My Name is Rapunzel(23)

Did the dragon know he was a celebrity?





CHAPTER TEN




I had to know what she did when she went to town. She didn't come back with boxes or bags, yet she would be gone all day. Why was it okay for her, but not for me? In fact, in my opinion, a gnarled old woman would garner more attention than a normal eighteen-year-old female. Sure, a pretty girl might catch the notice of a young man, but it's not like pretty girls weren’t a dime a dozen. But a witchy-looking creature like Gretta would startle all the grown-ups and horrify schoolchildren at first glance.

I ate my breakfast as I calculated my plan. It was a simple one. I’d follow her.

Had she called a taxi already? I waited until she left the kitchen and then scrambled for the phone. I took it into the pantry and slid the door shut so she wouldn’t hear me.

“AAA Taxi Service. Can I help you?” a singsong voice on the other end of the phone line offered.

“Please send a taxi to 100 Dragon Lane in Paradise Valley. But, please, I need you to do something very specific.” I waited for assurance.

“Of course, ma’am. What would you like us to do?”

“I need the driver to wait just off the property until another taxi leaves the driveway. Then I need him to speed up to the front door and be ready to leave immediately.”

“Yes, ma’am. A car is already on the way. Who might I list as the contact at the address you gave?”

“Just ask for Rapunzel.” I hung up the phone and raced back through the kitchen toward the hallway.

I had to know what Gretta was up to. It was worth the risk.

I traced her steps—down the stairs to the outside, and then through the garden. Oh, wait. What was that? Scissors and snipped leaves from the tulip bed. What need did she have of tulips? She couldn't be visiting someone in the hospital. She didn't know anyone. I walked the path from the garden around to the front of the house as her taxi sped away.

Now where was the one I called? There it was. Right on time. I shouldered my purse as the taxi pulled up to the front entrance and slowed to a stop. The window buzzed down, “I’m here for a Rap…ra—”

No time for pleasantries. “That’s me. Let’s go!” I pointed at the taxi speeding down the lane toward town. “Follow that car…only, don’t get caught.”

The taxi driver looked in the rearview mirror as he backed the car out of the drive. A slight smile curled the corner of his mouth. “You want to follow the car, but not get noticed?”

“You've got it. Bonus in it for you if you'll hang with me for multiple stops.”

The taxi driver shrugged. “I've got nothing better to do.”

I gripped the headrest in front of me and stared at the passing scenery. It really was a beautiful land if I could stop and enjoy it for half a breath. But it seemed like everything was always traumatic. I needed to decompress one of these days, maybe even have some sort of getaway vacation, if I could somehow arrange it with the dragon.

The hills grew further apart as we neared town. The first thing we approached was the bank. I always found it funny that the first thing they want you to do when you enter town is get your money out and the last thing you're expected to do when you leave town is put your money in. Well, the bank sure had plenty of my money. I guessed I should be thankful.

Now, where was that taxi? Funny I'd been eager to get to the same town I forced myself to avoid. But desperate times called for desperate measures, right? Besides, I’d stay in the taxi. No one would see me.

The driver pointed straight ahead. “That it? That's the one?”

“Yep, that's the one.”

“Looks like that lady’s going to Clements Pub.”

“I highly doubt that.” I gripped the headrest in front of me and pulled myself forward to peer through the front window.

Gretta’s cab pulled into the parking lot of a nightclub and the engine turned off.

“But it's not even open. It's the middle of the day.”

“Just because they're called nightclubs doesn't mean that's the only time of day you can go to them. Lots of people go earlier so they can get their drink on.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I don't get out much.”

The driver looked me over. “Apparently not.”

Gretta climbed from the back of her taxi and clamped a baseball cap onto the top of her head as she ducked from view. The baseball cap was a nice touch. It looked ridiculous.

The trunk popped open and Gretta moved around to the back. She reached in and pulled out a bundle of multicolored tulips. Purple, yellow, and pink. For whom? Or what? She hurried from the parking lot to the side door of the nightclub and let herself in like she’d been there before.