Once upon a time there was a young woman named Minerva Plink, who, while not possessed of the glamorous beauty associated with many of the heroines who have appeared in this Knotty Fairytales series, nonetheless radiated an aura of irresistible cuteness that endeared her to everyone who met her. Nearly all her clothes were of bright, cheerful colors, she often gathered her mousy brown hair into a long ponytail that tailed down to her knees, and her eternally inquisitive fawn eyes peered through plastic, white eyeglasses that rested on her tiny nose.
"A nose that should have been minding its own business!" she was informed in a very nasty voice.
"Mpfff!" she replied, longing to explain that she realized she really shouldn't have peeked into the warehouse when she saw those crates being carried out, but, after all, the old building had ben deserted for ages, so of course it had piqued her curiosity to see all that activity. All she had she had meant to do was take a quick look before continuing her way, only those guys had spotted her and tied her up so quick! Unfortunately, she could say none of that, due to the thick cloth in her mouth and the bandana over her lips, gagging her. Still, Minerva was working hard on removing those obstacles to her speech, although she found it slow going.
"So, what are we going to do with you now?"
The glamorous blonde, perfectly attired and made up, looked more like a model than the leader of a criminal gang. She peered into Minerva's freckled face, studying the captive intently. Minerva squirmed, causing her eyeglasses to slide uncomfortably. There had been several… henchmen (Minerva had supposed them to be) present earlier, but they were gone now; it was merely the two of them. How Minerva longed to scurry away and make it only one!
"One phone call, and I'd have a big bag of quick-drying cement brought here," mused the blonde. "Along with a bucket, of course. We could take you for a boat ride on the St. Lawrence River, while your feet soaked. By the time we got out where the water is nice and deep, the cement would have hardened, and then, splash! Overboard with you!"
"Oh, please don't do that!" pleaded Minerva, spitting the cloth from her mouth. "I promise, I won't tell anyone anything I've seen here. Honest!"
"I see my boys didn't do the job of gagging you they could have." The blonde frowned, looking askance at the bandana hanging about Minerva's neck. "However, now that we're on speaking terms, what's your name?"
"Minerva!" she gasped out. "Only, people usually call me Mini, because, that short for Minerva, and also because, well, I'm so short. What's your name? Oh! If you don't mind me asking, that is!"
To her surprise, the blonde found herself unable to suppress the impulse that pulled her scarlet lips into a bemused smile. "Mini, is it? Well, in view of our situation, why don't you call me Maxi?"
"Is that short for Maxine?" Minerva asked eagerly.
"I wouldn't suggest getting too inquisitive on that subject," Maxi replied.
"I'm sorry!" Minerva apologized. "Of course it can't be your real name; you said that because I'm Mini."
"How very astute of you." Maxi arched a flawless eyebrow. "However, there is still the question of what to do with you."
"Oh, please let me go!" Minerva cried out.
"I can't do that," Maxi replied sadly. "You've seen me and my boys in operation. However, since you're really so sweet, I won't do the cement bucket thing. That only ever happens in the movies, anyhow. Tell you what, I'll find the nicest possible way to do away with you."
"But I don't want to be done away with." Minerva blinked her eyes helplessly.
"I don't want to do away with you either, but…."
"Just let me go; I don't know anything that would be of any real help to the cops; I'm sure you're through using this place, anyhow."
"Well, that's true," Maxi admitted reluctantly.
"It would be a good deed for you to do. If you do one for me, then one day, I'll do one for you. I swear I will!"
"What good deed could you possibly do for me?" asked Maxi, unable to hide her amusement.
"Oh, I don't know, but something, and if I ever get the chance, I certainly will! It would be like a debt I owed, and I would have to pay it back."
"All right, you don't have to carry things that far," said Maxi. "I'll untie you and off you go."
"Thank you so much!" Minerva exclaimed, hopping to her feet as soon as she was able. She absently adjusted her eyeglasses. "Hey, and I meant what I said. Someday I'll repay you for letting me free. That's a promise!"
…..
The next character to appear in our story is a wolf. Not a figurative one, as Minerva and Maxi, two human women, are represented as interpretations of Aesop's mouse and lion, but an actual wolf who could talk, dress himself fashionably, and drive his fire engine red Mustang convertible through the busy streets of downtown Syracuse, New York.
Minerva herself was driving an ancient sedan that had once belonged to her parents when she spotted The Wolf, and, more importantly to our story, Maxi. "It's Wolfy!" she exclaimed in wonder, for she had met him once before, although briefly. "And he's got Maxi all tied up!"
The blonde, wearing an ivory-white summer dress and seated serenely in the passenger seat, was indeed bound with numerous ropes and gagged with dark tape. As the Mustang paused at a red light, she looked coolly at several pedestrians waiting to cross the street, all of whom glanced away nervously. Syracuse is a big city, and, typically enough, no one wanted to Get Involved. The Wolf did not seem the slightest bit concerned with the pedestrians; in fact, it appeared to Minerva that he even greeted one of them nonchalantly.
