Page 89 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

Puppets on a String
While Mother Stahlbaum consulted Father Stahlbaum on the state of affairs, with the appearance of Clara and the banishment of Marie, the three boys, at about the same moment, were unlocking the Mouse Queen from the clock.
So, let’s return to their petrified state of disbelief, horror, and full bladder, before they wet their pants. They suffered for less than a second before the Mouse Queen bopped all three with Krakatuk and turned them into her puppets – even though they still looked like boys.
With a last swallow of peppermint, she shot them off, down the stairs and into the party below, to search for Drosselmeir. Their express orders? To find the Nutcracker and break it to bits!
Craving candy, depressed, and fed up with having
to exert herself, the Mouse Queen turned all her annoyance on Reggie, who was hiding in the folds of her skirts. (Okay, okay – I guess voluminous skirts have ONE advantage – if you’re not the one wearing them, that is!) Finally locating Reggie between her
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