The Second Daughter

Old Friends

Under the cover of night, I managed to sneak through the Isle. My destination took me to the other end of the Isle, and I walked into the shop labelled 'Lady Tremaine's Curl Up and Dye' as the sky turned purple. The sign on the front door said it didn't open till midnight, but I knew that there was at least one person there. I opened the door and entered anyway. Walking through the makeshift tarp door, I saw a girl sweeping while listening to music. There was a dye station in the corner with bubbling liquids around it and mismatched old salon chairs dotted around in front of broken mirrors. The girl stopped sweeping and took off her headphones when she spotted me. "Hadley!" Dizzy exclaimed. "Is Evie back too?" Dizzy had red hair and blue eyes. She wore glasses as well as a paint-splattered dress and apron.

"Yeah, she's here, but she's at the hideout. I can take you to her later."

"Yay!"

"Look, we're looking for Mal." I said. "She said she came to the Isle and she'd need a new hairstyle. Did she swing by?"

"No." Dizzy said softly. "I'm sorry, Mal hasn't shown up, and my customers haven't said about her showing up on the Isle."

"You're getting customers?" I was genuinely happy for her.

"Just a witch here and there. Mostly it's a lot of scrubbing and scouring and sweeping. Lots and lots of sweeping."

"Sounds like the old Cinderella treatment if you ask me."

"Yeah, she's gone from wicked stepmother to wicked grandmother." Dizzy glanced at the ceiling.

"That's not much of a switch. Look, how 'bout you come back with me to the Hideout and we can-"

"Well, well, well. What a nice surprise." A voice said. I turned and spotted a pirate sauntering into the salon, with a tri-corn hat and red sleeveless coat.

"Hi, Harry." I greeted.

"Just WAIT until Uma hears your back." Harry exclaimed. "She's never gonna give you back your old territory."

"Look, Harry, I'm not looking to get power back, I'm not looking to rule the Isle. But, can you get me a meet with Uma?"

"Uma?" Harry laughed. "You want a meet with Uma?"

"I know that I probably don't deserve to see her again, but I have to talk to her, ok?"

"Fine." Harry sighed. "I'll talk to her."

"If she say's yes, come get me at the abandoned loft, there's a pipe there, talk into it and ask for me, I'll come down."

"Alright." Harry swiped his arm over the makeshift car hood desk, knocking everything onto the floor. He bowed mockingly before turning and sauntering away.

"Great." Dizzy said sarcastically, "More sweeping."

"I'll help you with that, Dizzy." I said, walking over to the mess and starting to help pick up the fallen items. She looked shocked. "Look, I've grown up a lot in the past two years, and the one thing I've learned is that helping your friends is never a bad thing." Dizzy grinned.