CHAPTER NINE

The carriage left the forest. All four were sitting inside. Amanda closed her eyes and took a nap. David was questioning Crystal about how she ended in New York. Tara looked out of the window staring at everything they passed. She wasn't amazed by the nature or something. She was in deep thoughts. Her mind was at home. She left her parents' bodies for the police to take care of, while she was supposed to do that. After all these years of love that she received from them, she just disappeared from home and didn't even say a last good bye to her parents. That was the most horrible thing she has ever done in her life.

It was almost noon. They passed by a camp that had home-like carriages. Tara didn't give any attention to that, but Amanda growled as she saw the camp.

"What's wrong?" Crystal asked.

"Gypsies." Amanda replied.

"Are we going to stop?"

"Never." Amanda said and took her head out of the window and spoke to the driver. "Get us away from this camp as fast as you can."

"Are they that bad?" Crystal asked.

"More than anyone you know." Amanda replied.

Tara didn't hear the conversation. Her mind wasn't there at all. David didn't talk either. He stared at Tara all the time, feeling sorry for her. The carriage was away from the camp now. Amanda left a relief sigh, when she didn't see the camp anymore.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped. It was bent slightly to the side from its back.

"What on the fairies happened?" Crystal asked.

"I'll check it out." David said and got out of the carriage. The driver was already at the back of the carriage examining the damage that was made. The right back wheel was gone. There weren't any signs of broken parts. The wheel just… vanished!

"Max, what happened?" David asked.

"I don't know Your…"

"Shhhh." David didn't let the driver continue. "Don't say that title again." He whispered. "I don't want them to know."

"But Sir, it's obvious that the carriage is a royal one."

"Yes, but they don't know who were are. They think that we work at the palace. And I want to keep it that way."
"As you wish Sir. I must say that's a wonderful idea for your safety."

"It's not about safety Max. But never mind. Let's try to fix this." David opened the door of the carriage and asked the girls to get out.

"What is it?" Amanda asked as she got out. "Cripes! How did this happened?" she noticed the 'untouched' damage, as did Crystal. Tara stood there not caring about what was going on.

"I don't know kid. This is weird. There's no sign of anything. I will search for the wheel with Max. You three wait here."

Amanda was sniffing the place where the wheel was supposed to be, but found nothing.

"Strange." She said,

"What is it?" David asked before leaving.

"This wasn't touched by any living soul. No human, no animal."

"OK, until you try to figure this out, we'll search for the wheel."

"If you can't find it in twenty minutes get back here. We'll think of something else."

"Alright." David said and went with Max.

Amanda continued to sniff the carriage for other possible signs of someone who might have been the reason for the carriage wheel to disappear. But found non. She growled in anger.

"Do you think they'll find the wheel?" Crystal asked.

"I'm not sure." Amanda replied.

"This wasn't done by someone's hand." Tara said finally.

"What do you mean?" Crystal asked.

"How do you know?" Amanda asked sharply.

"I have the feeling that this wasn't done by hand. It's something else." Tara replied.

Amanda sniffed the air. "This doesn't smell good." She said and looked around.

"Now what?" Crystal asked.

"Gypsies." Tara said.

Amanda's eyes flashed yellow and she growled. She looked around but couldn't see anyone. The smell of the gypsies was around, but they weren't close.

David and Max searched the forest for the wheel, but an arrow that hit a tree right in front of David stopped them.

"Suck an elf!" David cursed. "Where did that come from?" he looked around and saw five figures approaching them. Max took his sword in hand and stood in front of David as to defend him.

"Stop where you are and identify yourself." Max called.

The five men didn't stop, they got closer and the two men saw that they were gypsies.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" One of the gypsies said. He was the tallest of the five, with red curly hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. He had dark tanned skin and green eyes.

"Looks like the royal staff has lost something in our territory." The other said. He was shorter than the first. His hair was black, straight and long. It was also pulled back in a ponytail. He had white skin and hazel eyes. His muscles appeared under his shirt that was very tight on him.

The third had a dagger in his hand. He was as tall as the second. He had the same body type as the second gypsy; his skin was also tanned, but not dark as the first. He had brown eyes. His hair was shoulder length, dark brown. And, for David's amazement he had a tail. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

David stepped forward and stood next to Max. "Our carriage has lost its wheel and we were searching for it."

The five men exchanged a look and started to laugh loudly. The first gypsy man talked, "And that gave you the permission to step in our forest?"

"This isn't YOUR forest." Max said angrily.

"Oh really? Then whom does it belong?" The gypsy asked in a sarcastic way.

"To the ruler of the 4th kingdom. His Majesty King Wendell White." David replied.

