The children gathered around her wide skirt, staring at her with wide eager eyes. There were three of them: Tuk, a woodlin elf from a popular TV show; he had long blue hair and wore a green tunic with a leave pattern. Next to him was Smudgy, a stuffed puppy with a soot stain on his back; Tuk rested his hand causally on Smudgy as the two boys waited for the story. Finally, Dimple Dumpling, a five inch hard plastic doll with curly blonde hair and two deep dimples in her cheeks. They sat around the blocks together listening.
Bo Peep held the book of nursery rhymes in her porcelain hands. "'Jack and Jill:'" She read.
"'Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.'"
"Why was he wearing a crown?" Asked Tuk. "Was he a king?"
"'Crown' is another word for 'head.'" She replied. "Although the poem is referring to another king…"
"So he broke his head?" Tuk looked bewildered.
"Did they glue it back on?" Asked Dimple.
Before Bo had a chance to answer, Jessie's head popped up from behind her shoulder. "Jack and Jill!"
Bo gasped then frowned. "Jessie, don't scare me like that!"
"Who are Jack and Jill?" She intoned. "Brother and sister, friends, lovers?"
"Jessie, please…"
Jessie ignored her friend. "So many questions left unanswered! Why Jack and Jill? Why the hill? Why did they go to fetch a pail of water? Why didn't they use the faucet?"
The children giggled.
Jessie circled around like an interrogator. "And who sent them? Why didn't they go themselves?"
"Jessie, you're reading too much into this. It's just Mother Goose."
"Oh, so Mother Goose did it, huh?" Jessie smacked her fist into her palm. "I should've known! So Mother Goose sent Jack and Jill out on a false errand knowing Jack would get bumped off!"
"Bumped off?" Bo looked vaguely amused, although she was trying to hide it.
"Of course!" Jessie said as if it were obvious. "You don't think Jack fell down and broke his crown on accident, do you?" She leaned close to Bo, her hands resting on the blocks and her arms stretched straight. "Somebody wanted Jack out of the way. And Jill…Jill was just a loose end that needed to be tied up."
"You still don't have a motive." Said Bo dryly.
Jessie stood up straight. "The motive must be in the rhyme." She took the book and read, "'To fetch a pail of water.' Hmm…" She rubbed her chin, squeezing her green eyes into slits and staring off into the distance. She snapped her fingers. "I got it! Water's clear, right?"
"Right!" Said the children together.
"So what else is clear?"
"Glass?" Said Smudgy.
"Bubbles?" Tried Dimple.
"Diamonds!" Jessie answered. "Diamonds are clear! See?" She held the book out so Bo could look at the page. "The whole thing's in code! 'Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water' really means they were selling diamonds on the black market! Jack and Jill must have been part of a diamond smuggling ring! But something went wrong and both Jack and Jill…" She made a slashing motion across her throat. "Grrck!" She stood up straight and remarked causally as she looked at the book, "I don't know who it was, but I bet it was the same person who pushed Humpty Dumpty off the wall."
"Give me that!" Bo took the book back. "Jessie, you really are crazy."
"Oh, so you don't think my theory's plausible, do you?"
"Not so much plausible as it is silly." Bo looked at the illustration. Jessie sat down next to her on the blocks. "The poem 'Jack and Jill' refers to the beheadings of King Louis the 16th and Marie Antoinette."
"Oh that's just gross."
"It's true. 'Fell down and broke his crown' is a pun; it refers to Jack hitting his head, but also Louis the 16th losing his crown during the Revolution."
Jessie frowned and crossed her cloth arms. "I like my version better!"
"Yes, but mine's correct."
Jessie stuck out her tongue. "Nuuuh!"
Bo focused her attention back on the children. "Now, which poem would you like to hear next?"
"I wanna hear yours!" Said Dimple eagerly.
"All right, then." Bo turned the pages close to the front. "'Little Bo Peep. Little Bo Peep lost her sheep…'"
"…'Cause she was in the hall, sucking face with the Cowboy." Jessie finished smartly.
If Bo's blue eyes weren't painted on, they may have popped out. "Jessie!" She almost shrieked. Jessie doubled up with laughter, but Bo had had enough.
She stood up and grabbed Jessie by the arm. "Where're we going?" Jessie asked, still laughing.
"You're going out!"
"Out?"
"Out, out, out!" Bo pushed Jessie through the bedroom door and shut it, the Cowgirl still laughing on the other side.