The Tale Of Betty Boots (Grimmoire Series)

The Tale Of Betty Boots

A/N: Watch the embedded video to see a short film of this story, The Tale of Betty Boots. 

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Dark times had struck Blackbird Hollow. Little Boy Blue was the latest victim in a string of disappearances which saw local children entering the forest and never coming out. At first, everyone thought Blue would be asleep under the haystack, like always, but when he didn't show for supper, his parents alerted the council. After a couple of days missing, some brave townsfolk set off into the forest to find him, but all they found were his little blue overalls and his horn next to human bones. 

The council urged everyone to stay out of the forest. Townspeople began moving as rumours spread like wild fire. Children said they found strange footprints and glimpsed what looked to be giant, monster-like creatures roaming deep in the forest, but nobody knew for sure what evil lurked within.

* * *

Sunday was little Betty Boots' favourite day of the week, because every Sunday she went to visit her Grandma. The only way to to Grandma's house was through the forest. The forest had become a very dangerous place, with rumours of child-eating monsters, but that wasn't going to stop Betty from visiting her Grandma. Betty put on her skipping boots, her favourite Sunday dress - blue and white with a red cape - grabbed her picnic basket and set off.

The forest was lush and full with trees so tall, that Betty had to tilt her head to the sky to see the tops. A natural arch had been formed by trees at the entrance, with leaves decorating the ground. Warning signs reading "DANGER" and "KEEP OUT" had been erected. Betty skipped right past them and into the forest, humming aloud without a care in the world, when she noticed her shoelace had become untied. She spied a log where she could sit and fix her shoe and did just that. As she tied her shoelace into a bow, Betty looked up with a start. Did she just see a shadow? Was someone there? Could it be the fabled monsters that the others were talking about? Surely not... Cautiously, she grabbed her basket and walked on.

Betty was well and truly deep within the forest now. It would take the same amount of time to turn back as it would to get to Grandma's. With eyes darting everywhere, Betty took small, measured steps. Even the smallest rustle of a leaf caught her attention. The stories of monster-eating children began to fill her head, so Betty thought of things to calm herself and make her happy. She recalled the smell of Grandma's wood fire - she knew she'd smell it the moment she exited the forest. She thought of how full she would be - her tummy was beginning to rumble. She imagined the gunpowder smell right after Granny pulled the trigger on her hunting gun - that brought a smile to Betty's face.

Finally settled, Betty decided she was not being followed. Shrugging off her fear, she continued on skipping.

Betty's skipping came to an abrupt halt with a sickening crunch. She had stepped on a strange looking, white stick. Placing her picnic basket down, Betty picked up the stick and inspected it closely only to realise it wasn't a stick - it was a bone. Gripped with fear, her happy thoughts evaporated. A moment later she heard a twig snap behind her. She spun around to see a hideous creature covered in a white cloak with a black hood. It cocked its head slightly, curiously looking at Betty. Betty turned to run, but there was yet another large, imposing figure blocking her way and before she knew it a third creature, tallest of all, closed in on her. Betty stepped backwards, nowhere else to go. She heard more sickening crunches beneath her shoes, but dared not look down at the child-sized skull and bones she had trodden on. Betty found herself backed into the trunk of a huge tree and in that moment she realised the rumours were true. The monsters were real and she was looking right at them.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here then?" inquired the tallest Monster. Betty noticed he had inhumanly large shoulders and a fiendish face. "What's a little girl like you, doing in a place like this?" asked the hooded Monster, front tooth missing. "G-g-going to Grandma's house," stuttered Betty, helplessly precise. "What's your name, little girl?" spoke the hairless monster, with queer, pointed ears. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," said Betty, reminding herself to look fearful.

All the monsters mocked her in unison with an "Ooooo." The tall one spoke again, tapping his fingers together in a spider-like fashion, "Well, 'little girl who has no name', this part of the forest can be quite dangerous." "Yeah, haven't you heard of all the mysterious disappearances around here recently?" asked the hooded Monster. Betty shook her head. 

"So say a little girl came through these parts on her way to Grandma-ma's," the tall one began, illustrating his words with his fingers. "A little girl with no name, no less," the Hooded one continued, "nobody tends to look for a little girl with no name." Betty clasped her hands, at her side, tightly into fists. "Any last words?" asked the tallest Monster, putting his fingers to his mouth.

The monsters were cunning, but not as cunning as Betty. Her trap had worked. Betty closed her eyes and dropped her head down, as though defeated. All three monsters watched with morbid curiosity.

Unexpectedly, in a deep, gravelly, ghoulish voice, Betty replied, "I'm hungry." A moment later, Betty's eyes snapped open, but they weren't the eyes of a little girl anymore - Betty had transformed into a black-eyed, demon child.

Taken aback, the Monsters recoiled with a collective, "Huh?" 

Suddenly, their bloodcurdling screams echoed beyond the forest and way above the tree tops.

* * *

Outside of the forest, Betty skipped along, smiling, holding her picnic basket as if nothing had happened. She could smell the wood fire and in no time found herself outside Grandma's house.

Betty skipped up to the water pump. She took out a handkerchief, wiped some blood from her boots and rinsed the hanky under the pump.

* * *

Finally in Grandma's house, Betty walked into the kitchen, basket in hand. The kitchen was filled with pots and pans, different teapots and of course, Grandma's favourite hunting gun mounted above the fire place. "Gran," Betty exclaimed upon seeing her grey-haired Nan. "Betty dear, how lovely to see you," said Grandma, taking a break from cutting bread to hug her granddaughter. Grandma noticed Betty's basket. 

"Oh, what's this?" asked Grandma. "I brought you something special" replied Betty, sweet as pie. "Hmm, I wonder what it could be..." said Grandma, inquisitively. She began to open one of the basket's flaps, but Betty snapped it shut curtly. Grandma gave Betty an inquisitive look. "If you set the table, I'll bring it out," smiled Betty. "Oh I'm looking forward to it," Grandma replied, taking off her apron, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

 * * *

In the dining room, Grandma had almost finished setting the table, placing down some utensils and plates next to two cups of blood.

Betty appeared behind Grandma, walking in holding a silver platter with a dome-shaped lid on top. "Oh Betty, you scared me half to death," said Grandma, surprised. Betty placed the platter on the table and removed the lid. "Ta-da!" announced Betty. The platter contained the head of the tallest monster, centered around eyes, kidneys and other monster innards all covered in blood.

"Oh Betty," said Grandma, shocked, "my favourite!" Betty beamed at her Grandma. "Who's Granny's girl?" asked Grandma. "Betty is," she replied, proud as punch and happy as could be.

In a toast, they clinked their glasses of blood together.

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A/N: Watch the embedded video to see a short film of this story, The Tale of Betty Boots.