𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝 - 𝐀 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

CHAPTER 6

There was a long, empty stretch of silence as I tried to gather my thoughts.

How do they know my name? Are they outlaws, too? What are they in for? Why did they kidnap me? What...?

"The Rebel side," I echoed finally. "Why-?"

I was interrupted by the woman- Flora. "Come to my office." She offered me a warm smile and extended a pale, jewelled hand in a beckoning gesture. "How about we discuss everything there? I bet you're also craving a cup of tea. It's only a small walk from here,"

I decided that I had nothing to lose, so my legs began shuffling towards her. The other kids walked stiffly alongside me. I tugged at my cherry-red hood, attempting to mask my face. This was beyond any level of 'awkward'.

I inhaled the crisp, fresh air and stared at my surroundings in wonder. We were trudging through a small dirt path near the outskirts of a deep green forest. Moss-coated trees towered above us; a narrow stream snaked around thick barks, trickling softly. Little spotted mushrooms sprouted in a scatter; wildflowers and berry bushes dotted the perimeter. It looked like a place out of a storybook. (well, it IS)

But something nagged at my heart. This all felt so vaguely familiar. Have I been here before? I dug my nails deep into my pockets in search of what little comfort I could find. My fingers absently wrapped around a smooth, round object that I didn't remember obtaining.

Hold on-

My eyes widened.

It's the thing that Hansel gave me before I left!

I pulled it out, forgetting about the onlookers around me. It was a circular, silver badge that was the size of a coin. Engraved on its face were the loopy initials

O.F. R.

O. F. R. ? What does that mean? As I squinted closer, a voice called out behind me. "Hey, where'd you get that from?" His tone was neither accusing nor amused.

I turned around, slipping the badge back inside my pocket. "What do you want?" I asked back. Not fearfully, but with a hint of doubt.

"The badge. Can you show it to me?" He insisted. I shrugged and handed it over.

He fingered it gently, his face indifferent.

"Stop pestering her, Jack." His most likely to be his twin sister snapped. Her eyes met mine and she smiled brightly. "Hi. I'm Jill. You can call me Jilly." Jilly blabbed.

"Okay, Jilly." I tried to smile back, but my mind was elsewhere. "You do sound quite familiar though. Do I-?"

"And before you ask, yes, as in, Jill from "Jack and Jill went up the hill". He's my brother," She pointed at the distracted face of Jack. "He climbed the beanstalk, too. Isn't that awesome?"

I was so surprised that my mouth didn't seem to form the right question. "How are you guys my age, though? Isn't your story, like, 200 years old?"

Jilly shook her head, amused. "Nope. We just got really famous, like you. These kinds of stories with supposed "morals" go around quickly. Adults trying to teach their kids something, you know,"

I agreed, even though I knew that I -or at least part of me- wasn't famous. Well, Red was, but she returned to her "life in the woods" after that. Charlotte was never famous. Not until now, at least.

"Who's she, then?" I nodded towards Blondie, who was in front of the group, slashing vines with a bronze dagger and kicking at pebbles.

"Goldilocks, of course! But never call her that. She hates her name. If anything, address her by Goldie."

"But she's- she's wanted!" I exclaimed. "Posters of her are tacked up across the Kingdoms! How is she here?"

Goldilocks' ears perked up, and she finally joined the conversation. "Aren't all of us? Jack traded with the black market unknowingly. The magic harp asked him to save her from the giant and he did. But it was somehow stealing. Jilly accidentally pushed Jack down a steep hill. It was supposedly an "assassination attempt", but the truth was that she's clumsy. After school, I ran to my house, finding out that my family was gone and that a family of bears had somehow taken over. I was accused of burglary. Now someone leaked your story. You killed illegally. What else is new?" She rolled her eyes bitterly.

I could only gape at her, my mouth ajar. "So you're saying..."

"Yes," Flora added finally. "The papers are lying. So are the Royals. And for what? That's our job to know."

***

Muahahahahaha! So how was that for a plot twist? *grins wickedly (jk lol)* I hope you've enjoyed reading this so far! Don't forget to vote and comment if you do! Also, TYSM for the 100+ views! I never imagined that I'd get this far in such a short time! Thank you all for your wonderful love and support 🤗🤗🤗

~ LKS ❤