Red was stomping through the mud. It had rained the day before and the dirt roads had become mud roads. Granny was probably expecting her to be home by now, but running was difficult in this terrain. She pulled at the hood of her cloak that she had received only weeks prior, on her ninth birthday. She was cold.

Suddenly she heard horse noises in the distance. She turned around and frowned. The road was usually deserted because there weren't many people who went through here. But now she saw a horse bound carriage rumbling through the forest on this narrow path. She stepped back, waiting for it to pass. But it never did.

The carriage slowed down and stopped right in front of her. A boot came into her vision, followed by a man. Red took another step back; she was almost off the road at this point. The man was sneering at her and she didn't like it. But she didn't dare to run away.

"Hello there, little girl", the man said and before Red even had the time to think, his hand was wrapped around her upper arm in a tight grip.

"Where are your parents?" he asked.

Red stared at him, petrified with fear.

"Your parents, girl?" he shook her hard. "Where are they?"

"I… I", Red stammered. "My Granny…"

"Granny, huh?" the man sneered again. "Almost too easy."

The last part was just a mutter to himself, and with that he dragged her into the carriage with him. He pushed her down on the floor.

"Make any sound and I'll gag you", he threatened and the carriage was put in motion.

Red brought her knees up, hugged her legs and pressed herself against the wall. What was going to happen to her?

They travelled far. After a while Red was lulled to sleep by exhausting act of crying and the rhythm of the carriage. She was awoken by the same grip upon her arm dragging her to her feet. He shoved her outside and she stumbled to the ground, not quite awake yet.

"Walk, girl", the man growled and grabbed her arm again.

Red looked around to try and locate herself. It didn't look anything like her forest or the villages nearby. They were in a bigger town. But it was quite dark and not too many people were out and about on the streets. In front of her was a wall and beyond the wall was a castle. Red had never actually seen a castle before and stared up at its impressive pinnacles and towers with round eyes.

They walked through an opened gate in the wall. Red thought they would go up to the tall entrance doors of the castle, but the man turned right and took her off to the side of the building where he opened a small wooden door.

Inside appeared to be a kitchen. Three fires were burning from different fireplaces. Two of them had cauldrons hanging over the flames. There were cupboards and benches and a long wooden table in the middle. All around the room were at least half a dozen women in aprons. All of them turned to the man and Red as they entered.

"I've got one for you", the man called out.

One of the women walked up to them. She was wearing an apron like the rest of them, but Red got the feeling that she was the one in charge. The woman shot a scrutinizing look at Red and grabbed the arm the man wasn't holding.

"She's mere skin and bones", she said to the man disapprovingly.

"What do you expect?" he shot back. "I found her out in the woods."

The woman looked Red up and down.

"Fine, she'll do", she said in the end.

The man looked satisfied and finally let go of Red. The woman ushered her over to another one of the women, who promptly got rid of her cloak and tied an apron around her waist. A wet piece of fabric was put in her hands and she was pushed to the floor. Confused, Red looked up.

"Clean, girl", the woman in charge said. "You work here now."

She did? Red was really confused. But the woman pushed her shoulder down even more so she brought the fabric back and forth over the floor a few times. This seemed to satisfy the women, and afraid of what they might do if she stopped, Red continued scrubbing the floor.

She glanced up on the women of the room every now and then, but none of them paid her any attention except for when to tell her where to scrub. Deciding this was to her advantage, she started cleaning closer towards the door, hoping that she would be able to slip out and run before anyone noticed. She continuously glanced up and when the cost was clear, when everyone had their backs to her, she bolted up on her feet and pulled on the door handle. It was locked.

Desperately, she tugged at it with both hands, trying to make it move. A hand came into her vision and yanked her away from the door, while another slapped her across her face.

"Don't you try anything, girl", the woman in charge growled and pushed her to the floor.

Red wiped her tears with her arm and looked up at her.

"You're here to work and you'll do as I say", the woman continued. "Understood?"

Red nodded slowly.

"Good. Get back to work."

Red scrubbed the floor for another hour or two, before one of the women motioned for her to follow. Red looked at the woman in charge for clearance, which she got in the form of a nod, and followed. She was lead through a dark narrow hall with many doors on both sides.

"This is where the help sleeps", the woman explained. "You'll be staying in here."
She opened a door and shoved Red inside before closing the door behind her. The room was small and bare with just a cot as furniture. There was a window, but it wasn't even wide enough for Red to get more than her arm through.

With a sigh she sat down on the cot. She had no idea what to do. She wanted to get back to her Granny, but she didn't know how. She didn't even know how far away she was. Desperation came settling in and Red bit back a sob. She was alone and scared and all she wanted was to go home.

She lay down carefully on top of the blanket on the cot and curled into herself, trying to become as small as possible. The women in aprons would forget about her if she just could disappear. But that wasn't possible.

