Hansel started to drop breadcrumbs from the loaf he was given, to provide him and Gretel a way of returning home. He tried his hardest to make sure his parents weren't watching but eventually, he slipped up. The woman saw what he was doing and knew that one of her kids had known what was happening.

When they got into the woods, Gretel was set down on a fallen log to sleep as Hansel was told to retrieve twigs for a fire to keep themselves warm. The woodcutter went deep into the woods to find good firewood as Hansel began his search, unaware he was being watched. Hansel eventually found a big pile of fallen twigs and began to try and pick them up. As he did, he heard an ax cut into a tree.