Beane Odette - Reawakened - A Once Upon A Time Tale

— Something tells me tilings are even more complicated when it comes to Regina.

— She tries, but she pushes too hard, — Archie continued. Apparently struggling with something else now, he sighed, then opened a file cabinet. — You should take his file, go over it. You’ll see.

Emma frowned, skeptical. The doctor was acting strange; something was off.

— Why would you do that?

— Because he cares about you, — Archie said, handing her the file. — And I care about him.

Emma considered that. Something felt wrong about it, sure, but she wanted the file. Whatever Archie was up to, she was sure she’d be able to handle it. She reached out and took the file.

— Simple math, right, Doc?

— Exactly, — he said, adjusting his glasses again. She got up, and he stood to see her out.

It did not take long for her to realize that her instincts were right about the good doctor. It was only a few hours later that the sheriff was «mysteriously» at her door, looking at her grimly.

— I’m sorry, Ms. Swan, — Graham said, showing her his cuffs. — But you’re under arrest.

Emma couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She was at the door of her room, having just showered and changed. The sheriff looked at her with sympathy in his eyes. She had opened the door expecting Granny carrying a load of fresh linens. Instead, Graham had informed her that she’d been accused of arguing with Archie and stealing Henry’s file from his office.

— He gave it to me, — she told the sheriff', handing over the documents. — This is ridiculous. You realize Regina set this up, don’t you? She’s somehow forcing him to say that.

— I’m going to have to cuff you, — Graham said. — Sorry.

— Fine, — said Emma. — Arrest me again. Have a problem? Arrest Emma! — She spun and locked her wrists behind her back. — Some police force.

At the police station, as he was taking her mug shot, she asked Graham about Regina: — This whole town is afraid of her. You know it, I know it. Why don’t we do something about it? What else does she have her hands in?

— She’s the mayor, — Graham said. — She has her hands in everything.

— Everything? — Emma asked, raising an eyebrow.

— Hey, easy, — he said, and escorted her over to the cell. — You’ve been here for two days. She’s been here for decades. Maybe you don’t know everything, okay?

— I know what I stole and didn’t steal, — Emma said. — Archie is lying.

Again, Graham said nothing. But Emma could have sworn she saw something in his eyes.

She sat in the cell, fuming, before she heard a familiar voice and stood.

— Hey! You have to let her out!

It was Henry. He came into the room ahead of Mary Margaret Blanchard. Graham, surprised, looked up from his desk.

— Henry, what are you doing here? — he said. He turned to Henry’s teacher, confused. — Miss Blanchard?

— We’re here to bail her out, — Henry said. Then after looking at Emma, he smiled and said, — Well, she is. I don’t have any money.

— Why would you do that? — Emma asked.

Mary Margaret looked sheepish and began digging in her purse.

— I don’t know, — she said. — I trust you.

The sheriff seemed a bit surprised by this turn of events, but he took it in stride.

As Mary Margaret and Graham attended to the paperwork, Henry sidled over to the cell.

— Good job, — he whispered to her.

She bent down and whispered back: — Good job with what?

— With getting arrested. It was the plan. I get it. — Henry nodded. — Intel. Operation Cobra, right?

— Sure, kid, — she whispered back. — Something like that.

— Okay, then, — Graham said from across the room, holding up a piece of paper. Mary Margaret smiled, nodded. — Looks like everything’s in order.

Emma stood to her full height.

— Good, — she said. — Let me outta here. — She looked at Henry. — I’ve got something to do.

She went directly to the hardware store.

Emma was good at finding people, yes. And she had a knack tor telling when someone was lying. Both qualities had helped her in her life hunting down bail-jumpers, but there was a third quality — the underbelly, the dark link between the first two, she sometimes thought — that made her really good at what she did. Push her far enough, and she could find chinks in armor, too. She knew how to hit people right where it hurt. If she wanted, she could find those chinks, and when she did, she wasn’t afraid to start shooting.

She chose a chain saw with a two-stroke engine, asked a clerk to take it out of the box and gas it up, and paid with her credit card. — Doin' a little yard work? — asked the woman behind the counter.

— No, — Emma said. — Not at all.

Who in the hell did that woman think she was? Take something precious from me, she thought, and I will return the favor. The thought moved in a circle; Emma’s rage kept her from going much further than that as she strode down Main Street. She hit the choke and yanked the rip cord as she strode into the back garden, eyeing Regina’s apple tree. Apples meant something to this woman — she knew it. At the trunk, she hesitated, then decided not to take the whole thing down. A major limb would suffice. A wound, but not a mortal wound. This was only the beginning, and she wasn’t quite ready to use the nuclear option.

The Solo cut through the branch with relative ease, and the limb emitted a satisfying CRRAAACCKK just before it fell from the tree. Emma smiled, stepped back. She didn’t need to look up at the window — she had sensed Regina there, watching it happen.

After a moment of silence, with the smell of gasoline and oil in the air, the wounded tree not complaining at all, Regina burst outside.

— What are you doing? — she screamed, striding toward Emma, who raised the chain saw like a weapon. It wasn’t running, and it was not as though she would cut Regina in half. She wasn’t quite to that point, yet.

— Picking apples, — she said coolly.

— You’re out of your mind.

Emma took a step forward and met her in front of the broken tree.

— No. You are if you think your shoddy frame job is gonna scare me off. You’ll have to do better than that, lady. Come at me again, and I’ll be back for the rest of this pile of bark and worms. Because, sister? You know what? You have no idea what I’m capable of.

She turned and walked away, leaving Regina beside the branch, speechless.

Over her shoulder, Emma said:

— Your move.

A few hours later, having finally cooled down with a walk in the woods, Emma returned to Granny’s B&B with new resolve. She didn’t know how, but she was going to find a way to be a part of Henry’s life. She wasn’t going anywhere.

Granny, seeming rather uncomfortable, stopped her in the hallway.

— I’m sorry, dear, — she said. — But we have a no-felon policy here. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.

— What? — Emma said. — The newspaper report? From this morning?

Granny nodded sadly.

Emma, no longer surprised by any of it, produced the key to her room.

— And let me guess, — she said. — It was a call from the mayor’s office that reminded you of your own policy.

— We try to keep things safe for our travelers, — Granny said, taking the key. — That’s all.

Well, I’ve lived in a car before, Emma thought. She packed up her few things and took them out to the VW.

— What the…, — Emma said, squinting as she approached with her bag. There was a boot on the front wheel. Regina again. Did the woman ever take a break?