The next morning the children went out to the forest again, in hopes that they would encounter the lady. They wandered to the same spot and there she was sitting on a rotting log, Holding the bag. Once again the lady gave them some candy, but this time she started asking very strange questions. “What is your mother’s name?”, “Where do you live?”, “Do you like your mother?”, “Do you like where you live?”. The children answered all her questions. The lady smiled as they replied that they didn’t like their mother or where they lived.
“Children, you have not yet properly introduced yourselves to me,”
she said.
“I am Laura, and this is Billy and Johnny,” Laura said.
“What beautiful names you have. I am Miss Elizabeth.”
The lady walked in a circle around the children inspecting them closely like a wolf circling their prey. But once again the children didn’t mind or find her behavior odd.
“It doesn’t look like your mother feeds you very well. Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight?” Miss Elizabeth suggested. The children all nodded their heads excitedly in agreement and ran off home to tell their mother.
Of course, their mother had yelled and forced them to stay home, but it was three against one and the children fought their way home and ran to the forest once again. It was cold and the wind hit them in their faces as they darted through tree branches and stumbled over rocks. As they reached the area that Miss Elizabeth always waited for them, they sat on a log and caught their breaths.
Miss Elizabeth soon emerged out of the trees and hugged the children. They happily greeted her as she smiled at them.
“Children, today I have not brought any candy because we will be having dinner. Follow me, I will show you where I live.”
The children pranced behind Miss Elizabeth as she led them deeper and deeper into the forest.
After some time of walking, they all stopped at an enormous cave with an entrance so dark it looked as if the cave had no end. The children stood puzzled in front of the cave.
“Is this your house?” Johnny asked.
“Yes, I live here. Don’t let its appearance deceive you. It is quite nice inside.” Miss Elizabeth explained.
The children all felt a tiny amount of fear and doubt about Miss Elizabeth building up inside them, but they followed her in. Miss Elizabeth lit several candles and to their surprise she was right. The cave was beautifully designed with gold walls. Plush couches and pillows surrounded the room and the smell