloria Megdeleine had sheltered more than fifty children over the years, each at different stages of treatment, be it for mental health, criminality, and/or asylum from abuse. Gloria was certain that her methods would assist the children post-haste with their troubles. She even assured the police that she would have no further need of them until the children were saved and ready for foster care.

The Home of Refuge was designed to be non-threatening in every aspect. It had a huge yard, gated with ten foot wooden fencing. There was a swimming pool and a trampoline. The house itself was decorated with layers of coronation pink plaster, shaped like flowers, and from afar, it looked like one big birthday cake.

Hansel and Gretel stepped out of the police cruiser and into the front yard. Gloria embraced them, but could feel the tension in their little arms as they hugged her. She sent them to wash up and then she set out to prepare them dinner. After years of working with children in this informal setting, Gloria mused that the way to earn a child's trust is through their stomach.

She had baked a fresh pie the night before, so she heated that up. She had boiled potatoes, so she mashed those with butter and cream. She had roasted a ham that morning with peas and carrots in the fat, and so she carved out three servings and set the table. When she called down the children, she was surprised to find they didn’t answer. Had they fallen asleep in their new beds?

Gloria climbed the steps to the second floor and peeked into Gretel’s room. The closet was open and there was an empty hanger. The little girl must have picked out a new dress and gone into her brother’s room to show him. Ms. Megdeleine checked in on Hansel’s room and found that the two children were nowhere to be seen. She panicked, but then checked herself. She knocked on the bathroom door and then opened it wide, they were not there either. She checked the playroom and then the attic. Nothing except an open window and a fire escape ladder still hooked to the sill.

It had been a long time since she’d had runners. Generally, children are brought to her with the understanding that this is the best place for them. They see the house and the yard and accept, albeit begrudgingly, the help that is given them. Still, she recognized that these siblings had been through serious trauma and it was her responsibility to help them transition into a healthy life.

Gloria called the local police, explained the situation, and awaited the cruiser that was still on its way back to town after just dropping the children off. Luckily the two police officers were within twenty kilometres of the house. They flipped around and drove slowly through the woods, looking in between the trees to try and catch sight of the children. They reached the house without any luck and so called a search and rescue effort there. In little over four hours, the score of volunteers were called off when Hansel and Gretel were picked up off of the highway. They were driven back to Megdeleine’s home and sat down at the kitchen table.

Gloria took her seat between the police officers and the children. She took a sip of her hot chocolate and encouraged the others to do the same. The officers did, but the children only stared away from the table.

Gloria did all the talking from then on. She said, “we’ll have much tighter security because of today’s incident. I don’t blame you two for wanting to escape, but you must understand this house was built to handle any and all emergencies. For the two of you, I believe we will need some serious ground rules, some trust exercises, and some incentives.”

The children listened on with blank eyes as she talked about milestones and prizes, goal setting and trust building, family games, socializing, and general home keeping skills. When we started to ramble about teaching the children to cook, Gretel spoke her first words to Gloria.

“I’ve always wanted to learn to use the oven.”

Delighted that she’d finally broken through to Gretel, Gloria replied, “Well, if you can promise to obey the house rules, then I see no reason why we can’t cook up a marvelous dinner together tomorrow evening.

The police left the residence with their bellies full of cocoa and marshmallows. The children did not wave goodbye to them, but stood watching them leave. Rather, the deputy could have sworn he saw Hansel flip him the bird in his rear-view mirror.

The next evening, Gretel helped Gloria to preheat the oven, to peel and chop potatoes and onions, and to wash and cut the chicken breast. She said not a word, but let Gloria prattle on about her own childhood and how she ended up running this house. Side by side they sliced the food, until it was time to cook it. Gloria leaned into her commercial sized oven and placed the pans inside.

What happened in that moment is unclear. It is thought that Gretel may have slid the knife across Gloria’s throat, or she may have kicked the old lady into the scorching hot oven. Those in denial about the children’s guilt say that Gloria slipped on an onion peel, knocking her head against the oven door, and lost consciousness.

All that is certain is that Gloria’s dress caught flame in the heat and she was burned up in the fire that consumed the entire house. The children escaped the blaze. Investigators were able to follow their trail back to their own home on the other side of the village. There they found their father and step mother murdered in their bed. The couple were fatally stabbed a dozen or more times.

No other traces of the children were ever found, but it is believed that they have ended their reign of terror. No other deaths have matched the ferocity of those that occurred in Spessart Forest so many moons ago. Although they were no doubt guilty of at least two counts of murder, the town tries to remember them fondly. Two local writers even rewrote their story to try to bring peace to people’s memories of Hansel and Gretel, the lost children.