Patty Liu - Silent Reflections

Melody was busy dressing herself in old gypsy clothes she had bought awhile back. She had also dyed her hair to a lighter shade of brown and put on a pair of glasses.

"This will do. They shouldn't be able to notice the resemblance between that Virginia girl and myself."

She studied herself in the mirror and laughed slightly. She had overheard the entire conversation between the diners in the dining hall at the palace. It seemed some people were missing and they were very worried. The king had decided to form a search party and small groups would go off in different directions to search for the missing people. Wolf and Virginia had also volunteered their services for searching. Virginia was quite upset about the disappearance of her father. She couldn't just sit back at the palace and do nothing. So she and Wolf had decided to leave baby Peter behind at the palace and go out on their own search themselves.

That was all Melody’d heard before someone had noticed her dove and shooed it out a window. Melody had begun to plan. She had found her mother's killer - that woman who looked just like her. Her plan to destroy the Fourth Kingdom was obviously screwed up, so what better then to just take her revenge out on the killer of her mother instead? She planned to meet up with Wolf and Virginia on their search for the missing people. She was going to pretend she was a lost gypsy girl who had lost her memory. They would definitely try and help her and then she could make her move and kill that Virginia woman.

"Yes, yes, this will do very nicely." She leaned down to look at the seed puddle on the floor to see if the dove had flown anywhere interesting. The dove was currently perched atop a branch cooing softly and sticking his beak into his feathers. Then the dove perked up and looked around. Melody heard the voices of little children laughing and giggling. The dove saw many little boys skipping around and carrying sticks. The bird decided to ignore them.

Melody heard a little boy's voice cry out, "Hey, look! A white dove! Let's catch it!" The dove looked up and immediately began to fly away. Suddenly something hit the bird and Melody saw the scenery flash in the puddle and go dark.

"Cripes! Those damn kids! They've killed my pet!" Melody exclaimed. But she didn't really need the bird anymore. She felt a bit sorry for the poor bird but she really couldn't do anything about it. If she didn't hurry, she'd miss her chance to meet up with Wolf and Virginia by King Wendell's palace. She gathered her maps of the kingdoms, some food and clothing, miscellaneous pouches and bottles all into a bag and she ran out of her cottage in a hurry.

"The most logical direction is to head towards the Second Kingdom, Wolf," Virginia said while she and Wolf made their way through a mass of thick trees and bushes. "That is where Princess Wendy is from, isn't it?"

"Yes, I agree with you. We've got a pretty long way to go then. Let's stop at Little Lamb Village and get something to eat. It's on the way, right?" Wolf pranced ahead to scout the area. He sniffed left and right and then came skipping back to Virginia.

"Wolf, you just ate!"

"Huff, puff. It's that time of the month again, my love. You know how hungry I always get."

Virginia sighed and promised that they would try and make a stop in the Peep Village if they had time.

Wolf and Virginia knew they had just passed the old gypsy camp they had been to the previous year. But it was deserted now, for the huntsmen had killed everyone. The eerie silence of the woods that surrounded the abandoned camp gave Virginia the creeps.

They both began to hear a soft beautiful tune drifting towards their direction. It was sort of like music box music with tinklings and ding-a-lings here and there.

"What is that, Wolf?" Virginia whispered.

"Shhhh... I don't know. Let's go find out."

They followed the soft music and they found themselves in a forest. It was a forest completely made of gold. The trees were gold. The leaves were gold. The branches were gold. The soft tinkling sounds were coming from the leaves brushing up against each other.

"Oh my! It's beautiful, Wolf!" Virginia stepped into the forest and was reaching up to touch the leaves of a nearby gold tree.

"Don't!" Wolf quickly grabbed Virginia around the middle and hauled her away from the tree. She gave him a questioning frown and lowered her hand.

"Huff, if I am right, this is just one of the three enchanted forests. Don't touch anything, Virginia. If you disturb anything here, a hole will open up beneath you and swallow you up entirely."

"What? Where are we?" Virginia was still trying to get close to a tree to study it.

