Little Boy Blue,
come blow your horn.
The sheep's in the meadow,
the cow's in the corn.
Where is that boy
who looks after the sheep?
Under the haystack,
fast asleep.
Will you wake him?
Oh no, not I.
For if I do,
he will surely cry.
Little Boy Blue
XXV.
First, Henry is excited that Emma wants to snoop around the mayor's garage. Excited, because she's finally starting to fight back. But then, it makes him nervous. Nervous, because it's risky, maybe too risky, and because she could get caught.
This whole being-a-hero thing is a lot harder than he thought, Henry realizes. It's not just breaking the curse - it's everything that comes before that too. And there's a lot that comes before. There's a lot they need to do before they can break the curse. But now, they're getting somewhere. Now, they're starting to change things.
But change is scary, even when it's good, but that's the point of being a hero, isn't it? Taking risks even when they're scary.
So when Emma asks him for his help, Henry says yes. Yes, he'll help her. Yes, they'll prove Miss Blanchard is innocent. Yes, they'll beat the mayor. Yes, they'll break the curse.
When he gets home from school, he finds the key to the garage door and hides it under the doormat. And later that night, when the mayor peeks inside his room, he pretends he's sleeping and hopes she doesn't hear how fast his heart is beating.
He counts to ten before he gets up. The eagle is in the nest and the package is secure, he whispers into the walkie-talkie.
When he climbs back into bed, his heart is still thumping. He did his part, now it's time for Emma to do hers. And he knows she can do it, because she's the hero in this story, she's the savior.
He's not nervous. Okay, maybe just a little.
He holds the walkie-talkie in his hand and closes his eyes.
Everything's going to be fine.
He pretends that it is.