Page 76 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

pretended to ignore the voice, like they would ignore any adult voice that called to them when the three of them ran in a pack.
The Mouse Queen swallowed her annoyance and called again. “Little boys! Little boys! I’m locked inside the clock and need your help.”
This was funny. The boys howled with laughter and thumped each other’s backs. How stupid could this adult be to get themselves locked inside a Grandfather Clock! When they had finally laughed themselves into tears and had to hold each other up and gasp, the Mouse Queen with growing impatience, that caused Reggie no end of alarm, called for what he knew was the last time, “Little boys? Little boys? Do you want some candy?”
Now she had their attention, and the Mouse Queen could sense it! All she had to do was reel them in. “I’ve all sorts of freshly made fudge,” she said, even though she had eaten it all.
The boys, who had been wavering before, dropped all pretense of arrogance, and in a jumble of elbows, vied to be the first to open the door, in hopes of snatching the candy and wolfing down half of it, before being forced to share by whatever stupid adult was locked inside.
When the key was finally turned – for they fought for possession for a good two minutes – Reggie knew the temperature of the clock had gone up ten degrees, as the Mouse Queen grew even more angry and impatient. With a sense of dread, he knew she was coming down from her sugar high. He was very grateful that, for this very moment, she seemed to have forgotten his existence.
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