4
Operation Save the Turkey
Henry set his alarm on his Nook to go off around 4:30 AM. When it beeped in his ear, as he'd put the Nook underneath his pillow, he woke up and got dressed, putting on his jeans and a long-sleeved thermal pullover as the nights and early mornings were freezing now. He tucked his buckskin horse amulet beneath the pullover for luck. He also put on his boots that he'd gotten from Rumple, and Bae's shawl, putting it on around his neck, and leaving some to pull up over his head like a hood. He got gloves out of the bottom drawer and put them in the pocket of his pullover.
Then he went to wake up Regina.
Luckily the little girl woke up as soon as he shook her and whispered, "Regina! It's time to save the turkeys!" in her ear.
He got her to go potty and then went to help her get dressed. She insisted upon wearing her Pocahontas costume over her clothes, saying they were the proper clothes to save turkeys in.
Henry didn't bother to argue, just helped her put on the costume. Then she dragged out a bag where she had some Indian headbands and stated that everyone saving the turkeys had to wear one.
Henry just sighed and said they could talk about that later, but now they had to be really quiet and sneak out of the apartment and into the elevator. He grabbed his backpack, which contained his other walkie talkie, his Nook, and the Once Upon A Time book, and slung it over his shoulder.
They tiptoed down the hallway and across the living room floor. Then Henry opened the door while Regina slipped out with the bag of Indian headbands. He grabbed his house keys from his jacket and carefully locked the door behind them, and then led Regina out and into the elevator.
In about five minutes he'd gotten his bike and the Radio Flyer out of the garage and tied the wagon to the back of his bike. "Okay, Regina. Get on in the wagon and we're going to meet Alina and the rest of the secret agents and save the turkeys." He picked up the child and put her in the wagon, hopped on his bike, and pedaled off down the street, heading over to what used to be his old house.
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
Henry rode up on his bike with Regina in the wagon and found Hans, Grace, the Zimmermans, and Alina already gathered at the end of Mifflin Street on their own bikes. He heard Grace discussing what she and Alice had already made for Thanksgiving, telling Alina she had made something called Indian pudding for dessert. Everyone was dressed in warm clothing and Hans carried something that looked like a shepherd's crook in one hand.
"What's that for?" Henry hissed as he rode up.
"For herding the turkeys, of course," Hans said, like it were obvious. "You don't think those silly birds are just gonna walk right out the gate do you? They gotta be herded, same as you do with goats or pigs."
Henry hadn't thought about that, since he wasn't used to interacting with livestock. "Oh. Okay. Is everyone ready to liberate the turkeys?"
Everyone nodded and Regina cried, "Yeah! Let's go save 'em!" Then she went and handed Henry a headband. "Here, Henry. You all gots to wear these so's you look like Indians, 'cause Indians save turkeys."
"We've got to what?" Hans stared at the child.
"Just humor her," Alina said, taking a headband and putting it on.
"And who are you?" asked Eva softly.
"I's Pocahontas, the Indian princess," Regina told her proudly.
"Sure she is," Hans snorted, taking a headband. "First she's the mayor, now she's a princess. She's always got to be the boss."
Nick chuckled and nodded, also putting one on. "Only she's funnier now than she used to be. I was always afraid of her before."
"Me too," Grace said, and took one also. "Okay, now what, Alina?"
"Now we have to plan how we're going to get the turkeys out without Mr. Fox or Ash hearing," said Belle's daughter. "And how we can get them to the convent before they all get run over." She pulled out a map from her backpack and a purple Sharpie marker. "Okay . . . so here's Fox's farm. Here's where the turkeys are, in this building here," she indicated a square building just behind the mansion.
"How do you know that?" asked Nick.
"Because I went over there with Mayor Nolan when he went to reserve a turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner," she replied.
"Alina, we aint't havin' turkey for Thanksgiving!" Regina stated.
"Yeah, I know, imp. But anyway, that's how I know where the turkeys are," Alina explained.
"And 'cause she's got a photographic memory like her papa," Henry added.
"I wish I did," groaned Hans. "I've got a memory like a sieve."
"That's 'cause you don't concentrate," Eva said. "You memorize sports stuff all right."
"Well, I like sports," said Hans defensively. "School's boring."
"If you pay more attention, you'll get out of school faster," Alina pointed out. "So . . . here's where we start . . . and here's where we have to go," she indicated the convent at the north end of Storybrooke. "Now, what's the best way to get the turkeys there?"
