7
The Heart of the Matter
"All right, Gold. What kind of deal are we talking about here?" Fox demanded, his odd amber eyes starting to sparkle and his nose twitching in anticipation of deal-making. Though he had started out as a fox, twenty-eight years as a human had given him street smarts, and he was savvy about getting what he wanted . . . and what he wanted was to get back some of his self-respect and his money. "And just so you know . . . nobody pulls the wool over my eyes and gets away with it . . . not even your brats!"
Rumple raised an eyebrow. "Looks like they succeeded pretty well to me . . . but that's not the heart of the matter, dearie. I can understand you're upset . . . you've had your paycheck stolen right out from under your nose, been made to look like a total idiot, and by a bunch of grade school kids, no less . . ."
"Yes!" Fox growled. "It's not fair! I fed and raised those darn birds—well, my son helped, and was counting on the money from them to . . . err . . . pay off a few debts I owe . . ."
"Been a bit too free with the cards down at the Rabbit Hole, dearie?" Rumple queried knowingly. That was no surprise, everyone in town knew of Fox's penchant for gambling . . . on anything.
"Uh . . . dice, actually," Fox said, shrugging. "But anyway, those turkeys were going to get me in the black again, Gold . . . except your bleeding heart brats interfered! Now what are you gonna do about it? I can press charges, you know. They stole what was mine, and the law's on my side for once."
Rumple nodded slowly, knowing that Fox was right. Legally, the children had committed theft by liberating the turkeys from Fox's farm, no matter that they had only intended to free the birds. He knew a lot of the townsfolk were inclined to look the other way, since it was children who had done the deed, especially since one of them was a mere toddler, and it was for a good cause. He spread his hands. "Look, Fox, you're a parent, you know that kids will be kids, and sometimes they don't think about consequences before they act. They thought they were doing the right thing—"
"By stealing my turkeys?" Fox blustered, though he understood perfectly well where Gold was coming from.
"No, by freeing an animal destined to end up on a chopping block," Gold corrected. "From what Henry and Alina have said, they didn't steal your turkeys with the intent of making a profit, but with the intent of protecting them, like you would an abused animal. And intent matters as much as the deed, dearie."
"Oh, yeah?" Fox said belligerently.
"You know it," Gold said, his own eyes glittering. "I'm sure you also know that if you persecute children, it'll make you look like the biggest villain ever. Now is that what you want? I don't think so." He crossed his arms over his chest. "So here's what I propose. You don't take any legal action against the children or my family . . . and I promise I'll compensate you for the loss of one turkey and any others who decide now not to commit to buying one. There are still plenty of people who want to eat turkey for dinner tomorrow, so I doubt your profits will suffer too badly."
"What about your brats? They need to be taught a good lesson," Fox snapped. "If they were mine, I'd—"
"—but they're not yours, dearie," Rumple interrupted swiftly. "Which means you've got no say in how we deal with them. Yes, we shall impress upon them the error of their ways, and rest assured they'll know what they did was wrong."
"How? Skipping a few dinners? No dessert?" sneered Fox.
"That's my business, dearie," Gold said sharply. "You'll be compensated monetarily for your losses, and get back the turkeys . . . all save for one."
"Why all except one?" Fox asked suspiciously.
"Because I need that one to end this protest," Rumple replied. "And I'm also sorry that my family has caused you such anxiety and aggravation, Fox."
"Humph!" Fox snorted.
"You needn't be so bitter, dearie. If anything, you're making out like a bandit on this deal," Rumple pointed out. "Now, I need to speak with Mayor Nolan about something. So, are we agreed? Do we have a deal?"
Fox considered carefully. "Okay. You compensate me monetarily and punish those kids for touching my property and I'll drop my lawsuit, Gold. And you can have your one turkey too."
"Deal struck!" Rumple said, and held out his hand.
Fox clasped it. Then he said, "How soon can I expect my money?"
"After Thanksgiving," Gold replied. "Just keep a tally of how many birds you have returned to you and then give me a figure. I'll write you a check. Oh . . . and don't try and cheat and add more turkeys than you have, Fox. I'll know . . . and nobody cheats me and gets away with it." His expression suddenly became as forbidding as stone. "Am I clear?"
Fox gulped hard. The truth was, he had been thinking about fudging the numbers a bit . . . but seeing Rumple's hard uncompromising glare made him quickly reconsider that line of thought in a hurry. "Sure, Gold. When can I have my turkeys back?"
"As soon as I speak with Mayor Nolan about something and talk with the children," Rumple said. "Just be patient."
