A/N – I cannot stress how thrilled I am that people are reading my work, reviewing it and LIKING it! A thousand hugs and a million times love back at you. You will never know how much I appreciate being read. I wish I could keep writing forever.

You may notice some temporal dissonance in the two threads – trust me it'll all come together in the end.

Chapter Three – Of Fishes and Falling

"No," said Eugene, in disbelief. "No, no, no, no, no! You cannot have lost the trail!"

Maximus shrugged; an impressive gesture for a horse. They had reached a bay and the scent had gone cold. Eugene leapt from the saddle and ran to the water's edge, desperately looking for any sign that Rapunzel and Gothel had crossed the expanse. He couldn't even see the other side.

"Okay, okay," Eugene said. "We just need a boat."

An idea struck him. While Max had been concentrating on sniffing out the path and galloping through the woods, Eugene had taken the opportunity to look for visual clues and he had spotted the signs of a fishing village only a mile or two back down the path. He climbed back into the saddle and guided the horse in the new direction. A fishing village would surely have a boat they could borrow.

They trotted through the village gates and Eugene dismounted.

"Excuse me, good sir," he began, walking up to what he took to be an important village elder. He was ignored completely. Surprised, but not discouraged, Eugene tried again, approaching a group of young men discussing the previous night's catch. A small girl ran among their legs, chasing a duck.

"Gentlemen!" Eugene said, a huge smile forced onto his face. "I have a proposition for you!"

Once again he received barely a look from the fishermen. Now thoroughly disheartened, Eugene walked back to Maximus and was rewarded by a sharp kick from the horse's front hoof for giving up.

"You want to have a go?" Eugene said, rubbing his leg where Max had made contact. "Fine, be my guest."

He folded his arms and leaned against the wall of a nearby building to watch the horse crash and burn. He was to be disappointed. Maximus trotted up to the group and nuzzled his head into the small girl's back. The girl turned, amazed and excited by the horse's attention.

"Papa, look!" she said, tugging the tunic hem of a tall bearded man. "Horsey!"

Max upped his game, nodded and playfully head-butted the father, before looking towards the village dock where several boats were moored. The man frowned, a little puzzled.

"Can I give him an apple, papa?" asked the girl. She tried to lead Max towards a market stall, and for a brief moment Max was torn between his stomach and his mission. He turned and pointed his nose back towards the dock.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think that horse wants a boat not an apple," said the girl's father.

"I don't believe this!" Eugene spluttered.

Max nodded at the man, swishing his tail and started trotting towards the dock, moving in a circular motion that herded the fishermen in the same direction.

"He does want a boat," said one of the other fishermen.

Eugene ran to catch up with the horse, getting between Max and the fishermen. At least he could capitalise on their attention.

"Hi, remember me?" he panted. They started to turn away, but then Eugene begged: "Please, we need your help."

"Can I ride the horsey?" the small girl pushed her way to the front of the group. Eugene was about to dismiss the request, but he realised he needed to keep these people on his side. Hiding his impatience, Eugene helped the girl into the saddle, and Max resumed his circular trotting, while Eugene briefly explained their situation, and their desperate desire for a boat to rescue the lost princess. The fishermen, far from being enthusiastic to help, were apathetic at best, but the look of utter despair on Eugene's face was too much for the girl, who pulled Max to a halt.

"A princess, papa," she said, in a small, determined voice, "needs her prince charming."

The father smiled, unable to refuse his daughter. Lifting the little girl down from the saddle, he turned to Eugene and shook the young man's hand.

"You, sir, have yourself a boat."

Eugene was speechless with gratitude.

Twenty minutes later, they had set sail to cross the bay. The boat captain, the little girl's father, told Eugene that he had seen a small craft earlier that day, but since small crafts were common, he hadn't taken much notice. Due to the nature of the currents, he went on to explain, they would be docking about half a mile further down the bank than Gothel's likely landing point.

With time to kill, Eugene sat down to plan his next move. Rapunzel had been missing for almost a whole day; it would be twilight when the fishing boat arrived at the opposite bank. They would need to rest, particularly Maximus who was getting seasick.

The little girl, who had leapt at the opportunity to go for a trip with her father, wandered over to Eugene, breaking his reverie.

"Is he your horsey?" she asked, shyly.

"He... uh... belongs to a friend of mine," said Eugene. Technically correct, since as a Royal Guard Horse Maximus belonged to the Royal Household, which now included Rapunzel. At least it would if he could ever find her and return her home.

"He's very nice," said the girl. "My name's Lys. I can fish. With a fishing rod. Shall I show you?"

Eugene blinked, then nodded, dumbly. He wasn't used to dealing with such a short attention span. Correction – he hadn't been used to it until he met Rapunzel, who had flitted from one new experience and emotion to another faster than a hummingbird. He missed that. He missed her.

Lys proudly showed off her skill with a line, and Eugene was genuinely impressed when she presented him with a golden trout. It was possibly the most eventful part of the voyage.

The sun had just finished setting when Eugene and Max disembarked. Max was still green around the flanks and stomped on the solid ground gratefully. Eugene waved goodbye to Lys and watched the boat disappear back across the water.

Eugene could usually navigate by moonlight, which was good as Max was still out of commission with the hunt. They needed to find a village, or town to rest for the night. A better idea of local geography would also give them the best chance of finding Rapunzel. The easiest way to do this would be to find higher ground.

As it turned out, this was not a good idea. Reaching the top of an incline, Max lost his balance, stumbled into Eugene, and sent them both over the edge of an escarpment, into the pitch blank of the unknown night.

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