No Happily Ever After (The Fairytale Diaries #1) (2 page)

"Thanks!" she whispered, giggling again.  She was delighted and decided not to even look for anything else to take.  She simply let herself out the way she'd come in.

Then, she hit three other houses on the same cul-de-sac.  All with unlocked doors.  And in all of them, she found cash in under ten minutes per location.  She was utterly stunned at the ridiculous places rich people kept their cash.  The console of a car.  On a family room desk.  And on a night table.  Incredibly easy and baffling, all at the same time.  It was as though they'd left it there just for her.

By the time she dashed through a back yard and into the woods, she had three hundred dollars in her pocket.  It was by far, the largest sum of money she'd ever laid eyes on, let alone had possession of.  She took a short hike to leave the neighborhood unnoticed and reemerged onto the streets of Faraway minutes later.

The next day after school, Zoe bought herself the first warm winter coat she'd ever owned and a nice pair of gloves.

Chapter 2

I
n no time, Zoe Locke became an expert cat burglar.

So expert in fact, to her knowledge, none of her crimes were even detected.  She was disciplined in her craft.  She always refrained from taking too much from one home.  She had a gift for finding cash and that was normally all she took.  Often she didn't even take it all.  Occasionally she'd snitch an item to later sell on
EBay. 
Never anything too big to fit in her pockets and nothing too unique that would be easily recognized.

Basically she thought of herself as a mischievous elf, sneaking into homes to playfully trifle with their belongings.  She often daydreamed about mothers and fathers, scratching their heads wondering where they put their golden ring, or diamond bracelet.  Or driving themselves slightly mad because they THOUGHT SURE there'd been one hundred; not sixty dollars, in the cookie jar.  She'd giggle as she imagined her own classmates being accused by their parents of pilfering.

At school, she became a veritable private investigator. She eavesdropped at every opportunity on her classmates.  Anytime she overheard anybody mentioning plans out with their family, she took note.  Then, if she didn't already know where they lived, she found out.  And somehow always managed to find a way into their homes as if by magic.  It particularly delighted Zoe to steal from her own classmates.  In those special times, she felt a little bolder, a little more reckless.  Sometimes from the home of a classmate she might actually steal an article of clothing to later be worn at school.  Or eat food right from her cupboards, seated in whatever spot at the table she imagined to be theirs.

At home, Zoe acquired little by little, the things in life she'd always missed.  She bought a computer.  And by posing as her mother, she ordered Internet service, a luxury she'd never been privy to.  The cupboards were no longer bare.  And as Christmas approached, she bought a Christmas tree and turned her shabby home into a cozy festive place.  In her rare encounters with her mother, the changes were never mentioned and presumably unnoticed.  Zoe remained invisible through it all.  And for once, she was happy that not a soul noticed her.

***

Shortly after Zoe got the hang of petty theft activities and recognized she was quite good at her craft, she became obsessed with Benjamin Bar.

Not in any typical teenaged crush type fashion.  On no.  What Zoe saw in Benjamin Bar was the ultimate score.  Benjamin and his family represented the epitome of Faraway's upper echelon.  His mother, Madre Bar, was well known and loved as the high school counselor.  And his father, well, who knew exactly what Abraham Bar did.  But whatever it was, it provided obscene wealth.  Not that Benjamin was the sort who necessarily exuded wealth.  But Zoe had an eye for these things.

He was a tall and rather well built senior.  With his thick, wavy, black hair, chiseled face, and piercing dark eyes, he might have been very appealing, were it not for his rather
unappealing
personality.  Benjamin was never mean or even unkind to anybody.  He made good enough marks to be thought of as smart.  There was just something
vacant
about him.  He was the sort of teen who would normally be popular.  He'd be the sort of guy all the guys wanted to be friends with and all the girls wanted to date.  Except that his peers had been alienated by his oddness as early as Kindergarten.  He existed on the fringe of the "in" crowd but Zoe observed he had no close ties to anybody.  He never dated.  He participated in extracurricular activities and fared well, but he demonstrated no real passion or ambition for anything.  He seemed to always be pondering something other than whatever he was doing at the time.  Detached.  Aloof.  Cold.

But Zoe knew he came from a place that seemed for all practical purposes, enchanted.  As a child, she had loved to play in Faraway Forest.  She'd been truly at one with nature and would spend sun up to sun down exploring the quiet wood.  Over the years, she'd gotten to know every nuance of it and that's how she'd found Benjamin's house.

It furrowed deep in the woods about five miles outside Faraway.  She'd happened upon it once entirely by chance.  It was giant; a mansion.  By far the grandest structure she'd ever seen, the house seemed to be a three story living creature, reaching up into the thick canopy of trees.  Its walls were shining maple wood and its dozens of windows glinted from the few sun rays that snuck in through the tangle of tree limbs.  A wrought iron gate loomed at the end of the winding drive leading up to the house, with an ornate sign reading
Bar Estates.
At times she'd explored there as a child.  She'd found a hole in the gate and easily been able to get closer to the house.  Even then, before her dreams of thievery had solidified, she'd been a talented sneak.

The grounds of Bar Estates were sumptuous with lush gardens, a babbling brook and ancient towering trees.  She'd spent many an hour there, secretly watching the massive quiet place, and wondering what was inside. 

One week before Christmas, Zoe decided she was going to find out.

***

She happened to be seated within ear shot of Benjamin at lunch.  Of course, Benjamin wasn't saying anything, just sitting forlornly quiet among the hub of his so called friends.  But then, Mrs. Bar came into the cafeteria.

The counselor was every bit as striking as her son.  She had his same tall dark looks with shining black hair trimmed smartly even with her jaw, and a strong fit body.  She dressed stylishly and as usual, she wore an inviting smile.  She made her way through the sea of students, pausing to chat with people who addressed her.  Finally she found Benjamin and leaned down next to him.  She spoke softly to her son, thinking no one was listening.

