Page 65 of Hansel and Gerhardt
And how he would be left completely unprotected if Hansel ate.
But if he did not… Hansel wasn’t sure what would happen. Yet Herr Candy had made it clear he would be separated from Gerhardt if he did not comply, one way or another. No matter what, he could not let that happen.
Hansel took up the lederhosen, laid out on his bed. There was no option of putting a shirt underneath or a jumper over the top. No socks were provided. He would be barefoot, half naked.
Would he feel the cold after he ate? Gerhardt didn’t seem to. But after all, the kitchen was warm. That oven burning all the time, pumping out heat and cakes. And whatever else Herr Candy had in mind for that day’s feast…
He slipped one leg, then the other, into the soft leather shorts, then pulled them up to his hips. He brought the straps over his arms, then buckled the pants. It was strange how well they fit. Tight, clinging, but the right size.
Why did Herr Candy have them? Where had they come from? What kind of messed-up fantasy required both Gerhardt and Hansel to walk around half naked doing chores for a demonic creature in the woods?
He had neither energy nor time to mull it over.
Slowly, he trod down the stairs, searching everywhere along the way for a weapon of some type.
Nothing.
Nothing.
No control.
He returned to the kitchen to find that Gerhardt hadn’t moved—not a step since Hansel had left the room. Herr Candy leaned against a bench, the fingers of one hand tapping impatiently on his thigh, and it was as if no words had been spoken between them. As if Gerhardt had remained there, frozen in time and silence, waiting to be set back in motion, like a doll.
But with Hansel’s return, activity whirred up once again, starting with a delighted smile that beamed from Gerhardt’s face, and with the hands that slid to his hips. “You look so nice, Hansel.” He verily gasped the words out, that pink about his cheeks, his skin luminous.
Gerhardt. He was in there. It was in his eyes now. The way they shone for Hansel and Hansel alone, in spite of all the riches laid out before him.
And the proof was in the instant drop of Herr Candy’s pretence. Whatever slight welcome had been in his pose upon Hansel’s return fell with his left shoulder as his eyes narrowed on Gerhardt. “Even with all this before you…”
Gerhardt’s own eyes fell a little frightened on him, then brightened forcefully. “Oh, but this feast! It-it’s wonderful.” Yet he couldn’t hold it. His gaze immediately flew back to Hansel. “But your lederhosen. They, um…” He licked his lips. “Look at how big your chest is in them. The way the straps…” He ran his own hand down his own strap absentmindedly, his fingers feeling over his delicate skin as greedily as if it was Hansel he could feel. “Look at your thighs.”
Hansel did look down, with a blush and a smile. He’d never been so proud of them.
Herr Candy cracked it all apart, snapping at Gerhardt, “I thought you were hungry?”
“Oh, but I am,” was Gerhardt’s breathless reply. He looked as though he might leap on Hansel right then and there, might takea bite. Then he almost burst with an even brighter idea. “Should I go get changed too? Maybe Hansel could help me upstairs—”
“No!” shouted Herr Candy. “You should stay right there! Right by your seat!” He strode to the head of the table and threw out a hand to bid Hansel to come behind his seat.
Hansel took his place opposite Gerhardt, and they both stood still, awaiting Herr Candy’s word to sit, one excited, the other terrified, but with the warmth of love ever-kindling in his chest.
Herr Candy dipped his head as he gripped the back of his chair, then he let out a long sigh. Gathering himself, he then picked up his golden truffle and raised it high on his thumb and first two fingers. He twirled his handsome wrist, the orb glittering, glinting in the fading light of the day, just filtering through the forest trees.
There it was.
The very dessert that had horrified Hansel that first hour of their arrival.
The one that was to be his undoing.
He looked to Gerhardt, expecting him to be devouring it already, or for his eyes to be glued expectantly to Herr Candy’s treat.
But Gerhardt’s eyes were on Hansel, clear and adoring.
Herr Candy assessed them as their eyes met across the table. Hansel didn’t say a word, only clung to that last look with all the love in his soul. For it was but a moment, and they would both be gone, one way or another.
“One bite,” said Herr Candy, as if reading his thoughts. “One bite, and you can say goodbye to hunger forever.”
“Forever?” asked Hansel.
