I am sososososososooooooo sorry about the wait! As you all know I was in california until September eighth. But when i got back was my first week of school after summer, and then my second week of school was tech week for Sound of Music at my theatre, and I had shows Friday and last night! I'm sure most of you know how insane tech week and opening weekend is. Again I am so sorry! To answer the request of a guest: I will most certainly write a Bakerella story after this one :)
Enjoy and please review even though it's been so long! I apologize once again! And in case anyone was wondering, I play Louisa VonTrapp in the Sound of Music :)
They all awoke abruptly to the sound of someone pounding on the front door. Sarah looked up at her husband. She clutched her baby, willing to put up a fight. The witch would kill her before she touched her baby.
Paul nervously got up and opened the window. "Climb out with the baby and hide in the barn. Cover yourself with hay," he instructed. "It's our only chance,"
Shaking, Sarah nodded and climbed out the window and did as she was told.
Paul had begun shaking as he crossed the front room to the door. As he opened the door, Cinderella, Jack and Red had appeared in the doorway from the back room. Cinderella had her arms wrapped around a frightened Little Red, and Jack was clutching the door frame. The door opened to reveal the tall dark haired woman. Red and Jack gasped.
"T-that's her…" Red stuttered. "She…she…"
"That's the witch that locked us up," Jack cowered back.
Red squeezed Cinderella tighter, and Cinderella did the same to her.
"It's alright," Cinderella assured her. "She can't hurt you,"
"I assume you know why I'm here?" the witch said.
"Yes but…my wife…" Paul let his despair show. "She…she died in childbirth, along with the baby…"
"What?" the witch's eyes widened and her face turned a furious red color. "No…"
"I'm sorry…" Paul said. "Is there anything else…?"
"NO!" She lifted her long staff and pointed it toward Paul in a fit of rage. The three onlookers gasped. "I don't believe you!"
"Please! You have to – "
"Your son!" she shoved Paul aside and stormed toward the doorway the others were standing in. They jumped out of her way, Red giving a squeal of terror as she did so.
"No!" Paul ran after her. "No, no please!"
He rushed into the bedroom to find the witch stroking the sleeping Peter's head.
"Such a beautiful child," she said.
"Please…anything else…" Paul begged her.
"Silence!" she boomed, and Peter awoke and started wailing. "I'm taking him whether you like it or not!"
"NO!"
The witch stood abruptly and stormed back into the front room.
"LIAR!" she shrieked, again pointing her staff at Paul. Standing in the front door was Sarah. "Where is the baby? Where is she?"
"You'll not be taking my daughter, or my son!" Sarah shouted.
The witch was now beat red, and looked like she would explode any moment. She stormed out the front door, shoving Sarah down the porch steps. Paul ran to his wife. Sarah got up, clutching her head. She ran as fast as she could after the witch, her vision blurred, ignoring the pain in her head. Paul ran after them both, and Cinderella and the children emerged from the house.
They all followed the witch into the barn. With a wave of her staff, all the hay in the barn disappeared, and lying in the corner of the barn was the newborn baby.
"There you are!" she ran to the baby.
"NO!" Sarah shrieked again, throwing herself on top of her daughter. "You'll kill me before you touch her!"
"Well, if that's how you wish it to be," the witch said, sounding oddly calm. She turned around to face Paul. "Such a waste it was to bring her back,"
And in one swift movement she turned around, pointed her staff at Sarah and a jet of green light shot at Sarah. Sarah screamed, a horrible blood-curdling scream, and then she went limp on the ground.
"NO!" Paul rushed to his wife's side. He knelt down beside her and pulled her limp body into his arms. She was so cold…he began sobbing over his wife's body. Red had screamed and buried her face in Cinderella sobbing uncontrollably. Jack simply stood there frozen, and silent tears dripped down Cinderella's face. All the while the witch was cackling wildly, screaming. Her terrifying laughter made them all sick to their stomachs.
The witch scooped up the crying baby and cradled her close. "Shh, there, there," she comforted the child. Paul suddenly stood up and took a swing at the witch, but she dodged.
"You silly, silly man," the witch giggled insanely.
"Let go of my daughter!" Paul charged at her again, but the witch simply flicked her hand, and Paul flew across the barn and crashed against the wall. She cackled madly.
"This is the last you'll see of me!" she said. "It's the last midnight, so goodbye all!"
She cackled again and a loud crack sounded and with a puff of purple smoke, she and the baby were gone.
"No!" Paul ran to the smoke and tried to grab the witch, but she was long gone now. Paul collapsed on his knees and broke down into hysterics again. He pathetically grabbed his wife's ice cold body and cradled her like a baby.
"I'm sorry…" he sobbed. "I'm so sorry…"
Cinderella couldn't bear to watch it. She hurriedly pushed the children out of the barn and back into the house. Jack was panting heavily, trying as hard as he could to not cry. Red was still sobbing uncontrollably. Cinderella sat down in the armchair and pulled Red into her lap and let her cry. Cinderella tried to hold back her tears for Red's sake, but she too broke down.
