"I know what you're here for," Rapunzel continued, brandishing¹ her pan, "and I'm not afraid of you."

 

"What?" Flynn answered, confused by it all. Who was this young woman with the hair that seemed to fill the room?

 

"Who are you and how did you find me?" Rapunzel asked him.

 

Flynn hesitated, and Rapunzel raised her pan. "Okay, okay, all right," he said quickly, not wanting to be hit on the head again.

 

Flynn was now getting a better view of this young woman. She had striking green eyes, and her hair, though excessive, was a beautiful shining gold. She was beautiful. But what did she want from him?

 

Flynn tried to be charming. "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say ... ? Hi." Flynn raised an eyebrow² and gave Rapunzel a devilish grin. "The name's Flynn Rider. How's your day going?"

 

Rapunzel had no idea what the man was trying to do, but he looked really weird³. Maybe he was insane! "Who else knows my location, Flynn Rider?" Rapunzel demanded. She needed to know everything before she proceeded with her plan.

 

Flynn sighed. "I was ... in a situation, gallivanting through the forest. I came across your tower, and —" Flynn stopped short, filled with alarm. "Where is my satchel⁴?"

 

"I've hidden it somewhere you'll never find it," Rapunzel said confidently.

 

But it only took about two seconds, during which he surveyed the room and glanced at Rapunzel, for Flynn to say: "It's in that pot, isn't it?"

 

How did he know? Rapunzel raised the pan. BANG! She hit him again. Rapunzel looked at the unconscious man and wondered if maybe she had overreacted just a bit. That pan seemed to be a very good weapon for knocking out ruffians. Quickly, she looked around to hide the satchel again, somewhere really good this time. She lifted a loose board in the stairs and stashed⁵ the satchel underneath⁶.

 

A few minutes later, Pascal flicked⁷ his tongue into Flynn's ear again and Flynn woke with a jump. "Would you stop that!" Flynn yelled, squirming.

 

Rapunzel just smiled and said, "Now it's hidden where you'll never find it."

 

She paced around him, wrapping him ever more tightly in her long hair. She was definitely feeling more confident, knowing the power of the pan. "So, what do you want with my hair? To cut it?" she asked accusingly." To sell it?"

 

"No! Listen, the only thing I want to do with your hair is get out of it," Flynn said. "Literally⁸."

 

"Wait. You don't want my hair?" Rapunzel asked in disbelief. Mother Gothel had always said that everyone would want to steal it.

 

"Why on earth would I want your hair?" Flynn asked. "Look, I was being chased, I saw a tower, and I climbed it. End of story."

 

Rapunzel eyed him. If he didn't want her hair, then she could trust him! Bracing⁹ herself, she got ready to take the next step in her plan.

 

"Okay, Flynn Rider," she said finally. "I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

 

"Deal?" Flynn said, willing to listen.

 

"Look this way," she told him. Rapunzel headed toward the fireplace, her hair still wrapped around Flynn. His chair twirled like a spinning top.

 

"Do you know what these are?" she asked, stepping up on the mantel above the fireplace. She pulled back the curtain, revealing the mural of the floating lights.

 

Flynn nodded. "You mean the lantern thing they do for the Princess?"

 

"Lanterns?" Rapunzel gasped¹⁰ quietly. "I knew they weren't stars!"

 

“我知道你为什么来这儿，”乐佩挥舞着平底锅继续说道，“而我不怕你。”

 

“什么？”费林回答道，对这一切迷惑不解。这个年轻的姑娘是谁？她的头发似乎铺满了整个房间。

 

“你是谁？你是怎么找到我的？”乐佩问他。

 

费林犹豫不决，乐佩扬起了平底锅。“好了，好了，行了。”他飞快地说，不想再被打头。

 

费林现在能看清这个年轻的姑娘了。她有一双引人注目的绿眼睛，极长的头发闪着金色的光泽。她很美。但她想从他这儿得到什么？

 

费林试图让自己看起来魅力十足。“我不知道你是谁，也不知道是怎么找到你的，但是我想说……嗨！”费林挑起一边的眉毛，对乐佩咧嘴坏笑了一下，“我叫费林·雷德。你今天过得怎么样？”

 

乐佩不知道这名男子想干什么，但他看起来确实很奇怪。他说不定是个神经病！“还有谁知道我在这儿，费林·雷德？”乐佩质问道。她要对一切了如指掌之后再实行自己的计划。

 

费林叹了口气。“我在森林里瞎逛，碰到了……一点状况。我无意间发现了这座塔，就——”费林突然住口，警觉起来，“我的背包呢？”

 

“我藏在了你永远也找不到的地方。”乐佩自信地说。

 

但是费林只用了约两秒钟扫视了房间，瞥了眼乐佩，便说：“在那个壶里，对不对？”

 

他怎么会知道？乐佩举起平底锅。！她又打了他一下。乐佩看着这名失去知觉的男子，想着自己是不是有点反应过激。那个平底锅似乎是痛打恶棍的好武器。她四下看了看，很快把背包又藏了起来，这次肯定是个绝佳的地方。她撬起楼梯上的一块木板，把背包塞到下面。

 

几分钟后，帕斯考又把舌头伸进费林的耳朵里，费林一个激灵醒了过来。“别再那样了！”费林扭动着大叫。

 

乐佩微笑着说：“现在我把它藏在你永远也找不到的地方。”

 

她绕着他踱步，把他更紧地裹在她的长发里。见识到平底锅的威力之后，她感觉更自信了。“那么，你要我的头发做什么？剪掉它？”她责难道，“卖了它？”

 

“不！听着，我唯一想对你头发做的事，就是摆脱它，”费林说，“我说真的。”

 

“等一下，你不想要我的头发？”乐佩难以置信地问。高瑟妈妈一直说人人都想要偷她的头发。

 

“我为什么要你的头发？”费林问，“听着，有人追我，我看到了一座塔，就爬了上来。就这样。”

 

乐佩紧盯着他。如果他不要她的头发，那她就可以信任他！她情绪振奋，已经准备好实行下一步计划。

 

“好吧，费林·雷德，”她终于说，“我打算和你做个交易。”

 

“交易？”费林问，愿意洗耳恭听。

 

“看这边。”她对他说。乐佩走向壁炉，她的头发依旧捆着费林。他的椅子像只陀螺一样转着圈。

 

“你知道这些是什么吗？”她爬上壁炉上方的架子问道。她拉开帘子，露出画着天灯的壁画。

 

费林点了点头，说道：“你是指他们为公主放的天灯？”

 

“天灯？”乐佩轻轻吸了口气，“我就知道那不是星星！”

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