The children bent over the map, studying it and offering suggestions. Finally, Eva said, "I think the best way would be through here, we can use part of the woods for cover, but then we'll have to take them down Main Street a ways."
She traced a route with her finger.
"Yeah, that looks good," said her twin.
Hans nodded. "Yup. And maybe we can say we're giving a turkey parade if anybody asks?"
"Good idea, Hans. Okay, so the route's planned," Alina said. "Now, who knows how to herd turkeys?"
"Well, I ain't never herded turkeys, but I've herded goats and pigs plenty back when we lived in the Enchanted Forest, me and my dad and mom and my older sister," Hans said.
"I can herd geese," Grace said softly. "My papa taught me, we used to have a flock of them and gather their feathers to stuff pillows and mattresses and . . . uh . . . eat their eggs and . . . um . . . you know . . ." she glanced pointedly at Regina.
"Yeah, we know," Henry nodded.
"Hey, you know the turkeys might just follow a trail of corn . . . sort of like breadcrumbs," Eva said.
"Yeah, turkeys like to eat corn," Nick nodded. "Uh, can one of you enchant the corn, make it so once they eat it they have to follow it to the convent?" He looked questioningly at Henry and Alina.
"Yeah, I could do that," Alina said. "But where do we get the corn from?"
"Fox is bound to have some at the farm to feed the turkeys," Henry said. "And Eva and Nick can sprinkle it for the turkeys to follow on their bikes."
"All right, so you and Hans, Grace, can herd turkeys once we get them out of the barn or whatever," Alina said. "Henry and I will cover you with our magic . . . make sure nobody can really see what we're doing while we get them off the farm."
"I can open the door too," Henry said. "Grandpa taught me an unlocking spell a few weeks ago . . . after I locked myself out of your house, Alina, when I went outside to get the mail and the door shut and Grammy didn't hear me banging 'cause she was resting."
"That was the time I was helping Papa at his shop, right?" Alina whispered.
"Yeah, so then he taught me that spell, just in case," Henry said. He felt slightly guilty using his magic like that, which was not how Rumple had intended for him to use it . . . but what choice did he have? The turkeys were sure to be locked up, just in case animals came around.
"So, if everyone knows what to do," Alina said, "Then let Operation Save the Turkey get started!"
"What about me, Alina?" a little voice suddenly cried. "What can I do?"
"Uh . . . you can be look out, Regina," said Henry quickly. "And . . . uh . . . direct us all."
"Okay!" Regina looked happy now that she had an important part in the rescue effort.
Then they all got on their bikes and headed over to Fox's Fowl Farm, reminding Henry of the way Elliot and his friends had all gone to help ET return to his spaceship in the movie.
The dawn was a hazy gray shroud over the landscape as they rode, wreathing the lawns and the houses in a kind of mist. The light was still rosy and kind of grainy, making the trees and yards seem sort of indistinct, like he was looking at them through a glass darkly. Some birds had begun to sing softly as the sun rose, but for the most part the town was silent as most of their residents were still asleep in their beds.
The only sounds were the rustling of leaves, the soft whisper of the wind through the trees, and the noise their wheels made on the pavement and the squeak of the wagon as Henry pedaled down the street with Regina behind him.
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
They arrived at 108 Mifflin Street at a quarter to six, according to Alina's watch, and she had the Zimmermans wait at the entrance to the farm, ready to start sprinkling the corn which Hans would bring to them before they released the turkeys. They all parked their bikes there too, and Henry had Regina stay with them in the wagon.
"You watch the house, okay, and tell Eva or Nick if you see anything," Henry said. "And Alina, Hans, Grace, and I will get the turkeys."
"I spy with my little eye," Regina recited eagerly.
"Yeah, like that, kid," Hans said to her. "Okay, let's get this party started."
They headed up the driveway and Alina led them around the back to where the turkey barn was.
It was a large rectangular building made of gray siding and had a very large mesh gate around it, that was locked with a padlock. Inside the gate were several troughs of stainless steel, which they assumed were for food and water.
"Okay, Henry. Do your spell," Alina hissed.
Henry went and cupped the padlock in his hands. First he relaxed his mind, like Rumple had taught him, and felt the power of the magic flow through him. Then he directed it, infusing the power with his will. I need you to open. Open now! Open! He focused on how much he wanted the lock to open . . . and a blue light shot from his hands, wrapped around the lock . . . and the lock sprang open.
"I did it!" he crowed, then he rubbed his head, as he felt slightly dizzy.
