Chapter 3

A New World

There was a long moment of silence as Dustfinger's words hung in the air between them. Meggie just stared incredulously as if he'd just said she'd suddenly grown a second head, instead of the truth his words conveyed. Rosanna's eyes were wide as she stared at him, meeting his gaze completely for the first time. For the longest time, she just stared, mouth slightly open, her eyes conveying so much fear and confusion. Finally, she shook her head slowly, keeping her eyes on him as they filled with denial.

"N - no," she said, her voice raising in pitch. "You're - you're lying. You just want us to trust you. You're just trying to take us… me… too. Just like you took Mo."

"I would never do anything to hurt you, Rosanna," he argued, looking at her almost pleadingly as he struggled to explain. He'd already said what should have been the hardest part. It should have been so simple to continue now. "I'd die before I let anything happen to you. I promise you little one, I'm telling the truth."

He could do nothing but watch as she dropped her doll into her lap to press her hands tightly over her ears, closing her eyes as if she could block out his words and all of the confusion they brought her.

"Mo's my father," she whispered. "He always has been. There hasn't been anyone else. I don't even know you…"

Dustfinger sighed, closing his eyes as well as her words burrowed their way into his heart as if to stay there and remind him of the past forever. If only Silvertongue had let him visit. He wouldn't have taken her away, at least not right away; he would have waited until he had a place to stay and a proper way to take care of her and support her that didn't involve performing whenever he could in a town square, even if that was the only thing in this world that he actually knew how to do. At least she would have known him. He would have gone to the ends of this world to have Rosanna know him. He still would.

"I know you don't. And I'm so sorry for that. I tried to see you so many times over all of this time, but Silvertongue wouldn't let me. He was afraid that I would take you away from him."

Suddenly it seemed as if everything had come crashing down upon the young girl. She leaned forward so that her head was resting against her knees, her breaths quickening as Meggie rubbed her back with obvious concern. Dustfinger almost put a hand out to his daughter but stopped as he watched how upset she was. He hated seeing her so panicked, but he didn't want to make it worse with a gesture that he wasn't sure would be entirely welcome right now. Oh, what he wouldn't do to take away all of her confusion and pain about this situation.

Rosanna lifted her head after a moment, tears running down her cheeks as she looked at him once more. "Why? Why would he do that?"

"I was taken by the same people who took Silvertongue when you were very little, not even one," he began with a sigh, shifting so that he was sitting on the floor in front of them. "I was able to get away from them eventually, but when I finally found the house where I'd last seen you, it was empty. The people who lived next door said that the family that lived there had moved suddenly, taking you with him.

It took me two years to find you again because he kept moving the three of you around, trying to hide from the men who had taken me. And over those two years, he grew very close to you. He refused to even let me near you."

He paused, looking down for a moment before his gaze moved back up to his daughter. "You were very sick when I found you that time. I couldn't have taken you with me even if Silvertongue had been willing to let me. And even though he promised that I could come check on you a few days later to make sure you were alright, you were gone when I came back."

He stopped there, wanting to let her process everything he'd already said instead of throwing everything he wanted to say at her all at once. From her expression, he could tell she was trying to remember back that far, but there was no possible way that she could. She'd been so young, and so sick. He'd been worried sick for years after they'd disappeared, not knowing if she'd lived or died. He wished there was a way to comfort her, but he wasn't the one who'd comforted her for nine years. No, that job had been taken up by another man, one who had taken Rosanna away though he had no right to. He felt a pang of jealousy as he imagined all of the things, the good and the bad, that Silvertongue had gotten to do while he himself had been trying so hard to get his daughter back.

"He lied to me," came Rosanna's soft voice as she looked over at the girl who she'd believed to be her sister for so long. "He lied to us. He promised he'd tell us everything, but everything's been a huge lie."

Both of the girls' expressions held such terrible confusion. It was obvious they were no longer sure which man was to be believed; the one who had raised them, or the one who sat in front of them now. Meggie just shook her head wordlessly in response to the younger girl's words. Dustfinger doubted whether she could even remember a time when Rosanna wasn't with them.

"Is my name even Rosanna?" she asked almost under her breath, eyes meeting his as she leaned back against the wall. "Am I even ten?"

Oh, his poor little one. In that moment, he truly began to wonder if this had been the right decision, if he should have just let her live with the belief that she belonged to another family instead of questioning everything she was. But it was too late to question such things now. And he knew that he would never have been able to live with himself if he knowingly and willingly allowed her to be separated from him for the rest of his life. So he gave her a small smile, one he hoped conveyed just how much he cared for her.

"Both of those things are true," he said softly. "You've been Rosanna since the day you were born ten years ago."

