“What was she doing to the wolf?” Robin asked.
“It’s still hard to describe, but she was kind of splitting the animal into two pieces,” Hatchett explained.
“Gross!” Daphne exclaimed.
“Not physically!” Hatchett said. “The wind seemed to be pulling the madness out of the animal . . . like she was taking the bad stuff out of it. She pulled the wolf’s dark self out of it and it was now its own animal. It was made out of shadows and viciousness. The old woman trapped it in a clay jar and put a stopper on it. Then the wind faded as if it had never been there. Once it was gone, the wolf in the cage was as tame as a golden retriever.”
“Get to the point!” Puck growled, bearing his wolf fangs. “We don’t care about some regular wolf. When did I show up?”
“Let him finish, Puck . . . I mean, Wolf,” Uncle Jake said.
“Back then magic was something people feared, so I begged Tobias to leave. We were getting set to go and get some help when the little girl arrived.”
“Red Riding Hood?” Robin asked.
Hatchett nodded. “She came skipping up to the house and knocked on the door. The witch told her to come inside and she did. They hugged and I realized the witch was the child’s grandmother. A moment later, the old woman was helping the child into one of the empty cages and turning her wind machine on. That’s when Tobias decided to act. He was really brave. He didn’t give it a second thought. He just stormed into the house and attacked the witch. I’d never seen anything like it. They fought like animals until Tobias knocked that clay jar out of the witch’s hand. It shattered on the ground and then—well, you wanted to know when the Big Bad Wolf showed up? That’s when it happened.”
“I’m confused, Howard,” Granny said. “That’s when what happened?”
“The madness that was inside the wolf wrapped itself around Tobias. It seemed to seep into his pores and a moment later my boss was gone and the Big Bad Wolf was born.”
“Red’s grandmother created the Big Bad Wolf?” Daphne asked.
Hatchett nodded. “The witch’s spell transformed him into the monster. After that, Tobias didn’t exist anymore, it was only the Wolf. He was like that for a long time, until fifteen years ago, when I heard he had regained control.”
Sabrina reached into her pocket and felt the energy of the kazoo. She realized the tiny object had big secrets, more than she had originally suspected.
“Then what happened to the grandmother?” Puck asked.
“She fought him as hard as she could. There were so many spells coming out of her, but none seemed to hurt the Wolf. He just kept coming and she was no match for him,” Hatchett said, then looked into Puck’s face. “I mean, she was no match for you. What else can I tell you?”
“Did you even fight the Wolf?” Daphne asked.
“No, I hid,” Hatchett whimpered. “After a little while when I was sure the Wolf was gone, I stumbled upon the child. I took her back to her village, but her family was gone. They had deserted her, so I took her to the local sheriff.”
“And that’s when you made up the story of how you had saved her,” Sabrina said, disgusted.
“I figured what could it hurt? The child was out of her mind anyway. She would repeat whatever I told her.”
“You took advantage of a little girl who had just witnessed her grandmother’s murder,” Little John bellowed. “What she saw drove her insane!”
The thought of having to deal with the huge lawyer, as well as the Wolf, was obviously too much for Hatchett and he broke down into tears.
“That’s not my fault. She was crazy when she showed up at the house! You could see it in her face. Even the witch was afraid of her.”
Robin tapped Puck on his huge shoulders. “Let him up.”
“Aw, c’mon,” Puck said. “I don’t think he even wet his pants.”
As Hatchett climbed to his feet, Puck’s disguise began to fade. The would-be hero watched with alarm. “What is this?”
“Sorry, but the hands of justice are unfair in this town,” said Robin. “We’ve had to learn to play dirty, too. What you’ve told us is going to be a great help to our case.”
Hatchett turned red with anger. “No one will believe you! I’ll lie. I’ll tell them you’re making it up. I’m a hero. They’ll believe me.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Robin said as he reached into his jacket pocket. When he removed his hand, he was holding a small tape recorder. “That’s why I brought this.” He pressed the stop button and then rewound it, playing back Hatchett’s confession.
“I’ll look like a fool! I’ll be ruined!”
“Mr. Hatchett, you do quite a good job of that all on your own,” Granny said. “You are a charlatan who has lied his way into fame and fortune. If I were you, I’d change my ways, because I know the real Big Bad Wolf, and he’s not as nice as Puck.”