“Our approach now is to cause as much of a disturbance as possible,” Robin Hood said.

“I’d like to help with that,” Puck offered.

“You’ll get your chance soon enough, Trickster King,” Robin said.

“What do you have in mind?” Uncle Jake asked.

“Oh, that would be telling,” Robin said. “As for now, I think I’d like to take a visit to Mr. Hatchett’s amusement park. I have a feeling that he’s not telling the whole story.”

“You think he was lying?” Daphne asked.

“That scrawny little man couldn’t carry a sack of groceries on his back, let alone the Big Bad Wolf,” Little John replied. “If only we could let Canis out, I have a feeling he could get the man to confess a few things he’d rather keep secret.”

“We don’t need the Wolf for that,” Daphne said. “Can we stop at home for a second before we go see Hatchett?”

“Sure, liebling,” Granny said. “What do you have in mind?”

Granny and Daphne rushed into the house. Sabrina waited in the car and watched the light flash on in Mirror’s room. They must have been picking up something in the Hall of Wonders. When they returned, they explained their plan to the rest of the group.

Puck was ecstatic. “It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to pull a good prank,” the boy crowed.

“You filled my pillow with horse manure four days ago,” Sabrina reminded him.

“Four days is a long time,” he replied.

Robin Hood and Little John pulled up outside the house and honked the horn.

“That’s them,” Granny said. “Let’s go.”

Uncle Jake backed the car out of the driveway, made sure the lawyers were right behind him, and then drove the family through the country roads of Ferryport Landing. Granny navigated with the help of a tattered map.

“I didn’t know anything about an amusement park dedicated to the Red Riding Hood story,” Uncle Jake said.

“Years ago Dr. Doolittle ran a petting zoo on the property, but it went bankrupt when the animals went on strike,” Granny said. “Apparently, Hatchett bought up the land. I have to wonder how much money he makes on the place. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, and, to be honest, I hadn’t heard a word about it until this morning.”

“Well, we’re about to find out,” Uncle Jake said, pointing ahead. “There it is.”

The amusement park looked more like a shrine to Hatchett than a place for a family to spend the day. A twenty-five-foot-tall statue of Hatchett himself greeted everyone at the front entrance. To get into the parking lot, the cars had to drive between the statue’s legs. Uncle Jake pulled the car through just as it backfired and sent a cloud of black smoke upward, staining the statue’s pants. In the parking lot they found a dozen more statues of Hatchett, including one where he stood triumphantly over a cowering wolf.

“This guy sure does love himself,” Little John said as he and Robin got out of their car.

“He’s the idol of millions, remember?” Sabrina said sarcastically.

“How do we get in?” Puck asked.

Uncle Jake pointed to a path with a sign above it that read THIS WAY TO THE SCENE OF THE CRIME!

The group followed the path until they came to a gate with several turnstile entrances. To the right was a store. A sign above it read the big bad gift shop. Sabrina spotted movement through one of the store’s windows and led everyone inside. Her entrance triggered a mechanical wolf’s howl that came from a dusty speaker mounted above the door. A pimply faced teenager behind the counter put down his handheld video game and approached the group. When he reached them, Sabrina noticed he was wearing a hat with big wolf ears on it.

“Welcome to Hatchettland,” he said in a well-rehearsed voice. “Are you here to visit the museum or just stopping by to stock up on all our popular Woodcutter-brand products like our gourmet Woodcutter Wasabi?”

“Actually, we were hoping we could have a word with Mr. Hatchett himself,” Granny said.

“He’s down at the house,” the teenager said.

“The house?” Sabrina asked.

“It’s at the end of the path. If you want to see him, you have to buy tickets.”

Granny sighed but purchased enough tickets to get everyone into the park. Once past the turnstiles they saw a sign that read WHERE IT ALL HAPPENED. GRANNY’S HOUSE! They hurried down a dirt path surrounded by forest. As they walked, speakers attached to trees told the story of Little Red Riding Hood and how Hatchett’s bravery had saved her life and the lives of countless others. The speakers crackled loudly, giving Sabrina a major headache.

At the end of the path there was a small wooden shack with a brick chimney. It looked rundown and drafty, with broken windows and vines growing up the walls to the roof. At odds with its appearance was the bright, blinking neon sign above its door that read GRANNY’S HOUSE.

“What’s this?” Sabrina asked.

Hatchett stepped through the front door. He looked startled to find the group waiting for him, but he quickly composed himself and gestured at the meager building.

“This is the house,” Hatchett announced.

“What house?”

“The house. This is where it all happened. This is Red Riding Hood’s grandmother’s house.”

“You built a model of it?” Uncle Jake asked.

“No, this is the actual house. I had it disassembled and shipped piece by piece to Ferryport Landing,” he said.

“Whatever for?” Granny asked.

“’Cause this is a bona fide, moneymaking tourist attraction. Do you know how many people know the story of Red Riding Hood? People read about it in every nation of the world and there are a lot of them that would pay a pretty penny to visit the actual place. Want to go inside?”

Sabrina wasn’t sure. If the stories were true, then horrible things had happened inside the little shack. It gave her chills just thinking about it, but Hatchett wouldn’t take no for an answer. He opened the door and urged everyone to come inside.

The house was one room with a dirt floor. There was a crude table and a chair in the corner and a small bed on the other side of the room. A dressing gown lay on a tattered quilt on the bed. The fireplace was ablaze and a cast-iron pot hung above the flames. Other than the fire, the room was dark, and the firelight created shadows that slithered along the walls. Sabrina was completely unnerved. She imagined she heard distant screams echoing around the room, until she realized the screams were real and coming from a speaker in the corner of the room.

“Every time I come in here, it’s like I’m transported to that day,” Hatchett said.

“Good to know,” Little John said. “’Cause we’ve got some questions about it.”

“I’ve said all I’m going to say on this matter. If you want to know more, you can read my book. It’s called Facing the Fangs: One Man’s Journey into the Jaws of Death. It’s for sale in the gift shop. It got a starred review from Publishers Weekly.”

“Congratulations,” Robin Hood said. “But we don’t have time to read your book. A man’s life is in jeopardy.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Hood.” Hatchett said. “I wish I could give you details, but the truth is it was a very long time ago. All that I really remember is that it changed me into the man I am today. When you become a hero, the little things just aren’t that important.”

“I had a feeling you would say that,” Granny said. “Children, would you like to step outside and get some air?”

Sabrina recognized the code the group had worked out beforehand. It was time to get down to business and Puck couldn’t have been more excited. He dragged the girls out of the shack and closed the door behind him.

“Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! This is going to be so much fun!” Puck shouted.