Disclaimer: Anything by the wonderful Gail Carson Levine is not mine. All of the characters and ideas from Ella Enchanted are Gail Carson Levine's. However, most of the plot and characters are mine.

Summary: Sarah, Ella's daughter, is kidnapped on the night of her debutante ball. At first she does not know what her captors want from her, but when she does her life is changed forever. What follows is an adventure featuring magic, mayhem, romance, elves, balls and a prince in disguise!

A/N: Thanks for all of your reviews so far! Tell me what you think of this chapter.

Anyway, on to the story...

Chapter 3

Kidnapped!

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Sarah woke up to the low murmur of people speaking. Her head ached and her corset cut into her flesh more deeply than ever before. She was lying down and struggled to sit up. This was quite an effort, seeing as she was bound and gagged.

Sarah tried to make sense of what happened. It was daylight at the moment, but her last memory was of the ball. She did not recognize any of her surroundings.

Sarah tried to struggle out of the ropes that bound her but it was no use. The owners of the murmuring voices noticed Sarah's movements and approached her.

Sarah tensed up. She did not recognize her captors. One was a statuesque young woman with flaming red hair. The other was a man little older than Sarah herself with piercing green eyes. It was he who first spoke to Sarah.

"You've finally woken up I see." He snarled.

Sarah tried to say something but the cloth across her mouth muffled her voice.

"I'll only ungag you if you promise not to scream."

Sarah nodded her head furiously. The man bent down and undid the cloth that bound her mouth. Sarah stretched her jaw - glad to be able to move her lips again.

"Who are you?" Sarah demanded. What had she done to deserve this?

"Who we are does not matter to you, princess." This time it was the woman who spoke, her voice teasing the other girl. "You are to travel with us whether you like it or not."

"What do you want with me? Is it for a ransom? I'm sure we can work something out." Sarah desperately spoke, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You'll ask no more questions. We will unbound you but do not even think of running away. We're excellent trackers and you would not last a day out here by yourself." Spoke the man.

Sarah sighed and gave in. She could not believe that she had been kidnapped. Her parents must have been only metres away!

"Can I at least know your names?" Sarah asked.

The couple – which Sarah was sure they were – exchanged glances.

"You may call me Flame," announced the woman. "And you may call him... umm... Fin."

"Fin?"

"Have you got a problem with that?" she said menacingly.

"Uh, no." Sarah hastily replied. "My name is Sarah." She added, trying to be polite.

"Yeah, we kind of know." Fin said, as he started loosening the rope that surrounded Sarah.

Sarah's bones creaked as she stood up. She saw that the two had ridden on horseback, yet there were three horses.

"Who does the third horse belong to?"

"We brought one for you." Was the answer she received. Fin and Flame seemed to be not your stereotypical kidnappers – they at least let her have her own horse.

They walked over to the horses and Fin hoisted her up into the saddle before tying her horse to his.

"Just to make sure you don't do anything funny." He grinned. Sarah could not help noticing that he had a pleasant smile but then mentally scolded herself for thinking about such a thing.

Sarah wiped her face with the back of her had and saw that it was covered in dirt. "I must look like quite a sight." She chortled to herself. Sarah felt quite comfortable and was certain that Flame and Fin would not harm her, despite their hard talk. If they had met under different circumstances, Sarah wondered what might have happened.

What Sarah concentrated most on, during their ride to who knows where, was a plan to escape. She wanted to go back home. She was a princess and though nobody could call her snobby, she was not used to such rough treatment. Some maid or servant had attended her to all her life, though she never really liked it. Sarah usually just wanted to be left alone. But now that she was here, Sarah wished that she could go back to her palace.

The heat rose dramatically as they made their way through the surrounding bush. The forest was dense and they had to stop a number of times so that Fin and Flame could check that they were going the right way.

Sarah suddenly had an idea. As they were approaching a rather rickety bridge, Sarah leaned back and whispered, "I feel faint." She went to drink from the bottle offered to her but there was none left.

"We've run out of water so wait here." Fin told them. "I'll get you some more."

When Fin was a considerable distance away, Sarah decided to swing into action.

She jumped onto Flame, luckily managing to make her aim, and shoving her off her horse. Sarah thensettled herself into her saddle. She was so close to escaping.

She took the reins and rode over the bridge. Sweat perspired down her face as she urged the horse to go faster. The bridge however, was not made for such a lively activity. Sarah's face bore an expression of horror as one of the ropes supporting the bridge snapped...

A/N: Yet another cliffhanger. I can't seem to stop writing those. I hoped you all liked that chapter – please R&R – I need to know if people like reading this!