Once Upon A Time ~ Book 1

Chapter 92 - Faith And Proof

Snow peered from behind a tree, in the dark forest, a cloak over her head, staring ahead at one of the Evil Queen's gaurds riding through the woods on his horse. She then hid behind the tree again, smiling. She then tugged at a rope next to her, and as the dark gaurd was about to ride past her, he was pulled from his horse by the rope she had pulled accross the road.
He fell from his horse that neighed, running off, deeper into the forest. He groaned on the earthen ground and Snow strolled towards him, the pickaxe in her hands. She then thrust the blade of the pickaxe into the top of his leg and grunted and shrieked in pain.
Snow glanced down at the bloody wound. "It'll heal." she leaned her hands on the pickaxe, the blade dug into the ground. "Eventually."
"What do you want?" asked the gaurd, his helmet knocked off from when he fell.
"Information. Where's the Queen?"
He smiled through his pain, holding the wound. "And why would I tell you?"
She pulled the pickaxe from the earthen ground and knelt down, staring down at him. "Do you know what a diamond is? It's the strongest substance known to man or beast. Beautiful, precious, nearly impervious to destruction...... Nearly." she smiled. She stood straight, holding up the axe. "This? This is an axe from the Dwarf Mines. It's a special blade. It can, believe it or not, actually cut a diamond." she stepped closer and he leaned back on the ground.
He breathed heavily, fearful. "Now imagine what it can do to human flesh. Sold.....pliable......tender flesh." she smiled and held the axe high ready to strick.
"She's at her castle!" he let out before she stricked. "But only for the night. In the morning, shh e leaves for the Summer Palace."
She got ready to strick again.
He held up his hand. "Please! That's all I know."
"That Summer Palace was built for my mother." she knocked him over the head with the side of the blade, his eyes rowled and fell back onto the earthen ground again.

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The Queen's Dark Gaurd lay knocked out on the forest ground, stripped of his dark uniform.
Snow stood above him, his cloths over her arm and she placed her sword back into her belt. She glanced once more at the gaurd and walked away.
Then there was a voice in the darkness. "Want do you think you're doing?" asked Grumpy, walking towards her, a flaming torch in his hand.
She looked up, a little startled. "I already told you, I'm going to kill the Queen."
"By stealing the armour off a knight?"
"Whatever I have to do to get into that castle. So get out of my way. I have to get there before she departs."
He grasped her arm. "Have you lost your mind? You really think this disguise is gonna fool anybody?"
"I'm getting in there." she walked away.
Grumpy followed her. "Listen to yourself! All you care about is revenge. You can't even see reality anymore."
Snow fixed up the horse she had found in the forest that had belonged to the gaurd. "What I don't need is to be lectured by a dwarf with a bad attitude."
"I didn't come here to lecture you. I came here to help you."
"Help me? How?"
"By taking you back to Rumplestiltskin. He's the one who gave you the potion in the first place. The one that took away all your memories of your Prince. If anyone can give them back to you, it's him."
"I don't want my memories back. That's why I took the potion."
"And it changed you." he shouted. "Maybe he can at least bring you back to the person you used to be. He's the most powerful man in the world. He can do anything."
"Anything?"

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Emma stood in her and Mary Margaret's apartment, examining the sides of the front door, looking for evidence. She then walked to the window, opening abd closing it and checked the latches. She then turned around when she heard footsteps approach the apartment.
Henry walked inside and looked around.
Emma walked towards him. "Henry? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in school?"
"We have to help Miss. Blanchard."
"I am helpings. That's why I'm searching the apartment. But you got to go home."
"Not gonna happen."
Emma tilted her head. "Just stay out of the way."
"So what are we looking for?" he asked following her to Mary Margaret's room.
"Well, I'm trying to see if maybe someone broke in. Looking for busted door jambs, broken glass, muddy boot prints, that kind of thing." she examined the window in her room and the vales in front of it.
"So you think someone's setting her up?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense. The only problem is, nobody's got a motive."
"My mom does."
She picked up a picture frame with a photo of Mary Margaret and some children in an ice-cream ship, smiling. "Regina?"
"She hates Snow White."
Emma raised her eyebrows.
"Hey, you wanted a motive."
"Well, I don't think she hates Snow White will hold up in a court, Henry." she looked at the photograph sadly, then put it back. She then fell back onto Mary Margaret's bed, sighing.
Then suddenly a loud rattling sort of noise came from the floor by the bed. Henry and Emma both looked around. Emma then sat up and glanced at Henry, then down at the floor wherr she saw a little vent. She swung her legs around the bed and stood up, walking over to it. She stared down at it, then bent down and lifted it up. Beneath was a heating vent with something on top of it.
"Did you find something?" asked Henry.
She took from the vent an object wrapped in some fabric. She pulled off the rough fabric to see a silver hunting knife. Emma stared at it, her eyes widening. She then looked up at Henry and they both looked back at the hunting knife fearfully.

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Ruby sprinkled some cinnamon on top of Henry's creamy hot chocolate and smiled pitifully at him. He sat at the counter, staring at the mug, thinking hard. Ruby walked away and left him alone.
"I don't think that hot chocolate's gonna drink itself." said August's voice from near by. He sat down next to him at the counter. "You're upset about your teacher, aren't you?"
"She didn't do it. Why can't anyone see that?"
"Cause most people just see what's right in front of them. And I don't think you're gonna find the answer you want at the bottom of that mug."
"Then where?" he took a sip from his hot chocolate.
"That a book in your bag?" he glanced at his open back-pack on the counter next to him. "You know I'm a writer. So I'm partial to finding my answers in the literary form."
"It's just a book." he stared at the mug.
"Is it?"
"Yeah." he nodded.
"I think we both know that that's not the case........ Can I get a water, please?" he asked Ruby.
Henry looked up from his daze and up at August. "What do you know about it?"
Ruby placed the glass of water in front of him. "I know it's a book of stories."
"Aren't all books?"
"Stories that really happened."
"You think my book is real?" he said surprised.
"As real as I am."
"How do you know?"
"Let's just sat that.........I'm a believer. And I want to help others see the light. That, my friend, is why I'm here."
"But I already believe."
"Well, I'm not here for you, buddy. I'm here for Emma."
"So you want to get her to believe? Why don't you just tell her?"
"Well, there are some people, like you and me, we can go on faith. But others, like Emma, they need proof."
"Last time I tryed to find proof, I got trapped in a sinkhole."
"There are less dangerous places to look." he lifted Henry's back-pack a little to get a better look at the fairytale book inside. Then he stood up as Henry pulled the book out and leaved through the pages. He walked past him and tapped him shoulder and smiled.