Mad Dog Morgan took out a gun and pointed it at Elisa. "Give me your basket!" ordered Mad Dog. Elisa did not reply, so Mad Dog said, "This is your last warning. I'm going to count from three to zero, and if you don't give me an answer by the time I reach zero, you will suffer greatly." She hung her head downwards, but her eye pupils gazed upwards, looking at Mad Dog in a grim manner.
Mad Dog was unfazed by this, so he began to count from three to zero, slowly saying, "Three…Two…" He looked at his fingers while he was counting because he was terrible at counting. Once he reached zero, he raised his fist and knocked Elisa out. She fell unconscious to the ground. Hans rolled his eyes in frustration when he saw Mad Dog knock Elisa unconscious. Mad Dog certainly behaved like a mad dog.
Mad Dog reached out his hands and grabbed Elisa's empty basket, while Hans looked through the pockets of Elisa's shirt. He could find nothing because Elisa's pockets were empty, so he decided to steal her boots. He bent over and began to untie her bootlaces. He stopped when Mad Dog rolled his eyes and glared at him. "Is that all you're taking, Morgan?" asked a disheartened Hans, who struggled to keep his hands to himself. "This basket? I want to take her shoes. I collect shoes. Maybe I could sell them."
Mad Dog rolled his eyes and handed the basket over to Hans. "Don't ask me any questions, Hans," said Mad Dog, raising his fist, and then handing Hans a silver coin. "I am the leader of the gang, you bilge rat, and I say it is finished. Go to the nearest village and buy damper. Fill this basket up with damper, and come back so that our bushranger gang can eat. Go and find me at the old shack." Damper is a kind of bread cooked over an open fire. Hans looked very displeased that Mad Dog gave him but a single silver coin, but he nodded and ran to the nearest village. Mad Dog also left the scene because he had friends to greet.
Many years ago, after performing quality control on flour, Elisa woke her sister up from sleep. At that time they were living in a farmhouse. She began playing a riff on her guitar. "Karen, it's your birthday!" sang Elisa. "Have a happy birthday, Karen." "Stop your singing, sister," said an annoyed Karen. "I'm trying to sleep." "Don't sleep in," said Elisa, moving around in an excited manner. "It's your special day, and I want it to last all day. You should want it to last as well." "Did you write that song yourself?" asked Karen, to which Elisa nodded. She pulled away the sheets and pulled Karen out of bed.
"You're a good songwriter, sister," said Karen with pride. "Maybe you should become a travelling musician?" Elisa shook her head. It just wouldn't do to become a travelling musician. She loved her kingdom dearly, and she couldn't imagine leaving the kingdom for an extended period of time. Besides, many foreigners would not understand her song lyrics. She could translate her songs into foreign languages like English, but she didn't feel like it. She thought her songs sounded best in Spanish. "I only sing and song-write as a hobby," lied Elisa. Actually, Elisa had considered being a guitarist when she grew up. Or maybe a singer or a songwriter, but it had to be a profession that was related to guitars or banjos.
"What makes you think I'd be interested in birthdays, anyway?" complained Karen. "You know that I don't like birthdays. Birthdays make me feel old." Once Karen got dressed the two of them made some churros and other flour-based foods. After that, they ran towards the stone where their mother was buried. "I will race you to the gravestone!" Karen shouted to Elisa. Elisa replied to her sister, in a sad tone by saying, "I'm not in the mood for this right now, but you go ahead." She was still thinking deeply about her mother. Judith reluctantly accompanied the sisters to the gravestone when she heard that the sisters planned to go there. When they arrived at the gravestone, Karen knelt down and fell to the ground, as if she was about to burst into tears.
Judith was very amused by this, and she was desperately trying not to sneer. She covered her mouth so that no one would see her smiling. The image of Elisa's mother's face was engraved onto the tombstone. The tombstone was covered in moss, so Elisa began scrubbing the tombstone with one of her sleeves. Elisa then leaned closer to the tombstone and kissed the dirty image on the tombstone. Karen bent over and began scraping the tombstone with her fingernails. Judith watched the sisters with amusement and contempt because she had never seen someone in mourning before. Karen took off her straw hat and placed it by the tombstone. Elisa likewise did the same. The sisters placed churros and marigold flowers beside the tombstone. "You were younger so you probably don't remember that me and mother would often cook churros together and fight over the last one, and we all would tell stories throughout the night," said Elisa.
"I'm not that young, Elisa," replied Karen solemnly. "I'm still old enough to remember eating mom's delicious tamales." The two sisters broke down in tears and hugged each other to comfort themselves. Judith looked at the sisters and said, "There is something I need to tell you both." She did not want to tell them what she knew, but still, she reluctantly said, "My father Federico has been chosen by the king to be your godfather." "That's absolutely perfect sister," cried Elisa, wrapping her arms around Judith's waist. "I get to call you my sister from now on. Isn't it great that you've got another sister, Karen?"