"Wolfy's kidnapped her!" Minerva realized with an alarmed thrill. "Perhaps some rival gang wants her out of the way? Well, it doesn't matter why. If I can rescue her, then I would return the good deed she did for me!" Without thinking about it for a moment longer, she made an illegal U-turn, and, ignoring the resulting angry cacophony of car horns, followed as well as she could.
Even with the slow pace of city traffic, she found it difficult to keep up, for The Wolf maneuvered his muscle car adroitly amongst the other vehicles, darting smoothly like a brook trout amongst the rocks in a mountain stream. Poor Minerva could barely move at all. "On the bright side, at least I'm safe from ever getting a speeding ticket," she reflected glumly, depressing the accelerator, which had the modest effect of causing her car to edge forward reluctantly. "I'll be glad when I finish my studies at Clarkson and can afford a proper set of wheels."
Like many previous heroines of our Knotty Fairytale Series, Minerva was a student at that particular engineering university in upstate New York. Graduation and the new car seemed ages away, however, so she crawled along, barely managing to keep her quarry in sight, until she spied the Mustang entering a parking garage below a handsome apartment building.
"Wolfy has a penthouse on top," she recalled, having heard reports of his fabulous dwelling. "It'd be nice to visit some day and look around. But now I've got to rescue Maxi!"
Unfortunately, by the time she nudged into the parking garage, The Wolf and Maxi had disappeared, although Minerva spotted the Mustang easily enough. "I'll park here and go upstairs and rescue my friend," she decided. "Well, she's not exactly my friend, I suppose, but I've got to rescue her anyhow!"
She had a bad setback when she discovered the only way to reach the penthouse was via a private elevator, one that required a key to operate. "Well, my rescue attempt ends here," she thought, smiling sadly at the electronic lock.
"What do you mean, it ends here?" she seemed to hear. It was the voice of her conscience, or her guardian angel perhaps, scolding her. "Think of poor Maxi bound, up in the penthouse, struggling unsuccessfully to get free, awaiting a rescue that isn't coming, all because of a little obstacle like an electronic lock in your way!"
"I wouldn't call that a little obstacle," Minerva objected.
Her guardian angel wasn't finished, however. "Maxi very kindly released you, and you have an obligation to repay that good deed!"
"Well, I would like to, really I would," Minerva argued back, "only how am I supposed to get up there?"
"You've been studying all about computers and circuits at the University," she was reminded, "and you have some tools in your car. Don't tell me a clever girl like you can't figure a way around this!"
"Well, perhaps I could," Minerva admitted. "But, wouldn't that be against the law?"
"What's breaking one little law against rescuing someone you owe a debt to?"
Minerva had no answer to that, so she opened the trunk of her car and pulled out her tool kit. "I'm really not supposed to use this equipment for something like this," she whispered anxiously, but her guardian angel flashed an image of Maxi into her head, of Maxi struggling wildly as The Wolf mixed cement in a bucket and laughed evilly at her discomfiture. No! There would be no more excuses; she would come to the rescue, no matter what!
Minerva snapped the lid off the electronic lock, and attached leads to the wiring inside. She glanced at the small display she held in her hand, made several adjustments, until she heard the elevator descending. With a gentle hiss, the doors slid open.
Now that it was done, Minerva hesitated no longer. She calmly returned her supplies to her car. The elevator doors had closed in the meanwhile, but as she now had control of the mechanism, she opened them again with a touch of her hand.
"I hope I'm not too late!" she exclaimed, imagining all sorts of diabolical fates Maxi could be facing as she sped upwards to the rescue.
…..
"Well, that doesn't seem to be much of a diabolical fate!"
Minerva nearly said those words aloud, but clamped a hand over her mouth just in time. She hastily drew back and then peered forward once again, taking in the scene in The Wolf's living room. Maxi sat on an ornate, padded wooden chair, elaborately carved. Her wrists were tied to the armrests, her torso was tied with numerous ropes to the back of the chair, and her ankles were tied together and drawn back, connected by a line to the chair's back legs. She was not gagged, but a soft bandana covered her eyes as a blindfold.
The Wolf sat next to her. He reached into a large, glass bowl and retrieved a ripe strawberry drizzled with chocolate. "Open up, baby," he ordered, causing Maxi to part her lips, slightly. He nudged the sweet fruit into her mouth.
"Wow, that looks so good," Minerva thought, watching The Wolf reach this time for a piece of cantaloupe wrapped in a sliver of prosciutto. Minerva thought she had never seen anything so enticing in her life. "Right! I've got to get Maxi out of here, but how am I going to do that?"
The answer came a few minutes later. The Wolf, finished with the fruit, carefully cloth-gagged Maxi and removed the blindfold. "Be back in a bit, baby," he told her, carrying the empty dishes away.
This was Minerva's chance! He scurried forward nervously, expecting to see The Wolf return at any instant, but luck seemed to be with her and he remained away. "Hi, Maxi!" she said in a loud whisper.
