“That thing sounds like it’s got a bellyache,” Rapunzel hissed.
She was bent almost double, and Gretchen eyed her over with a frown. If anything, she was getting bigger as time went on. Her hair was growing at a good rate too, now flowing around her ankles, though her dress had kept up with her height.
Gretchen turned to the pumpkin and held a hand to its side, feeling for anything out of the ordinary. “It’s nothing. It just has to last a few more minutes.”
Rapunzel shook her head and stamped off back to the wagon, evidently not convinced by Gretchen’s reassurances.
Measuring Farmer McBride’s haul was barely worth the effort, but she’d give it to Nora, she did so with genuine severity and respect. He acknowledged the measurements with a nonplussed shrug and turned with interest to watch Nora size up Gretchen’s pumpkin.
He wasn’t the only onlooker. The rest of the competitors had followed Nora after their turn with the measuring tape and smiled on at their rivals. The only sour look among the bunch belonged to Mildred who watched with arms folded in front of her.
“Be sure to be thorough with that one,” she sniped. “The rest of us aren’t witches with the means to inflate our chances.”
Nora took the remark in her stride and stood somberly in front of Gretchen’s pumpkin. Closing her eyes, she held hands out in front of her to sense any lingering magical trace. She stood for a full few minutes, lips twitching and brows furrowing, but when she opened her eyes, she smacked her lips and shrugged. “I can’t detect any foul play here. This entry qualifies.”
Gretchen held her breath as Nora shuffled around taking each measurement, refraining from tapping her toe as Nora fiddled with the tape.
“This is a close one,” Nora announced. “Less than an inch difference between the top two contenders. But I’m pleased to announce that this year’s winner of the Oakdale county fair’s largest pumpkin competition is—”
Gretchen’s eyebrows climbed her forehead as the pumpkin rumbled, its flesh twitching like it had a bad case of gas. She leaped out of the way just as it exploded, showering the onlookers in an orange spray of pulp and seeds. Shouts came from all around, and although a sticky mess covered Nora’s back, it was Mildred’s face that got splattered in slimy muck.
“Cheater!” Mildred cried. “Blatant fraud. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if that thing wasn’t even a pumpkin to start with.”
Farmer McBride scraped his finger along the remnants of the busted vegetable and stuck it in his mouth. A hush fell over the onlookers as he rolled his tongue over his teeth with a thoughtful look. “That’s a pumpkin if ever I’ve tasted one. Not as sweet as mine, but that’s to be expected.”
“She’s disqualified! Never in my life have I heard of an exploding pumpkin. There’s witchcraft in this and—”
“Silence!” Nora bellowed. “I haven’t announced the winner yet.”
She swung around to glare at Gretchen and wiped mush from the back of her hat. The onlookers squirmed as they brushed themselves off, and Gretchen swallowed.
“The winner of this year’s competition is Mildred Sampson, at a hundred and three inches.”
Mildred’s eyes blazed, victorious, as she puffed herself up and turned to the crowd. People either groaned or cheered as they kicked around pieces of pumpkin, and Farmer McBride sighed in resignation.
“I vote that Nora be deposed as the judge of these competitions.” Mildred held a finger up. “We all know those two are as thick as thieves, and as an official she was prepared to overlook cheating so her buddy wouldn’t be black marked for next year.”
“Now hold on there a minute.” Farmer McBride waved an arm. “It was you that insisted on having a witch preside over this competition way back when Esme was winning most years. And Nora has handed you plenty of blue ribbons, Mildred Sampson. We should let Gretchen answer for these irregularities.”
Eyes turned toward Gretchen, and shame bloomed in her belly. The accusation in Nora’s eyes was the hardest to bear, and Gretchen licked her lips searching for the right words. “Well, I mean in fairness, there isn't a single drop of performance-enhancing substances on that mess. I doused it with a hair growing potion that got out of hand, and when I countered it with a de-hair potion, it became unstable.” She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath before pushing on. “But that only happened because I’d fully intended on cheating. Did the old switcheroo and ended up with a giant hotel mogul, instead.”
Gretchen hung her head, and the crowd muttered around her. Mildred’s voice rang out again, shrill above the cacophony.
“Magical meddling. She admitted it. With intent to cheat. She should receive a life ban, and I still stand by what I say about—”
Gretchen looked up as Nora hurled a glob of pulp at Mildred’s head. Everything went silent as it struck her hair, washing down her neck and shoulders. Nora stood heaving sharp breaths with a murderous glare, and Mildred stood frozen, her mouth agape. Chaos ensued.
Slushy projectiles hurled in every direction joined the first snort of laughter in a chorus of cackling. Gretchen smothered a giggle as she ducked at an incoming shot and took cover behind the remains of the pumpkin’s shell. The sounds of screeching indicated that Mildred had come out of her stupor, and Gretchen poked her head up just in time to get sprayed by a particularly wet clod of pulp. Farmer McBride gave her a toothy grin and waggled his fingers just as Rosalina snuck up behind him and pushed a handful onto his bald pate. Gretchen squawked with laughter and lay back on the printed curtain holding her belly.
It didn’t take long for the brawl to quiet
