Hook's Daughter

Farmhouse

Glass bottles and broken beakers are scattered around Regina's office. Emma, Hook, David, and I search it for anything. A hair, a drop of blood, a hand print, anything to help identify the culprit.
"I think I have a partial footprint," David says, leaning down near the center of the floor. "You guys see anything?"
"Other than an austere sense of design," Hook says. "Nothing."
"Is that blood?" Emma asks David who just picked up a throw pillow from the floor.
I touch the red mystery and smell it.
"It's berry," I say.
"Like a fruit?" Emma asks.
"No," David says, also sniffing some of the substance. "Like holly berry. They grow on bushes."
"Are you some sort of botanist in this life, mate?" Hook asks.
"I worked in an animal shelter, saw dogs track them in all the time," replies David. "The bushes grow in the woods."
"You know where?" I ask.
"Yeah," says David. "In the Northwest corner, not far from the Troll Bridge." David's cell phone vibrates and he sighs.
"Everything okay?" Emma asks him.
"Uh, Mary Margaret needs me to come back to the loft. We're getting a midwife and she wants to meet both of us."
"A bit demanding, isn't she?" Hook says, getting a glance from Emma. "I meant the midwife."
"It's fine," Emma tells David. "Go."
"No," he replies. "W-we just got on track here. I mean-"
"And I've got it covered," Emma assures him. "She needs you. Just meet us when you get done."
"All right," David sighs and walks out of the office.
........................
Hook, Emma, and I were searching the woods for berries, which we found a number of places. Hook shook some of the berries off the bush.
"You'll use any excuse to use that thing, won't you?" Emma asks Hook, referring to his method of shaking the berries off by scraping them with his hook.
"At least we know we're in the right place," he replies. "What now?"
"Now," Emma says, "we start searching."
"You know something, Swan," Hook comments. "Whenever you're around, I inevitably find myself trekking through some manner of woods or forest, courting danger."
"Ah," says Emma. "Here, I thought you weren't afraid of anything, always looking for the next adventure."
"Oh, is that what this is?" asks Hook.
"The hell were you two doing for the last year on that ship?" Emma says. "I'm guessing it was one swashbuckling tale after another. Till you decided to come back and save me."
"Exactly," Hook replies.
"You're lying," Emma tells him.
"Excuse me?" He scoffs.
"What happened back there? What are you both not telling me?"
"Nothing," Hook and I say at the same time.
"That's my tale and I'm sticking to it," Hook continued.
"Still don't believe you," says Emma.
"Well," Hook says. "Let's leave it at that, and you can just say thank you."
"For my memories?" Emma asks. "I already did."
"Well, for saving you from a loveless marriage," Hook snaps.
"Is that what you think you're doing?" Emma says.
"He was a flying monkey," Hook laughs.
"I didn't know that!" Emma defends herself.
"Were you considering it?" Hook asks her. "His proposal?"
"Does it matter?" Emma replies.
"Humor me."
"Yes, okay?" Emma says, frustrated. "I was in love so of course I was considering it. As usual, he wasn't who he said he was, and I got my heart broken. That enough humor for you?"
"Don't take this the wrong way," says Hook. "But I'm glad to hear that."
"You're glad to hear I got my heart broken?" Emma chokes.
"If it can be broken, it means it still works," Hook replies, and Emma turns back to the berry bush, processing what he said.
I turned the opposite way from Emma and went up deeper into the woods. I got over the river, and over some branches, and there was a clearing past the tree line.
"Hey!" I call out to Hook and Emma. They rush up.
"A farmhouse?" Emma asks. "You have to appreciate the irony."
Birds squawk as we walk up to the perimeter of the house. Emma peers inside the window before whispering,
"There's definitely someone living here. Looks empty right now, though."
"Why are we whispering?" asks Hook.
"Because good hideouts always look empty," Emma replies and walks stealthily around the corner of the house. "Trust me. I spent a lot of time tracking people who don't want to be found. I know about hiding out."
Emma peeks around the corner. Seeing nothing but an older looker blue bike, she looks around the yard."
"There's a storm cellar," I say, pointing to a small white fort sticking out of the ground. We all three walk to it and Emma pulls out her gun and aims it at the cellar.
"Wait, wait," Hook says. "It's one thing walking around a deserted farmhouse. It's quite another descending into a one way cellar with no way out."
"Scared?" Emma laughs.
"There's a difference between fear and strategy," Hook assures her. "We know she's got flying monstrosities. Who knows what's down there. If this witch is as powerful as we think, we could use some magical backup. Unless you've been practicing in New York City."
It startles me when he says magical backup, and I routinely grab hold of my necklace.
"Okay, I'll call Regina," Emma sighs, and I relax. "Have her drop Henry at Granny's," Emma continues, "I'd like to see those flying monstrosities try to get past her crossbow."
"And her lunch special," Hook adds under his breath.
Emma turns on her phone, and there is a new message.
"It's David," Emma tells us, and clicks on the voice mail.
"Emma, it's David. I'm at the trail head. I think I found her- the Wicked Witch. I'm going after her."
The voice mail ended and we all ran in the direction of the trail head.