Read Online [Half/Time 01] Half Upon a Time by James Riley - Free Book Online

eggshellmouth grabbed the lollipop and crunched down, biting it in half.
    “Gah!” Jack shouted, dropping his half of the lollipop.
    “I took her down on my first try, you know,” May pointed out.
    “She’s not the main concern,” Jack said. “We need to find something to use against her children!” As he spoke, they could hear loud scraping sounds on the door, followed by little plaintive cries, as if the witch’s children were babies crying for milk.
    “What about that?” May said, pointing at the curved knife the witch had been using to cut open Jack’s clothing when he first woke up.
    “We might want to think bigger,” he said. “One knife’s not going to protect us very long against all those creatures.”
    “Fine,” May said. She paused, then grabbed Jack and pulled him toward a small door in the corner of the house. “We still have all the noncandy tools in the closet, though!” she said, yanking the door open. “Maybe there’s something in here we can use as a weapon.”
    Jack made his way over to her, dodging random gardening equipment she threw out of the closet. A hoe, a saw, a rake … none of these were big enough. There was some wood for the fire, still not enough … oh, his grandfather’s bag! Jackgrabbed it as it flew by and threw it over one shoulder. May hadn’t stopped, though. A hammer whizzed by his leg, followed by a broom, then a metal pot …
    A broom?
    “Hold on!” Jack yelled, spinning around to pick up the broom. He hated to use magic, but it didn’t look like they had much of a choice.
    May tossed a few other assorted instruments out of the closet, then turned around. “What?” she said. “That hammer’s no better than the knife.”
    “Not the hammer,” Jack said. “The broom. That’s our way out.”
    Outside, the clawing grew louder, and not just at the door. It sounded as if the creatures were trying to claw—or eat—their way right through the walls of the house. Apparently the poison didn’t affect them.
    “Are you still drugged on candy?” May asked, narrowing her eyes. “You do realize that’s for sweeping, right?”
    “Don’t you know anything?” Jack said. “How do you think witches get around?”
    “Don’t touch that!” the witch cried out, struggling harder against the licorice bindings.
    “One more word, and you’re going in the oven!” May said, then turned back to Jack. “You’re saying witches actually ride around on brooms?” she asked, one eyebrow up. “Wow, how old-school.”
    Jack shrugged. “It’s tradition.”
    “So how does it work?” May said, taking the broom from him. She straddled the handle and began hopping around the room with it under her. “Giddyup!” she shouted. “Let’s go! Bibbity-Bobbity—”
    “Don’t just
yell
out magic words!” Jack shouted at her. Did she even know what she was saying?! Who knew what spell she might cast!
    “I think we’re safe,” May said as she came to a stop. “And apparently I just ran around on a regular broom. Great idea, genius.”
    Jack grabbed the broom and looked it over, thinking. Finally he shrugged, held it horizontally at shoulder level in both hands, then brought the broom down as hard as he could toward his knee, as if he was going to break it in half.
    Just before it hit his knee, the broom leapt out of Jack’s hands and into the air with a squeal. It bucked wildly, then tore off around the cottage, madly flying in every direction like a trapped insect looking for a window.
    May threw herself out of its way, but as the broom tore past Jack, he jumped up and grabbed it with both hands, holding on tight. The broom didn’t even slow down, continuing its frantic dash around the cottage, only now dragging Jack along behind it.
    “Little help?” he asked as he flew by May. The princess grabbed Jack on the next go-around, and between the two, they managed to pull the broom back down to the floor.
    “I think I figured out how to make it go,” Jack said,