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The wolf stepped out from his hiding place. "Skulking? Me? Never. I
just feel it is impolite to interrupt."
All eight of the short fellows laughed as they walked away.
"Nevermind them," the wolf scoffed. "I've come to look at your fine
new home."
Nevermind them? Wuntvor didn't even understand them. He
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had no idea why those eight short fellows had shown up. "Once upon a
time," he muttered under his breath, turning his attention to the
furry fellow with the green cap, who seemed quite a bit closer than
the last time Wuntvor had looked. At this distance, he couldn't help
but notice the size of the beast's incisors.
"Is something the matter?" the wolf inquired smoothly.
"Um--," Wuntvor began, trying to phrase his observation as politely
as possible. "My, what big teeth you have."
The wolf shook his head peremptorily. "No, I'm sorry, that's another
fairy tale altogether."
The lad looked down at the ground, trying to think of a suitable
apology. But when he looked up again, the beast was almost on top of
him.
The wolf licked his chops. "Speaking of appearances, you'd look
particularly good in a light cream sauce." The wolf wiggled its
shaggy eyebrows. "But perhaps others have told you that."
Wuntvor frowned. Come to think of it, somebody or other had told him
that once, somewhere or other. Or at least Wuntvor thought they had.
Didn't he? But what did it all mean?
"Doom," came a deep, booming voice from the bushes.
"You'd better watch out," a much smaller and higher voice added. "Or
it'll be time for Brownie Power!"
The wolf frowned. This was definitely not the way this story was
supposed to go. After all he'd promised Mother Duck, his fairy tale
was getting out of hand as well.
"That's right!" Wuntvor declared, as if a veil had been lifted from
his eyes. "That's what you were doing when you snuck up on me. You
were skulking!" He pointed at the beast's open mouth. "That must mean
that you're the wolf!"
"Doom!" Hendrek exclaimed as he charged from the bushes, his warclub
high above his head. Tap cheered from where he clung to the large
fellow's shoulder.
"Hey!" the wolf protested, covering his head. "Give a guy a break.
I'm only trying to make a living!"
"Doom!" Hendrek replied, grabbing Wuntvor by his shirt. "Into the
house!"
And the three friends ran inside, slamming the very heavy oak door
behind them.
Jeffrey uncovered his head and stared at the thick door. This fairy
tale had gotten so far off course that even he could barely
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recognize it. He decided not to even try the next part, with the
huffing and puffing. The wolf was a realist, after all. He knew all
about his luck with brick houses.
But there were other ways of getting food. The wolf laughed ruefully
at the closed doors. All right, my dinner delicacies, he thought. If
that's the way you want it, that's the way it's going to be.
They had tricked him with houses made of shoes and weapons. Well,
there was more than one way to end a fairy tale. He'd show them that
a wolf could improvise as well!
And with that, the wolf skulked back into the forest.
In the meantime, the three friends huddled within Wuntvor's brick
house.
"Doom," Hendrek remarked. "Isn't it a little dark in here?"
"Yeah!" Tap added. "The only light's coming from that little hole
overhead!"
"Indeed." Wuntvor looked up at the small portal that still showed the
early evening sky. "That is the only part of my house that I haven't
finished."
"Doom," Hendrek commented. "Don't you think you should have put in
windows?"
Wuntvor considered, then shook his head, a motion that was almost
lost in the gathering gloom. "Windows wouldn't have been wolfproof. I
had a singleness of purpose when I built this house. Still, this
place isn't much good for anything but hiding, is it?"
They opened the door and peered out. The sun had sunk far below the
trees, and deep shadows stretched across Wuntvor's lawn, as if the
night had already claimed the ground and was working on the sky. It
was difficult to see anything in the gathering dusk, but they all
heard a great crashing and tearing that was coming closer.
"Doom," Hendrek whispered. "What could that be?"
"Indeed," Wuntvor added. "It doesn't sound like a wolf."
Tap jumped boldly from Hendrek's shoulder. "I am small and will be
difficult to see in the shadows. I will go investigate."
And before either of his friends could protest, he was gone.
The crashing grew louder still, and was accompanied by bestial
laughter.
"Tap?" Wuntvor called softly into the night. "Can you see
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anything? Is there something we should do?"
The little fellow's answer was to run back inside and hide behind the
lad's leg.
"Close the door!" Tap yelled. "Close the door!"
"But what did you see?" Wuntvor inquired.
"Big . . ." the little fellow gasped. "Scaly . . . Fire-breathing
"Doom," Hendrek rumbled. "The wolf has brought a dragon."
"A dragon?" Wuntvor wondered. "What could he do--"
But his conjecture was cut short by the wolf's call:
"Open your door or I'll vent my frustration!"
"Indeed?" Wuntvor whispered to the others. "Maybe this isn't as bad
as we think. Maybe there's some way we can talk this out." He called
back to the wolf:
"Is this request open to negotiation?"
The wolf could barely restrain his laughter as he yelled: "Then we'll
huff and we'll puff and we'll bllloooooowww your house down!"
"Duck!" Wuntvor called as a great roaring sound came from without.
Wuntvor and the others fell to the earthen floor, covering their
heads to protect them from flying bricks. But the house was so well
put together that the dragon's breath picked it up as a single piece
and sent it soaring into the night sky.
Wuntvor stood, looking out at the clearing still lit by dragon fire.
The wolf smiled and licked his chops.
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