Fox sighed. "All right, Gold. But you'd better deliver . .. on everything."
"I always do, dearie," the pawnbroker declared. "Now, if you'll excuse me . . ."
He turned and left Fox beside the convent wall and went to find David.
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
Inside the convent, the children sat among the flock of turkeys, watching as Regina fed them some handfuls of breadcrumbs Nova had gotten for her from the convent kitchens. The Storybrooke news crew was still there, filming Regina as she fed the birds, and the other children sat on the benches in the garden.
They had learned that their protest had been taken up by Snow's entire class . . . as well as some other townspeople . . . as had the opposite side of the coin, those who still wanted to eat turkey for Thanksgiving.
"So they're fighting . .. because of us," Henry said glumly. This wasn't what he'd planned on when he'd instituted Operation Turkey.
"Well, not fighting, son," said a cameraman. "Just having a difference of opinion."
"In other words, they're fighting politely," Alina translated. She looked at her nephew and friends. "What do we do now? I just wanted to stop the turkeys from getting killed, not start a war over here."
Nova looked over at them and said, "I don't think it's as bad as that, Alina. There's always two side to an issue, after all."
"Two sides, and right and wrong," Belle said, coming into the garden.
"Mama!" Alina cried, standing up and running over to her. She hugged her mother, who was moving slowly across the path of white stone, one hand supporting her very large belly. "What are you doing here?"
"I was asking the Blue Fairy something when she told me what was going on," Belle replied, hugging her daughter in return. "Alina Rose, what were you thinking? You have the whole town in an uproar, do you know that?"
Her daughter looked guilty. "I know, Mama, but we . . . just wanted to save the turkeys."
"Auntie Belle!" shrilled Regina, coming over to her aunt, wearing a large grin. "Are ya here to help us save the turkeys?"
Belle couldn't help smiling down on the precocious tot. "Hello, Regina. How are you?"
"I'm good! See all the turkeys? We rescued them an' now they're safe!" she gestured about her to the turkeys all around them.
"Yes, I see them," Belle said quietly. " And it's great you want to help them. But Regina, those turkeys didn't belong to you, do you know that?"
Regina scrunched up her face, like she did when someone said something she didn't want to hear. "But Auntie Belle . . . they was gonna be eaten! It's mean to kill them!"
"Yes, but . . . it's also mean to take things that don't belong to you," Belle pointed out, and now she was looking not only at Regina, but at the others as well. She put a hand on Regina's head, and then said, "This little girl might not know the difference, but you are all older than her and you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
Slowly, the others nodded.
"But Grammy, we just were liberating the birds," Henry argued. "It's not the same thing!"
"Henry Gold, don't you split hairs with me," Belle scolded. "You know perfectly well that taking anything without permission is stealing. Your heart was in the right place, but you should have said something to Emma or your dad if you were worried about the turkeys, not taken them from the farm."
"They never would have understood!" Henry cried. "My dad likes to eat turkey."
"Then you should have come to me or your grandpa or your other grandparents to talk about it. Not gone and . . . and stolen sixty turkeys!" Belle said softly.
"What else could we have done, Mrs. Gold?" asked Hans. "They were going to kill them."
"Unfortunately, doing what you did has caused this whole town to become divided," Belle said quietly. "And that's not what Thanksgiving is about. Thanksgiving was about coming together, about learning to become friends despite differences, the way the Pilgrims and the Indians did. It wasn't about stealing turkeys."
"But Mama, they ate turkey at the first Thanksgving," Alina said.
"Yes, but did you also know they ate other things besides that?" Belle countered. "Venison, chicken, and fish. The Indians were great fisherman, and they made sure they included fish on the menu."
"I never knew that, Belle!" Grace exclaimed.
"It's true. You can read about it in the library," Belle said. "It's something that's been forgotten by a lot of people today, I'm afraid. But perhaps you can mention it on your last broadcast . . . and get our fisherman some business selling their catch. As an alternative to eating turkey."
"That sounds like a good idea," said Eva.
"Yes, and a much better one than taking sixty turkeys and claiming sanctuary for them," Belle said. "Plus, have you any idea how worried your parents must be? Henry, I know that your dad has been going crazy looking for you and Regina since early this morning. And so has your grandpa. We've all been scared something terrible had happened to you and Regina."
"Oh," Henry said, looking ashamed. "I . . . didn't know . . ."
Belle frowned at him. "Didn't know? Or didn't want him to know what you were up to?"
