“Can I help you?” Gretta offered a sinister grin.
“I want you to reverse whatever you have done to my daughter. Now.”
Gretta chuckled. “Or what?” She leaned back on the doorframe and crossed her arms. “What exactly do you think you can do to me?”
“I’ll think of something.” Father's shoulders shifted down a few inches. He knew he had no power over her. Fear washed over his face. He must have realized he stood before a witch. That he had just threatened a witch. “Tell me what it is you want with her. What is it Rapunzel has that you want?”
Gretta looked him over from head to toe and laughed. “You mean, you don't know? You really have no idea?”
He shook his head. “I need to know.”
“It's your fault, you know.”
Father’s head reeled back in horror. His face blanched. “My fault? What do you mean my fault?”
“It's your family. An ancient glory passed down through generations of your bloodline—through the girl children in your family, to be exact. A gift stowed within them…until they have children, that is.” She eyed him closely. “Rapunzel has something I need. End of story. I will get it, and continue to get it, for as long as I live. Forever.”
“Is there no way? What about the boy? Why did you have to take him from her?”
“Rapunzel cannot marry and have a child. If she gives birth, the power is gone from her. Besides, I don't like to share.”
Father sighed, his shoulders hunching over. He looked defeated. He was defeated.
So that was it? Something with my blood. My presence? My touch? I slumped against the wall. What was I missing? I wound a clump of hair between my fingers as I thought.
My hair. It had to be my hair. I reached up and felt the nape of my neck where my long braid dangled. It all made sense now. Memories of sitting on the stool in Gretta’s kitchen as she brushed my hair with a wooden brush, and sometimes as she cut it.
But why my hair? What could she want with it? What if I refused to let her take my hair next time she wanted it? I could keep her going for years and years, desperate for access, but getting no relief. It was the only power I had.
I looked at mother. “I'll be okay, mother. You have to stop him from doing something like this again. I couldn't bear it if she turned on the two of you. She will not hurt me as long as there's something she wants from me. Just leave it be.”
Mother nodded, but her eyes had taken on a glint. I hoped she wasn't going to do something stupid.
CHAPTER FOUR
1778
“William is a fine young man.”
“No one is arguing that, Mother. William is a fine young man.” Not to mention well-stationed, moneyed, and handsome. Although, that probably was what Mother meant by fine. “That's not the point. It doesn't matter at all. I have nothing to offer him.”
“You have everything to offer him. Your entire life, your entire future. In fact, you have more to offer William than any other human being on this planet.”
“I wish you hadn’t invited him here.” Mother had meant well, but her meddling would do more harm than good. “You've got to just let it rest.”
“I can't, Rapunzel. You must have love in your life again. You're too young to let it die with Henry.” Mother twisted the water from her dishrag and laid it over the washbasin. She turned to face me. “Your father and I won't be here forever, but it looks as if you will be, or at least for a very long time. You can choose to spend year after year, century after century, mourning a loss. Or you can move on and enjoy love throughout your lifetime. I vote for love.”
It was a good thought, but it just wouldn't work that way. “You must realize that if I invite someone else into my life, he will find out about me. All it takes is one person to claim I’m a witch and, well, my existence would be much different than it would be if I remained private.”
Mother sighed. “That's the only thing. That's the only part I haven't figured out.”
“Well, trust me. I’ve given it a lot of thought. There is no other way. I must stay alone.”
Father cleared his throat. He nodded at Mother.
What was going on?
“Your father and I, we had another notion. We've arranged a plan, of sorts. We think there might be a way out of this tragedy.”
I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. “I can't imagine what it would be, but I'm listening.”
“Well, it seems to me that in order to let you go, to free you, the witch would need a substitute. A sacrifice. With the right sacrifice, we might be able to get you back your life.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. And my life back? A life without my Henry was no life at all. “A sacrifice? Where are we to find a sacrifice that would free me of her clutches?”