"What's wrong, Henry?" asked Grace in alarm.
"Magic's price," Alina explained.
"Yeah. All magic comes with a price . . . and using it like this makes me a little dizzy and tired," Henry said.
"You okay? You're not gonna . . . pass out or something are you, Gold?" asked Hans.
"No. I'll be fine," Henry reassured him. Then he put the padlock on the ground and tugged open the gate to the yard. "Let's go!"
They ran across the yard and to the barn, which Henry also unlocked, and when they opened the doors, were met with a blast of heat, as the barn was much warmer than the yard with its chill autumn wind.
As they stepped inside, lights flickered on and revealed a long low anteroom filled with bags of turkey feed. At the end was a door.
"Hans, can you get the feed?" Henry asked.
The tall boy nodded and hefted a medium-sized bag to his shoulder.
"Wait. Let me enchant it," Alina reminded. Then she held out her hands and concentrated. Purple mist drifted over the bag and then she said, "Okay, done. Now go give it to the Zimmermans."
"Here's some small buckets," Grace said, picking some up off the wall where they hung. "They can put the corn in that and hang it from their handbars and throw it down as they ride."
"Good thinking, Grace," Alina grinned.
"I'll send them over to them," Henry said, and did so.
Hans went out of the barn to give the corn to the Zimmermans.
Soon he returned, and they went across the floor to the door opposite.
Once they had opened it, they found the turkeys on the other side . . . all of them sitting or standing in straw beds in wooden boxes. Some were sleeping, others were just standing there.
They gobbled and squawked when they saw the children.
"Okay, let's get them moving," said Hans, and he ran at them, gently shooing them off their nests and towards the door that Henry held open.
Alina and Grace helped, until all sixty turkeys were through the door and into the part of the barn with the feed sacks.
Hans and Grace took over, clucking to the turkeys and Hans swung his crook at them, getting them to waddle through the barn door.
They made an unholy racket, and Alina and Henry concentrated, summoning a thick purple mist about the flock, muffling their gobbling.
Grace and Hans herded the turkeys through the yard and out the gate they'd left open, the turkeys were a bit skittish and flapped their wings and gobbled, hopping all over the ground once they were free of the yard's confines.
Henry and Alina followed, still conjuring purple mist to hide the flock and their friends from sight.
There were a few tense moments once the turkeys were out of the fenced in yard, as they scattered all over, making Hans and Grace run about and herd them back together.
"Get, you silly birds!" Grace cried, and swung her hands at them, urging the turkeys back together on the right side.
"Come on, you dumb clucks," Hans said, chivvying them on the left with his crook. "You wanna be somebody's dinner?"
It was hard for the children to get the turkeys moving in the right direction, but after a few tries they managed to get them heading down the driveway.
"Here they come!" Nick cried, and hopped on his bike, throwing out some enchanted corn as he did so.
Eva did also, and then they pedaled outside the entrance and down the street a ways and halted.
The turkeys, upon seeing the lovely corn along the ground, raced over to it and began to eat it up.
"Yay! Turkeys!" Regina cheered. She stood up in the wagon, clapping as the turkeys milled around her and pecked the ground.
Henry reached her just as the turkeys started to follow the trail of corn out the entrance. "Regina, sit down!" he ordered. "We're going to follow the turkeys, okay?"
"Like a parade!" she yelled.
"Shh! You want somebody to hear us?" Alina scolded, and hopped on her own bike. She was still casting the purple mist, but as the last turkey ran out the entrance, she released her spell. "Ugh! I feel like I've ran three miles!" she groaned.
"You can ride though?" Henry asked.
"Yeah. I'll be fine," Alina yawned. "C'mon, Henry." She pedaled after the flock and the rest of their friends.
Henry did as well, and they all followed the Zimmermans as they led the turkeys down the sidewalk and then through the woods, the birds following the magical corn diligently.
By the time they had gotten the flock through part of the woods and out again down to Main Street, the sky had brightened from a grayish pink to a beautiful rosy golden dawn, and the sun was shining.
The flock of turkeys was gobbling and waddling along after Eva and Nick as they sprinkled corn out of their buckets as they rode to the convent, pedaling down Main Street as quickly as they could, a trail of golden feed corn sparkling along behind them.
Henry and Alina brought up the rear with Regina, who was sitting in the back of the wagon belting out the gobble gobble turkey song for all she was worth, while Grace and Hans rode on either side of the flock, gently shooing a few who got shoved out of the way back on track.
