Dice Roll: Red Riding Hood, friends, Charon, tower, castle, Olympus, roasting beast, carry stick, cart

One day, while Charyssa was playing all alone, she dropped her favorite ball. As she scrambled to grab it, she accidentally knocked it away; the ball bounced off the stone floor of the parapet and over the crenelated wall. She raced to the edge, fingers splayed wide as she reached over the edge, but the glittering ball of clouds was already hidden from sight.

"Aaawwwww," Charyssa whined as she finally peeled herself away from the cold stones and made her way to the stairs. "Papa said he wouldn't buy me any more toys—I lose them too much. I better go get it. Maybe it's still there!" At that thought, she raced down the winding stone stairs.

She burst out of the tower, eyes anxiously bouncing from the roots of trees to the bunches of grass gathered against the stones. She walked all around the base of the tower, but didn't find the ball.

"Nuts," she whispered, shaking her head sadly. She looked up the edge of the tower, eyeing the top where she'd been playing. Then her gaze swept down the hill from the tower. Directly down the hill from where she'd been playing was the castle. She sighed. "Maybe Bindrick found it." She dragged her feet slowly, pacing back and forth across the hill, following the switch-backing trail from the tower to the castle.

She stopped at the castle, eyeing the wall facing her. Her ball wasn't resting there, stopped from its rolling journey by the curtain wall of the castle. A clump of grass caught her eye, the stems bent and broken. She looked at it closely, fingers tracing the curved indent the bent grass leaves outlined.

"It might've been here. If it was, someone already picked it up." She straightened as she sighed, mumbling under her breath, "Bindrick. Wonder how much he'll demand this time..."

She walked around the wall until she found the gate. Luckily, the portcullis was still open for the day, so she walked inside unchallenged.

Inside the wall, she crossed the dusty courtyard, stepping carefully around the animals and the dung, and knocked as hard as she could on the castle door.

The castle steward, in maroon and silver livery, opened the door.

"Yes?" The man looked down. "Ah. Young Charyssa. Have you come to see Master Wendell? He didn't warn me you were coming over... Though, he does tend to forget to tell me when he has friends coming."

"No," Charyssa said quietly. "I... um..." she fidgeted, twirling her hair between her fingers and shifting from foot to foot, balancing on the outer edges of her shoes. "I dropped my ball and it rolled down the hill to here. I... wondered if anyone had picked it up?"

The steward paused a moment, stroking his chin in concentration. Finally, he asked, "Can you describe your ball, Charyssa? It wasn't the special one your father got on his business trip, was it?"

Charyssa tried not to let her chin quiver as she looked down in shame and whispered, "Yes, it was."

The steward nodded and stepped to the side of the doorway, gesturing her in. "Come inside and come with me, then. I suspect I know who has your ball now."

Charyssa walked in, head hung low, mumbling to herself, "It's Bindrick, isn't it? He always finds the things I drop, then asks for money to return them..."

As they walked through drafty stone corridors, passing by colorful tapestries, a younger child came running up.

"Charyssa!" The young boy paused to straighten the thin silver circlet that had slid to hang cockeyed on his head, an arc of the circlet passing over his eye. He ran over to the steward and the girl, brushing light brown hair out of his face. "Charyssa! Are you here to play? Come on! I got a new train set and more knight and dragon figures! We can play knights and dragons!"

"Master Wendell," the steward acknowledged the youth with a bow.

Charyssa sighed as she looked over at the younger child. "No, Wendell. Sorry. I can't play today."

Wendell's face fell. "Oh. Did your dad send you with stuff for Dad?"

"No. I'm not a messenger today."

"Then you can play!" Wendell said brightly. He grabbed one of her hands in both of his own. "Come on! Come play dragons with me!"

Charyssa pulled her hand up out of his grasp. "No, Wendell. I'm not here to play. I dropped my ball from the tower; it rolled down the hill and now I can't find it. Your steward was bringing me to who he thinks has it now."

Wendell pouted, puckering his lips and crossing his arms, mumbling, "It's probably Bindrick. He's a bully. Always finding things and demanding my allowance to get it back..."

"I need to go, Wendell."

Wendell grabbed her hand once more. "Don't go see my brother! He's a bully! Just come play with me! You can play with my toys!"

"I can't, Wendell. This ball was special. I need to get it back."

"Awww," Wendell whined. He trundled off down the corridor, shoulders slumped.

Charyssa looked up at the steward. "Sorry for keeping you from your duties. Can we continue?"

The steward nodded and turned without a word, walking briskly through the corridors.

They emerged from the dim hallways out on the sunlit parapet, Charyssa rapidly blinking her eyes against the brightness.

An older boy stood, looking out over the surrounding forest, toward the river. A silver circlet held down his messy curls and flashed in the sunlight. Also glittering in the sun was the ball full of clouds he held in his open hand, idly rolling it around his palm.

"Master Bindrick," the steward greeted, bowing. "Young Charyssa of the watchtower here to see you." His task completed, the steward turned and left.