"Uh . . .the second one," he admitted. Then he added, "But I didn't mean to make him worry."
"Nevertheless, you did," Belle said. "As I'm sure the rest of you have also."
Now the others looked guilty as well, and apprehensive.
"And we didn't even know that you were involved, Alina, or you either, Grace, until we saw you on TV," Belle added.
Both girls looked ashamed.
"We're sorry, Mama," Alina apologized. "But we . . . uh . . . just wanted—"
"—to save the turkeys," Rumple said, entering the garden along with Bae, Emma, Snow, David, Alice, Jeff, Jay, and Belinda, who was the twins foster mom. "We know that, dearie, but your actions, no matter how well intentioned, have consequences." He gave all the children a sharp Look of disappointment.
Alina winced. "Papa!" She cautiously approached him. "You're going to make us give back the turkeys, aren't you?"
"I'm afraid so, dearie," he told her, then he frowned sternly at her. "They were never yours in the first place, Alina Rose, and you know better than to steal anything. Even if it's for a good cause. Look what's happened because you didn't think things through."
His daughter hung her head. "I'm sorry, Papa."
"You ought to be," he scolded.
"Unca Rumple! Mommy! Daddy!" Regina cried upon seeing them all together. "Didja come to see the turkeys?" she ran up and hugged Snow. "Mommy, we saved the turkeys!"
Snow knelt and hugged her, saying, "I know, Regina, but . . . those turkeys didn't belong to you. They belonged to Mr. Fox and you were wrong to just take them away."
"Even if you were saving them," David added, trying to impress upon her the wrongness of her actions.
Henry looked up as Bae and Emma came over to him. "Mom! Dad!"
"Henry, do you have any idea how worried I was?" Bae scolded, pulling his son into a quick hug. "I thought you and Regina had been kidnapped or something!"
"In Storybrooke, Dad?" Henry muttered.
"Even in Storybrooke, crimes can be committed, kid," Emma said sharply.
"I almost went out of my mind," Bae continued. "I had to ask your grandpa to use magic to find you, young man."
"I'm sorry," the boy apologized, then he yelped as Bae gave him a sharp swat on the behind. "Oww!" His eyes widened, for that was the first time Bae had ever disciplined him like that.
"Don't ever do that again, tiger," Bae warned. "Or else I'll give you more than just a swat. I'll give you what your grandpa gave me that time I played with fire. Got me?"
Henry gulped, looking at Emma. To his shock, his mother was shaking her head and looking as disappointed as Bae. "Yeah, Dad," he said quickly, not wanting to make his father any more angry than he was already.
"Your father's right," Emma said. "You not only scared him to death . . . and me too, you also committed a crime. Stealing turkeys, for whatever reason, is wrong, Henry."
"But Mom, we were just trying to help them," her son protested.
"Henry, there's a difference between helping and harming," Emma said. "And the fact is, you all broke the law. And that's something I'm sworn to uphold and protect as sheriff."
"Are you gonna, like, under arrest us, Emma?" Regina asked pathetically, looking at her sister with huge frightened eyes. "We just wanted to pardon the turkeys."
"No, little imp, I'm not going to arrest you," Emma said, and all the kids looked relieved. "However . . . like Rumple said, there's going to be consequences to your actions. And one of them . . . is that the turkeys are going back to Mr. Fox."
All the children groaned and Regina cried, "Noo! Emma, they's gonna die!" Huge tears gathered in her eyes. "Mommy, tell her you can't kill the turkeys!"
"Regina, the turkeys aren't yours, so we have to give them back," Snow began.
The toddler shook her head frantically. Then she pulled away from Snow and ran over and grabbed Rumple about the knees. "Unca Rumple! Tell Emma she can't let the turkeys die! You's s'post to pardon them!"
"Why me?" muttered the pawnbroker, then he picked up the child and carried her over to a bench, where he sat down with her. "Listen to me, dearie. Sometimes you can't always get what you want. Now, in the movie, did the president pardon all the turkeys, or just one?"
"Uh . . . just Reggie," Regina admitted.
"Okay. And that's what we're going to do, right, David?" he looked over at Charming.
"Yes. Regina, since I'm the mayor of Storybrooke, that's kind of like the president," David hastened to explain. "So I can pardon one turkey and save it. Now you can pick the turkey I pardon and . . . uh . . . it can stay here as a pet."
"That's right. Grumpy can build it a pen and you can take care of it," Snow said.
"But then we have to give the rest of the turkeys back," Emma said. "Because they belong to Mr. Fox and while it was . . . err . . . heroic for you to rescue them, you can't go around stealing turkeys."
