The rain stopped, leaving the outside of the shed damp. The smell of moisture was in the air. I began to move to the opening. "I guess I should go now."

 "Not just yet, you scoundrel."

 I look behind me. Arne had come in through the other opening of the adjacent wall. He stared at the empty corner of the shed where the sappling had been chained. He then looked at me. "Where did it go."

 I stammered.

 "Where did it go?" He persisted.

 I pointed outside in the direction I saw it leave.

 His nose flared, "You have just made me lose a large profit. That one was going to the prince's courtyard."

 My eyes went wide. "You work for the prince?"

 "I work for whoever needs it. But this time I was requested by the royal gardener. Now I have nothing to exchange."

  I blinked. "I am sure you can find other trees like that one."

 He squinted at me. "You know nothing about tree moving, do you?"

 I concededly nodded.

 "The sapplings are rare, younger, and the hardest to move, being the jump-iest. That also means they beg a higher price. If not for you, I'd have a good chance of bringing home some nice new equipment." He frowned. "And shoes for Clara. But now I only have time to move an older alder tree."

 I turned away, thinking about some way to fix this. "We will have to go find it then."

 "We won't be doing anything. You have done enough."

 He went over to the wall full of equipment and took with him a rope with some kind of blade at the end of it, keeping wrapped around his shoulder. Arne called to his daughter. She ran outside.

 "Yes, fa?"

 "Come with me."

 "Yes, fa."

 Arne and Clara went around beyond their cottage into the wood that was behind it. I went with them.

 "I told you this doesn't involve you," he said to me.

 "I can walk wherever I like."

 "Then remember to keep over there and away from us."

 No one had ever made me so eager to explain that I was a princess.

 We carried on into the wood. Arne held his daughter’s hand. Clara played a game with me where we think of all the things that fly. Of course, she was better at naming them than I.

 Then he held up his hand. Clara must have known what that meant because she immediately fell silent.

 The man's eyes switched from side to side. He stepped forward silently and crouched and touched a spot on the ground. “Clara. Come.” He gestured with a two-finger beckon.

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 Clara skipped over to her father. A smile filled her ruddy cheeks. “Our tree?”

 Arne nodded then looked at me. “It came this way.”

 “How do you know that?”

 “Just look. The roots lashed the ground.”

 “That could have been anything.”

 “You don’t have the eyes to see it.” He stood up. “He is probably trying to find a place to root, as of now. But he can't hide from me.” Arne continued forward with measured steps. A light rustling was heard for a second. Arne gestured for the us to freeze again. “I hear you, you sap,” he said under his breath. He slid the rope off his shoulder, holding the end of it where the blade was. “I hear your tremulous branches.” Arne kicked off his clogs. His bare feet slid around the dirt. “I can feel your light tread.”

 I leaned to Clara and whispered, “What is he doing?”

 “An old tree-mover practice. To catch a tree, think like a tree. Be one with the ground.”

 Arne closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose. He slowly raised his rope. “Stand back, Clara.”

 Clara clasped my arm and moved me back with her. Arne now had his space. He whipped his blade over his head, getting faster and faster. Another rustling was heard. Arne threw his blade in some direction. It flew like an arrow. The blade whooshed past the trees it did not mind, sticking itself into the heart of a sappling in motion.

 I gasped.

 “You got him, Fa!”

 Arne had to be quick as the sappling began to root itself. He held the rope and pulled. The tree budged begrudgingly, trying to latch onto the ground. But it was no match for Arne’s tug. It dragged on toward him. Arne was going to win. He finally gave it one yank, and the tree was in his arms. Arne wrapped the rope around it, quickly. He tied a strong knot.

 A gravelly chuckle escaped his lips, “That’s it. Settle down. You are going to a much better place. Better than I can afford to live in. But you will learn to behave yourself first and don't make hell for me.”

 Clara shrieked with glee and sang, “We are going to see the prince! Tralalala, see the prince!”

 I knew in that moment that my time with them should end. “Well, I am pleased to see that you found your tree. But I have to go.”

 “Go? Don’t go,” Clara whines while tugging my arm.

 “But—”

 “Clara, let go,” Arne voiced.

 Clara let go to urge her father. “Fa, you can’t! You can’t let her go.”

 “It’s her choice, Clara.” He eyed me.

 He was right. This was my choice. But Clara brought her little eyes to me. She didn’t say a word, just stared a sullen stare.

 “I... I...” They waited for my answer, “I wouldn’t want to be any more of an issue.”

 “No, you wouldn’t be. Tell her, Fa. Tell her.”

 Arne looked at his daughter, then he looked at me. “Clara would appreciate it.”

 “Then I would love to stay.”

 “Juhuu!” Clara spun in a circle with free arms.

 We walked together back to the cottage. Arne told me he wanted to have a discussion. I followed Arne to his room. He had a low bed dressed in the plainest white linen near a square window. A metal standing bowl beside it with a pitcher. And to my side, a dark dresser with a linen runner layed over it. It was a private, intimate space. I felt like an intruder.

 “I have to be sure that we understand each other,” Arne began. “You may not think I am good for me datter. But she is all I have. And we are taking a real risk by bringing you along. So I need you to stay out of trouble, okay?”

 “I am not a child.”

 Arne frowned. “Yes. Yes, you’re right. I don’t know why I made such a fuss.”

 I held my hand over my heart, “I will not cause trouble. I promise.”

 Arne seemed hesitant to believe, but I think at some second, he moved on from it. Now, I had my own complaint.

 “Arne, there is something you need to promise me. I don’t want to be seen by anyone. I am... notorious in the village.”

 “Just how scorned was the affair?”

 I frowned. “The people— they say I’m a witch. That I cast a spell on the— my beloved.”

 “I see,” he scratched his platinum beard. “With that poppy hair of yours, you will be spotted in a moment.”

 I agreed.

 “We’ll get you a cloth to cover it. And...” He pinched his nose, “Perhaps I’ll go get some lake water for your bath. Afterwards, we leave.”

 He took his time getting the water, then returning to fill the tub for me. Arne explained he didn’t have time to heat the water first. I told him it did not matter. It really didn’t.

 He left quickly. I used a sponge to clean myself. Once done, I was given an olive green dress to wear. Clara did not say where she got the dress from. I assumed it was her mother’s. “Do you remember your mother, Clara?” I said as I pulled up the sleeves.

 Clara smiled at me. Her pretty dimple showing as she concisely said, “No.”