Mother Gothel's dagger¹ had been very convincing to the thug she had met outside the Snuggly Duckling. He had told her exactly how to get to the exit from the tunnel into which Rapunzel and Flynn had escaped.

 

Having found her way to that very exit, Mother Gothel waited with her long dagger hidden in her cloak. She was ready to use it to get Rapunzel away from that thief Flynn Rider. But when the tunnel door finally opened, it wasn't Flynn Rider and Rapunzel who came out. It was those two criminals she'd seen in shackles² at the tavern³. Mother Gothel quickly ducked behind a tree.

 

"I'll kill him. I'll kill that Rider," the talking Stabbington said angrily to his brother.

 

"We'll cut him off at the kingdom and get back the crown. Come on!"

 

"Or perhaps you want to stop acting⁴ like wild dogs chasing their tails and think for a moment?" Mother Gothel rasped from her hiding place. Her plans had suddenly changed.

 

The startled Stabbington brothers drew their swords. Mother Gothel fearlessly stepped out from behind the tree.

 

"There's no need for that." She tossed them the satchel⁵ she had found in the tower and watched as they removed the crown and smiled broadly. Mother Gothel would not fight these two men. She hoped they could help her, so she offered them the crown for free and tempted⁶ them with something better.

 

"Well, if that crown is all you want, then be on your way," she said. "I was going to offer you something worth one thousand times that single crown." The two brothers stared at her. "It would have made you rich beyond belief," Mother Gothel continued. "That wasn't even the best part." She paused, taking time to let out a hearty⁷ laugh.

 

"Ah, well! C'est la vie!"

 

As Mother Gothel turned to leave, she heard a voice behind her. "What's the best part?"

 

Mother Gothel held up Flynn's wantedposter and slyly goaded⁸ the boys: "What if it came with revenge on Flynn Rider?" The Stabbingtons were suddenly all ears. Mother Gothel smiled wickedly. With their help, she would get Rapunzel back and get rid of Flynn Rider once and for all.

 

At that same moment, along the banks of the river, Flynn and Rapunzel were sitting by a campfire, drying out. Rapunzel took Flynn's injured hand and began wrapping her hair around it. This was her gift, and she needed to use it to help Flynn.

 

Flynn looked at her quizzically as she covered his hand with her hair.

 

"Flynn. Please," Rapunzel said soothingly⁹. "Just ... don't ... freak out."

 

Slowly, softly, she began to sing. Her hair began to glow. The long loops of hair that surrounded their campsite lit up the night.

 

Flynn gazed in amazement¹¹ but stayed silent. Something was happening to his injured hand. He could feel it. The hair felt warm and soothing¹⁰, as soft and sweet as Rapunzel's voice.

 

When she finished, she gently pulled her hair from Flynn's palm.

 

He looked at Pascal. The little chameleon¹² signaled to him to look at his hand.

 

It was completely healed!

 

"Oh," Flynn said in a weary voice, filled with dismay.

 

"Are you completely freaked out?" Rapunzel asked, dreading¹³ the response.

 

Flynn answered abruptly¹⁴, "What? Me? Freaked out? No, not at all." The problem was — he was freaked out! He let out a little shriek¹⁵ — actually a thunderous scream. Then, controlling himself, he resumed: "So. That's pretty neat — what your hair does. How long has that been going on, exactly?"

 

"I don't know." Rapunzel sighed. But she did trust Flynn. It was time to tell him her story. "People tried to cut it once when I was younger. They wanted to take it themselves. But when it's cut, it loses its power. A gift like that? It has to be protected. That's why Mother never let me ..." Rapunzel sighed again. Should she tell Flynn that she had never left the tower? "That's why I never left the ..."

 

Finally understanding, Flynn finished her sentence. "You never left that tower." The revelation both shocked him and made him want to protect her. "And you're still going to go back?"

 

"No!" Rapunzel replied. Then she said, "Yes. Ughhhhh!" She buried her face in her hands. "It's complicated."

 

Quickly, she changed the subject. She wanted to know more about Flynn Rider. It turned out that Flynn was the richest, most powerful man in the world. He was a man who could do anything and go anywhere he wanted. He was a man in a book that Flynn — or rather, Eugene — had read every night when he was a child. Over time, Eugene had adopted the name as his own.

 

When he finished with his story, Flynn stood up and stretched. "I need to get some more firewood," he said. Promising¹⁶ to return soon, he wandered off into the pitch-black forest.

 

As Rapunzel felt the warmth of the fire enveloping¹⁷ her, she heard a darkly familiar voice behind her. Startled, she turned to face the cloaked and hooded¹⁸ visitor.