He watched as she closed her eyes, sighing quietly in relief. When she opened them again, she carefully picked the doll back up, running her fingers over the fabric once again. He could tell from her expression that she was realizing so many of the things he'd said so far were adding up to the truth. But he could also see the helplessness at the situation that was beginning to take over.

"You've had that doll practically since the day you were born too, you know," he murmured as he watched her, hoping he could get her mind off of all of her worries for a moment. "Even as a baby, you absolutely refused to go anywhere without it."

"Really?" she looked up at him once more, slight surprise in her expression.

Dustfinger only nodded in response at first, memories of their family all together and happy playing through his mind. Memories of Brianna running around the camp laughing, Rosanna trying to crawl after her before he would pick her up and carry her while they chased Brianna. Whether they were running or even just sitting and playing together, Rosanna had always had her doll with her, no matter what.

"It was in my bag the night we got separated," he said finally. "I suppose I must have left it here."

Everything was silent for a moment - even the rain seemed to have ceased for the time being - as Rosanna stared at him, eyes wide as she began to take in what he'd said. Her gaze slid towards the window seat behind him before looking back at him, bewilderment filling her expression once more.

"It's yours?" she asked almost incredulously.

His eyebrows raised in surprise as he quickly glanced behind him, eyes landing on the dark leather bag that he'd had ever since he was young. It had been the bag he'd always carried during his days as a fire-eater, holding the few things he'd needed for performances. The last time he'd seen it, it had also contained many of the things he'd needed for an overnight trip in the Wayless Wood with Brianna and Rosanna, including Rosanna's doll. He'd honestly believed that it had been thrown away after Silvertongue had decided to keep Rosanna.

"I'm surprised he let you keep that," he said softly.

"He didn't at first," she replied, her gaze moving back to the bag. "I kept sneaking it back and hiding it, though, until he just decided to let me. I liked the stuff inside and making up stories about where it came from. He never would tell me."

"I can tell you about the things inside sometime if you'd like," he offered with a small smile, hoping this would be a way for her to allow some trust in him.

She stared at him for a long moment, tears drying on her cheeks now that she'd stopped crying, before giving a small nod.

"Okay," she said hesitantly before glancing at Meggie questioningly as if wondering if it was alright. When the older girl gave her a nod with a small smile, she turned back to Dustfinger a bit more confidently this time and nodded once more. "Okay, that'd be nice."

"Alright," he agreed with a nod in return, a small smile coming to his face once more. "We'll do that soon."

Rosanna only nodded, looking down to run her fingers over the doll she hadn't had in her possession in seven years. A long few moments passed in silence before she looked over at Meggie, worry filling her gaze once more.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked, her voice almost as soft as a whisper.

Meggie frowned as she looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at Dustfinger, determination in her gaze as she spoke. "Do you know where they took our - my father?"

He hesitated a moment before giving a slow, reluctant nod. He didn't want to tell them this, didn't want to introduce even the chance of them getting hurt, but he also didn't want to lie to them right after he'd begun to gain at least Rosanna's trust. "There's a place down south that they run. They're most likely taking him there."

Meggie leaned forward eagerly, her expression growing more hopeful at his words. "Well, if you know where it is, then you can take us to get him back."

He was already shaking his head before the words had finished leaving her mouth. "Even if I was willing to walk back into Capricorn's village - which I am not," he began, "I have no way of getting there unless we walked. Not to mention that would include steering two children right into danger when I don't even want to steer myself into it. And there is no way that is happening."

He knew what would happen if they ended up back in that village, especially if they were caught trying to help Silvertongue escape. He was already much too familiar with the consequences of disobeying Capricorn's orders or even just getting on any of the black jackets' bad sides.

"We don't have to walk," Rosanna chimed in hopefully. "Mo has a car and I know where he keeps the keys. You can just drive that. I'm sure he won't mind."

"I highly doubt he'd want someone who doesn't know how to drive using his car, little one," he said with another shake of his head. "Especially with the two of you in the back seat."

"You can't drive?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Where you and I are from, people don't even have cars, much less know how to drive them," he explained with a small shrug. "And I never felt compelled to learn once I came to live here."

"Where I'm from…" she said the words as if she really couldn't comprehend that she was from another place, much less one that didn't have cars - something so common in this world.

Dustfinger sighed as he watched her trying to understand everything she'd just been told. It would be a lot take in even without the other events that had occurred that evening. "I'm sorry for throwing all of this at you at once, little one."

Rosanna only shook her head in response, quickly dismissing his words for the moment as she looked back at Meggie. "We can call Aunt… or, I guess, just Elinor… She has a car and she can drive."

Meggie thought for a moment before nodding. "That could work," she said slowly. "I'll have to find her number… and then actually talk to her and try to explain all of this. If she'll listen, that is."

