A Tangle in Time- Chapter 3

A Tangle in Time

Chapter Three

A Tentative Alliance


Panting hard, Rapunzel stopped running and slumped down at the foot of a huge tree. Her pan lay by her side.

"Phew…I must've run for miles," she said, looking around. "I'm still in the woods, and I have no idea where I am- I must've lost him by now. Right, Pascal?"

There was no answer.

"Pascal? Are you okay? Where are you?" Still no answer. And then she realized something that made her groan. "Oh, no- Pascal! I left him back at the tower! Great- I remember the stupid frying pan, but I forget my best friend. Ugh…he's gonna be mad at me if I see him again…"

Suddenly there was a little chirp- Pascal ran out of the woods and into Rapunzel's hands.

"Pascal! I thought I'd left you- where'd you come from?"

"He's a very good passenger."

"Huh?" Rapunzel looked up to see a familiar ghost hovering six feet away. Clockwork. She groaned. "You again?"

"Why so shocked? I told you I would find you again," said Clockwork. "It doesn't matter where you go- I will always be able to find you."

Rapunzel sighed and got to her feet, brushing off her dress. "So…what do you want now? I assume that now that you're done with Mo- I mean, Gothel, this mean you want to finish your original mission?"

Clockwork said nothing.

"You should know that I won't go down easily. I won't let you kill me. I will fight back with everything I've got." Rapunzel picked up and twirled her frying pan.

"You don't really think that beat-up old frying pan will do any good against me, do you?"

"Well, it certainly seemed to back in the tower, when I knocked your staff clear out the window," Rapunzel retorted. She turned and began walking away.

"Touché," Clockwork said. He began to follow her.

"Uh, excuse me, but Pascal and I have places to be, and things to do, such as finding my real family, and we really don't need a tagalong, thank you very much."

Clockwork sighed. "Rapunzel…"

"No! Look- you have my thanks for getting me out of that tower and telling me the truth and getting Pascal back to me, but I'm a big girl- I can take it from here. So leave us alone." Rapunzel kept walking.

"Rapunzel, listen to me." Clockwork reached out and grabbed her arm. "I know where to find your real family, and I know how to get there. Come with me."

Rapunzel yanked her arm free. "Yeah, right. You probably want to lead me to some secluded spot so you can cut my throat. Hello- this is the middle of a huge forest. This isn't secluded enough?"

"What must I say to make you see that I want to help you?"

"Sure. You want to help me find my real family so you can kill me right in front of them. Real nice," Rapunzel sneered. "Thanks, but no thanks."

Sighing heavily, Clockwork grabbed Rapunzel by the arms and backed her gently against a tree. "Rapunzel, have I once said, since I found you again, that I wanted to kill you?"

"Well…no…but your original mission was to do just that, so why go to all the trouble of tracking me down again, if not to finish what you started?"

Clockwork gazed at her, sadness in his eyes. "Please- just trust me. I mean you no harm; I swear it. True, my mission started out differently, but I've come to see things more clearly, and I just want to help you."

"What's in it for you?" Rapunzel demanded. "How do I know you're not just using me, like Gothel did?"

"Rapunzel, I'm a ghost- what need do you think I'd have for healing powers?" asked Clockwork with a small smile. "But it is a fair question. What is in it for me? The opportunity to right eighteen years of wrongs committed against you. The chance to reunite you with the family you should have grown up with. The chance to help you find your true place in time, in the world. I know it won't be easy to trust me at first-"

"You can say that again- it isn't easy to forget when someone says they want to kill you," Rapunzel threw in.

"But at least give me a chance to make things right for you. That's all I ask."

"Well, it is better than wandering forever…I don't even know where they live…" Rapunzel looked away.

Clockwork turned her face back to his gently. "But I do, and I can help you get there- if you'll let me."

Rapunzel just studied him for a long few quiet minutes, staring straight into his blood-red eyes. "Fine," she said. "I'll give you the benefit of a doubt, but I'm keeping an eye on you."

"Fair enough," said Clockwork, smiling at her. "I can fly, but you'd probably prefer to travel on foot. You've come pretty far into this forest, and it'll take some time to reach the kingdom from here."

"Yeah…let's go. I only regret that I won't be able to see the floating lights this year…the trees will likely get in the way…"

"Oh, you'll see them, all right- I'll show you the lights from a unique perspective."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Clockwork chuckled. "You'll see soon. For now, let's get going- your parents have been awaiting your return since you vanished."

"They have? Really?"

"Yes. Let's go."

Pascal jumped from Rapunzel's shoulder to Clockwork's, chirping happily.

"Wow, Pascal likes you already- that was fast," Rapunzel laughed.

"He knows a good ghost when he meets one."

They headed into the woods, chuckling.


Later that afternoon, Clockwork noticed a morose look on Rapunzel's face.

"Are you all right?" he asked, touching her shoulder.

"What? Oh- yes. Sorry. Just- lost in thought, I guess. I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything that's happened in just the last few hours. I mean, like the fact that you're here, and you're a ghost, and you can do what you do and know what you know…and the fact that my entire life was a lie up until now." Rapunzel sighed.

"I'm sorry. I know I disrupted your life quite a bit, but I'd known for years what happened, and you deserved to know the truth."

Clockwork gave her a small smile. "You're a beautiful person- vibrant, strong, and kind-hearted. You didn't deserve to be that woman's prisoner for the rest of your life. She is the real threat, not you, and I'm glad I realized that before I went too far."

Rapunzel blushed at the compliment, but then turned serious again. "What did you do to M-…Gothel?"

"You mean, did I kill her? No. In truth I try not to if I can help it. I did, however, give her a stern warning to stay away from you."

"Stay away from me? But isn't she trapped up there now? The only way in or out was if she used my hair."

"No. There was a hidden exit under a panel in the floor," Clockwork told Rapunzel.

"What? But when I got to the bottom of the tower, I didn't see any doors or anything."

"There was one, but it was well camouflaged. Gothel had blocked it off with stones when you were first brought to the tower, and in time vegetation grew over it- you likely would not have seen it, but she knew where it was. As for the floor panel, don't feel bad- she took great pains to ensure that you never found it."

"Maybe, but still- all my life…I always dreamed of going outside, and there was a way out right under my nose- under my very feet- all this time, and I never knew. I spent eighteen years up in there, climbing around like a monkey when my hair got long enough. You'd think I'd know every inch of that place- for Pete's sake, I decorated the whole place. Yeah, those paintings all over the walls were-"

"Your work. I know. You have a unique art style, and I like it. I may have to hire you to decorate my lair someday," said Clockwork with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"Thanks," said Rapunzel shyly, blushing. Then she took a long breath and released it slowly. After a few minutes, she asked, "Clockwork…do you think Mother-" Rapunzel shook her head- "gotta stop that… I mean Gothel, would leave the tower and… come after us?"

Clockwork was silent for a bit before answering. "If she does, let her. I will not let her harm you."

Rapunzel was surprised by the quiet intensity in his voice, the firmness of his expression. He meant it with all his being, and she knew it.