Page 138 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

And down Drosselmeir swept, down to the foot of the stairs – to find Clara, holding the Nutcracker and pushing his broken jaw closed, only to have it drop open again. And she’d push it shut once more,
and it would drop. Hard telling how long the “shut and drop” would have gone on, if Drosselmeir had not whipped out a clean handkerchief and tied the Nutcracker’s jaw shut. Half of this was a pretense on Drosselmeir’s part, as he had thoroughly examined the extent of the damage done. It was a great relief to Drosselmeir to find only a slipped hinge, which he reattached, before tying the jaw shut to give it a rest. The other half, was to give him time to whisper a warning to Clara.
A warning which she only half heard, and entirely did not understand.
Realizing Clara was in shock, and seeing Mother Stahlbaum fighting her way to them, through the guests lining up for the last dance of the evening, Drosselmeir pulled Clara to her feet and joined the dance – much to everyone’s, except Reggie and Mother Stahlbaum’s, relief.
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