Rescuing Rapunzel (The Princess Chronicles Book 3)

by Tarrah Montgomery

  “We were also warned about your possible violence,” he grunted as he pulled my hands painfully behind me and up until the muscles in my arms and back were screaming.

  I took short breaths, having a hard time breathing while being pushed on my stomach on the bed. My hands were being pulled together tightly and I could feel someone wrapping something around my wrists.

  “We came prepared,” he said. “I guess I spoke too soon about this being easy.”

  There was a small clicking sound when he tightened the band around my wrists. Once my hands seemed to be fastened together, the boy finally took his knee off my back and moved off of me.

  “We need to hurry. There’s not much time left,” a curiously familiar woman’s voice said.

  I rolled onto my back and awkwardly sat up on the edge of the bed. There was the woman from the harvest dance who offered Snow and me an apple. Her bright green eyes were dull and she glared at me with an evil smile. “Princess,” she said, sarcasm dripping like poison from her sickly sweet voice.

  With no need to acknowledge her mocking, I sat silent.

  The woman’s laugh reminded me of scraping a fork on a pot and made my toes curl under. “This is going to be fun.” She moved to the magic door and easily opened it. “I already started the fire,” she said to the boys. “No more wasting time.”

  Just as she said it, I detected the smoky stench drifting through the doorway. A wisp of smoke wafted into the room near the ceiling.

  Fire!

  “What about the other girl?” asked the younger boy, who was rubbing his neck where I choked him.

  “She’s taken care of,” the evil woman snickered. “She’ll have a front row seat to the show.”

  I wondered who she was talking about. Could it be Snow? Did she follow me from the dance?

  “Grab the princess and let’s go,” the woman said.

  “Yes, milady,” mumbled the boys. They both came to me and lifted me painfully under my armpits. The band around my wrists dug into my skin. Even though I knew I couldn’t stop these people from kidnapping me, I still dragged my feet and struggled and made it as difficult as possible for them to carry me through the door.

  “Push the table against the door,” the woman instructed one of the boys, after we had scrambled through the magic door. While he let go of my arm, she told the other one, “Use a rope to tie the doorknob to ensure no one can follow us.”

  The other boy left to do as she bid, and I stood there with anguish filling my soul as I found myself back in Sherwood Manor - back where I started.

  I was actually worse off than before because these captors were strangers to me and much rougher. My wrists ached terribly and I was starting to get a headache. Theresa was someone I knew from when I was a child, and she had never treated me harshly. I wondered if these were the people Theresa warned me about. Maybe they were the whole reason I spent a decade in a tower in the wilderness. Chills ran up my back and down again.

  After the boys secured the door, they took their assigned spots at my sides and dragged me after the woman out of the kitchen. As we walked through the large manor, the halls stood empty. Where were all the guards when I needed them? We walked right through the rooms without anyone to stop us.

  Outside, a carriage stood in the front of the house, already prepared and ready. The driver, seeing them drag me down the front steps, quickly hopped down from his perch and opened the door for the woman and assisted her inside. The two boys forced me in next and then they clambered inside before the carriage lurched forward.

  Where are these creeps taking me? And why? What did they intend to do to me? Would I ever see my parents again? How come I had to be the pawn in everyone’s game? I hadn’t even had a chance to be anybody important. I just wanted to live my life like any other girl of sixteen.

  I hoped we were heading to the castle to plead for a ransom from my father, the king. I wanted to go home and finally be safe. I was exhausted from always worrying and hiding. It was hard to tell how much more I could take. However, the chance of safely going home seemed to slip further and further away with each passing mile.

  My dread grew deeper, as the carriage traveled deeper into the forest and onto rough, uncharted roads. I kept my wits about me, though, and committed to memory each time we turned or took a fork in the road. And I kept track of the number I counted in between each change in direction. My obsessive counting had finally come in handy. Hopefully, I would be able to use the information when I escaped. That’s when, not if, I told myself. I intended to break away at the earliest opportunity.

