9 The Cunning Plan

The Cunning Plan A good night's sleep can do wonders for the brain. It can help sharpen your thinking, and if you are lucky, it can bring you answers to the most troublesome questions. Ebenezer was very lucky on that Wednesday morning, because he woke up with a solution to the Bethany problem. The solution was a clever one, and it made Ebenezer smile as he thought about it.

"Yes! That will do the trick!" he said. He was excited, and he wanted to show it by jumping out of bed. However, for some reason, his body was working a little slower than usual. The bones in his legs were aching, and it took him almost twice as long as it normally did to reach the bathroom. When he got there, he peered into the mirror and shrieked. There were wrinkles around his eyes, and his hair had lost some of its color. The potion was wearing off. "I must get rid of that child," said Ebenezer to his reflection. Ebenezer brushed his teeth, made use of the toilet, and soaked in his morning bubble bath. Then he got dressed and went downstairs. He laid out a mountain of food for Bethany on the breakfast table, and then, to

make sure she ate it, he put a sign on the table that read, DO NOT EAT!

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He returned to his room and pretended to be asleep. About an hour later, Bethany woke up and stomped downstairs while screaming an annoying song at the top of her voice. Ebenezer heard her chuckle with glee when she saw the food and the sign on the breakfast table. Ebenezer waited for exactly thirty minutes before returning to the kitchen. When he got there, Bethany was eating her fourth pain aux raisins, while reading one of Geoffrey's comics. There were three empty bowls of porridge next to her. "Oh no! What have you done?" asked Ebenezer, with the very best horrified face he could manage in the face of such a triumph. He was trying his hardest to pretend that he was cross with Bethany.

"Breakfasted," she answered. "Oh, what a shame," lied Ebenezer. "I wanted us to have breakfast together so that I could take some time to tell you all about the beast's magical powers." "I thought you wouldn't want to have breakfast with a weakling." Bethany paused for a moment and lifted her head out of the comic. "What do you mean magical powers?" Ebenezer had to stop himself from saying, Whoopee! at this point. He couldn't believe how well his plan was going. "Never mind, I'll tell you another time. It won't work now anyway—you've already ruined it," he said. "No, tell me now!" shouted Bethany. She banged one of her fists on the breakfast table, causing the jug of orange juice to wobble.