Free Some Luck by Jane Smiley

“Good morning! Would you like to come with me? I will show you a wonderful cavern all hung with icicles, clear and shining and beautiful.” But Hans looked at the foxhole and said, “No, thank you.” He kept walking, and a bluebird flew down from a tall tree and said, “I will give you a magic feather, and if you hold it in your hand, you can fly way up in the sky and look down on a beautiful lake with many boats.” This tempted Hans, but, the more he thought about it, the more it seemed too good to be true, so he turned away and went on. And then a wolf came up to him, and he had big teeth and long, rough hair, and Hans was very afraid. And the wolf growled, “I have nothing for you! Do you have something for me?” Hans said, in a very small voice, “I have a penny. That is all I have to make my way in the city.”
    The wolf’s eyes glared at Hans with a yellow glow, and he growled, “May I have your penny? I do not have even a penny.” So Hans gave him the penny, not so much out of fear, after all, as out of pity. Of all the animals, he thought, the wolf was the only one who had nothing.Once the wolf had taken Hans’s penny he said, “Would you care for a ride?”
    Hans nodded, and the wolf knelt down, and Hans climbed upon his back. And then the wolf stood up and galloped away down the road. Hans nestled into his fur and held on tight around his neck, and before he knew it, the wolf had turned into a great prince who lived in a palace. As they galloped up to the palace gate, the wolf said, “Of all my subjects, you are the only one who was willing to give me a penny, and so I give you the name Lord Hans, Lucky Hans, and you will live with me in my castle for the rest of your life.” And the gate opened. Frank knew that, whatever Granny Mary might say, for him and Opa, Lucky Hans did exist.
    At the end of the game, Mama picked him up. He had eleven beans, which was four more than Henrietta and one more than Tom. Mama carried him up to bed. He was awake enough to push his beans under his pillow.
    FROM WHERE Mary Elizabeth was sitting, she could see several new and interesting items in the front room. The nearest of these were her own feet, stuck out in front of her, as they often were, pointing upward, and not appearing to wiggle, even though they felt like they were wiggling. The most she could get them to do was shift slightly, back and forth, but she was able to connect this odd immobility with the fact that Mama had slid them into her shoes sometime before. What was new and interesting about her shoes was that they were bright and eye-catching. She watched them. And then, helpfully, Joey squatted down and said, “May Liz red shoes. May Liz red shoes.”
    Beyond the shoes, and beyond Joey, was Frankie. Frankie had another of the new and interesting items—it stuck out behind him and dragged against the floor, and it stuck out in front of him. It had eyes and ears and it moved, but it didn’t seem to be alive. Frankie capered about the room and it went with him. Frankie waved one of his arms. Mary Elizabeth turned her head and her body first one way and then the other way, just to watch Frankie. Then Joey ran over to him and grabbed the lower end and jerked it upward, and Frankie fell down, and Joey said, “It’s mine!” Then the two boys did somethingthat Mary Elizabeth found eternally fascinating—they jerked and pulled, back and forth, until Frankie stuck out his arms and pushed Joey, and Joey tumbled backward and started screaming. Frankie kicked him and said, “Stop whining or I will give you something to whine about!”
    Now Mary Elizabeth had pulled herself up, using the same chair she always did—it was the easiest thing in the world, especially with shoes on—and in her excitement, she sidestepped around the chair and laughed and took her hand off the chair and waved it. Joey turned toward her, crying less now, and he lay there and sighed, then sat up. Frankie and the new thing ran into