Maxi's eyes opened very wide as she made indistinct noises into her gag.
"It's me, Mini," Minerva explained. "You remember me from the warehouse, the other day? I'm going to get you out of here, to pay you back for your good deed there!"
Maxi's eyes narrowed.
"Don't worry, I'll manage it somehow, although I don't think I have time to untie all these ropes right now. I know! I'll drag you and the chair to the elevator and then we can sort things out later."
Minerva tilted the chair slightly while Maxi shook her body with such agitation that Minerva paused. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Mpfff!" Maxi attempted to explain.
"Oh, your handbag!" Minerva tossed the purse dangling nearby into Maxi's lap, and then frowned, for Maxi's struggles were more animated than ever.
"Well, what is it now?" she demanded crossly. "We really need to get going; Wolfy will be back any second and then… oh, your shoes!" she exclaimed, spotting Maxi's stocking feet.
With a quick swipe, a pair of high heels joined to the handbag.
This did not calm Maxi, however, as Minerva noted with consternation.
"Not something else!" she exclaimed. "Look, I'm sorry, but whatever else it is will just have to stay behind. We have to get going!" So, ignoring the captive's continued struggles, she dragged the chair to the elevator.
"You know, I think we've got a bit of a problem,' Minerva announced after the elevator brought them down. She dragged the chair into the garage and wiped her forehead. "We wasted a lot of time gathering your stuff before we left, and since I'm pretty sure Wolfy's going to notice you're missing any second, we need to act before he comes looking for you!"
Maxi shot Minerva a meaningful look at those words, but, as Minerva had not removed her gag, remained silent.
"So, I'd better go back upstairs and keep him occupied," Minerva continued, "and you can make your getaway. You're probably used to doing that sort of thing in your, um, line of work. Of course, time is really short, so I'll have to hop right back up, but those ropes look pretty loose, so I imagine you can wriggle out of them in a jiffy. Well, good-bye!"
And, leaving Maxi still bound and gagged, Minerva darted back into the elevator and soon returned to The Wolf's penthouse.
"Hey, baby," he greeted her.
"Oh, hi, Wolfy," she replied with a nervous giggle. She wondered briefly how she would explain Maxi's sudden departure, but the appraising way he scrutinized her made her realize she didn't need to bother. "Um, would you happen to have any of that delicious fruit left?"
"There's some waiting just for you, baby."
"Oh, that's good. Um… got any more rope?" She shyly removed her glasses. "And another bandana?"
"Always keep plenty on hand, baby," he informed her, waving an inviting paw to another empty chair.
Minerva seated herself daintily and smiled as she felt the ropes circling her body. "The only problem," she reflected, "is that I didn't really rescue Maxi." She wanted to pretend that she had, that she didn't realize that Maxi had been a willing guest in The Wolf's abode, but her guardian angel was not fooled, so she had to make that admission. "So that means rather than rescue her, I did the opposite!" She pulled a thoughtful frown, wondering if she had really done the right thing to Maxi, taking her away from a romantic evening and leaving her all tied up in a parking garage. Her guardian angel seemed rather disturbed on that point.
"Open up, baby," The Wolf coaxed her, just as he had to Maxi.
"Mmm!" she exclaimed, recognizing the sweet flavor of honeydew tinged with mint. She was delightfully surprised to discover that her lack of sight intensified the taste. She chewed thoughtfully as she decided it was so perfect that her guardian angel was simply going to have to be overruled on this matter. "I don't think this is the time to worry about it!"
"Worry about what, baby?" asked The Wolf.
"Oh, nothing important," she replied, leaning forward expectantly for another morsel from him.
…..
Despite what she had said, Minerva had known perfectly well that Maxi would have a very difficult time with the ropes binding her. As the blonde struggled to free herself, several cars parked in the garage, but no one came anywhere near her shadowy corner, and, as she had no wish to draw attention to herself, she continued her efforts without any assistance. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally stood from the chair and tossed the last strand of rope aside.
"Right!" she exclaimed, imagining Minerva sitting tied up before her once again, while she towered over her, discussing various paybacks she could administer. It was delicious to think how she would ignore Minerva's pleas for release this time. "Now I'll take care of that little mouse, what was her name again? Oh, yeah, Mini!"
She kicked on her shoes and strode furiously to the elevator. After a brief hunt in her handbag, she retrieved her key and inserted it into the electronic lock. The device buzzed angrily, flashing ACCESS DENIED.
"What?" shouted Maxi. She tried again, but the result was the same. "She must have tampered with it, somehow!"
She was not defeated yet, however. Determination settled itself over her perfect features as she snatched her cell phone. "She may have thought she was so clever, locking me out, but one phone call will get my boys here, and with their criminal expertise I'm sure they're resourceful enough to get me back upstairs. And once they do, I'll pay her back extra for this added little trick of hers!"
MORAL: Those who return good deeds with bad are bound for trouble… and that's no lyin'.