The Ogress and the Orphans

The Ogress is amazed to be among the townspeople. Though she’s been watching them for years, she notices new things about each, finding “it was a very different thing to see someone up close rather than from far away” (367). The picnic goes all day, and when the food runs low, the people bring more. They get to know the Ogress, who tells them stories of her life. She explains the dragon who burned down her village, though she’s unsure how a dragon disguised itself to be among ogres. Elijah knows how and tells the story.

Armed with a fresh batch of signs, the Mayor marches to the square, where he is disgusted to see the Ogress and the picnic. Having been in his mayor body for so long, his dragon magic is weak, and when the people aren’t interested him, he is desperate to “use the last dregs of power to really wow them” (373). Before he can, the crows arrive, all carrying something shiny in their beaks.

The crows figured out that the Mayor is a dragon disguised as a human. When the Mayor arrived at the picnic, they went to his house and stole his gold.