But Zoe heard.

"Hey, bud," said Mrs. Bar kindly.

"Hey," he said morosely, barely bothering to acknowledge her.  He continued picking at his food and staring straight ahead.

"You excited about your game tonight?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh yeah."

"Great!" she enthusiastically exclaimed, even though his agreement was so obviously contrived.  "Your dad's gonna be there tonight!"  She said this in a tone that suggested being graced by Mr. Bar's presence was a momentous occasion.

"Great," said Benjamin lackadaisically.

Mrs. Bar gave a gleaming smile.  Among the Faraway student body, Mrs. Bar was generally considered a cool lady and a great confidant.  It shocked Zoe to discover she was clueless.  She clearly had zero ability to pick up her own son's veiled hostility.  And Zoe was completely confident that the dear woman had no idea a nearby student was essentially casing her home that very minute.

Zoe liked Mrs. Bar even more.

***

Zoe set out just before dark.  It was still an hour to game time, but she knew she had about a six mile hike ahead of her, most of which would be through rough terrain of the forest. Plus, snow fell steadily.  There was barely a dusting on the ground, but it accumulated quickly.  She knew she'd need to move fast to avoid hiking back through a full blown snow storm.

She didn't even know if she would steal anything from the Bar family.  Their home had fascinated her so much, for so long, she often dreamt of it.  She mainly just wanted to satisfy her curiosity and explore the place.  She doubted there'd be the "leave cash about" sort, and for some reason, she didn't have the strange desire to extract trophy steals like she had with other classmates.

She walked briskly through town and then plunged into the mouth of the massive forest.

Zoe was nearly frozen when she arrived.  Her timing was impeccable.  Shielded by the trees, she watched from the shadows as the Bar family's tail lights disappeared down the lane.  Then she slipped through the hole in the gate and trampled through the snow in the back yard to get up to the house, hoping the tracks back there wouldn't be as obvious.  She decided on the way out she'd take some time to obscure her foot prints as she left.

She found that their sliding glass door off a rear patio was unlocked.  A delighted squeal escaped her as she slipped inside.  She kicked off her snow boots and left them by the door to wait for her return.  Then, at long last, her exploration began.

The Bar home was a whole new world altogether.  It was like a cottage, a ski resort, and a castle, all blended into one dwelling.  She found herself standing in a spacious family room. Zoe marveled at a magnificent fireplace, big enough that she could've stood at her full height inside.  The mantle was lit by twinkling lights and was so huge, it accommodate three six foot Christmas trees.  Across from the fireplace and in front of a bay window, there stood another tree that towered every bit of sixteen feet high.  And yet, the vaulted ceiling was still far over it.  She drifted to the tree and delicately touched the sparkling ornaments with one gloved finger.

Zoe passed out of the family room and into a dining room.  The focal point was a gigantic oak dining table adorned with candles and fragrant Christmas wreaths.  She saw at one end of the long table, the family's dinner plates still sat with bits of uneaten food on them.  Had they been running behind and had to leave their mess?  Or was there a housekeeper who would arrive in the morning to clear away their dinner dishes?  Whatever the reason, Zoe couldn't believe the neat and tidy people would so carelessly leave their mess behind.  She wandered down to where the dishes sat, strangely fascinated by their food.

A spoon protruded from an inviting bowl of beef stew.  Amazingly, steam still rose from it.  Zoe raised the spoon to her lips to taste the delectable looking stuff.

She hissed and the spoon clattered to the table.  "Darn it!" she exclaimed.  The soup had burned her mouth.  She couldn't believe it was still so hot.

At the next seat, she saw no steam rising from the stew and decided to try it.  But she found that bowl to be ice cold and unpleasant tasting.  So she drifted to the next seat and tasted the soup there.  She found temperature to be just right, and the soup tasted unbelievably good.  Finding it irresistible, she sat down and devoured the entire bowl.

The next room Zoe explored was a library.  The walls were lined with shelves of books spanning from floor to ceiling.  In one corner of the room, three chairs were placed facing one another as though the family sometimes sat there relaxing and reading together.  Zoe crossed the room and took a seat in a large, leather wing back chair.  She found it to be stiff and uncomfortable.  So, she moved to the next chair; a county blue, flowered over stuffed.  She found it to be far too soft and also uncomfortable.  Next she tried the third seat which was an odd contraption of black bars like some aerodynamic office chair.  She lowered herself onto it and to her complete shock; she wound up crashing to the floor.  The flimsy chair broke into several pieces.

"Crap!" she exclaimed as she leapt up.  Zoe looked down at the mess on the floor and then turned to flee the room. 

She found a dark hallway and crept down it quietly.  Though the house was cozy warm, a sudden shiver moved up and down her spine.  It occurred to her that she should leave.  She wondered why she felt so creeped out all the sudden.  But despite her misgivings, she ventured on into the darkness.

She came upon a door.  She stood there staring at the knob for a long time, with an eerie feeling.  Finally, she opened it and a dark stairway leading down was revealed.  To the right was a light switch and she flipped it on.

Zoe made her way down a nicely finished set of basement steps.  At the bottom, she found herself in a small finished, empty room.  It was brightly lit, with beige carpet, stark white walls, and absolutely nothing was in it except for a door.

Again, Zoe hesitated to try the door.  Hairs raised on the back of her neck and up and down her arms.  She felt even more alarmed then she had in the dark hallway.  Part of her wanted to turn and run.  But another part of her said to suck it up and open the door.  That, unfortunately, is the part she chose to listen to.  With shaking hand, she gripped the knob and swung open the door.

Zoe shrieked and clamped her hand over her mouth.