Captive (A Rapunzel Retelling) Book 4 of the Fairytale Book Series

Chapter One

"Come on, slowpoke, catch me!" Zipporah giggled, dashing past the marble fountain shaped like a swan, her skirts hiked up past her knees.

"I'll get you, Zipporah, just you wait!" Adam called out, laughing.

The sound of his voice was getting closer.

Zipporah picked up speed and ran faster. Her slippers slapped against the cobblestone path of the royal garden with each footfall, her long, honey-colored braid waving behind her, every so often thumping against her back. The plants, trees, and flowers of the Royal Garden passed by her in a blur of leaves and flowers as she raced in zigzag patterns, trying to avoid Adam.

She couldn't let him catch her. He'd won every game of tag with her since she was six, she wanted to win this time.

"I'm gonna get you!" His voice was coming from the left side, behind the collection of rose bushes. Zipporah saw a glimpse of his face between the branches and leaves, smiling mischievously at her.

"No you won't!" she called back in a sing-songy voice.

Quickly, she ran in the opposite direction of the rose bushes, towards the garden bridge that arched above the pond, panting, her heart pounding. Zipporah was beginning to grow tired, but she didn't stop. She kept running.

She crossed the garden bridge, taking a brief glance at the pretty white water lilies bobbing on the pond's sparkling surface, then hid among the azalea bushes to scope for Adam-and take a moment to properly breathe.

Pushing away a branch, she scanned her eyes over everything she'd passed-the bridge, the rose bushes, the fountains bubbling with crystal clear water-but she couldn't find Adam.

Ha! She'd outsmarted him. He was probably far behind her now, perhaps searching aimlessly around the garden for her.

She exhaled deeply, then turned around to find a place to hide. Just in case he might be sneaking about. There, just a few paces away, growing right up against the garden wall, was a willow tree. Its curtain of green, leafy branches swayed gracefully in the morning breeze. Zipporah looked back a moment to make sure Adam wasn't coming up behind her, and when she saw the coast was clear, she walked through the curtain and started climbing up the trunk.

If her mother saw her doing this, she'd say Zipporah wasn't behaving like a proper princess. But Mother wasn't here, so she kept on going, coordinating her hands and her feet as she climbed.

A few minutes later, she reached the crown of the willow tree where all the branches sprouted from and sat down. She sighed. It was rather nice here.

A soft breeze blew and made the hanging branches rustle against each other. The sun's warm rays filtered in between the leaves overhead, and reflected bits of green light over everything, including Zipporah, and the tree itself felt good and strong.

Zipporah pressed her cheek on the warm bark and closed her eyes, letting the sounds and feelings of the tree take her to a far off place. Everything was so serene and beautiful, she wanted to stay up here forever.

All of a sudden, something yanked on Zipporah's leg from under her, cutting her off from her peaceful thoughts, and she let out a shrill scream.

Then, she heard someone laughing.

"Gotcha!" he said. The mischievous face of Adam Hoffenmeyer appeared a few branches beneath her, laughing and snorting at her expense.