  After about thirty minutes, the carriage slowed and went around a curve. I could smell the salty sea air, even before the mountains opened wide to show the gray and white-capped sea. We rode down to a small bay protected by two large mountains. Waves lashed the rocks at their base.

  It was a perfectly secluded spot to hide, which was the ideal place to conceal...a pirate ship. My heart plunged to the bottom of the bay along with my chances for escape.

  Chapter 19

  History of Firefighting

  The Roman emperor Augustus is credited with instituting a corps of fire-fighting vigiles (“watchmen”) in 24 BC. Regulations for checking and preventing fires were developed. In the preindustrial era most cities had watchmen who sounded an alarm at signs of fire. The principal piece of fire-fighting equipment in ancient Rome and into early modern times was the bucket, passed from hand to hand to deliver water to the fire.

  Another important fire-fighting tool was the ax, used to remove the fuel and prevent the spread of fire as well as to make openings that would allow heat and smoke to escape a burning building. In major conflagrations long hooks with ropes were used to pull down buildings in the path of an approaching fire to create firebreaks. When explosives were available, they would be used for this same purpose.

  Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, fire brigades were formed by insurance companies. The government was not involved until 1865, when these brigades became London’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade. The first modern standards for the operation of a fire department were not established until 1830, in Edinburgh, Scotland. These standards explained, for the first time, what was expected of a good fire department. After a major fire in Boston in 1631, the first fire regulation in America was established. In 1648 in New Amsterdam (now New York) fire wardens were appointed, thereby establishing the beginnings of the first public fire department in North America. —https://www.emergencydispatch.org/articles/historyoffirefighting.html

  The Fire

  }Snow White}

  “Quick, run back to the dance and get help!” Maddox yelled at me.

  Shock still trickled down my body, so he had to yell at me again to jolt me into action. “Snow, hurry, we need help putting out the fire!”

  I numbly nodded, turned, and ran as fast as I could back to the party. I flung open the barn doors and searched the crowd for Aunt Em. She was at the refreshment table talking to some other ladies with a big smile on her face. I rushed over to her, unapologetically bumping a few people on the way. She first looked at me with surprise, but when she saw the alarm on my face she immediately grabbed both of my shoulders and asked, “What’s wrong? Is it Rapunzel? Is everything all right?”

  “N–no,” I stammered, out of breath. “Rapunzel is gone.” I tried to take a deep breath. “There’s a fire . . . at the house.”

  “There’s a fire?” she asked. “Where?”

  “The house.” I still couldn’t get a good breath.

  “Where, sweetheart? Where’s the fire?”

  “Your house,” I said slowly.

  Not hesitating for a moment, she shouted, “Fire! My house is on fire!” The music stopped and everyone froze. “Please, help!” Aunt Em pled loudly “We have to put out the fire!”

  It was like a ripple effect, Aunt Em running out the door with me in tow, and every person following the one before them down the road and to the house that had gone up in flame
s. Even from the road, we could see the fire licking hungrily at the rafters. Smoke billowed out, black and choking.

  Maddox and Eddy each had a long green hose that looked like a snake, squirting water on the attic of the house. The fire sizzled as if it was laughing at their measly attempt to calm the wild flames. Hansel was also there, endeavoring to use a shovel to throw dirt upon the fire near the foundation.

  The flock that had followed us from the dance quickly swarmed the burning house like bees to a hive and began doing whatever they could to subdue the blaze. Some filled buckets with water, a couple climbed up ladders to target where it looked like the bulk of the fire burned, and some copied Hansel and used shovels or whatever they could to help control it.

  I stood watching in amazement and terror. I didn’t know where to help or if I should stay out of the way. None of my princess instruction prepared me for a real-life tragedy like this.

  As I stood there, debating, I heard someone yell for help. It was a girl’s voice, but I couldn’t see any young girls helping with the house. It was only the boys and men. The rest of the girls stayed back, huddled together. Even Aunt Em was the only female closest to the fire, but she was still a good fifteen feet away, giving instructions to the men.

