Chapter 6: Sofia

Flashback

Pop

Sofia flinches.

Pop.

She flinches again.

She knew better then to investigate. She heard she voice of her mother. A scream she knew all too well. Then crying. Then she heard her father yell, "You're pathetic!" She heard his boots stomping on the wood floor before the door slammed shut. Sofia jumped. She peeked downstairs and made sure the coast was clear. She tiptoed downstairs and into the kitchen where her mother sat curled up in a ball on the floor. She opened a drawer with a couple kitchen towels in it and went to the water pump. She got it wet and went over to her mother. She sat down on the floor and dabbed the cut on her mother's cheek. Her little hands working gently, but effectively to wipe the blood away.

"S-sofia," Miranda whispered.

"Shh, it's okay, mom. I'm here."

"Sofia... please," Miranda said stopping her from taking care of her. "Please go back upstairs," Miranda breathed. "Before he comes back."

"It's okay, mom. Dad hasn't hurt me."

"Not physically," Miranda mumbled, looking down. Sofia heard. "Sofia, please go back upstairs. I'll be okay."

"No," Sofia resisted. "I am not leaving your side until I know you're okay."

Miranda smiled. "Stubborn," she breathed. "Like your father."

"I hope I'm nothing like him," Sofia said with a scowl.

"Sofia," Miranda sighed. "He's doing his best."

"By hurting you?"

"He supports us. so that's good and I sell shoes on the side."

"I love you mom."

"I love you too, Sofia."

Present

The sound of a bell rings out and a flood of children emerge from the village schoolhouse. Sofia starts walking toward her house when she hears something unusual. "Sofia!" a voice calls out.

She turns to where it's coming from and sees a friendly, familiar face.

"Mrs. Hanshaw?" she asks walking toward the woman.

"Hello, Sofia."

"Ruby will be right out, but I really have to get home."

"That's why I called you over here, Sofia. I was wondering if you wanted to have a sleepover with Ruby tonight?"

"I would love to, but I have to ask my mom first."

"I already did and she knows you'll be alright." Mrs. Hanshaw reveals a small bag she had behind her. "I already packed your things for you."

"Just for tonight?"

"Well, I was hoping you could stay for the weekend at least. Won't that be fun?"

"Um, I'm not really sure. Wouldn't my mom miss me?"

"She knows you'll be in good hands."

Something in Sofia new, that Mrs. Hanshaw, was not telling the entire truth. It was something in the way she said her words, how she pronounced them and the tone she used.

"Are you sure she's alright with the entire weekend? We usually spend time together on the weekends."

"I already ran it by her and she knows where you'll be."

"But what about-"

"Hi mom!" Ruby says walking up and giving her mom a hug.

"Hi Ruby. How was your day?"

"It was good," she says with a smile and looks at Sofia.

"Don't you usually walk home, Sofia?"

Sofia opens her mouth to say something but Mrs. Hanshaw does it for her. "Sofia's going to spend the weekend with us. Won't that be fun, Ruby?"

"That sounds great. We're going to have so much fun Sofia." Ruby says taking her hand.

Sofia smiles at Ruby.

"Come along, girls. A fun weekend awaits."

Sofia makes sure to smile whenever anyone looks at her, but inside, she knows something isn't quite right about all this. Inside her quiet mind, Sofia knew something was wrong. She doesn't know what, but she is determined to find out.

Later that night at Mrs. Hanshaw's house, Sofia keeps her worry at bay. They just finished dinner and cleared their plates off the table.

"Come on, Sofia. I want to show you something in my room," Ruby says.

"You go ahead, Ruby. I'll be up in a minute."

"Okay, but hurry!" she says running up the stairs.

Once Sofia sees she's out of earshot, she goes into the kitchen. "Mrs. Hanshaw?"

Mrs. Hanshaw is drying off the plate she just washed and looks over at Sofia.

"Yes, Sofia?"

"Alright, the jig up is up. What's really going on?"

