Summer Love | TLOS

Ch.19

14/12/18

I have been ignoring Micah for almost a week now, and I feel great. Micah's been trying to reach out and talk to me, but I push him away every time. He made up a rumor about me, and now he's going to have to deal with the consequences of breaking someone's heart. The Winter Ball is the 22nd of December, and Bree and I went shopping for dresses today. I picked out a cute dark blue dress with sparkles. Nathan and I are now talking and I explained it was a rumor and wasn't true, and now we're still going to the dance.

Alex and Arthur made their way to the nearest motel. They had been on the move for hours, and they couldn't stand it any longer. Their legs were about to break down on them, just as the door to The Swan Lake Bed & Breakfast in The Northern Kingdom swung open. Two masked men sauntered out, muttering things under their breath.

Alex and Arthur jumped behind a sign before the masked men saw them. They seemed utterly dangerous, and Alex wouldn't be able to bear it if they got caught.

"Lloyd, I highly doubt they're smart enough to find out what you're doing," the smaller man said. His voice was deep, but it was fake. It was as if he was a child, and was trying to mimic his father.

Lloyd grunted, rolling his eyes. "Of course the boy isn't," he remarked. "Arthur has only been in this world once, and he doesn't have any magical background. But my niece, however, is a threat. She has powers that no one believed possible. If she uses them correctly, she could overthrow us and lock us in Pinocchio Prison, and you know how bad that's gotten recently."

Alex put her hand over Arthur's mouth, who was just about ready to scream. "Be quiet," she murmured. "You don't want them to see us, do you?!"

Arthur shook his head solemnly. His words were muffled, and he tried to pry Alex's hand off of his mouth, but she wouldn't budge. She couldn't risk it. One wrong move and they would be found.

The smaller man nodded. "I suppose so," he said. "But I don't think Alex has got the gut to do it. She'll never find out what we've done. As long as we keep quiet."

Lloyd smiled coyly. "Of course, of course," he purred. "I'm glad to have you on the team, Puss. You've become quite a candidate." they stalked off, their tall boots stomping across the courtyard.

Arthur took a moment to take some deep breaths. "What is that supposed to mean?" he shrieked. "Whoever 'Lloyd' is, he knows us! And he thinks you have magical powers-and that I'm stupid!"

Alex ignored him. She couldn't comprehend the last sentence Lloyd had said. 'Puss'? As in Puss in Boots? She sighed. This was not good.

Once Alex and Arthur were checked into the motel, they climbed up the ladder and into their separate bedrooms. Alex couldn't sleep and found herself in Arthur's room. She sat on the edge of his bed and tapped his feet.

"Arthur," she said softly. "Wake up-please."

That was enough for Arthur to wake up, and he jumped, startled to find Alex in his room at night. "Alex? What are you doing here?" he yawned and sat upright. He leaned over and turned on the lamp.

"I couldn't sleep," she said. "Sorry for waking you up."

Arthur shrugged. "That's fine. I wasn't having a very good sleep either. So, what's up?" he said. "You seem shaky."

Alex took a deep breath. "Remember earlier tonight, when we heard Lloyd and the other man talking?"

"Yeah."

"Well I think it was Puss," Alex said. "Didn't you hear Lloyd call him Puss? There is probably a 99 % chance that that was the cute cat we were talking to before. Probably one in eight people's name is Puss."

Arthur sighed. "I don't know," he said shakily. "Puss was so nice to us. Why would he be working for evil?"

A troubling thought came to Alex's mind. "Oh my god!" she cried. "Do you think Tiana's in on it too?" her lower lip trembled. She surely hoped not, Tiana had been so nice to Arthur and Alex. She couldn't bear it if she was.

"I highly doubt it," Arthur replied. "She seemed clueless on why Puss had left, just as we had. Now get some sleep. We'll talk more in the morning," he grabbed Alex's hand and pulled her down beside him.

Alex would have blushed, but her mind was else where. Thoughts swarming inside her head, Alex could barely contain herself. She wanted to find out why Puss was working for Lloyd, whoever he was. And why he believed that she was his niece and that she had magical powers. With one final sigh, she fell into a deep sleep.

****

Breakfast was served in bed. The maid brought it up and left right after. Alex awoke first, surprised she had gotten such a good sleep after the miraculous night they had. She dug into the pancakes and sausages, gulping down the orange juice as fast as she could.

She was thriving to get started on their day. The next element to find was 'The feather that broke the duckling's heart, only to show the wild goose's art.' Alex was pretty sure that was The Ugly Duckling.

When Arthur woke up, he quickly ate what was left and got ready for the day. He met Alex out in the lobby of the hotel. They didn't speak of the night before.

"Are you ready?" Alex said to Arthur, handing the lady at the counter a couple gold coins.

Arthur stuffed his hands in his jacket pocket. "Yeah," he replied. "Okay, so what's the next item?"

"A feather from The Ugly Duckling," Alex answered as they walked out of the motel. "If we get moving now, we'll get there around sundown. But I asked the lady at the counter, and she said that the bakery next door was shipping its' famous bread to the palace and would drop us off there if we hurry."

Arthur smiled. That was perfect! They were both tired from walking, so this would be a nice break for them.

The two teenagers hurried across the street and into Melanie's Pastries Shop as quickly as they could. Just as the back truck was loading, did Melanie look up and see them.

"Hello there," Melanie smiled. She was an old lady with kind eyes and a beautiful smile. "Are you who Laura told me about? Alex and Arthur?"

"Yes, that's us," Alex said. "Laura told us that your truck could take us out to The Ugly Duckling Pond?"

Melanie nodded. "That's right. Let me show you out back to George. He's our truck driver," she explained and led Arthur and Alex to the back of the shop.

George was loading the back of the truck up to make his delivery. He smiled when he saw Melanie and the adolescents. "Hello there," he waved. "Come aboard!"

Alex and Arthur ran up to the truck and hopped inside. Alex rolled down the window and waved at Melanie. "Tell Laura thanks!" she called out of the window. "Thank you to you too!"

Melanie watched just as the truck disappeared down the driveway.

Alex smiled. Now she was finally going to get to catch a break.

A/N Hi guys! It's me, Amanda! I hope you like this chapter. What do you think??