"Emma's right," Bae added. "Because some people still like to have turkey on Thanksgiving. And there's nothing wrong with that."
"I ain't eatin' no turkey, Baelfire!" Regina declared.
"Then you don't have to," David said. "But some of us want to, and we're going to."
"Furthermore, you all owe Mr. Fox an apology for freeing his turkeys," Rumple added. "And you're all going to work here at the convent and help the nuns in the soup kitchen over the holidays. A little hard work never hurt anyone and this way you can make up for taking the turkeys."
"As well as helping Mr. Fox take care of the remaining turkeys through the holidays," David added.
"You mean . . . we gotta work for him?" Hans gasped.
"You do," his father said. "We all agreed on that, son. Instead of sending you to reform school or tanning your hide."
The other parents all nodded.
"Even Regina?" asked Grace.
"She can do small things to help," Snow said. "And next time, children, you need to talk to us before you do something like this. Understand?"
"Yes," they all answered.
"In addition to that, you're grounded for two weeks, Alina Rose, for sneaking around behind my back," Rumple told his daughter.
"Same for you, Grace," Alice added.
"And you, Henry," said Emma.
Belinda and Jay also agreed with them for their offspring.
"And you, Regina Nolan, have five minutes in the corner when we get home," David told her.
Regina started sniffling. "But . . . but . . . Daddy!"
"Never mind that, little girl," the mayor said sternly. "You don't run off from anywhere . . . you could have gotten lost or something."
The child buried her head in Rumple's shirt for a few moments. She was now upset and embarrassed. "Don't see me!" she sniveled, crying a little.
Rumple went to hand her to David, but Regina latched onto him, howling, "No! I wanna stay with you, Unca Rumple!"
Her uncle looked at David. "Uh . . . sorry."
"That's okay. She's mad at me," said her father. "She'll get over it."
Regina continued crying into Rumple's shirt. Sighing, the pawnbroker held her, patting her back. "Hey, little imp. Behave and you won't be in trouble. Besides, don't you want to pick a turkey?"
Regina stopped crying after a moment, then she wriggled off Rumple's lap and took Snow's hand. "Mommy, help me."
So Snow helped her pick out a turkey to pardon, finally choosing a large tom turkey.
Then, with the news crew filming, Regina led the turkey over to where David was, and David tapped the turkey on the back with a scepter Rumple conjured, saying, "I pardon you . . . err, what's his name, Regina?"
"Reggie," the little girl replied.
"Reggie," David finished. "And from this day forward you are a free bird!"
Then everyone clapped and Reggie gobbled loudly.
After the children had all apologized to Mr. Fox, Rumple waved a hand and sent all the turkeys back to the farm, except for Reggie, who would stay in the convent, right now in the prayer garden, until Grumpy built him a pen, and would become the official mascot of Storybrooke, and Regina's pet.
David then went on the TV and explained what had gone on, saying that everyone should go home and celebrate the holiday in whatever way suited them best, and wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving, while holding Regina.
As he did so, Rumple turned to Belle and said softly, "Mind telling me what was going on with you, dearie?"
Belle looked suddenly a little uncomfortable. "Okay, Rumple . . . but not until after dinner tomorrow."
"Is . . . something wrong with the babies?" he asked, concerned.
"Not exactly," she hedged. "The babies are healthy according to Dr. Jo. This has to do with something else. I promise, we'll discuss it later, though."
He put an arm around her. "All right, Belle. Now I think we need to head home." Together with Alina, they headed for his car. Operation Save the Turkey was over. Just in time for Thanksgiving.
A/N: Next up, the Gold family Thanksgiving dinner. Who can guess what they'll be eating?
Rumple's Recipe Corner:
Gold's Chocolate Pretzel Pecan Pie
1 pie crust (store bought or homemade)
2 large eggs
1 c light corn syrup
2 T unsalted butter, melted
1 t vanilla extract
½ c packed light brown sugar
1 t orange zest
½ t ground cinnamon
¼ t kosher salt
2 c pecans
18 mini pretzels, broken
¾ c semisweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350. Put pie crust in 9 inch pan. Refrigerate until ready to fill.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, corn syrup, salt, butter, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and orange zest. Stir in pecans, pretzels, and chocolate chips. Spoon mixture in the prepared pie crust. Bake for 30 minutes.
Cover the pie with foil and bake until the filling is puffed and center set—15 -20 min more. Then put on wire rack to cool. Serve.