  When I heard the cry again, I left the group of spectators and walked in the direction of the horse stable. I could have sworn that’s where I heard it.

  Coming to the barn door, I no longer heard the cry. I placed my palm on the wooden gate and waited. Maybe I was merely hearing things from the confusion. As the fire ate away at the roof, things crashed to the floor and people shouted. That must have been what I heard.

  I turned on my heels to go but jumped when I heard the cry for help loudly on the other side of the door. Quickly, I pushed open the barn doors and found Hansel’s friend, Gretel, lying on the floor, her legs and arms tied.

  “Are you all right?” I knelt by her and tried to untie her restraints. The bands on her limbs were made of some kind of that newfangled stuff called plastic. It cut into my own skin as I attempted to pull at the fastening.

  “You’ll need a knife to cut through these,” she said.

  “What happened?” I asked. “Where is Rapunzel?”

  “I don’t know, I didn’t see her. But it wasn’t Theresa who did this.”

  “Who was it?”

  “I’ve never seen her before. She found me hiding under the bed when she came through the magic door. She asked if I knew where the princess was. I wouldn’t tell her anything, which made her mad. She hit me a few times, but I still wouldn’t tell her. Unfortunately, she found your note and sent her helpers to find Rapunzel.”

  “Then what happened?” I asked.

  “The woman tied me up and brought me down here. After she left, I could smell smoke and knew she had started a fire. I didn’t know if anyone was going to find me in time. What if the sparks had blown over to the barn?”

  “We have to tell the others.” I stood up and assisted Gretel to stand as well.

  “Who else knows about you and the princess?” she asked.

  “Aunt Em, Maddox…and I guess Edison,” I said, realizing that Eddy probably sensed something was going on and that I wasn’t telling him the truth. Besides, it would be nice to have another person helping.

  “Can you trust them?”

  “Yes,” I honestly answered. I didn’t know Maddox very well, but Aunt Em trusted him, which meant I could trust him, too.

  Gretel shook out her stiff limbs and asked, “Where is Hansel? Is he all right?”

  “Yes, he’s fine. He’s helping outside with the fire.”

  She exhaled a breath. “Good,” she said. “I wanted the woman to think I was here by myself. She didn’t believe me, but I didn’t admit to anything.”

  “You did well,” I said, admiring Gretel’s bravery. “I’ll get a knife to cut your bands, and then we’ll warn the others.”

  I found Maddox working next to Lark and Bash, shoveling dirt onto the fire. Luckily Maddox had his pocketknife with him, so I borrowed it to cut Gretel’s bands.

  With the help of most of those who attended the harvest dance, which was nearly the whole town, they were able to bring the fire under control. However, the house had suffered extensive damage, which left Aunt Em a huge amount of clean up.

  It looked like the fire had started in the kitchen, because there was only a pile of rubble left in that part of the house. The fire had eaten away part of the exterior walls and roof also, and the home’s skeletal frame haunted the dark landscape of the night.

  I could see the stairs leading to the second floor of the house, but part of the steps barely clung to the structure because of the damaged foundation. The fire had blasted like a tornado, boiling through the home and devouring nearly everything in its way.

  Aunt Em stood with her hand covering her mouth and tears streamed down her cheeks. All seven of her nephews and Dorothy huddled close to her, offering an arm or hand in comfort.

  The townspeople gave Aunt Em their condolences but soon left, somber, exhausted, and quiet. They were able to stop the fire from spreading to any of the surrounding buildings or onto the corn field, but now there wasn’t much to do but wait for the coals to cool. The air was filled with melancholy as everyone walked away.

  I stood off to the side with Hansel and Gretel, feeling out of place and uncomfortable. Hansel draped his arm around Gretel’s shoulders as she rubbed her injured wrists. Thankfully, that was the extent of her injuries. I hoped the same would be true for Punz.

  “Snow,” Aunt Em called. “You need to find Rapunzel.”

