LOLLY, THE LITTLE WITCH FROM THE WOODS

The Notorious Nettle Brothers

All of a sudden, they heard Dan the Driver say, "Whoa, Abel and Awall!" and the Royal Carriage came to an abrupt stop. Lolly and Marvin the Messenger looked out the windows to see that they had not arrived at the Kingdom but were still in the deep, dark woods.

"What is the meaning of this, Dan the Driver? Why have we stopped?" Marvin the Messenger demanded as he got out of the carriage, followed by Lolly, clutching her box.

"Look!" shouted Dan the Driver, as he pointed at the road. "There is a bunch of big branches blocking our way!"

"Oh no, no, no! This will not do!" exclaimed Marvin the Messenger. He pulled out a monogrammed hanky, dabbed the sweat off his brow and then tensely twisted it in his hands.

"What can we do?" asked Lolly.

Immediately, there came an evil laugh from the forest and four big bad bandits jumped out. They wore black shirts and pants that were too small because they had shrunk in the wash. It made their bellies stick out even though they tried to pull their shirts down. They also wore big black boots, big black hats and carried big black clubs.

Dan the Driver shrieked and said, "Oh no! It's the Notorious Nettle Brothers coming to rob us!" He huddled together with Marvin the Messenger as they whimpered with worry.

"That's right!" sneered one of them. "I'm Bog Nettle an' I'm the biggest!" And he was.

Another fierce robber came forward. "I'm Hog Nettle an' I'm the hairiest!" And he was.

"And I'm Log Nettle, an' I'm the Leader! We put that bunch of big branches in the road to stop ya so's we can take all yer money. An' ifin ya ain't give us no trouble, we'll only bonk ya on the head one time so's it won't hurt as much."

"What about him?" Lolly asked nervously, pointing to the fourth bandit.

"Oh, that's Fred," Log answered, "he's adopted." And he was.

"But we don't have any money!" cried Marvin the Messenger with an extra twist on his hanky.

"Is that so?" Log asked with a sinister smirk. "Then whatcha doin' on the Great Road in the deep, dark forest in a fancy coach?"

"Yeah, then whatcha doin' on the Great Road in the deep, dark forest in a fancy coach?" said Bog, Hog and Fred. Since the Bandits were brothers, sometimes they would talk at the same time like some siblings do.

Dan the Driver straightened up, squared his shoulders and stepped forward. "This is not a "coach"," he said indignantly. "I am Dan the Driver and this is the Royal Carriage from the Great Kingdom of the North!"

Marvin the Messenger squared his shoulders and stubbornly shoved the hanky back up his sleeve. Clearing his throat officially, he said, "Ahem! Yes, yes, yes! And I am Marvin the Messenger and we are on Official Royal Business."

"Well, what about her?" Log asked, pointing at Lolly. "An' what's in the box?"

"Yeah, what about her?" inquired Bog.

Yeah, an' what's in the box?" inquired Hog and Fred.

"I'm Lolly and this is...ummm, just a plain old root box," she answered awkwardly because she didn't want them to know she was a Witch of the Whitewood Tree. Carefully, she opened her box and everyone gathered around to look inside.

Each one of the brothers peered in the box as well as Marvin the Messenger and Dan the Driver. When Log reached out to touch the root, Lolly slammed the lid shut.

"No!" she shouted. "You mustn't touch it!" They all jumped back, startled.

"Hey, that aint money, Log." blathered Bog. "It's just a dumb old root!"