When the first morning rays of sun shone through her window, one of the women barged inside and made her get up. She was back in the kitchen in no time with a pile of dishes as company. After doing the dishes came sweeping, and after sweeping came more dishes, and after those dishes came dusting. The endless circle of chores kept going, save for a couple of breaks where Red would curl up in the corner. For lunch she got a piece of bread and for dinner she got soup, which she ate at the table with the rest of the help.

The sun set and a while later she was ushered to bed. The same procedure was repeated the next day. And the next. And the next. And so on. Red had been stuck there for four or five days before she dared to try and escape again. But she was unsuccessful and took a beating that scared her off from doing it again.

But then one day everything changed. Red awoke on the floor of her room, not in her cot. The sun was shining quite high in sky through her window which meant she should definitely have been awoken by then. Frowning, she got up on her feet. Why hadn't someone come to wake her up? Why was she sleeping on the floor?

Cautiously, she stepped up to her door and tried opened it. Locked. She pressed her ear against the wood, trying to hear what was going on on the outside.

"… monster!" she could hear one of the women saying.

"It needs to be put down", a man said.

Red frowned as it was highly unusual for men to be down here in the kitchen area.

"It's a child! The town won't let you", another woman said.

"It's not a child!"

"The people won't see that."

It was quiet for a bit.

"Take her out into the forest and do it there", the man finally said.

It was quiet for another while before there was rustling in the lock of the door. Red took a couple of steps back. The door swung open and revealed a handful of the women in aprons and a man dressed in armor like a knight. The women were staring at her with wide eyes like they hadn't seen her before. The man, however, looked stoic and seized her by her dress and pulled her out of the room.

He led her down the hall, leaving the women behind. They walked straight through the kitchen and through a door Red had never gotten to pass through before. They arrived in a much larger hall. In fact, the knight led her through a maze of halls and rooms before they arrived at two tall doors, guarded by two other knights. The man left Red there with the two of them and entered the room beyond the tall doors by himself. The doors closed with a bang.

Red glanced down the hall. She wondered if she could find her way out if she ran for it. Probably not. And when she looked back at the knights, she noticed that both of them were watching her closely. They had holsters for swords dangling by their sides and spears in their right hands. Red knew she wouldn't get far if she so tried.

The first knight came back out after a while. He turned to one of the other knights, stepped closer to him and said something in a low voice. Red wasn't able to hear what he said, but the knight he spoke to tensed but nodded.

That knight now grabbed Red's arm and pulled her with him. She desperately tried to keep up with his fast pace without stumbling. She almost had to run. Once again she was led through a maze of halls, but this time when her accompanying knight stopped, he stopped by a door that revealed the outdoors. Red breathed in deeply and almost smiled before she realized that the knight's grip on her hadn't loosen and that his steps where picking up again.

They walked around the castle and went through another, smaller, gate in the wall. They came out on a road that ran with the wall on the outside, but they were apparently not going to follow it. No, the knight pushed Red straight over the road and into the forest on the other side. Red looked over her shoulder to see if this really was where they were going. The knight simply pushed her between her shoulder blades in a motion forward.

They walked straight into the forest and with every new step Red grew more anxious. Where were they going? They walked for a long while before the knight finally pulled her to a stop. He turned her around roughly and took a few steps back. With a hand that was shaking just a little bit, he pulled out a gun. Red's eyes grew round and she gave out a shriek. He was pointing the gun at her.

She was staring down into the barrel as the knight unlocked it with a click. Her breaths were coming out in short gasps. Her body tensed in wait for a bullet to take her life. But the barrel kept staring at her, empty. She looked up and saw that the man was hesitating. His finger was on the trigger, but he didn't pull it. They stood in silence for a second before a loud crack suddenly sounded behind the knight. His head whipped around and the gun left its target. Red saw the window of opportunity and bolted. She threw herself into a sprint through some bushes with all her might and ran. The gun went off behind her and she threw her arms up around her head as a reflex, but the bullet had missed her by far.

She continued running, as fast as she could. She ducked under branches and jumped over roots. She expected the knight to follow her, but she heard no steps except her own. That forest animal that'd stepped on a twig had saved her life. The man hadn't really wanted to shoot her, but he probably would have if she hadn't gotten away. But fortunately he wasn't eager enough to kill her to follow her. Still, she kept running.

When she finally stopped running, her face was red and her throat was burning. She panted heavily and leaned against the trunk of a tree. She couldn't run anymore, but she walked. After what felt like centuries, she reached a little stream, which she eagerly drank from. When she was full she sank down on the grass. She was tired and still alone and still scared. But she was finally free! She could find her way back to Granny now. If she just could find some people so she could find out the way.