"I'm sure she'll come if we tell her a book was involved, whether she understands what's going on or not," Rosanna nodded. "She'd probably have no problems driving us too if it's to get the book."

"Oh definitely," Meggie agreed. "I think Elinor would do anything to save a book. And I'm sure she would come for Mo too…"

"I'm sure she would," Rosanna said. "She might be kind of… mean, at times, but she does love us. I think."

Seeing the worry on both of the young girls' faces, Dustfinger couldn't help but give in, at least for now. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt," he said reluctantly. "But it's too late to be thinking too much of it now. I'm sure you'll be able to think about it better once you've had some sleep. Is it alright with you two if I stay downstairs?"

"That's okay, I guess," Rosanna replied, glancing at her sister for confirmation once more. When Meggie nodded in silent agreement, though she still looked cautious of the man sitting before them, Rosanna turned back to face him before adding, "There's a guest bedroom down there if you want to stay there."

Dustfinger gave them a small smile as he slowly stood up, wishing he could talk to his daughter more, but knowing it would be best to give her her space for now. "Thank you. Are you alright up here for yourselves?"

Rosanna's only response was to give a few quick nods, her eyes never leaving him as he moved. She made no move of her own to stand, instead staying in the corner of her room as Meggie hesitated a moment before wrapping an arm around her.

Dustfinger watched Rosanna for only a moment longer before slowly turning and leaving the room, making his way silently down the hall to the top of the stairs. As he put his foot on the first step, he could hear the soft whispers of the two girls talking, though he couldn't make out what they said. He could tell that it only lasted a moment though before the sound of soft footsteps padding across the hall followed him down the stairs, quickly proceeded by the quiet snap of a door closing.

He quickly descended the rest of the steps, pausing at the bottom for a moment to look around in search of the extra bedroom that Rosanna had said was located there. It didn't take long for him to find it, the room being one of the only ones that was almost completely void of books - a shocking thing in this house.

He hesitated in the doorway for a moment before slowly making his way inside, looking around as he sat on the edge of the bed. He hadn't been in a room like this since he was a child, living with the Prince and the Barn Owl in the Infirmary before they'd joined the Motley Folk. Since then, he'd almost always slept underneath the stars or, at the most, a tent or abandoned house. Even though he still slept outside most nights in this world, it had taken him so long to get used to being alone. Not surrounded by the other Motley Folk with Roxane close beside him and both of their girls on top of them, the only sounds the soft breathing of the others or the occasional murmur of whispered conversations, but on his own, surrounded by nothing but air and the terrible, loud noises that invaded the peace of the night.

At the memories of his family as it used to be, Dustfinger reached into the collar of his shirt, his fingers wrapping around the string resting against his neck and carefully pulling until a small pendant was resting in the palm of his hand.

He took a deep breath as he looked down at it, running his thumb gently across its surface. Closing his eyes, he struggled to remember the figure that had given it to him. Even after all these years, he could vividly remember the action of putting the necklace over his head each time he left for a performance, the words saying to let it remind him to come home to his family. But the features grew just a bit blurrier with each attempt to remember them, the beautiful lilting voice just a bit fainter.

He thought of Roxane and Brianna so often, and yet they continued to fade from his memories. He prayed every day that Brianna was safe and hadn't been hurt after he and Rosanna had been snatched from their world. She'd been left all alone in the Wayless Wood, without any of their supplies, and it had been so cold that night. But there was no way for him to know if she was okay, no way to know if she'd gotten back to Roxane. For all he knew, Roxane had lost her husband and both of their daughters - one of which couldn't possibly return.

So instead of worrying so much about the things he couldn't control, he'd tried his hardest to focus all of his attention on getting Rosanna back. At least he could make sure one of his babies was safe. And he had. After so many years, he'd finally found her.

"I found her, Roxane," he whispered, so quietly that he almost wasn't speaking at all. His eyes were still closed, struggling to imagine that he was truly talking to the woman he'd loved for the past sixteen years. "Our Rosie is ten now. She's just as beautiful as you are. I swear she gets more and more beautiful with each passing year. Oh, I wish you could see her, my love."

He didn't even know if there was a way for them to get back to their world, but he would have to focus on that later. His first priority was getting his daughter back. Even though he'd found Rosanna, it didn't mean she trusted him or would want to go with him. Even after she understood everything that had happened, she could still choose to stay with the man who'd raised her, no matter that he'd practically kidnapped her. She didn't know Dustfinger, couldn't even remember ever seeing him before. Even if he did love her more than his own life, it didn't mean she would love him back. He just had to pray that he would be able to earn her love and trust, even it took some time. But for now, he was too relieved that he'd finally found her - finally found his little one - to worry about such things tonight.