  I stepped closer to the huddled group. Obviously, the time for continuing my facade had passed. “How?” I asked, not having an inkling where to begin.

  “You need to go home and ask the king for help,” Em openly stated. I looked at some of the wide stares of her nephews.

  “Is it safe?” I questioned, remembering her warning and also what Rapunzel’s father said in his letter, about waiting.

  “It’s no longer safe anywhere,” Aunt Em admitted. “You need to find the princess and capture the people who have done this. They need to know they can’t just go around kidnapping princesses and burning down the houses of innocent people.”

  “I’m sorry we’ve put you through this,” I said, knowing if my cousin and I hadn’t visited her, the house would still be standing.

  Aunt Em stepped away from her family and grabbed my hand. “No, my dear. It was inevitable. I’m connected to your world as much as you are to mine, and I have been for much longer than you’ve been here.”

  Eddy came up next to his aunt. “Will someone please tell us what you’re both talking about?” He lifted his hand in the direction of the smoking house. “Do you know who did this to our house?”

  Aunt Em gave me a sad smile, squeezed my hand, and turned to address Eddy and the others. “I need to explain something to all of you. It’s going to be hard to believe, so please trust me. Maddox didn’t believe it at first, but he has come to have faith in what I’m about to tell you.”

  She proceeded to tell her nephews and niece about the magic door and the kingdom of Fenmore Falls that lay on the other side. She told them about the castle, the king and queen, and how Rapunzel had been kidnapped at the age of six and kept in a tower—and how she had just been abducted again. I suspected the little I knew about Aunt Em was only part of a long and incredible story . . . one with connections to both Rapunzel and me. I wondered just where she fit in the scheme of things, and why she chose to live outside of Fenmore Falls.

  Through her explanation, I watched the expressions change in the faces of her audience. My concern was mostly for Eddy, to see how he would receive the revealed information. I didn’t know why I was so concerned about how he felt compared to the others, but it meant a great deal to me that he understood where I came from and who I was. I hoped he would care. I searched his face for that knowledge.

  When Aunt Em had finished, silen
ce hung heavy in the air. I held my breath, waiting for their reaction.

  Maddox stepped forward and faced his siblings. “I didn’t want to believe it either,” he said. “I set out to prove Aunt Em wrong, but I’ve been through the magic door. I can promise you that everything she’s saying is true.”

  The silence continued, even after Maddox’s testimony.

  “Come on, guys,” he pleaded. “You know me. I would never lie about something like this. You know I don’t like to play games.”

  “He’s right,” Eddy admitted. “Maddox wouldn’t waste his time pulling some kind of prank on us.”

  “Exactly,” Maddox said, seeming relieved that someone believed him.

  Restlessness plagued me. I needed to find Rapunzel and quickly. I couldn’t let her go back to that horrible tower to rot away, virtually in the dark, never knowing love or friendship, never able to go anywhere. “Do you think the magic door still works even if it got burned in the fire?” I asked Aunt Em.

  “Only one way to find out,” she said.

  She led the way to the sad remnants of her home. We took turns hoisting each other up the broken staircase to the second floor. A floorboard broke, and my foot fell through the hole. Burnt beams teetered above our heads, but we all made it to the small room containing the magic door. Thankfully, the door still stood intact and undamaged. We had to cover our noses and mouths because of the intense smoke still drifting in the air. It stung my throat, and my eyes wouldn’t stop tearing. The others had the same problem.

  As we all squished inside the room, Aunt Em felt around the door and pushed against the partition. She let out a grunt. “It’s stuck. Someone has locked it from the other side.”

  She frantically turned the knob and yanked at the door until she was overcome with coughing fits. Eddy gently pushed her aside and said, “Show me how to do it. Maybe some of us can force the door open.”

  My eyes burned from the thick smoke. I felt it growing heavy in my lungs as it replaced my limited air supply. If they couldn’t open the door soon, we would need to leave the stuffy room or we would pass out.