"Virginia, come back here. I said don't touch anything! This the first forest of the twelve dancing princesses. They're all dead now but the forests still exist. Huff, puff, there should be a silver forest after this one and then a forest of diamonds after the silver. Come, we must make our way through carefully."

"The dancing princesses? This is incredible! What will happen if I get swallowed up into the ground?" Virginia asked.

"Well, of course I will come after you and save you!" Wolf grinned and held Virginia's hand to lead the way quietly. "But once you fall in, you will be forced to dance your pretty little feet off, my love. For eternity."

"What an odd curse."

"I didn't make the damn curse."

They made their way through the gold forest, marveling at the incredible beauty and lovely tinkling sounds it was making. They soon entered the forest of silver and Virginia ooohed and ahhhed at all the silver that was glowing like moonlight. Wolf held her hand fast to keep her from touching anything. The forest of diamonds were just ahead and everything sparkled and twinkled and they had to shield their eyes. Finally they made their way out and they were in a large clearing of green grass.

"That was so beautiful, Wolf. Let's go back!" Virginia pleaded. The forests had entranced her and she pulled at Wolf's hand to go back.

"Cripes Virginia, snap out of it!"

Wolf practically had to drag Virginia away from the enchanted forests. She was so weak when it came to magical enchantments. Virginia whined for about ten more minutes; the whole while Wolf was ignoring her.

Suddenly he came to a stop ahead of her and Virginia smacked into his back. He sniffed the air and sneezed.

"Whoa, what's going on, Wolf?" Virginia handed him a hankie.

"I don't know. I thought I smelled someone in our area but now I lost the scent. Something is making me sneeze. Ah choo!" Wolf sneezed again. He shook his head and his dark hair fell into his eyes. "Argh, what's making me sneeze!?"

Virginia looked around. Maybe there was some kind of plant that Wolf was allergic to. He sneezed again next to her.

"Virginia, Virginia. A wolf doesn't sneeze! Ah CHOO!"

"Wolf, calm down. Maybe you're getting sick."

"No way. I don't get sick! Wolves do not get sick! Something is making me sneeze!" Wolf shook his head vigorously again tossing his head back and forth. "Cripes! I don't like this feeling," he growled.

"Hello."

Virginia turned towards the soft voice that came from behind some bushes. She saw a young gypsy girl make her way towards them with a shy smile. Wolf sneezed again.

"Um, hi," Virginia replied. "Can we help you?"

"I hope so. I'm sort of lost," the young girl said. She was wearing these strange glasses and Virginia peered closely at her. She looked awfully familiar.

"You-you're lost? How can a gypsy g-girl get... ah choo - lost? Gypsies don't get lost," Wolf said while his nose still suffered through the sneezing fits.

"I-I'm not sure what happened. I think I hit my head." The girl looked completely bewildered and confused. "I don't remember what I was suppose to do."

"What is your name?" Virginia asked.

"Well, I'm not sure."

"You don't know what you-your (sniff) name is? Ah-ah choo!" Wolf growled into the pink little hankie Virginia gave him. "Huff puff, you must have hit your head hard."

"I think my name is Melody. I have a book in my bag that was with me and in the book it said 'Property of Melody'. So I assume I'm her," the girl explained. "Can you please help me? I need to find my gypsy clan. Maybe they can help me remember."

Wolf sneezed again, practically blowing out his brains. His eyes were watering and he sniffled repeatedly. "Urgh, Virginia. Can we please just get out of here? Huff, puff, I'm feeling miserable!" Wolf whined and then sneezed some more.

"All right, all right." Virginia studied the young girl and figured she wasn't too much harm. They could probably help her along the way and if not they could just leave her with someone else who could help. "Melody, you can come with us. But you must understand that we are on a journey of our own and nothing must drastically interfere with it. I am Virginia. This is my husband, Wolf."

Melody nodded in agreement. She watched as Wolf and Virginia started heading towards the path. She quickly followed and thought silently to herself with a smile: Now I can get my hands on my mother's killer.