“No, my dear,” she said. “Only you.”
Billy opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. He was getting dizzy and his vision was becoming sort of blurred.
“Are you not feeling well? Come, let’s hurry back to your room so you can rest for the night.” This time, her eyes gleamed as she gave Billy another of those gentle smiles.
Billy, grateful for her help, stumbled up the two flights of stairs and collapsed into bed with a troubled sigh. The lady said good night, left, and started knitting and humming gleefully down in the first floor.
Just as Billy was about to close his eyes, he heard something coming in the room. It lit a candle and peered at Billy curiously. To his surprise, it was Gregory. After quite a bit of whispering, Billy learned that he had been poisoned and Gregory, who had been a very famous doctor, had brought the antidote. While gulping it down, Gregory told him exactly why the lady was poisoning him and that she was going to stuff him just like her parrot and her dog, as he had figured out her plan from years of sneaking around her home and listening to her mumble to herself while Gregory stole whatever food he could to stay alive, waiting for a chance to escape.
A few minutes later, Billy heard the lady’s shuffling footsteps on the stairs, and he hurriedly shoved Gregory under the bed. He pretended to be asleep but left one eye partially open. He was horrified to see that the lady had two knives in her hands. And she was coming in his direction.
Before the lady could reach him, Billy jumped out of bed and scampered down the two flights of stairs, with Gregory close behind. The woman dropped her knives in surprise. Then understanding dawned on her and she chased the boys out into the room with the fireplace. Billy, looking back at the lady, tripped on her stuffed dog and landed face-first into the open teapot. Getting out of the pot as quick as possible and wiping his face frantically with the fur of the woman’s deceased pet, Billy turned to see that Gregory had pried a knife out of the lady’s hand while dodging the other and had flung the knife into a window. It instantly shattered and the two boys leapt through, landing on the sidewalk, one after another.
They sprinted off into the distance, leaving the old woman in her house, still screaming, “THAT WAS MY BASIL YOU DESTROYED! HOW DARE YOU TWO FOOLS THINK THAT YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS. HOW DARE YOU!”
She hurled her remaining knife into the other window, seething with rage, gathered the rest of her knives, and crept outside, noiselessly following the boys with a new plan in her mind.