Simone had lived at the village inn her whole life. Now that her mother was gone and her father was older, she did a lot of work, too. She always liked being around to talk to everyone, any travelers who happened by or anyone who came in for a drink or two. And everyone liked to stop in and say hello to the young red-headed woman with the sweet smile.

 The inn was particularly busy that evening, but a few of her friends were around, and she had a chance to relax.

 "You should take a chance to rest," Mark said to her. "You work yourself too hard sometimes, you know."

 "Well, there isn't always anyone else," she said. "My father can't do as much heavy work as he used to."

 "You know you have me for that."

 "But there's other things, too," she said. "Cleaning clothes and dishes and cups, changing sheets all the time, making sure people pay all of what they owe."

 "Well, I've helped your father before," Mark said. "He likes me. I can help you with washing and cleaning. And if people aren't paying you, I'll send the boys after them. You have nothing to worry about."

 Simone smiled. "This is exactly why you're my favorite friend. Don't tell any of the others about that, though. I'm sure they all like to think they're my favorite."

 They had begun to walk over to one of the tables as they were talking, and Simone didn't realize someone else had come in. He bumped into one of the tables and knocked his hat off.

 "Roy!" It was Roy Khan, the merchant who lived in the farmhouse just on the edge of the village. "Are you all right?"

 "Yes, I'm fine," he said quickly, shrinking away from her touch. "Hello, Simone, Mark."

 "Evening, Khan," said Mark. "Is Tommy with you? I haven't seen him in days."

 "No." Roy looked away from them. "He's...away. Excuse me." He hurried past them.

 "That is certainly not right," said Simone. "He's usually a little more talkative than that. Have you heard about-"

 "Coen said it to me just yesterday. No one's seen Tommy in days, and there's whispers that something terrible happened to him. When asked, Khan just says he's away and doesn't know when he's coming back."

 "I'm going to go talk to him," Simone said, hurrying for the back entrance. "Watch everything, will you?"

 She went to the back door and called, "Roy!"

 He hadn't left yet, and quickly turned around when she called his name. "Yes?"

 "Has something happened?" she asked. "No one has seen Tommy for days. He's not dead, is he?"

 "No!" he said quickly. "No, of course not. Or at least I hope not. I don't know what's happened to him."

 "Oh. Well, what has happened?"

 "It's-no." Roy turned away from her. "No one would believe me if I told the truth."

 "Try me," Simone said. "I've heard quite the stories here. Yours can't be any worse. I mean it, Roy."

 He turned around again. "All right. He was taken by a monster, one who lives in a castle somewhere in the forest. I was lost in the woods at night, and I found it. I thought it was going to kill me but it saw my locket and saw Tommy and told me it wanted him. When I came home and told Tommy, he didn't believe me. He didn't say so, but I could see it in his eyes. We went out there the next day, and we found it, and I was thrown out the door and hit my head, but I when I woke up I was back and all of Tommy's things were just gone. I don't know what's happened to him, or if he's even still alive."

 He seemed to grow more and more hysterical as he went on. Simone shook her head and said, "Oh, Roy. Where is this castle. Surely we can rescue him somehow."

 "I've tried to go back there," he said. "I've gone back out to the forest every day, and the path to the castle is gone. It's just not there. I know I was in the right place, but it's gone."

 "Then we should search the forest," said Simone. "He must be in there somewhere, mustn't he? Maybe you just need an extra pair of eyes. And I know some men I can convince to go with us if necessary."

 Roy looked at her in disbelief. "You would really go with me to look for my brother, and even get a small army together?" He scoffed. "I didn't think anyone would believe such a story."

 "I told you, I've heard a lot of wild stories." She took him gently by the hand. "Let's go get Mark, and we can decide what to do."