Isabella woke up to find a fire-colored sky outside her window, indicating that the sun was rising. She hopped out of bed, pulled on a coat, and went out to go milk the cow. When the task was done, she then went back into the house, got dressed, and went about her day.

This same routine repeated for three days.

"I'm sure he'll be home soon." She thought.

To take her mind off of the worry beginning to form in the back of her mind, she decided to visit the bookseller in the village.

"Ah! My favorite customer!" cried the jolly old man, whose glasses always slipped off the end of his crooked nose. "Did you enjoy the last book you bought?"

"Oh, I adored it! I couldn't put it down!" she said with a smile.

"Glad to hear it!" said the man.

"Do you have anything new?" she asked with a hopeful smile, as though she were a child waiting for Santa.

He laughed in amusement at the young woman's eagerness. "Not since you were last here."

"Mind if I look around?" she asked.

"Of course not!"

She then began to peruse the shelves, looking for a new tantalizing tale. The shop was small, yet to her, it contained so many wonders. Books are what broke the monotony of village life.

She finally found a volume that attracted her and pulled it out, examining the title more closely.

"I think I'll take this one," she said as she fumbled for money in her coin purse.

"Keep it," the shopkeeper said, shocking Isabella.

"Are you sure? I can pay for it…" she said.

"I insist." The man replied with a smile.

A grateful smile spread across her face as she hugged the book close to her. "Really? Thank you so much!"

"Anything for a kindred spirit! Enjoy, my dear!" he said with a smile.

She left the shop practically leaping for joy, the shopkeeper chuckling in amusement.

She walked briskly through the cobbled streets, passing a marketplace, where venders were shouting various verbal advertisements for their wares. She ignored the exasperated shoving of mothers accompanying their children and the rude wolf whistles directed at her. All she wanted to do was get home and read.

She was suddenly stopped in her tracks when Johann jumped in front of her.

"And where might you be going?" he asked with a mischievous grin on his face, the one that Isabella hated.

"I don't think that's any of your business. Now if you'll kindly excuse me, I need to go somewhere…" she replied as she tried to maneuver around his massive body.

He shifted to block her path. "And where is that?"

"I just told you that's none of your busi-HEY! That's mine!" she shouted as Johann grabbed the book from her arms.

Johann flipped through the pages, looking quizzically and the text. "How can you read this? There's no pictures or anything!"

"Because some people like to use their imaginations. Now if you'll please give my book back, I need to go somewhere."

"It isn't right for a woman to read."

"And why is that?"

"Because…. it isn't right."

"What's not right about it?" she asked with a smirk.

"Because…it just isn't!"

She took the book from his large hands. "Well, when you can come up with a better argument than that, perhaps I'll take what you said into consideration. Goodbye." She said as she walked off, grinning over her triumph.

Johanns mouth was agape, staring stupidly as she walked away.

"What just happened here?" he asked a hunting partner of his.

"She's just crazy. About as crazy as her father!" his friend replied, sending both men into a fit of laughter.

o.0.o

She entered the house and plopped herself down on the sofa, and began her literary journey. She soon became lost in the story, about a magic spell and a prince in disguise, and before she knew it, she was lulled into a peaceful sleep as the night wore on.

The next few days she spent alternating between chores and working on her book. While she found many ways to keep herself occupied, her worry over her father's absence was increasing each day.

About a week after he had left, she decided to go and visit her sister. She went later in the evening, when she knew that Johann would be at the tavern drinking himself silly or hunting.

She knocked politely at the door, and a man of medium stature, slightly plump, opened it with thick sand-colored curls on top of his head. Eleanor's husband, James.

"Ah! Bella! What a surprise!" he said as he embraced his sister-in-law. "I'll tell Eleanor you're here! Oh, do come in!"

She entered the house, hanging her cloak on a hook on the wall.

She adored visiting her sister. The house was a small, but quaint abode. There was always a delicious aroma filling the room, a few of Eleanor's sketches hanging in frames on the wall, and, during the spring and summer, fresh flowers in a vase on the windowsill.

Eleanor entered the room and briskly entered the room and embraced her sister. She then offered Isabella a seat while she went to the kitchen to brew a pot of tea.

"I suppose I better put the fire out in the forge before something burns down." said James with a chuckle as he left the house to go to the blacksmiths shop attached to the house.

Eleanor returned with two cups of tea and then sat down, giving a cup to her sister.

"How has Papa been?" she asked with a smile.

"I've not seen him for a week." Isabella replied as she took a sip. 'I'm beginning to worry about him…he should have been back by now."

"Hmmm…" Eleanor pondered. "I can't imagine why he'd be gone that long either…."

"I've decided…I'm going to go look for him in the morning…"

Eleanor gasped at this statement. "But…there are robbers on the road…and wolves! It's too dangerous!"

"I have to…that's why I came here. To ask if you could keep an eye on the house while I'm gone."

"I suppose so…but be careful!"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine!" she said with a smile as she took another sip of tea.

James came back into the house, soot staining his face.

"Closed up shop for the night." He said as he tipped his cap politely towards Isabella and went upstairs to wash himself of a hard days work.

The two women sipped their tea, chatting away. A few hours passed when Isabella decided that she needed to go and get a good night's rest for the next day's journey.

"I'll walk you home. Johann can't touch you as long as I'm there." She then called up to her husband to tell him that she was going out and would return shortly, and headed for the door. Isabella called farewell to him, grabbed her cloak off the hook, and followed her sister to the cottage where they had grown up. Eleanor bid her sister good night, warned her once again to be cautious, and left to return home.

o.0.o

The next morning, Isabella got dressed, did a few quick chores, took an apple and put it in her pocket, pulled on her cloak, and headed for the door.

For some strange reason, she felt a need to look back at the living room. She then sighed as she left, in hopes of finding her father.

Little did she know that she wouldn't see that house again for a long, long time…