Well that is a pretty pickle they found themselves in isn't it? Did the brother's know all about it? Why no, not yet and yes they are going to help. Now let me tell you a little bit about just how they finally got involved...

Wilhelm and Jakob in Partnership

The small town of Marbaden bustled with its usual activity. It was now late August and the summer's heat had finally broken giving way to cooler breezes in the evenings. The days were now obviously growing shorter and the townsfolk were preparing to begin bringing in the fall crops. The crickets sang now even in the daytime and the smell of ripening wheat filled the air.

In a small cottage that was once home to the fair and feisty Angelika , two brothers made their home and kept it as they could. The front door was open allowing a cool breeze to blow through from time to time and the remains of the breakfast fire were slowly burning down to embers on the hearth.

Jakob sat at the table surrounded by a few empty cups and plates. His quill pen scratching as he wrote furiously on the pages of his journal. He would periodically stop and stare up into the air, his hands gesturing back and forth and his lips moving as he thought. The he would utter "Ah!", dip his pen and begin scratching away once again. Nothing made Jakob happier than writing stories, letting his imagination roam where it may.

His brother Wilhelm was not so happy. He sat by what remained of the fire poking it with a small stick and looking very worried. They had just finished a very meager breakfast of dark bread and cheese and he knew their stores wouldn't last much longer. They hadn't much money left either and the winter was coming soon. Publishing their first book be damned, they may starve to death this winter before that dream ever came true.

Will tossed the stick into the fire and it blazed up merrily for a few short moments and then died down into a dark smoldering ember matching his mood.

"Dammit Jake! What are we going to do?" he lamented, "We haven't enough money to get the book you seem so intent on finishing printed now. But far above that, what are we going to do about food? The cupboard is nearly bare and if we don't find a way to earn our bread we will surely starve this winter!"

"Don't worry so much Will", said Jakob not even bothering to look up or stop writing, "Have faith, everything will work itself out in the end. You'll see."

"Faith?" said Will mocking his brother's naiveté, "The way I see it, faith never won a man anything and faith will certainly not fill a starving belly! Wake up Jake, we're doomed!"

"Ah, but not all is lost dear brother. For I have a plan that I believe should put a fair amount of coin in our pocket. Want to hear about it or are you going to continue to fuss like an old hen?"

Will was surprised at his brother's sudden level-headedness. He put his hands on the table and leaned forward with great interest. "Well let's hear it. I'm all ears!" he said with a big grin.

Jakob stopped writing and looked up at him, adjusting his glasses to focus on his face. "Well. I've been hearing these stories from traders coming into town for the last month. It seems that there is this kingdom, no more that a weeks ride or so from here, who is suddenly missing quite a large number of young girls and to make it more interesting everyone who has gone out looking for them has gone missing as well."

Will began to loose his charming smile and look a bit upset. "There have also been recent reports of other odd goings on as well and it seems the King's daughter has disappeared herself. He's offered quite a sizable reward for her return. Will, this sounds like something that only someone with our expertise could handle. What do you think?" He looked at Will with the innocent look a child might get when begging their mother for something sweet. Will's smile had completely faded and was replaced with a very cross look indeed.

"Are you out of you mind!" snapped Will, "Just what kind of fool are you? Don't you remember what happened the last time you got us involved in something like this? It's only been less than a year and it's obviously already slipped your mind. You almost got yourself killed last time; I almost got killed last time and for what? A few measly pieces of gold and this ramshackle house that's about to fall down around us? Fighting evil queens, collapsing towers…bah!"

He touched the spot on his chest where the Mirror Queen had thrust the metal stake through his heart. The wound had long since gone away, but there was still a cold, sad place there that never seemed to want to go away. He looked around the room and now a new irritation came to mind. If he was going to vent about this, he figured he might as well get it all out in one bout, so there was no mistake that he wasn't about to go riding off to his doom at the hands of one of Jake's idiotic fairytale creatures.

"And why is it, pray tell, that someone else always gets the girl, never one of us?" he continued waving his arms about to show they were the only ones there. "I thought one of us would end up with Angelika. After all, she did show interest in both of us and I always thought it would be you she chose. Although I did try very hard to win her myself, but no, she had to run off with that no-good shoemaker from the next village. You know the one that miraculously started making the finest shoes in the kingdom almost over night and got rich selling them all to the King himself? There was something very shifty about the whole business and I should know!"

Will ran both his hands through his hair in frustration and putting them out in front of him in a pleading gesture he said, "No Jake, no; we cannot get ourselves into a situation as crazy as that again. There has to be another way!"

Jakob put down his pen for the first time all day and got up from the table. Going to his brother, he grasped Will's forearms in his large, strong hands and looked him in the eye. "Will calm down, it's going to be alright", he said in a soothing voice trying to calm him down, "I know what I'm getting into and how to handle this. Besides this will be a piece of cake compared to the last time. All we have to do is go in, get the girl and get back out eh?"

Jake patted his brother on the shoulder; then crossing his arms and grinding his heel into the floor as he leaned back, he looked over the top of his glasses at him saying, "I know you can do this. I have faith in you."

There was that word again. Now what was he going to say? He always had a hard time saying no to Jakob. Even though he was the eldest, he always had a way of acting like a precocious child in getting his way, well at least he got it most of the time. Will felt his resolve start to weaken, but he still didn't want to get involved.