"What jig? There's no jig."

"Yes there is. What's really going on? Where is my mom?"

"She had to leave on urgent business and left you in my care."

"My mom wouldn't leave without saying goodbye first. Is she in some kind of trouble?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I know you're trying to cover up the whole truth with half truths to avoid telling me the whole truth. Where is mom?"

Mrs. Hanshaw exhales and stops what she's doing. "Alright, alright. But if I tell you, will you promise to not get upset?"

"I promise."

"Okay. The truth is, your mother is in a sort of cell."

"A cell? Why would she be in a cell?"

"That, I don't know."

"My mom is one of the nicest people I know. What could she have done to deserve being locked away in a cell?"

"Sometimes people don't do things for the right reason. In other words, she may have gotten locked up, just because someone doesn't like her."

"What awful person wouldn't like my mom?"

"I don't know. All I know is that we can pray she is alright when she gets out. I've told you where she is, but please, try not to worry. I'm sure she's okay. Your mom is one of the bravest, strongest women I know. If anyone can endure that, she can. So don't let it worry you, alright?"

"I'll try."

"Alright. Now you go play, and be a kid."

Sofia turns and goes upstairs to play with Ruby, trying to push her worry aside and do like Mrs. Hanshaw says, just be a kid.

Later on that night when all was quiet, Sofia was left alone with her thoughts. She wonders, who in the world would not like her mother? What did her mother ever do to this person? These questions and more floated through her mind, disturbing her sleep. She turned over, I made a silent promise to her mother, that she would get her out of wherever she was. And Sofia, knew that that promise would not be broken.

Early that next morning, Sofia got dressed and headed out the door. She began the two mile trek to the castle. She managed to sneak past the guards and get all the way in. In this case her tiny body proved useful. She straightened her posture and stormed into the throne room. Despite several maids trying to stop her, she threw the doors open. There she met the eyes of the cold-hearted king who held her mother captive.

"Why?" she shouted. "What did my mother ever do to you?"

"Who are you, little girl? What are you doing in my throne room?" Roland snapped.

Sofia sees two guards come behind her and grabbed each arm. "Would you like us to take her to the dungeon your majesty?" one guard says.

She looked up into the eyes of her king. He looked down at her. She saw a flash of warmth pass through his eyes and a slight smile form on his lips.

"She's just a girl," the king says. "She's not a criminal. Release her at once," he commanded.

Just like that, the guards release their grip. Sofia rubs her arms where their hands were. "Leave us," the King says. They turned around and left the room.

An ominous feeling creeps up into Sofia's stomach. Now that they're alone, what was he planning to do to her? She wonders what he's going to do next.

Sofia turns and looks at him with her hands on her hips. "Why are you so mean? What has my mother ever done to you? She'd never hurt a fly and you have her locked up like some criminal. Tell me, your majesty, what has she done?"

"Tell me who you're talking about, child," he snapped.

"The only female prisoner in your dungeon, the cobbler. Her name is Miranda. She made you slippers."

"She's your mother?"

"Yes, she's my mother and I'd like to know why you have her locked up!"

"What makes you think I have to answer to you, little girl?"

"Well, let's see. For one, she's my mother. I'm her own flesh and blood and the only family she has. Two, by law, she is my only legal guardian, and three, you can only throw someone in the dungeon if someone has been proven guilty of committing a crime. So tell me, your majesty," she says mockingly. "What has she ever done to deserve the punishment she's getting?"

"That is none of your concern, little girl," he barks. "Now I suggest you leave before you get thrown in the dungeon with her."

Sofia straightened her posture again and turned around to walk out of the room. She opened the door and turned around to look at the King with her hand on the door knob. "At least we'd be together," she says before leaving the room. The guards escorted her outside the castle where she met face to face with Mrs. Hanshaw.

A/N: Hi guys! Here's another chapter for those of you who care about this story. Oh dang! What's going to happen now? Let me know what you think in your reviews! That's all for now! See you in the next chapter!