Rapunzel, Rapunzel

Chapter 9 Reunion

Chapter 9

Reunion

“You!” Rapunzel gasped the moment Carlos removed his hand from her mouth.

Carlos held his hand up, pleadingly. “Look, I know you’re probably not my biggest fan right now, but you have to trust me right now. There are a lot of people that will come for you now.”

“Why are people after me?” Rapunzel asked in a hushed tone. “Is it because I am a known thief now?”

Carlos scratched his head. “We can… uh, discuss that later. Right now, we need to focus on getting you out of sight.”

Rapunzel followed the thief through the woods. They continued on deeper and deeper. The young maiden never would have thought to go this far into the trees.

Carlos turned around, noting her apprehension, and commented, “Not many people dare to go this far into the woods, but there is really nothing to fear. Its good people fear the depths of the forest though. Makes it easier for us thieves to hide out.”

Rapunzel wondered if when he said us, he meant him and his wife or him and her. Was she now officially a thief, like this man?

“So are we going to go rob a town?” Rapunzel inquired eagerly.

Carlos scratched his head and answered, “No, we should go find your… eh, my wife and figure out where to go from here.”

“Well, I have no choice but to be a thief now,” Rapunzel concluded, looking down at her hands. “I can’t go back into the town because everyone knows who I am now.” Her eyes remained pointed down as she muttered, “Also, Mother likely saw those pictures. She is probably too ashamed to even look at me now.”

“Nah,” Carlos remarked. “I’m sure if you just explain to her you had no choice, she’ll understand.”

“I suppose,” Rapunzel muttered, trying to convince herself more than him.

As the two continued, Rapunzel gazed upward. There were so many tree branches she could barely see the sunlight peeking through. The ground felt damp and disheveled with various sticks, leaves, and random dug holes. Rapunzel was so used to walking only on even flooring in the tower, it felt odd, as she tripped several times. She spotted several large oval shaped insects crawling about, mostly on trees and some on the ground under fallen leaves. She lingered close to the thief as these little beetles still would creep her out.

“She should be nearby,” Carlos muttered scratching his head.

Just moments after those words left his lips, Rapunzel heard the leaves nearby brush together, followed by the sound of footsteps cracking the sticks. She looked over and saw a tall woman with thick curly hair approaching them. The woman wore tightly knit pants and a dark top with a bow strapped around her shoulder. Rapunzel thought she appeared more like a hunter than a thief.

“Carlos, where have you been?” she demanded, with her hands on her hips. “All I asked you to do was go to the nearest village and get some bread!”

Her eyes shifted to Rapunzel and her tone suddenly softened. She spoke, slowly, “Carlos, who… is that…”

“Lillian,” Carlos said gently, walking over to her and placing his hands on her shoulders. “This is Rapunzel.”

Rapunzel waved and smiled brightly as she said, “Hi. It’s nice to meet you. I’m a thief too, though I’m kind of new at it.”

Lillian turned to her husband, horrified.

Carlos quickly shook his head and said, “Don’t worry, she was just giving it a try. She’s not really going to be a thief.”

Rapunzel step towards then and said, “Well, actually, I was thinking…”