It occurred to him that there might be a way to get the reward without risking their lives. He looked around the room quickly and his eye fell on the trunks in the corner that contained his old gear. He quickly began to unload the boxes that sat on top as he rattled off his idea,

"I have an idea. I know we still have that old witch stashed in here somewhere and we can use that. We can also bring with us some of those grand Chinese pyrotechnics, you know, the gold ones!'

"Will,,,"

"We just need to change the clothing a bit and then we can set up in the woods not to far from the castle. Then after a lot of shouting and the light show, we can hang it from a tree just far enough up so they can't really tell and say we've killed the kidnapper."

"Will?"

"Then all we have to say is that we'll do the nasty deed of burying him and that we have freed all the girls and they should return shortly. Collect our reward and be gone before they are any the wiser!"

"WILL!!"

"What?...WHAT?!"

Jakob stood there still looking at him over his glasses, but now he wore a thin-lipped frown.

"No…"

"But I…"

"No."

"Oh, your right", said Wilhelm sounding despondent, "This will never work, but it's the best I could come up with on such short notice."

"What happened to the promise that you made months ago that you were going to stop this?" said Jakob sounding disappointed, "I thought you were finally coming around."

Will dropped the box he was holding back on top of the pile. "I'm sorry Jake, but this is all I really know how to do! Look, I'm lost in this world of yours and I don't know what to do." He shrugged and let his arms fall limp looking rather sad now, "You're very clever about these things and all I'm really good at is charming people out of their purses. I can accept the fact the world is filled with gullible fools, but I can't accept your version of it. I don't think I can change who I am or what I believe quite so easily."

"You don't have to change it all at once you know. Just take it slowly and change one thing at a time."

"Like what?"

"Oh I don't know", Jake began, his hands flying about dramatically to illustrate his points, "Change the way you think about one situation, change the way you perceive one person, change your perspective!" He began to get flustered trying to think of something else to say, "Change your mind, change your underwear!"

"My underwear?" asked Will slightly bewildered.

Jake winced and shook his head back and forth trying to get back on subject. He leaned forward and stuck his finger in his brother's face just inches from his nose. "The whole point is, change something, anything and start from there!"

Jake whipped around and grabbed his pen and ink in one hand and scooped up his journal with the other and breezed out the door, his long legs carrying him out in just three strides. Will stood there with his mouth hanging open and watched him go.

He was just a bit stunned by the whole event and he began pacing back and forth inside the cottage and thinking. What was he going to do now? How was he going to deal with this? Frustrated he began chewing his nails while he paced. What the worst thing was is that he had upset and disappointed his brother. Damned if he actually didn't feel guilty about it!

Will strode to the doorway and looked out past the well in the town square. There under a tree sat Jake, his journal open on his lap the pen scratching across the page furiously. Will rested his hand on the doorframe and watched him quietly. As he watched, he thought the situation they were in may not be as bad as he imagined it to be.

Jake stopped writing and closed his eyes, his hands moved through the air in front of him as he imagined the scene he was writing in his head. Another "Ah!" moment and he went back in, but an unintended flick of the wrist had spattered ink blots across the page. Jake tried to clean it up with a piece of blotting paper, but to no avail. Oh well, not to do but write around the blotches.

Will smiled. His brother still had a way about him that made you think of him as a small child trapped in a man's body, but lately he had begun to lead and not just follow, to voice his opinions regardless of the price he might pay for doing so and with that last speech just a few moments ago, showing a very mature wisdom. He was becoming his own man. Why had he not noticed it before?

Will smiled and thought that he still believed running off to rescue a Princess was a bit on the crazy side, but he decided he had better tag along just to make sure his older brother didn't find himself in some sort of trouble he couldn't get out of by himself. With a resolve to see this through for his brother's sake, he strode out the door and across the square to where Jake sat.

Will crossed his arms and stood silent for a few moments. Then clearing his throat, he muttered, "Jakob?"

"Yes, Will", was his reply as he continued writing.

"If you really think rescuing the Princess and finding all the maidens is that important and if you think there is reward enough for doing so then I've decided…I've decided to agree to it and I think we should go."

Jake looked up at him over the top of his glasses with an expression of utter surprise. "Really", he said flatly.

"Really"

Jake jumped up and grabbed his brother by the shoulders, a wide smile spreading across his face. "You won't regret this, I promise!" he said bubbling with enthusiasm, "Let's go and pack so we can get started right away!"

Jake grabbed his things and headed for the house with Will in tow trying to keep up. "Um,,,well, what should we bring with us?" he asked his younger brother, "you are infinitely better at that than I am." Will rattled off a few things they could carry with them and Jake added a couple himself. Jake's big brown eyes twinkled with joy at the thought of this adventure and his joy was becoming infectious as Will was feeling it too. So much so that at the end of the supply list he slyly tacked on "clean underwear" and flashed a wide grin at Jake. Jake returned that wide grin and wrapped his arm around his brother's neck hugging him tightly and practically dragged him into the doorway of the cottage.

Just so you know, if you've already read the first chapter "Once Upon A Time"before February 4,2009, you may want to go back and re-read the opening before the story starts. I've edited in a small new section above the title.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope I didn't go too OOC with Jake and Will. Chapter three is in the works, so stay tuned. Please leave a review, good or bad. I'd love to hear from you.