Ch.13: What Happened To Frederick
It was a beautiful day, as Katherine arrived at the diner, just as the stranger was leaving.
“I’ve been meaning to bump into you. Matter of fact, I was hoping we might grab that drink I promised,” he told her.
“Are you asking me out?” she inquired. She didn’t trust strangers much and she didn’t feel that she was available, considering she still loved both Elijah and Damon, even if they weren’t in town.
“Well, if putting a label on it makes you more comfortable, sure. Let’s call it a date,” he replied.
“I thought you came here to write—find inspiration.”
“I’m optimistic about our date.”
“See, I have a policy—I won’t go out with guys who won’t tell me their names. I like honesty these days, and you seem to be keeping a lot of secrets, or one big one. It was nice talking to you.”
She walked past him to enter the diner, when he spoke, which stopped her.
“It’s August. August W. Booth.”
She turned to look at him. “Well, at least we’re getting some honesty.”
“So, there goes your reason for not meeting me here after work,” he replied.
She walked inside and Mary Margaret questioned her, having been waiting for her there.
“Who was that?”
“I don’t know yet,” she replied, not wanting to tell her anything until after she knew more than his name.
“Yet? You’re going to find out?”
“It’s nothing,” she said.
“Nothing with you means something. Because if it were nothing, we wouldn’t be talking about it.”
“I’m sorry—I thought you called me here to talk about you?”
“Yeah, but talking about you is easier right now.”
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Remember when we agreed I should stay away from David? I didn’t.”
“Yeah, I know,” she replied.
“You do? How?”
“Because I’m sheriff, and you are a lovesick school teacher. Covering your tracks isn’t exactly your strong suit.”
“Well, I’ve been discrete.”
“Two teacups in the sink, new perfume, late nights, plunging necklines. It was not hard to connect the dots.”
“Plunging?”
“When I met you, you were a top button kind of girl.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I’m not your mother,” she replied. She didn’t want to add in that she had been a mother herself before, though. Not when she didn’t remember that she was Snow White.
“No,” she agreed.
“I just figured that you would let me know when it was time. I’m assuming it’s time,” Katherine replied.
Meanwhile, August had Henry’s book in a dark room with its pages out. He was treating them and some were hanging on a clothes line so they could dry. Part of the book had already been rebound and August now was rebinding some more pages into the book with string.
In the meantime, Regina and Henry were sitting on the couch in Regina’s office, Henry with a box in his lap, which had a bow on it.
“Oh, go on. Open it,” she encouraged him.
“What’s the occasion?”
“The occasion is I love you. Go on,” she replied.
Henry opened the box and pulled out a video game.
“Now, I know you miss your book, but with this, you can do the heroics. You can save the princesses; you can be the hero. Henry, you have to believe me. When I tore down the playground, I did it for your safety. Please, don’t be upset with me. I really didn’t mean to destroy your book.”
“It’s not just the book,” he told her.
“Okay, then what is it?”
“It’s Katherine. I want to see her,” he informed her.
Later, Katherine and August met in the woods by a well that was at the edge of the forest.
“I thought a drink was, like, wine or whiskey or maybe a little Bourbon,” she greeted.
“What, do you want me to get you drunk?” he inquired.
“No; Of course not,” she replied. Maybe with someone she knew, she’d enjoy being drunk with, but not someone she just met.
“Next time,” he assured her.
“You are optimistic,” she stated.
He handed her a cup and then began to pull up the well’s bucket.
“They say there’s something special about this well. There’s even a legend. They say that the water from the well is fed by an underground lake, and that lake has magical properties.”
“How do you know all this? You’ve been here before?” she questioned him.
“I know all of this for one very simple reason—I read the plaque.”
“You actually believe this?” she asked.
“I’m a writer. I have to have an open mind. Water is a very powerful thing. Cultures as old as time have worshipped it. It flows throughout all lands, connecting the entire world. If anything had mystical properties—if anything had magic—well, I’d say it’d be water. If you need evidence, Katherine, you’re going to find yourself stuck in one place for a long time,” he replied.
“Maybe I’ll just find the truth before anyone else,” she answered.
“Well, there’s one thing I can tell you for sure, and I know you’ll agree with me. It’s good water,” he replied.
They toasted.
Katherine was brushing the leaves from the forest off of her car, when she noticed a red metal box in the gutter. She knew it was the same one Henry’s book had been in, so she grabbed it and opened it. The book was inside, fully intact.
Henry was playing his video game on a bench outside the school, when Katherine walked up to him with a bag and sat down next to him.
“Wow, you’re really loving that game, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, my mom got it for me. My mom’s picking me up in, like, five minutes,” he replied.
“Alright. I’ll be quick, then. I just have something I’d like to give you.” She took the book out of her bag and gave it to him.
“You found it! Where’d you get it?” he replied.
“I found it in a gutter. It must have fallen off the dump truck on the way to the junkyard and got tossed around in the rain. And, somehow, made its way back to me,” she replied.
“Wow. That’s crazy.”
“What other explanation could there be?” she inquired.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, whatever happened, it came back to me.”
“Maybe, it means our luck is changing. Operation Cobra is back on. It’s a sign. Things are getting to be better,” he replied.
“I hope you’re right,” she replied, and left.
*Flashback*
Prince Charming rode through the woods on horseback until he reached a clearing with a cabin.
“Snow! Snow White! Snow! Are you there?” he called.
Red Riding Hood emerged from the field next to the clearing.
“She’s gone. She never came back after she went to find you.”
“Then I’ll find her. I will always find her. And I will convince her that we belong together. I will always fight for her, no matter what comes between us,” he replied to her.
“It won’t be much of a fight.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Snow wants to be with you more than anything.”
“Don’t mock me. Snow told me that we can’t be together because she doesn’t love me.”
“She left her to break up your wedding, because she’s in love with you. Unless, something changed her mind along the way…”
“Not something—someone.”
Horses were heard in the distance and King George and his men began to charge towards them.
“James? Who are they?” Red questioned him.
“That’s someone—King George.”
“Bring me his head!” King George shouted.
“Come on!” Charming said, and got on his horse and helped Ruby onto the back of his horse. Then they took off as King George shot arrows in their direction.
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