"Please take your hands off me, Elisa," gasped Judith politely. "I know you like hugs, but please try to restrain yourself." Later, in the evening, the two sisters were at supper. Federico, Federico's wife, and Judith were also sitting at the table. "You two have been a great help to our family," said Federico's wife Nala. "At first I was skeptical that two princesses would ever be able to live on a farm. I didn't think farm work suited you." "We get that a lot," replied Karen. "It's infuriating. No one would ever believe that I can take down 12 guys with a single sword."
She pulled out her sword from her sheath and showed it to everyone. Then she picked up an orange that was on the table and tossed it into the air. Karen swung her sword and sliced the orange into two perfectly divided pieces. Everyone who saw this clapped and cheered, except Judith. That was because some orange juice got caught in her hair. "Maybe now's not the time for fencing practice," chuckled Elisa, ruffling her sister's hair. Elisa took a tamale and dipped it in mole sauce. A tamale is like a steamed dumpling made from corn-based flour. She gave it to Judith. Judith took the tamale and held it in her hand. She looked around to see how the others were reacting.
Everyone looked at her with serious expressions on their faces. She looked at the tamale as if she was not sure whether to eat it or not, but she finally managed to swallow the tamale. "Now that we're family I can be the ultimate sister," exclaimed a joyful Elisa, before turning to Judith. "Judith, when I'm Queen I want you to serve in the royal court as one of my advisers." Judith began to choke on her tamale because what Elisa had said was so unexpected. "I don't know what to say," said Judith to Elisa, before turning to face Karen. "We're just not related by blood. I'm not sure I can ever accept any of you as my sisters." Elisa reached out and held Judith's hand tightly. "I am telling you the truth," she said. "I love you either way. Karen might not feel the same way, though."
Unfortunately, Elisa's words did not have enough impact to change what Judith intended to do with Elisa and Karen. When it was past bedtime Judith got out of bed. "Should I do it, or shouldn't I?" said an unsure Judith to herself. She was very conflicted about what she was going to do, but she still went downstairs. Queen Abigail knew about her plan to betray Karen and Elisa because Judith had written letters to the Queen. Judith had written to the Queen, promising to her that she would betray Karen and Elisa in exchange for money. She exited her house and went to the stables to look for her horse.
She got onto her horse and rode towards the royal castle. Queen Abigail was inside the castle, waiting for Judith to arrive. Abigail looked at a clock that hung on the wall of her bedroom. She turned around to see if the King was still sleeping, for she did not want to wake him. The Queen had drugged the King with a sleeping potion to ensure that he would not be waking up anytime soon. When the time was right, Abigail got dressed and opened a drawer. Inside that drawer was a moneybag.
She grabbed the moneybag and exited the palace, arriving outside the palace gates. She knew that Judith would be arriving at the palace gates soon. As soon as Judith arrived, she inquired, "So, are you the informer?" "I am," replied Judith.
"I never expected the informer to be someone as young as you."
She handed a money bag to Judith. "Inside this bag is enough money to last you for two years," said Abigail to Judith, who looked inside the moneybag. "Now tell me where I can find my children." Judith nodded, got onto her horse, and began to slowly ride away. Abigail ran to the royal stables, jumped onto a horse, and followed her.
The King awoke from his slumber to find that Abigail was not in the room. He got out of bed and yelled for his wife, saying, "Abigail my love, where are you?", but there was no response. He ran out of his bedroom, without even getting dressed into his proper clothing. He ran to the royal stables to find that a horse was missing. It was his wife's favorite stallion. He leapt onto his favorite horse and rode away. The sound of the King's horse neighing and running awoke a certain sorcerer, who slept in a cheap wooden hut around a dozen meters away from the royal stables.
Spindleshanks the sorcerer rose up from the floor and looked outside through the window of his hut, grinning. That sorcerer saw the King riding away, so he exited the wooden hut. Abigail followed Judith all the way to the farmhouse. It was early in the morning at that time and Elisa was not in bed. She was out in the fields running errands for her godparents. Abigail walked to the farmhouse beside the mill and knocked on the door. Federico got out of bed and answered the door. "Oh, it's you!" said an annoyed, but not fearful Federico to Abigail. "What do you want?" He was still wearing his nightgown. "It is polite to address the Queen properly," answered Abigail. "I want to see my children." "The girls are not your children," rebutted Federico. "You may be their stepmother, but I am their godfather by the power of the King. The King holds greater authority than you."
Federico turned and looked at Judith, who was standing nearby. He quickly guessed that Judith must have led Abigail to his house. An intense rage and sadness came over him. "Traitor," Federico yelled, pointing at Judith. Judith looked away from her father when he pointed at her. "Where are my girls?" asked Abigail. "I swear I don't know," lied Federico. "You've had your chance," shouted Abigail. She grabbed Federico by the neck, and took out a vial of poison from her pocket, pouring the poison down Federico's throat. Abigail wore an expression of guilt on her face as she did this. The poison spread through his nervous system like wildfire. He bent over and fell to the grassy ground close to the door. He then began to shrink, and the color of his skin changed. His skin became rough, tough, and wrinkled. Judith looked at her father in horror because her father appeared to change shape. She shed bitter tears and realized that her father had turned into a turtle. Judith ran over to the turtle and picked it up.