Hansel and Gretel Read Online Free PDF Page A

Why would it not be?”
    “No.” He shook his head and sat back in his chair, folding his arms. “You are wrong. To fall in love with someone takes years of knowing them, of watching them, of slowly but surely apprehending you cannot live without them and if you tried, your world would never be the same again.”
    “What a bunch of rabbit’s fluff. I look for the day when I will find my true love, w hen I watch him walking toward me and know—just know—he is the one.” She sighed and grinned.
    Pushing his chair back further, Hansel went to stand, but sat back down and said, “Why do you females always believe it will be so? As if those fairy stories know anything about life. The only real way a man or woman would fall in love at first sight is if they have been placed under a spell or enchantment of some sort.” He did stand up then. “If you wish to find yourself bamboozled by the first fool who hexed you to feel that way, suit yourself. I for one prefer a real relationship to an instant verve of awareness.”
    She stood too. “You are all talk, Hansel, and you know it. I cannot wait for the day when you meet the woman of your dreams and she has you fall down upon your rear with folly over her.”
    Collecting his plate and mug, he carried them to the water basin and then turned around to face her. “Gretel, you are sixteen—sixteen—and already you believe you understand the epitome of love and relationships. I find it deeply ironic that a girl who has never even comprehended her love for another is telling me—a man who has been in love this past year at least—how to go about doing it properly.”
    Her hand halted in picking up Adale’s plate. She nearly dropped it. “You are in love? With whom?”

CHAPTER SIX
    HANSEL SIGHED AND PUSHED himself off the basin. “A foolish girl who has no business capturing my heart, and that is all I will say on the subject.”
    “Certainly you do not mean one of the village maidens?” she asked, amazed she had never heard him speak of such things.
    “Of course she lives here in the village. Who else would it be?” He collected the rest of the dishes from the table and placed them in the basin for her.
    Gretel was not certain she liked this conversation. Her mind sifted through several different girls, and she could not imagine him losing his heart to a one of them. “Are you positive you have quite fallen in love?”
    He groaned as he walked over to the rocking chair and plopped down. “Yes, though it vexes me exceedingly that I have. I wish a thousand times a day I had not. It makes everything else dashed awkward for me.”
    “Do I know her?” she asked as she wiped the table down with a wet cloth.
    “Good heavens! I told you I will not speak of it anymore. So let us talk of something else.”
    It was strange to feel her heart grow cold. Why would this upset her at all? She attempted a giggle and teasingly asked, “Oh, so I do know her?”
    “Gretel, please. Enough.”
    “Fine. I will allow you your privacy. However, I believe what I enjoy most about this conversation is that you are upset by it.” She grinned, genuinely pleased.
    “You would find it humorous.”
    If only it was more humorous and not quite so disconcerting.
    ***
    IT WAS BOUND TO happen—eventually, Father got married again. The wedding was a bit more lavish than one would have expected, but it was charming nonetheless. Gretel could tell instantly why he had fallen in love with the woman. Cora Childress was very beautiful. Her raven-colored hair contrasted strikingly against the light summer gown she wore, and her emerald eyes sparkled under long, thick lashes. She was a vision of loveliness.
    And if Gretel found it odd that Cora had not come by to meet her and Hansel before the wedding, she did not mention it to Pa. Instead, she smiled and helped serve refreshments to the guests for the whole of the afternoon.
    When Cora moved into the house that evening, things began to change