"Oh, I see. And does he live here?" the gypsy replied in the same sarcastic tone.

"Behave yourself gypsy!" Max said. "You're speaking to His Highness Prince David White."

"What a surprise." The fourth gypsy talked this time. He was the shortest among them. He had blond curly hair that was short. He had a white skin that was slightly tanned and blue eyes. He held a crossbow in his hand. He turned to his friends, "Should we invite them to our camp? As prisoners?"

"Mother would be happy to see them." The fifth said. He was taller than the fourth gypsy, as thin as he was. He had red hair that was straight and short. His skin was also tanned, and he had hazel eyes. "Tim, why don't you and Sam show our royal guests the way to the camp. While I, Chris and Leo go and invite the ladies." He asked the second gypsy.

"With pleasure." Tim replied.

"Oh and remember to tie them a little bit." He added. "We don't want them get lost."

Tim had an evil grin on his face. "Now, are you going to give me that silly sword you have in your hand? Or should I cut your arm from your shoulder instead?" he asked Max.

Max looked at David, who nodded in agreement. Max threw the sword on the ground. "Good choice." Tim said. He took a rope that was hanging from his pants and Sam did the same. They tied David's and Max's hands to the back, and took them to the camp.

"That was easy to do." Chris said.

"And it would be much more easier with the ladies." Lucas said and the three laughed. "Now let's go."

The girls sat near the carriage waiting for David and Max to get back. Amanda was getting nervous. "It's been an hour and they're not back yet." She stood and started sniff the air. "I can't smell them getting closer." Suddenly her eyes flashed yellow. She turned to Tara and Crystal, "Get up." She demanded.

"What is it?" Crystal asked.

"Gypsies are coming. We should hide."

"But where?"

Amanda looked around but it was late to move now. Three men stood in front of them. Amanda's eyes flashed yellow again, and she growled. Leo stared at her amazed. How couldn't he smell a half-wolf around? Amanda thought the same, but at that moment she didn't care. She was in danger and she was getting ready to defend herself and the other girls too.

"Hello." Lucas said and bowed, almost politely and had a smile on his face.

Amanda didn't trust him. She didn't trust anyone of them. "What do you want?" she asked dryly.

"You are in our territory. So, we thought about inviting you to our modest camp." Lucas replied.

Tara and Crystal stood behind Amanda, scared of what would happen if they didn't go.

"We're not interested, thank you." Amanda said. "Now, leave us and go before I rip your throats out." He eyes were still yellow.

"Watch your words wolf!" Leo said, his eyes flashed yellow as well.

"Take it easy my friend." Lucas put his hand on Leo's shoulder. "We are not here to cause trouble to the ladies. We only wanted to invite them to have a cup of tea with my mother. But if they don't want to, that's their problem."

Amanda calmed after she heard that. Her eyes were back to normal. Lucas smiled. "Please let us give you a small present that mother sent with us." He said.

Amanda looked at the girls, and looked at Lucas again. "We don't need any presents."

"Amanda, couldn't we just… run?" Crystal said, but Amanda didn't reply. Her eyes were focused on the gypsies.

"We can't take it back. Mother will be upset. You can take it, and throw it away. But, you have to take it."

Amanda thought about that for a moment. "OK, but I will throw it away." She said.

Lucas's smile got wider. He turned to Chris and winked. Chris knew what that meant.

"May I step closer to give you the present?" Chris asked.

"OK." Amanda replied.

Chris took a small pouch out of his pocket and went forward, closer to the girls. He opened the pouch and emptied it in his gloved hand.

Amanda saw the pink dust. "Cripes! RUN!" she shouted and before the three of them could run, Chris threw the troll dust on them. The three girls dropped on the ground… sleeping.

"Good work Chris!" Leo said.

Chris had a big smile on his face. "I'll tell you, this was harder than those men. This wolf girl is smart." He said.

"It may seem so." Lucas said. Let's just tie them up and carry them to the camp."

"Alright." Chris said. They all had ropes hanging from their pants. They tied the hands of the girls and Leo took a piece of a cloth and tied Amanda's mouth.

"Look at this one!" Lucas said. "She's a fairy!"

"Suck an elf! What're we going to do now?" Chris said. "The queen won't like it."

"Let's just go back now. We'll tell her what happened, and I'm sure she'll understand." Leo said.

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Just a note so you don't get confused. Here are the names of the five gypsy guys.

1st: Christopher (Chris)

2nd: Timothy (Tim)

3rd: Leo (he's a half-wolf)

4th: Samuel (Sam)

5th: Lucas (he's the gypsy prince)

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