The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy Page B

Reese?”
    The giant’s huge Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Yes,” he said.
    “That was the right answer, Reese,” Zaubera said. Then she curled her fingers and launched a crackling ball of energy into the giant’s already injured shin. Reese’s howl of pain echoed through miles of forest.
    “Don’t foul things up,” she said as Reese crouched down to massage his scalded leg. And she left.
    Ella looked at the giant. An enormous tear appeared to be welling up in the corner of his eye.
    Zaubera left, with her bubble of glittery prisoners bobbing behind her as she walked. As soon as the witch was out of earshot, Ella leaned out the window and spoke to the giant at his eye level. “Why do you let her treat you like that?”
    Reese flinched in surprise, causing the earth to rumble. Ella gripped the windowsill.
    “Sorry about that,” the giant said after the tremor subsided. “The prisoners don’t usually talk to me. Especially the famous ones.”
    “Famous? Oh, please, just think of me as your average, garden-variety hostage,” said Ella, realizing that her captor was a bit starstruck. “But you didn’t answer my question. The witch, she’s terrible to you. Why don’t you just—I don’t know—squish her?”
    “Oh, I couldn’t do that, ma’am,” Reese said. “That would be awfully impolite. My mother didn’t raise me that way. She always told me never to hurt a lady.”
    “But it’s okay to kidnap young women?”
    “Mum never said anything specifically about kidnapping. But look, I never did hurt you now, did I?”
    “No, I suppose not. As far as kidnappers go, you’ve been a perfect gentleman.”
    “Why, thank you. My mum would be proud to hear it.”
    “Tell me something, sir,” Ella said.
    “Oh, please, ma’am,” the giant interrupted. “Call me Reese.”
    “Thank you. Tell me, Reese: Your mother sounds like a very well-mannered woman. What would she think of that witch you work for?”
    “That’s an interesting question.” Reese scratched his head, sending huge white flakes of dandruff fluttering down like a freak snowstorm. “I think she’d certainly have some problems with her. Mostly the name-calling. Mum isn’t a fan of that sort of thing.”
    “So how did you get hooked up with someone as rude as your boss?” Ella asked.
    “Mum had been after me for quite a while to get a job, so when I saw the ad, I thought I’d go for it.”
    “Witches put out ads for henchmen?”
    Reese nodded. “You just have to know where to look.”
    “Fascinating,” Ella said. “So what do you do for the witch?”
    Reese looked worried. “Well, it’s all part of a big secret plot. So, I apologize, but I don’t think I should say. At least not until I check with the witch.”
    “That’s okay, Reese,” Ella said, trying to sound as gracious as possible. “I am your prisoner, after all, stuck here with no place to go. I suppose you can tell me whenever you want.”
    “You bring up a good point, ma’am,” the giant said. “Who are you going to tell, right? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to share a few of the details with you.”
    Ella smiled.
    “Well, the witch has been snatching up those singing folks—the bards,” Reese said.
    Pennyfeather! Ella tried to mask the thrill she felt.
    “She’s got five of them,” Reese continued. “She needed somebody to keep an eye on the prisoners while she prepares for her big finale. She calls the whole thing her Supreme Scheme for Infamy.”
    “So she hired you to help,” Ella guessed.
    “Not originally, no. Her first helper was this ogre named Grimsby, but she turned him into a smoking pile of bacon after he let one of the prisoners escape. Took the witch days to get the little singing guy back again.”
    “I see. That’s when she hired you.”
    “No. After Grimsby was a pair of dog-men. But they were too easily distracted by squirrels. So … bacon.”
    “And then you?”

    Fig. 19 Rejected HENCHMEN
    Reese nodded.
    “So where is