 

高瑟妈妈的匕首对那个在舒适小鸭酒馆外遇到的恶棍相当管用。他把乐佩和费林逃跑的地道的确切出口告诉了她。

 

高瑟妈妈找到了那个出口，把长匕首藏在斗篷下等待着。她已经准备好用它从盗贼费林·雷德的手里把乐佩夺回去。但是当地道的门终于打开的时候，出来的不是费林·雷德和乐佩。出来的是两个她见过的，在酒馆里戴着手铐的罪犯。高瑟妈妈迅速躲到了一棵树后面。

 

“我要杀了他。我要杀了雷德。”说话的那个钉刺兄弟怒气冲冲地对他的兄弟说。

 

“我们要阻止他去王国，夺回皇冠。走吧！”

 

“也许你们不要再像条野狗一样原地兜圈子，好好地想一想？”高瑟妈妈从躲藏的地方粗声粗气地说道。她的计划突然改变了。

 

大吃一惊的钉刺兄弟拔出了他们的剑。高瑟妈妈毫不畏惧地从树后走出来。

 

“没必要那样。”她把在塔里找到的包向他们扔过去。看着他们拿走皇冠，她笑容满面。高瑟妈妈不会和这两个人作对。她希望他们能帮助她，所以她把皇冠给了他们，用更好的东西诱惑他们。

 

“好了，如果你们想要的就是皇冠，那么就拿去吧。”她说。“我本想向你们提供一桩比那个皇冠值钱一千倍的好事。”兄弟俩盯着她。“那会使你们富有得难以置信。”高瑟妈妈继续说。“这还不是最好的呢。”她顿了一下，不慌不忙地纵声 大笑。

 

“啊，好吧！这才是人生！”

 

高瑟妈妈转身要走，她听到身后传来的声音。“那什么是 最好？”

 

高瑟妈妈举起一张通缉费林的告示，狡猾地煽动兄弟俩：“要是还能顺便报复费林·雷德呢？”钉刺兄弟顿时耳朵都竖直了。高瑟妈妈阴险地微笑着。有了他们的帮助，她便能一劳永逸地夺回乐佩，除掉费林·雷德了。

 

与此同时，费林和乐佩正坐在河岸边的篝火前烘干身体。乐佩抓住费林受伤的手，开始用自己的头发裹住它。那是她的天赋，她要用它来帮助费林。

 

费林疑惑地看着她用头发包住了他的手。

 

“费林，很抱歉，”乐佩抚慰道，“只是……不要被吓到。”

 

她开始慢慢地、温柔地唱歌。她的头发开始发光。营地周围长长的头发卷照亮了黑夜。

 

费林惊诧地凝视着，没有出声。他受伤的手上起了变化。他可以感觉到。头发摸上去既温暖又令人宽心，就像乐佩的歌声一样温柔甜蜜。

 

唱完之后，她轻轻把头发从费林的手掌上取下。

 

他看着帕斯考。小变色龙示意他看看自己的手。

 

伤口完全愈合了！

 

“哦。”费林疲惫的声音中满是惊慌。

 

“你完全吓坏了吗？”乐佩问，担忧他的反应。

 

费林唐突地回答：“什么？我？吓坏了？不，完全没有。”问题是——他的确被吓坏了！他发出一个尖细的声音——其实是一声响亮的尖叫。然后，他保持镇静，继续道：“哦，那太棒了——你头发的功效。它有这种魔力多久了？”

 

“我不知道。”乐佩叹了口气。但是她很信任费林。是时候告诉他自己的故事了。“在我小时候，有人试图把它剪下。他们想占为己有。但是它一旦被剪下，就失去了魔力。这样的一种天赋，必须好好保护。这就是为什么妈妈从来不让我……”乐佩又叹了口气。她该告诉费林她从来没有离开过高塔吗？“这就是为什么我从来没有离开过……”

 

费林终于明白了，他帮她说完了那句话：“你从没离开过那座塔。”事情的真相震惊了他，也让他想要保护她，“那你还会回去吗？”

 

“不！”乐佩回答。她接着说：“是的，唉！”她把头埋进手里，说道：“太复杂了。”

 

很快，她转换了话题。她想知道更多关于费林·雷德的事。原来，费林是世界上最富有、最有权力的人。他可以做任何他想做的事，去任何他想去的地方。他是一个费林——或者说尤金——小时候每天晚上都要看的书里的人物。随着时间的流逝，尤金就把它用作了自己的名字。

 

费林讲完故事，站起身，伸了个懒腰。“我该去找点柴火。”他说。他保证会尽快回来，然后就走进了漆黑的森林里。

 

乐佩感受到篝火的温暖包裹着她，她听到一个熟悉的声音幽幽地在她身后响起。她惊恐地转过身，面前是一个披着斗篷戴着帽子的不速之客。

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