Chapter 2, version 2.0! Glaring errors and general wordiness have hopefully been cleared up. Chapter three should be up within the hour. (crosses fingers)

Incidentally, it is really hard to type with crossed fingers.

Jakob sat at the bar, listening, as Wilhelm flirted with the pretty girl behind the counter.

"Old Master Vilnius took sick with his missus, I hear," said a dark man who had just entered the tavern. He took the empty seat next to Jake and ordered a drink. "Just been over there meself. Dead as doornails, both. Elf-shot," he added, lowering his voice.

The bar went silent.

"Not elf-shot, John, ye lying pig," complained the pretty girl, brushing Wilhelm's hand off her skirt as she scurried over to hand him his drink. "When yer cow dropped last spring ye said the calf were elf-shot, and it were been fine but for that bit with the dogs over the winter. But what's this about old Vilnius bein' dead? Healthy as a horse last week, he was."

John shook his head. "It were acting queer even before that. I'll swear the beast's elf-shot, just as Vilnius and his missus were."

"How do you know they had been elf-shot, master John?" asked Jake, trying not to appear too eager. The brothers hadn't had any work or stories for nearly a month.

John took a swig of hard cider and wiped his mouth on his grimy sleeve.

"Well, I carries the wood for them, see, it gettin' to be fall and everything. I get paid today, so I went up to the house and knocked on the door. No answer, so I open it and I see the maid sobbing. I ask her what's wrong and she says the master and mistress are dead."

There was muttering from several tables around them. Several of them had relatives in the employ of the dead couple, who were by and large considered the decent sort. Jake motioned for the man to go on.

"So I calms her down and asks her to show me where they are, maybe they've been taken down with the Sleep or some such."

The patrons nodded. The Sleeping Death had roared through the town this summer, taking a few lives and causing much general worry. Most victims usually woke up after a few weeks of heavy sleep, if they did not die of thirst, neglect or malnutrition.

"But the lord was collapsed on the floor with not a sign on 'im, just like he were putting on his boots. I looked for the mistress and she'd been shot halfway getting' out of bed. Me and the maid checked and they had neither fever nor breath nor colour in their faces. But the maid swore up and down that the two'd been well when they went to bed. There was no sign of a struggle or a thief in the night," he concluded.

Those present looked at each other, knowing the final proof of the shot.

John lowered his voice and winked at his audience. "What was the strangest was--there weren't a mark on either of them!"

"Checked the missus all over, did ye?" someone snickered.

"The maid did that, as you well know, but their clothes weren't torn neither," John shot beck. "Most peculiar, but only one explanation. I'd swear on my right hand they were!"

There was more muttering and mumbling as the rest of the tavern mulled this over.

The barmaid gasped and dropped the glass. It shattered unnoticed on the floor.

"Hilde! John, sirs, what day is it?"

Wilhelm looked at her strangely. "It's the last day of September, my lass," he told her, trying to pull her into his lap.

Her eyes widened. "Just a month away from when Hilde was taken! They took her on All Hallows E'en!" she gasped. She looked around at the incredulous faces. "It's nearing three years since she went away!"

Jakob broke the nervous silence. "Beg pardon, but who is Hilde and what happened to her?"

Jake rolled his eyes as Will tried to sneak a grope while everyone else was looking at the floor in…what, nervousness? Embarrassment? Fear, Jake wondered?

Will cleared his throat as the barmaid slapped his hand away again with a sly grin. "We are the Brothers Grimm. Dear people, we have travelled far and wide across many lands and we have always come out triumphant! We can find this Hilde for you, if you are willing to give us the information we need. And our pay, of course," he added.

"Hilde was my sister," growled John. "Day before All Hallows E'en near three years ago, she got a letter. She, not knowing how to read any more than I can, took it to the Master and the Mistress for them to read to her. She told me it said that the elves wanted her to stand godmother to one of their babes and that three elves'd be arriving the next day. She said no one ought to refuse the elves, so she was packing. She left with three stripling lads in hoods and cloaks the next day and we haven't seen her again."

The barmaid spoke up again. "No one's gone looking for her but the elves have been hunting round here a lot more than they used to. There's no deer, the rabbits have been scared away, and even trade from the other towns has dropped off some since the traders keep turning up dead with the horses spooked and the trade goods all strange."

"They ha'n't come into the town, before, though," A young man pointed out. "The hunting stopped the first year she was gone, but since that second November they've been hunting without mercy."

"Has anyone else gone missing?" asked Wilhelm, a familiar glint in his eye. Jake gave a mental groan and almost groaned out loud, but stopped himself at Will's sharp glare.

"A few, a fair few. Infants, like. Near four changelings this summer alone! They got away before we could get the real babes back," said a man miserably.

"Good townsfolk, fear not! Tomorrow, we shall talk with your mayor--"

"I'm here now," said the mayor amidst scattered laughter. "So are most of the prominent men in the town. If you can go up to the mountains and get Hilde and the babes back, stop the elves from hunting so close to town, and come back alive, you can have whatever you want!" he declared. He laughed and clapped his empty mug on the table.

"We'll do it!" agreed Wilhelm immediately. Jake nodded. Elves were new. Jake hadn't dealt with elves before.

The mayor stared, chuckling nervously. "I…I didn't mean for you to actually take the offer, lads."

"Worried you can't pay?" asked Wilhelm. He waved a hand dismissively. "We'll settle the price tomorrow morning before we set off."

There was more laughter with a fearful undertone.

"You're truly going after the elves? You'll be killed!" spluttered the mayor.

"Or worse," put in John darkly.

Jake knew his cue and stood. "We rescued Marbaden, and many other towns besides. We have faced down witches, demons, even a Queen! Elves hold no fear for us." Will slung an arm around his brother's shoulders and picked up the rest of the speech, boasting about all their many triumphs and successes.

Jake let his mind wander. Elves. Mountains. They'd need a map, for starters. Food, provisions, get fresh horseshoes, sharpen the knives and get more parchment…

Will had finished his speech. Jake dragged him off to a corner of the bar and the brothers talked over their plans.

So. Elves, Jake mused. This would be interesting.