Sunflower was on top of a big animal that Eugene had called a horse. It was running fast, and Sunflower's hair was streaming behind her. The weight of her hair nearly pulled her off the horse, so she was holding on tightly to Eugene. They were going so fast that it was kind of scary, but, Sunflower realized, it was actually kind of fun.
They stopped when they got to a building. A sign out front read, The Snuggly Duckling.
"Why are we stopping?" asked Sunflower.
Eugene smiled. "We're just going to see some friends of mine."
Sunflower looked at him. "O-kay."
They got off the horse, and Sunflower realized she could run back to her tower. She looked at the road leading back to the tower.
"Are you coming?" asked Eugene, who was walking ahead of her.
Sunflower looked at him, then at the road again. Should she make a run for it?
But if she ran, he could easily just grab hold of her hair. And she wouldn't be able to get back inside her tower even if she did make it.
It was at this kind of time that she wished she didn't have long hair. But what would she do without it? She needed her hair, to heal. She couldn't just cut it off like her mother had. Once, Sunflower had opened a dresser in her mother's room, and found in it a very long, long length of brown hair. She knew it was her mother's hair as soon as she had seen it. After that, she had wondered, had her mother cut off her hair in the tower? And why? Her mother had never told her.
She decided to go with Eugene. There would be no gain in trying to get away.
But as soon as they entered the Snuggly Duckling, Sunflower regretted her decision. The place was full of evil-looking men. She knew as soon as she saw them.
"You brought me to a place full of ruffians and thugs?" cried Sunflower.