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Chapter two
Sirens blared as the town's only working fire engine made it's way down the street. "Out of the way!" One of the firemen shouted, as they pointed hoses at the fire. Emma Swan stood outside of the small pawnshop as the fire slowly died. Gold's lucky it's raining, she thought.
"Emma!" she turned to see Ruby, or Red as she was sometimes called, quickly walking up to her.
"I heard someone screaming, what happened?" She asked, glancing at the smoldering shop.
"I don't know, I wasn't here when the fire started." Said Emma, "it's mostly on the inside of the building now."
"I didn't know that Gold liked to play with matches" muttered Ruby bitterly "where is he anyway?"
"No sign of him." Said Emma
"Where is he!?" A voice shouted, "Is he alright?" The young woman frantically rushed from person to person asking the same question.
"Belle!" Shouted Ruby, the woman looked around "Belle!" Ruby shouted again. Belle saw Ruby and ran towards the two of them,
"Ruby, what happened, what's...?"
"Belle, calm down, I'm sure he's fine..." said Ruby, placing her hands on the shorter woman's shoulders, trying to calm her down.
An ambulance had finally arrived, the door to the shop creaked opened, and a man with a cane stepped out.
Belle looked up and sighed with relief, she ran towards him.
Emma and Ruby glanced at one another, and followed behind her.
"Rumpel, are you alright?" demanded Belle
"I'm fine, Belle, I'm fine..." He muttered, lost in thought.
"Hah, oh no!" Exclaimed a man in a paramedic's uniform, walking purposefully up to Mr. Gold "let me be the judge of that!" The paramedic pointed at Gold's right hand, which was bright red and blistering "that, sir, is at least a second degree burn, possibly a third, and it will have to be treated." He clapped his gloved hands together "come on, let's go!"
"Go on" said Belle, "I'll meet you at the hospital, okay?"
Gold nodded and gave Belle a quick kiss.
"Miss Swan!" Emma turned away from the small group and saw a rather portly fireman rushing towards her, heaving as if he had run several miles.
"Hello..." she said, trying to remember this man's name
"Jasper Davidson."
"Hello Mr. Davidson." Said Emma "so, is the fire out?"
"Yeah." Said Jasper "I'm just glad it's raining, or that fire could have been blazing for an hour or so instead of just a few minutes; that shop had its fair share of flamamble knick-knacks."
Emma nodded "so how bad is the damage?"
Jasper thought for a moment, stuck out his bottom lip and nodded, "bad, but it could have been a lot worse. Portions of the floor look like charcoal. Most of the objects in the glass cases and filing cabinets survived, but most of the objects were at least a little singed. It's going to cost Mr. Gold a pretty penny to fix this place up" -He said this with a slight hint of glee in his voice "-but he's a rich man. I never liked him very much anyway..." Jasper took a deep breath "but that's not why I'm talking to you. I'm here because something about the scene is a bit weird."
"Weird?" Asked Ruby,
It's a burnt building, of course it looks weird. Thought Emma.
"Yeah" he held up a small bag, "this is what's weird."
Emma glanced at it for a moment "a match?"
"We found it on the floor, where the fire started." Explained Jasper,
"Why would he light a match in the middle of his shop?" Asked Emma "I didn't see any candles the last time I was there."
"Well, does he smoke?" Asked Jasper "maybe he was lighting a cigarette?"
"Not to my knowledge," Said Emma.
"AND if he just dropped a lit match, he would have had time to stamp the flame out before the fire spread. The result would be a small, black, mark on the floor, not this." Said Ruby, gesturing the the pawnshop.
"Maybe he was worried about damaging his fancy loafers." Muttered Jasper with distaste, "but, that's not the weird part." He pulled the match out of the bag and showed it to Emma "anything seem off to you?"
She glanced at it for a moment, "it's not burnt at all." Said Emma,
"Exactly" said Jasper. "Even if that's not what caused the fire; and I doubt it is, it's a small object, and it's made of wood! It should have burt to a crisp, along with most of the floor!"
Enchanted matches? Thought Emma, I had better have a word with Gold- once he's out of the hospital. From the corner of her eye, she thought she could see a blonde girl, standing on the other side of the road, watching the entire conversation unfold.
But as soon as she turned to get a better look, the girl was gone.
...
Emma had just arrived at work the next morning when the phone rang. She sighed with annoyance and answered it "hello?"
"Emma Swan?" Asked a voice on the other end.
"Yes" she replied.
"It's Dr. Whale, I'm calling from the hospital."
"Hello Dr." she said, "what is it?"
Whale sighed "It's about Mr. Gold, he's asked to see you."
"Why?" Asked Emma.
"Well, he says, and I quote, 'you may have an arsonist on your hands, dearie'."
"Arsonist?" Asked Emma, surprised.
"Yes. Did you think he started the fire by himself?"
"No, I thought it was an accident." She replied, "tell him I'll be there in an hour."
...
One hour later, Emma walked through the doors of Storybrooke's hospital. I've got a bad feeling about this... she thought. "Excuse me" she asked a stern nurse with iron gray hair. "I'm here to see Mr. Gold."
The nurse blinked twice, as if this request was absurd "Mr. Gold?" She asked.
"Yes, he asked to see me" said Emma.
The nurse ogled Emma for a long time, and then pointed to the left hallway, "room 28, if he's still there. He didn't have anything so serious that he'd have to stay in a burn unit for a long time, so he's free to leave at any time."
Emma thanked the nurse and walked in the direction of the room. Dr. Whale stood, expectantly, outside the door.
"Dr. Whale" said Emma.
He saw her, and nodded his head, "there you are."
"So, how is he?" She asked.
"Fine" said Whale. "He had second degree burns on his hands, a few first degree burns on his face and arms. Nothing that wont heal with time."
Emma nodded,
"Shall we?" Said Whale opening the door.
Emma stepped inside the small room. Unsurprisingly, there were no flowers or get well cards to speak of on any of the tables. Gold sat in a chair at the back of the room, "Miss Swan." He said, standing up.
"Hello, Gold." Said Emma. "You look well, I suppose."
His hands were bandaged in white linen, and he had a small, pink spot on the side of his face, apart from that, he appeared as if nothing had happened.
"So, let me get this straight. You called me because you believe I have an arsonist on my hands?" Asked Emma.
"Yes" said Gold, simply.
"As in, someone who starts fires for the fun of it?"
"...yes."
"What did this 'arsonist' look like?"
Gold thought for a moment, "she was a young girl, a child of about eleven or twelve. She had braided blonde hair, she wore a white dress, a tattered shawl and no shoes... And she had a scar running down her face."
"...Okay" said Emma. She should be easy to find then. "Did she say anything to you? Better yet, tell me what happened, from the beginning."
"It was late. I was alone in the shop, it was closed, and I heard someone speaking, almost singing. I looked around, but there was no one there, so I assumed it was just the wind, and then the door opened. The girl asked me if I was Mr. Gold, and I told her yes, but the store was closed for the night. She didn't budge, and said she wanted to talk to me. She asked me if I wanted matches, and when I said no, she asked again. Then she lit a match, and she dropped it."
"At the beginning, what did the sing-song voice, say?"
"Matches, matches, please buy my matches" remembered Gold
"...Had you ever seen her before?" Asked Emma.
Gold was hesitant with this answer "...no."
"No?" Asked Emma, pressing him further.
"No" said Gold, "she looked like someone I had met, but it just couldn't be."
"Why?"
Gold sighed, "because that girl died a long time ago; she froze to death, in a snow storm."