Back in January Junction , Rapunzel introduced Jack to her parents, who offered to let him stay with them.

"Aren't there any available houses, or even hotels?" They shook their heads sadly.

"I'm afraid not, Kubla Kraus has taken everything, money, wood, and most of the food he didn't destroy with his metal horse," explained Rapunzel's father.

"Wow, something has to be done about him."

"But what? There really isn't that much we can do."

"Well, I'll think of something because I need a house, a bag of gold, and a horse."

"So, you're a stable-boy, huh?" Rapunzel's father asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Yes, kind of, I can take care of any animal, really," shrugged Jack.

Rapunzel's father smiled, "That's alright, we just need a stable-boy at the moment. We'll just need to get a couple of things to get you cozy in the attic, once we're done with dinner of course. Go ahead, dig in." Jack glanced at the measly amount of food the family had to offer.

"Oh, uh, thanks." He began to serve himself when a knock was heard at the door. The family glanced at each other and Jack.

"Who could that be? Rapunzel, get the door please."

"Yes, Father," she replied as she rose from the table to get the door. Two people stood there, one male, the other female, both with blond hair. Jack just about kicked the table over in surprise.

"Hello, sorry to disturb you, but we were told our friend is staying here. Ah, there you are. Jack!" the male said, as the female ran to Jack and gave him a big hug.

"Periwinkle! What are you doing here?" blurted Jack as the female took a step back.

Periwinkle giggled, "We were ordered to keep an eye on you!"

"W-what?"

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid we don't understand," Rapunzel's father stated as he stood.

The male replied, "I am David Eugene Walter Edward Yule, or Dewey for short, at your service. Jack's late uncle left him a large inheritance, provided that he meet certain requirements by the first day of spring."

"Oh, the house, the bad of gold, and the horse!" exclaimed Rapunzel.

Dewey nodded, "Exactly, the point is that Jack works for something before receiving his inheritance. Periwinkle and I are here to make sure that Jack keeps his end of the bargain. Not only that, we can't exactly tell very many people about this. Since he's staying with you, I felt that you had the right to know."

"Of course I would keep my end of the bargain. But did you have to come up with such a long name?" Jack whispered the question to Dewey.

"It was the first thing that popped into my head," Dewey whispered back. Jack rolled his eyes, this was going to be a long winter.

"Very well, we will help in any way we can. For now, you can all sleep in the attic. Welcome to January Junction, Dewey and Periwinkle."

"Thank you for the warm welcome," Dewey replied, bowing, followed by Periwinkle.

"You know, with my friends here, we can think of a way to get rid of Kubla Kraus. We'll head out first thing tomorrow."

The next morning, accompanied by Rapunzel, Jack and his friends went to Kubla Kraus' mountain to confront the tyrant. But no matter what they tried, the mountain was too slick to climb, and the group was met with failure after failure. They finally had to give up about mid-afternoon and returned to the town in defeat. It wasn't long before Jack got the stables underway, and, with the help of Dewey, Peri, and Rapunzel, had the place running smoothly. He mainly took care of the residents' pets while they were at work, but, on Christmas Eve, the town got a visitor.

"Hello, is Jack Overland here?" asked the golden knight. Jack winced when he saw the figure, as dashing as Rapunzel daydreamed about, no doubt.

"Sir Stephen Stabbington! It's been a long time!"

"It has, I'm back for Christmas, I just need Jack Overland to stable my horse, Max."

"Of course, Mr. Overland will take care of it as soon as he gets this dog settled for the holiday. Is there anything else, Sir Stephen?"

Stephen shook his head, "Not now, thank you, perhaps later." He then took her hand and kissed it, leaving her in a somewhat dazed state. Jack gritted his teeth, but his look of disgust was completely wiped off by the time he reached her side.

"Thanks, Rapunzel, I'll take it from here. What's his name?"

"Sir Stephen Stabbington," she sighed absent-mindedly.

Jack rolled his eyes, fighting to keep the disgust from showing up on his face again, or in his voice, "I meant the horse, Rapunzel."

She shook herself from her daze and turned to Jack with a smile, "Oh, sorry, the horse's name is Max. Isn't he a beauty?" She petted the white, magnificent creature, who seemed to take to her like flies to honey.

"Yeah, he is," Jack replied with a slight grin, Max was a great animal, but his rider was a totally different matter in Jack's mind. He shook his head, they had work to finish before Christmas the next day, so he put his problems aside for the time and concentrated on getting the job done.

Christmas dawned with Jack, Dewey, and Peri bolting out of bed to watch the rays of the sunrise dancing with the falling snowflakes. Jack stuck out his tongue and caught a few snowflakes, snickering in delight as they melted in his mouth. Peri and Dewey caught a few as well before Rapunzel came out to join them and they started a game to see how many they could catch. Then, once Jack was declared the winner, they went back inside to start the family Christmas traditions. Jack couldn't wait until Rapunzel opened her present, but first came the "perfect present", a tradition in January Junction in which each person gives an empty box and the receiver dreams about what it could be. Everybody enjoys it because, even though none of it is real, everybody gets what they want. Jack and Dewey decided to place Rapunzel' present on her dresser, thinking that she would see it for sure when she went to bed that night. After each member in the house and handed out the "perfect present", they left the house to spread good cheer and "presents" to the rest of the town. Jack's spirit soon dropped, though, when he saw Sir Stephen approach Rapunzel and hand her a box.

"Oh, what is it?"

"A real present, open it."

"A rose! A real red rose! Oh how beautiful!" Rapunzel exclaimed as she saw the delicate petals unfurl to release its pleasant scent.

"Yes, I hoped you would like it. I was also wondering if you would join me at the Christmas Ball tonight?"

"Oh, thank you, I would like to, but, I've already told Jack that I would go with him."

"What? A lovely lady like yourself, to be seen with the likes of a stable boy? Come, Rapunzel, don't lower yourself to his level."

"Lower myself? Jack is a good and fine man, it's not his fault he must work harder for his living than you. And not only that, he's my friend, so if you want me to do anything with you, you have to speak much kinder of my friends," Rapunzel blurted, before storming off. Jack, having eavesdropped on the whole discussion, couldn't help but snicker, Sir Stephen was going to have a hard time getting to Rapunzel's heart. He walked for little while, whistling, it was best to let Rapunzel be for a few minutes to cool off before going to talk to her about that evening. He walked in the direction she had taken, thinking he had given her plenty of time, then paused at the sight before him, Rapunzel was struggling in Kubla Kraus' grip!

"No!" Jack yelled, rushing forward as Kubla pulled the screaming Rapunzel onto his mechanical horse and rode off. He stopped and gritted his teeth, he wished he could still have his powers, that was how he always saved Rapunzel before, but he was human now, he had to come up with something else. "Max!" He took off for the stables, all while alerting everyone to Rapunzel's plight.