Red

Chapter Four: Hansel and Gretel

"They've been missing for five days," the woman whimpered, tucking her head under her husband's chin. "We don't know what to do!" 

I looked up from my notepad, judgement flashing across my face before I could stop it. "They've been missing for five days? And you called the police today?" I hated doing these calls, but Captain Boots insisted that if I wanted to stay on the Rosamund case, I'd help out around the precinct. Which apparently included visiting crazies like this woodcutter and his wife. 

"Well-" the husband stuttered. "They do like travelling around the woods..." 

"You live here. You know how dangerous it is for children. Fae, wolf-men, witches... and you still let them roam around alone?" The forest was a sore spot for me, ever since I'd nearly been eaten by a wolf seven years ago. 

"Forgive me, but you're not a mother. You couldn't possibly understand needing a break every now and again..." the woman continued snivelling. 

"You're the stepmother, correct?" I asked. 

The woman nodded uneasily. 

"Okay, I'd like you to tell me the story again, but this time, tell me the truth." 

"I did!" The woman insisted. 

"Do you even want me to find them?" I snapped, exasperated. "Or will it make you popular with your book club if your stepchildren die tragically in the woods?" 

Alice, the missing children's case specialist, lurched forward and grabbed my arm, tugging me back. "I'm sorry, my partner's under a little duress. Excuse her rudeness." 

"Alice, they're lying," I reminded her. 

"Yeah, Red, but insulting them isn't going to make them want to tell the truth," Alice scolded. 

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, you try." 

Alice began talking with them as Red looked around the cottage.

I noticed something odd and called for Alice and the couple. I had them now.

"Can you explain this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Uh..." the husband stared. "It's rocks?" 

"Rocks in a line leading towards your cottage. Why is that there?" I continued. 

"I- I don't know. Fae?" 

"If it was fae they'd be perfectly straight. No, this line was made by a person. A child. And I found another one leading towards a different part of your house. Now, why would your children need to make rock paths leading home? Why wouldn't they know the way home?" 

The husband twisted his fingers together uncomfortably. The wife stared at the forest floor. Then, as if they'd counted together, they both began sprinting in opposite directions. 

I cursed and followed after the wife, and Alice made a perfect 180 to follow the husband. 

The wife, for a housewife, was fast, but I was faster. I leapt over boulders and tree roots, ducking and jumping. I could run for days, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my legs, the burn seeping up my calves. 

If only I'd run that fast when I was ten. 

If only. 

The ache made me move faster, put enough spring in my jump to allow me to cleanly tackle the wife to the ground. 

Back at the woodcutter's cottage, the woodcutter began to tell the truth. 

"She hates those kids, my wife. Thinks they're annoying. So she had me take them out into the woods. She was sure they wouldn't come back. But my boy Hansel, oh, he's smart. He left rock trails the first two days we tried to get rid of them. The third? I didn't let him touch the rocks. I think I saw him dropping breadcrumbs, but I bet those damned birds ate them."