ACT II: SCENE 6
"Up here."
"Where are you?"
"Here."
"Where?"
"Here. I'll light a candle."
The Boy's face fizzled into view as he lit a match. He put it to a couple of nearby candles. Gretel gasped faintly.
"This is her bedroom?"
"Technically, yes." The Boy put out the match with his fingers. "Although she hasn't slept here since Raven died."
The place was full of dust and cobwebs, although lines of footprints showed that it had been regularily visited. There was a small bed in the middle of the room. The blankets looked slept in, although the layer of grime over it showed that this had not happened in some years. Gretel could see strange stuffing coming from between the sheets. It looked like long, golden hair. A few buns lay scattered, stale and mouldy on the floor. Most of the footprint trails led towards a large safe in a far corner of the room. The Boy was already in front of it with one of the candles, trying different keys. She went over and kneeled next to him. His skinny, knarled fingers were making quick work of the large bunch of keys and within a few seconds they heard the satisfying click of the lock. The Boy sat back.
"You do it."
"What?"
"I unlocked the door, you open it."
Gretel looked sideways at the Boy. "You're not frightened, are you?"
The Boy was silent.
"It's only a book, Boy."
Gretel sighed and pulled at the handle.
"Tell me there's only one door to this one," she murmured as it opened.
They stared inside.
"Oh my God..." Gretel held the candle up against the open safe. "Look at all this stuff."
The book was there all right, thick and black and well thumbed. But the inside of the safe also glimmered with gold and fine silks.
"Just take the book," whispered the Boy.
Gretel reached inside and took the book. With it came a long satin sheet, caught up in its pages.
"What is all this?"
"It's a piece of purple material," replied the Boy. "Let's go. You're running out of time."
Gretel studied the sheet under the candlelight.
"It's not just purple," she breathed, "it's violet."
"So?"
"So nobody wears violet any more. It was the Royal colour." She looked closer. "It's trimmed with gold. And look at those shields stiched into the corners. That was the Royal Standard."
She looked into the safe again.
"There are coins in here. Old coins with the King on them. And jewellery." She pulled out a tiny gold bangle and ran her fingers over its smooth surface. "Look. A naming bracelet. But it's not engraved."
Gretel sat back with the bracelet. The Boy took a turn to peer into the safe. His eye was caught by something colourful and furry at the back. He reached for it.
"The baby prince was taken just before his naming ceremony," said Gretel. She felt tears begin to form in her tired eyes. "So the stories are true."
"What stories?" came the Boy's voice from within the safe.
"That witch did kill the prince."
"She was only a girl when that happened. If anybody killed the prince it would have been her mother, Raven."
"The witch is the witch. It makes no difference which witch is which."
"What?"
Gretel wiped her eye. "It doesn't matter. There are no princes any more. They're all dead. Poor little thing."
The Boy backed out of the safe, clutching a small teddy bear in a patchwork coat.
"What's that?" asked Gretel.
The Boy sat next to Gretel, looking at the bear.
"I know this bear," replied the Boy.
Gretel inspected the toy. "It doesn't look very princely. What would it be doing in the safe with all this finery?"
"I think it's mine," said the Boy. "Maybe she took it off me when she found me and hid it with the other things."
"How do you know it's yours?"
"I remember him."
"You don't even remember your name, Boy."
"I remember his." The Boy ran his hands softly over the teddy's tatty coat. "It's Raggles." He stroked the bear's ears and frowned. "He should have a hat."
Gretel peered into the safe again and spotted a small multicoloured scrap amongst the gold and jewels. She pulled it out. It was a tiny hat, patchworked like the coat, with two little ear-holes at the top. The word "RAGGLES" had been stitched onto it. She gave it to the Boy, who put it on the bear's head ceremoniously.
"Raggles," said the Boy, hugging the bear. "Raggles. I remember you."
"Well at least you remember something at last," smiled Gretel. She opened the book at random and glanced at the page. "Oh my God. This stuff is barely readable."
"Other things go with him," continued the Boy. "Laughter. Smiles. Singing. Lots of people, so happy to see us. Satin. Velvet. Everything's so... purple." He picked up the violet sheet and stroked it thoughtfully.
"Lists and lists and lists," muttered Gretel, flicking through the book, "sentances that go on for pages. I mean, where should I even start?"
The Boy blinked and looked up. Without looking at the sheet again, he stuffed it back in the safe along with the bracelet and locked the door.
"Me and Raggles are going back to the kitchen to get some sleep," he said. "You'll concentrate better alone."
"Hmm," replied Gretel, bringing the candle closer to the pages.
"If you need anything, you'll let me know?"
"Mmm."
He began to creep towards the ladder.
"Gretel?"
"Mmm?"
"Good luck."
"Mmm-hmm."
He turned back, and crouched in front of her.
"Gretel?"
She looked up from the book. "What now?"
He caught her chin and kissed her, once, sweetly and sadly. Gretel kept her lips pursed in the kiss long after he had gone back to the ladder and begun to climb down it.
"I love you," he whispered.
"You're an idiot," she replied, and went back to staring blearily at the half illuminated illiterate scrawls in the impossibly thick black book.