Author's Note: Right, so. Things'll start getting more tense in this chapter. No fighting or arguing or the like, but something will happen that changes the entire story at the moment.
Also, I might start taking longer to update this. I have a bunch of stuff going on right now; I'm struggling with my Geometry and Biology, I'm trying to finish editing an original novel I finished last November, my mom's cat is sick with kidney failure, so... yeah, there's a lot going on. I'm also working on several different fanfictions at once (namely "The Druid's Secret"; I'm very excited for that one, since it's the most original idea I've come up with for a long time, and it might help with my study skills in school, since I have to do a lot of research for it).
So if I take forever to update, shoot me a PM and remind me to get a move on!
-X-X-X-
Later, they were all eating dinner. This time it was a simple soup-and-salad combination; the quickest thing Belle could put together. The tea party had gone on a lot longer than she had expected.
"So how did the meeting with the sheriff go?" Arien inquired a few minutes into the meal.
Baelfire and Gold exchanged glances, and an unspoken conversation passed between them.
Then Gold sighed. "It went... poorly."
"What happened?" Belle asked, concern written all over her face.
"Nothing," Baelfire sighed. "Absolutely nothing. We didn't find any sort of hideout, and we even talked to that one fellow, MacAvoy. He was no help; he had an awful hangover and couldn't do anything but mumble."
Eira frowned. "You should have let us help. We could have found something, I bet."
"No," Gold said firmly. "I don't want to risk it. Please, just stay here at home and don't worry about it. Bae and I are doing everything we can."
Eira started to protest, but Sovann gave her a gentle kick under the table. She closed her mouth, shooting him an annoyed glance.
"Was this man nice?" Arien asked. "MacAvoy, I mean?"
"Mostly," Baelfire amended. "He was a little short-tempered and snappish, but I think that's because of all the liquor he drank last night. He seemed to be an amiable person deep down, though."
An uncomfortable quiet fell upon the family, and no one said a word until after dinner had ended.
"All right, dearies. Go and get ready for bed," Gold said, taking the dishes over to the sink.
"What?" Eira was incredulous. "What about watching a movie? That's what we always get to do on Friday nights."
"Please go and get ready for bed," Gold repeated. There was a wordless plea in his voice, and the triplets quickly made their way upstairs.
*8*8*
After they had all taken showers, Gold came and put them all to bed. However, an hour later, Eira sneaked back into the boys' room. They had already planned to meet up to talk about the current situation.
"I know Da and Bae are doing everything they can to find Dusan," Arien said. "But I don't think they're doing enough. After all, Da'll have to go back to work sometime, and Bae only has another week or so before he has to go back to college."
"Well, what can we do? We have school," Sovann pointed out.
"We've got good grades," Arien answered. "Besides, it's the weekend tomorrow. I think we should go over to that man MacAvoy's house and host a reconnaissance mission, like in the movies."
"But the guy already made it clear that he doesn't know anything," Sovann said.
"Look, do you want to find Dusan or not?" Arien demanded. "His house is the best place to start. If we don't find anything, we can keep going west. I bet Da, Sheriff Swan, and Bae didn't search the woods."
"That's because the woods here are dangerous," Sovann muttered. "Da says deadly creatures live there."
"Then why wouldn't a kidnapper go there to hide?" persisted Arien. "It only makes sense!"
"Sovann..." Eira started hesitantly. "He's right, you know."
"We're just kids," Sovann protested.
"But think of the stories Mum and Da told us," Eira countered. "If what they say is true, we're the kids of Rumpelstiltskin and Belle-the Dark One and one of the bravest women in Fairy Tale Land. Don't you think if any 'kids' would be capable of this, it would be us?"
Sovann sighed. "All right. But at the first sign of danger, we have to come back."
Arien leapt off of the bed. "Fantastic! Eira, go into your room and get ready. And be quiet."
Eira nodded and disappeared into the hallway. Arien went over to his dresser. He took off his pajamas and put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a black T-shirt. It had a picture of a glowing forest on it, and said, "Magic is everywhere" on the front. On the back, it sported the image of a fiery sword, continuing, "If you would only open your eyes".
Sovann, still mumbling things under his breath, pulled on black jeans and a black shirt that had no words on it, but showed the picture of a wolf howling at the moon.
"We shouldn't bring too much," Arien decided. "Just some food, water, and a weapon of some kind for each of us."
"Weapons?" reiterated Sovann. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Arien started for the door. "Find some weaponry of some kind. I'll go get provisions."
Marveling at the fact that Arien was taking this too seriously (or had been watching too many action movies), Sovann wandered around the room, searching in the dresser drawers and on the desk.
When his siblings returned, he had found two pocketknifes. "Weapons aren't exactly common around here, " he defended himself.
"I can use a staff," Arien volunteered. "Mine is downstairs. Shaun has been teaching me how to use it." According to Henry, Shaun was actually Little John from the legends of Robin Hood. That would explain his canny skill with a staff.
"All right, are we all ready?" Sovann whispered.
Eira pulled on her gray sweatshirt. "Ready."
"Ready." Arien nodded once.
"Come on, then." Sovann headed for the door and crept out into the hallway. He looked both ways; there was no sign of life from either Baelfire's room or their parents'.
The three went downstairs, careful to skip the step second from the top-it was the only one that creaked if you stepped on it.
Arien made a detour to the front door to grab his staff-a rod of dark red, polished wood that was just a few inches taller than he was-and then followed his brother and sister into the backyard.
"Do we even know where we're going?" Eira whispered as they stole away down the street.
"Da said MacAvoy's house was down that way." Sovann pointed to the west. "I think we've passed it once or twice when he was taking us for a drive. I'll recognize it when I see it."
"Da is going to be extremely angry when he finds out where we've been," Eira said after a minute of silence.
"He won't stay angry for long," Arien promised. "He never does."
"But the worst thing any of us have ever done was skip school..."
"He won't stay angry for long," Arien repeated. "Okay?"
Eira frowned, clearly disbelieving of Arien's statement, but said nothing else. The three siblings continued down the road, the only light coming from the occassional street lamp and a small pen light that Eira held in her hand.
-X-X-X-
Author's Note: I know, I know, that was short. But at least I'm getting into the excitement now! Review and let me know how you liked it. ^^