When they started towards the convent, it was a little after six o'clock, and not many cars or people were out and about. But as they traveled, more and more people started driving to their jobs or opening their businesses and some of them stared as the flock of turkeys and children rode down the street.
"Hey!" called Sneezy as he opened up the pharmacy. "What's up with the turkeys?"
"It's a Thanksgiving parade!" Hans, Grace, Alina, and Henry chorused.
"Yeah, a parade!" Regina hooted, waving her hands and singing lustily, "Mr. Turkey's tail is wide . . . he waddles when he walks . . ."
They passed Archie's office, where a sleepy-eyed Dr. Hopper was coming down the stairs with Pongo, who started barking at the sight of the flock of turkeys. "Huh? What's going on?" he asked, then called, "Easy, Pongo! Hey, Henry! Where are you going with all those turkeys?"
"It's a parade, Dr. Hopper!" the boy called.
"Hi, Archie!" Regina squealed, waving as they went by.
They paraded down past the radio and TV station where Good Morning Storybrooke was located, drawing the attention of a certain reporter in a black leather jacket as they marched by.
The flock and the children passed the town hall and then they were pedaling up the hill to the convent, the turkeys waddling and squawking along, leaving a trail of feathers and other things in their wake.
"Eeew! Henry, that turkey pooped on the ground!" cried Regina, pointing. "That's 'sgusting! They's 's'post to go in the potty!"
Henry couldn't help it. He cracked up at the image Regina's words conjured in his head and he was almost laughing too hard to pedal his bike.
"They're turkeys, Regina," Alina told her as she rode beside the wagon. "They don't know any better." She was smiling.
Eva and Nick crested the hill and coasted down the other side, where they convent gates were. They skidded to a stop and halted, their almost empty buckets of feed corn banging against the handlebars. "Okay, we're here. But . . . how do we get inside?" they panted.
Henry rode up and set a hand on the gate, and it swung open at his touch as he used his magic again.
They all rode into the convent's yard, and Henry took Regina by the hand and ran up to the double doors, knocking on them.
"Mother Superior!" he called loudly. "Please let us in! We . . . uh . . . claim sanctuary for us and these . . . err . . . turkeys!"
The turkeys milled about on the lawn, clucking and gobbling as they pecked up the feed corn.
The children waited, shifting from foot to foot.
"Maybe they didn't hear you," Alina said.
Suddenly the door of the convent swung open and Mother Superior, also known as Blue, appeared in the doorway. "Children, why are you claiming sanctuary?"
"Because otherwise all these turkeys are going to die," Henry said.
"Yeah, an' we don't want 'em to get eaten!" Regina cried. "They's gots feelings an' need to live too!"
"Please, Mother Superior, you've got to help us!" Alina said.
Blue stared out at the six children and the flock of turkeys for several moments. Then she nodded and said, "Very well, children, come in, quickly. I grant you and these . . . err . . . turkeys the sanctuary of the convent."
As the children went inside, along with the turkeys, a tall man in a black jacket watched from the crest of the hill. August pursed his lips and eyed the "parade" of turkeys and the children with interest. He smelled a story here and he needed something newsworthy to report for Good Morning Storybrooke. And this looked like it would fit the bill nicely.
Tucking his hands in his pockets, he started walking down the hill to the convent, determined to talk with Mother Superior or one of the nuns in a little while. He settled on a bench outside the convent doors to wait, wondering just what could cause the Gold children and their friends to bring a flock of turkeys to the convent. "Finally, I found a Thanksgiving interest story . . . just in time too!" he muttered, then he made a quick call back to the station to tell his boss where he was and what he had discovered.
Inside the convent, Grace and Hans herded the turkeys into the prayer garden along with the Zimmermans, who threw down the last of the enchanted corn for the flock while Alina, Henry, and Regina explained to Blue inside her office just why they needed sanctuary for themselves and a flock of turkeys.
A/N: Now who thinks the kids' parents are going to flip out when they find them gone?
Rumple's Recipe Corner:
Grace's Indian Pudding
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for baking dish
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 300° and grease a 11/2-quart baking dish.
Bring milk to a simmer in a double boiler over high heat. Slowly add the cornmeal, whisking to combine. Continue to cook, whisking constantly, for 15 minutes.
Slowly add molasses, then remove from heat. Add maple syrup and the rest of the ingredients and stir until smooth.
Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish, and bake until the pudding is set and the top is browned, about 2 hours. Serve hot or cold, topped with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.