CHAPTER 11
A Critter Culprit
Rosabella and Cedar continued on their search for answers in the forest. They walked along the brook, looking for clues. Rosabella was focused on a snapped twig in her path when suddenly she heard a loud rumbling from beside her. She jumped up, startled, before noticing that Cedar was rubbing her stomach.
“Sorry, Rosabella. I don’t want to sound discouraged, but I’m getting fairy tired and hungry,” she admitted.
Rosabella was starting to get hungry, too. She hoped Momma Bear might have a fresh batch of porridge in the cottage. Just thinking about it was making her even hungrier. “Let’s go back to the Bears’ cottage and rest. Maybe the Bears had better luck finding clues than we did today.”
“And maybe they’ll have some snacks!” Cedar Wood said hopefully.
As they neared the warm and cozy Bear family home, the two girls caught a familiar smell. Momma Bear had some porridge on the stove!
“Hexcellent!” they both hexclaimed and then laughed.
“Is that our new friends I hear?” called Momma Bear from the front door. “I have some dinner ready to share.”
“Let me guess,” said Rosabella, chuckling. “Is it just right?”
“Just right you are!” Momma Bear answered. “I added some savory herbs from my garden and a pawful of walnuts.”
Rosabella and Cedar helped Baby Bear set the table, and they all sat down for a yummy dinner. Everyone dug in, and after a second serving, Cedar held out her bowl for more. “It’s just so good!”
“My paws!” Momma Bear beamed with pride. “I’m glad my recipe turned out so well.”
Over their scrumptious dinner, the Three Bears caught the girls up on their progress. They had talked to the other animals in the forest—the big moose and the twisty snakes, the wise owls and the playful otters. None knew who was causing the trouble. Momma Bear was beginning to suspect this mayhem wasn’t being caused by any of the woodland creatures ever-after all.
Cedar chimed in. “We don’t think any of the creatures are at fault, either. All the animals were just so nervous. But Rosabella helped everyone stay calm and friendly.”
“Thanks, Cedar.” Rosabella was blushing.
“It’s true!” insisted Cedar. Everybody laughed, knowing she couldn’t tell a lie.
After they finished eating, Momma Bear cleared the table, and then everyone helped out with the dishes. While Cedar and Rosabella finished cleaning up, Baby Bear sat in his chair and started painting. The foxes had already dropped off some canvases made of bark. Baby Bear nibbled the end of his brush, thinking hard about what to add to his picture.
He suddenly looked up from the canvas with bright eyes. “Cedar, would you mind helping me finish my painting? I’m not sure if there’s something else I should add.”
Cedar walked over to him and took in Baby Bear’s artwork—and she was fairy surprised by what he had painted!
“Uh—Rosabella? I think you should take a look at this!” called Cedar.
Rosabella bounded over to look at Baby Bear’s brand-new bark painting. It showed a familiar scene. Confused critters stood next to a pile of debris, another mess of blown-down houses. There was a shadowy wolf running off into the forest.
But those weren’t just any old critters.
“Are those pigs?” asked Rosabella. “Are there three of them?”
Baby Bear nodded.
“But there aren’t any piggies in our forest,” Momma Bear noted.
“That’s because this isn’t a painting of our forest, Momma,” said Baby Bear with a smile. “It’s a painting of The Three Little Pigs. All these houses being blown down today reminded me of that fairytale!”
Rosabella took a closer look at the painting. After a moment, she finally realized that the colorful pile of debris the three pigs were standing by was made up of straw, wood… and bricks!
Rosabella started thinking out loud. “I’m fairy certain I know what’s going on in this hextra mixed-up story!”
Cedar’s eyes grew wide as she realized what Rosabella was saying. “We’re not just in Goldilocks and the Three Bears—”
“We’re in Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs!” announced Rosabella.
Their fairytale mix-up was mixed up with another fairytale!
“Wait…” Poppa Bear furrowed his brow. “I’m confused. What story is this?”
“It’s two stories mixed up into one! In the tale of The Three Little Pigs, a big, bad wolf would huff and puff and blow all the houses down!” hexplained Baby Bear as he pointed to his painting. “And in our tale, the forest houses keep getting blown down, too!”
“Oh. I see now,” Poppa Bear said as he pulled at his chin whiskers. “So the Big Bad Wolf has been blowing down our forest homes?”
“I guess someone else ended up in the wrong story, too,” considered Rosabella as she looked at the scary face of the wolf in Baby Bear’s picture. “Still, I don’t believe a big, bad wolf is responsible. Maybe a good wolf just got confused.…”
“There’s only one way to find out,” replied Poppa Bear. “We’ve got to set a trap to catch him in the act. Then we can question him.”
“If he’s a smart wolf, we’ll need a smarter plan to catch him,” Momma Bear suggested.
As the Bear family and Cedar began to scheme, Rosabella stood aside and thought, I just want to talk to the wolf! I’m sure if we listen, he can hexplain everything. I’m sure he’s just as friendly as the other critters in this forest.