She rested for a little bit, before standing up and resuming her walk. She hoped with all her heart that she would find a town or a village somehow. But after a long hike she found the next best thing; a road. All roads lead somewhere. There had to be a town along here somewhere.

Walking a road was easier than walking through the forest. The path was even which was a blessing when the sun soon began to set. Red wasn't particularly afraid of the dark, but alone in the middle of somewhere she didn't know where wasn't very appealing. So she stepped up her pace, hoping to get to something before she couldn't see her hand in front of her face.

At first she thought it was just the usual sounds of the forest, but then she realized that the noises she was hearing were people and horses and wheels of carriages. She grinned in relief and started running. Soon she saw a house. Then another one. And then a bunch of people. It was a town! A lot of houses, many horses and carriages, a lot of people.

Red stopped right by the side of a building and looked around. There were people milling around, many going in and out from a tavern. Red watched them through the window and felt her stomach growl in the sight of the food on their plates.

"Hey", someone said behind her and she quickly turned around. "What are you doing?"

A man with a beard was looking at her. He was stepping down the stairs of the tavern with a package in one hand.

"I… um…" Red stumbled. "I'm lost."

"Lost? Where are you going?"

"I…" suddenly Red was overcome with sadness. She didn't know where she was and she just wanted to get home. "I just want to go home to Granny!"

She felt tears running down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away. The woman in charge back at the castle used to hit her when she saw her cry.

"Hey, now", the man frowned. "Where does your granny live?"

"Oakswoods", Red said in between hiccups.

"You're a long way from home", he said. "How did you get here?"

"I ran through the forest", Red said. "From the women in aprons… in the castle… a man took me there."

Somehow the man seemed to understand her even through her ramblings. He smiled gently at her.

"I'm going through Oakswoods", he said "I can take you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You'll have to ride with the hay, but you won't mind do you?"

Red shook her head no and wiped away her last tears.

"Come on then", the man said and pointed to a carriage just a little down the road. "I was just picking up some food for the travel."

He held up his package as she followed him over to the carriage. Her eyes had widened at the mention of food and the man noticed.

"You're hungry, aren't you?" he raised an eyebrow.

Red nodded. He grinned and put the package aside to hoist her up on top of the haystack that was trapped on the carriage by a high fence. He picked up the package and unwrapped it.

"Good thing I got two", he winked at her and and handed her two pieces of bread with a slice of meat in between. Red instantly bit into it and he chuckled before went and got up in the front. He put the horse in motion and they were off.

Red wolfed down her food and then laid back on the haystack. She watched the stars and the moon as she was rocked to sleep.

When she woke up the sun was up. She sat up and instantly gave out a shriek. She recognized this! This wasn't far from home!

"Wow", the man said and half turned to cast a look at her. "I was just going to wake you. We're almost at Oakswoods."

Red couldn't stop smiling as they drew closer to what she called her home. When they soon reached a T where a path was traveling into the forest on their left, Red leaped forward.

"I live here", she told the man.

"Here?" the man stopped his horse.

"Down that road."

"Well, alright then", the man grinned. "Get off and go say hi to your granny for me."

Red grinned back and nodded. She jumped down on the ground and waved as the man and his carriage continued down the road. Unable to contain herself she ran along the path and arrived at the little cottage. She hurried up and knocked several times on the door.

It opened and in the doorway stood her Granny with her crossbow leaning against the wall within her reach.

"Granny!"

"Oh, Red!"

Granny took two fast steps out to her and wrapped her arms tightly around her. Red hugged her back. When Granny let her go Red could swear that her eyes were quite teary.

"Where've you been, girl?" Granny said with a shaky voice.

"Some man grabbed me when I was walking down the road and brought me to this castle real far away and the women in aprons made me clean and do dishes all day and I wanted to go home but they locked the doors. Then I woke up the day before yesterday and everyone was acting real strange and then this knight brought me out into a forest and he was going shoot me Granny, but I got away and then I ran and then I met this nice man in a town and he said he was going this way and I got to go with him on his carriage. Oh, Granny, I've missed you so much!"

Red hugged her grandma around her stomach again. She felt Granny's hands on her back. When she after a while stepped back she saw her Granny's shocked and worried expression.

"Are you okay, Red? Are you hurt?"

Red shook her head no but Granny still ushered her inside and made her sit down and started looking her over.

"Did they get you anything to eat?"

Red shrugged.

"Did they hit you?" Granny asked when she saw a couple of bruises on Red's upper arm.

"Sometimes", Red said. "Not often."

Granny continued to look her over and when she was done she was crying and hugged Red close to her again. They stayed in that embrace for a while, before Granny let go and declared that she was going make some food.

That night Granny tucked her in in her own bed, with her own blankets and Red felt the final relief flood over her. She was home.