Jack hurried to the bedroom, where Peter was still lying, wailing louder than ever. He nervously lifted him, having never held a child before. He held him close and tried to quiet him, but he just kept crying. He brought him into the front room, and there was a man standing there.
"Ah, finally," the man said. "Just one loaf please?"
"Uh-uh sorry…" Jack stuttered. "W-w-we're closed,"
"What for?" the man said.
"S-s-something bad just happened…" Jack said, handing Peter a piece of bread that he began gnawing on and finally, he stopped crying.
"But we need bread – "
"Fine!" Jack shouted, and both the man and Peter jumped. Jack panted heavily as he placed Peter onto the floor and reached for a loaf of bread to give to the man. "That'll be three copper pennies," Jack said through clenched teeth. Jack took the money and quickly wiped away tears that had surfaced in his eyes.
"Sorry to um…disturb you," and with that the man left. As he walked out the door, Paul appeared, holding Sarah's body. The man gasped and hurriedly exited the bake shop.
Paul walked across the floor slowly, his face completely blank. As he walked past Peter, he reached up and his finger tips brushed the edge of Sarah's skirt.
"Mama," he cooed, and Paul had to look away to prevent the anguish from sxploding from inside him again. He opened the door to the back room. Cinderella turned her head to see, and her heart broke all over again. Paul heard the sobs of the girl sitting in Cinderella's lap. He walked into his bedroom and placed his wife on the bed. He gently placed her arms naturally at her sides, and straightened out her legs. He knelt down beside her and kissed her ice cold cheek softly.
"I…I love you Sarah,"
He took one last look at his wife's beautiful face, then carefully pulled the sheet over her and left the room, his face still blank.
"Mama!" Peter demanded. Paul picked up his son.
"Mama…mama can't come back Peter," Paul said.
"Mama!" Peter demanded again. Paul simply pulled him into a tight embrace.
Red had stopped crying, and Cinderella was still stroking her head. Jack was sitting in the corner of the room hugging his knees. After several minutes of silence, Paul spoke again.
"We should bury her where she was before," he said. Cinderella nodded. She went outside and hitched up the wagon to the horse that they had recently acquired. Jack helped carry Sarah's covered body outside and into the wagon, and Red followed carrying Peter.
Jack quickly turned away from the wagon as soon as he had put Sarah down. Understanding why Jack was so uneasy, and all the pain he felt, Cinderella put an arm around his shoulder and brought him close.
Paul got in the back of the wagon with his wife, and Cinderella, Red, and Jack sat in the front, Jack driving the wagon. Cinderella was holding Peter in her lap. The child was simply looking around, enjoying this fun little ride he was going on. As they passed by other members of the village, people stopped and removed their hats at the sight of the body covered with a sheet.
Into the woods it's always when, you think at last you're through and then, into the woods you go again to take another journey…
Into the woods to bury my wife…
After several hours, they reached the hole in the ground where Sarah had previously been buried. Jack once again helped lift her off the wagon and into the ground. Paul then took his son from Cinderella, and the four of them stood around the grave.
"Sarah was a good friend," Cinderella said. "She was always very helpful and insightful, and she was such a kind soul,"
"She…she was…" Red stammered, the tears returning. "A very sweet woman. She was very kind to me. She was a good mother to Peter," Red buried her face in Cinderella again. The memories of losing her own mother were rushing back to Red.
"I…I didn't really get to know her all that well," Jack said. "But she was a wonderful woman," Cinderella wrapped her arm around him and pulled him closer. He was also reliving his mother's death.
"She was…she was perfect," Paul said. "Always so caring and kind and loving. She…deserved better than me. I let you down Sarah," he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't deserve you the first or second time," he took a deep breath. "And to my daughter…I'm sorry I gave you away…I love you, and you won't ever know it. Your name would have been Sarah, after your brave mother who fought to protect you,"
Paul put his son down and started shoveling the dirt over his wife's body. When he finished, he grabbed the stone that he had cast aside all those months ago and placed it once again over the grave.
Sarah
Wife and mother
Gone too soon
He stood there staring at it. The children had taken Peter back into the wagon. Cinderella slowly walked toward Paul. She carefully reached for him, and put her arm around him. Paul suddenly turned into her and began sobbing, and Cinderella wrapped both arms around him.
"Things will be alright now," Cinderella soothed him. "We can make it so,"
"Someone is on your side," Red said from the wagon
"No one is alone," Jack said.
"We're all on your side, Paul," Cinderella said. "And all of us will always be here for you,"
"Shh, there, there,"
The child had become quite frightened by the loud noise and had started crying.
"It's alright," the woman soothed the child. "I'll take care of you. Look. See? I'm your mother,"
She walked with the now quiet child in her arms through the woods, until she came upon the tower. There were no doors, no ladders, just one window. With a wave of her hand, she had ascended to the window and stepped inside. She walked toward the cradle that was against the wall and placed the child in it.
"There you are," she said as she pulled a purple blanket over the child. "We're going to be very happy, I promise," she kissed the baby's tiny head. "I promise, Rapunzel,"