The answer to that knock was none other than the friendly face of Mama Bear, which was a breath of relief for Little Red. The dark had begun to make her a little bit nervous, for she did not know where the old man retreated to after his visit at her home. She did not want the old man sneaking up on her. Mama Bear smiled sweetly at her, though she was very worried about the young girl that just showed up at her door.

"Is something wrong, sweetie?" Mama Bear asked, bending down slightly to get closer to the girl's height. Little Red looked down for a few moments, trying to figure out how to tell Mama Bear of the man's news, before looking back up.

"Have you seen the old man that came into town today? The one with the white robe?" Little Red asked, a piece of her light blonde hair falling in front of her face. She grabbed the edge of her cloak, having nothing else to do with her hands at the moment.

"I did see him, I believe. As we were coming back from the park with Baby Bear. Seemed very out of place, I must say. Why do you ask?"

"Well, he came to my house today and said that your house was broken into." Little Red felt that as she said that, she finally became certain that the old man lied. She wondered if he was still in town.

"Well, that old man was certainly on his wit's end, child. Nothing at all happened here. Everything is fine. But, do you think you could find him in the morning for us? The mayor should probably hear about this stranger." Mama Bear said. "For now, though, you need to go home and go to sleep."

Little Red smiled a bit sheepishly, looking up at the stars and the moon above her.

"I should, I just couldn't shake that something was off, thank you! Night!" Little Red said before running off, waving back and trying to get home as soon as possible. She made sure to be quiet as she snuck back into her room, being able to go to sleep once her head hit the pillow.

The next day, Little Red got ready quickly, since she fortunately had many plans for that day. It was easy having many plans, since she didn't have any classes that day. And, fortunately for Little Red, having many plans that day would help her disguise the extra plan that she made with Mama Bear. She already had her red cloak on as she bolted down the hallway to the kitchen, wanting to grab something to eat before she did all of her plans.

Her mother was sitting in the kitchen, her blue shawl laying loosely on her shoulders. Little Red slowed down once she saw her mother, who was holding a note in her hands. As Little Red went to hug her mother, though, she was quick to fold the note up. She hugged Little Red tightly, and Little Red knew that it probably had to do with her father.

Her father had left when she was only five, wanting to join the Elite Government of Faeond, which was mysterious as it was powerful. After that, he had never been heard of. Little Red always wondered if he had left Faeond entirely, although she didn't know anything of the world outside of it. She couldn't be sure, but she knew that everything about her father made her mother angry. Little Red pulled back after a few seconds, wanting to be able to find the old man before her plans for the days.

"Did you make breakfast?" She asked softly, not really caring if she needed to eat an apple for breakfast, but she knew that it was more polite to ask, just in case. She was inching towards the apples, though. Little Red didn't really like actual meals that much, she preferred snacks like apples and bread.

"Not today sweetie. I need to go out to do something, I probably won't be back until after dinner. Maybe your friend Goldilocks' parents would be kind enough to feed you? Or the Bear family, of course." Little Red's mother said, her voice sounding hollow. Little Red did not realize this of course, since her mother mentioned Goldilocks.

Goldilocks was not Little Red's friend.

"I'm not going to hang out with Goldilocks, not now, not ever!" She said, getting quite annoyed that her mother even would say that, since Little Red thought that it was obvious. Goldilocks had acted nice to her, but Little Red knew it had been just to keep up her persona of being everyone's friend, not that Goldilocks actually cared for her. She grabbed an apple before storming out of the house, not caring to wash it or anything. She just rubbed the apple on her checkered blue dress and went on her way.

The first place Little Red went to was the town inn, where she knew the old man would likely be. After all, he was a stranger, and the only place a stranger would be was in the inn. She walked up to the clerk, messing with her cloak again as she went to ask about the old man.

"Um, excuse me sir," She said, not needing to stand on the stool provided to see over the counter but doing so anyway, since she liked to feel tall. "Did an old man wearing white robes that came here yesterday? Mama Bear wanted me to look for him since he gave me a strange piece of advice." She did over explain what was happening, but it's what she preferred to do.

"Uh, don't think so. This place has been full for three days, no room left." The clerk said, slurring his words strangely. "And no strange old man wearing white robes. Sounds like he belongs in the retirement center. That's what all them wear."

Little Red wondered if this clerk was okay. She wondered if maybe the old man put a spell on the clerk to be like this. She could see a stranger coming into town and doing something like that.

But for the moment, Little Red did not want to talk to this clerk anymore. She was worried he was going to fall and hit his head, which she did not want to deal with.

And with a quick goodbye and turn of her cloak, Little Red ran out to tell Mama Bear about what the clerk told her.