"Took your time getting here," Bindrick noted as he turned to face Charyssa. He looked at the glittering ball of clouds in his hand. "I was beginning to think you didn't want this back."

Charyssa sighed, pausing briefly before taking in a breath and saying, "Thank you for finding my ball, Bindrick. Please can—"

"That's Master Bindrick to you," Bindrick interrupted with a scowl. "Your father is my father's vassal. Your father works the watchtower; my father is lord of these lands. Show me proper respect if you expect to talk to me."

Charyssa swallowed her words, frowning, as she looked at the older boy. After taking another breath, she said, "Master Bindrick, you should stop trying to put on airs. Everyone knows, even if your father is lord of these lands, you're still just a person, like us." She swallowed and clapped a hand over her mouth. Ooops. I said that out loud. Her eyes fell from his frowning face to the ball in his hand. "Please, Master Bindrick, it was kind of you to retrieve my ball, which I carelessly dropped; will you please return it to me?"

He smirked. "Two pleases in one sentence. I knew the ball was a rarity—there aren't many that hold the image of the temple above the clouds—but it must mean something special to you if you are almost begging for it." His smirk grew into a cruel leer. "So, given its rarity, it has a lot of value. However, I need to temper that with the knowledge you don't have a lot of money, and I do want you to be able to reclaim your lost toy..."

"Please, Bindrick, don't—" she reached out to him, trying to stop his next words.

"Ten gold pieces, and you can have it back," he declared, holding the ball above his head, well out of reach of her reaching hands.

The glittering ball rose out of his palm, slowly spinning, the clouds inside turning dark and stormy. As lightning bolts and crackling thunder chased each other inside the orb, the ball shot upward, then flew off, glinting in the sun as a disappeared.

Bindrick stared off to the horizon, where the ball had disappear, mouth slightly open.

"UGH," Charyssa groaned, hands going to her face. "Now you've done it... I'll never get it back." She dropped her hands and glared up at the older boy. "Olympus balls can't be bought or sold! They can only be given!"

"Why didn't you say that?" Bindrick snarled.

"I was trying to! You wouldn't let me finish!"

"Don't pin this on me! You're the one who lost your ball in the first place! You're always dropping things from the tower! I had to start charging you to return them so maybe you'd learn to be more careful! Maybe now you'll finally learn!"

Charyssa looked out toward the river, where the last glint of the ball had disappeared. "AGH! What can I tell my father now? That was a gift from Zeus himself!"

"Well, you have two choices," Bindrick replied soberly. "You can either give up and go back to the tower and admit you've lost it, or go find it." He turned and walked away. "Either way, it has nothing to do with me. Good day, Charyssa."

Charyssa leaned against the thick stone wall, peering out over the trees to where the winding river glinted silver in the sunlight. "Would I even be able to find it?" she mumbled. "It might've zoomed all the way back to Zeus, for all I know!" She sighed and pushed herself off from the sun-warmed stone. "Just to the river," she whispered to herself as she went down the stairs and traced her way back out of the castle. "I'll search for it, and if I don't find it by the time I get to the river, I'll go home and tell Dad what happened... Maybe he won't be so mad..." She swallowed as she stepped out of the castle. "He'll be furious. But, it's not my fault the ball flew away—that was Bindrick. He's the one who tried to make me pay for it..."

She walked down to the path from the castle to the road and followed the packed dirt into the woods.

After walking for what felt like hours, she stepped off the road to rest, leaning against a tree. She had seen no sign of her ball, and she contemplated giving up.

The sound of singing voices and laughter, punctuated by creaking, met her ears, causing her to straighten.

A wagon, pulled by four ambling oxen, came into view. The front bench held three men, the middle man holding the reins. A second bench held two women, who sang as the cart rolled along.

The man with the reins pulled on them, causing the oxen to stop. He looked over at Charyssa.

"Hi! You need a ride? We're heading to Daunten-over-Bedge!"

Charyssa approached the wagon slowly, eyeing the five occupants. "Um. Sure. I'm only going to the river, though."

"No problem! We'll leave you at the dock of the ferryman when we board to be ferried across!" The man waved her over. "Come on, get on! There's room in the back for one more."

One of the men jumped down to help Charyssa up into the wagon, the women on the bench reaching down to also help pull her up. Charyssa noticed a couple sticks with bundles tied at one end stashed amidst the chests and sacks in the back.

"We always pick up weary travellers who need to give their feet a rest!" the man announced as he cracked the whip and jostled the reins against the oxens' backs. "Just get comfortable and enjoy the ride."

The woman beside Charyssa smiled and pulled a tin of biscuits from the pocket of her large crimson cloak. "Here. You look hungry."

Charyssa nodded. "Thank you."

She munched on biscuits as the wagon rolled forward, the women resuming singing. One of the men tried to join in, making the harmony turn discordant until he was elbowed by the man holding the reins, the other man laughing.

They came to the river after a few hours, the sun beginning to sink toward the horizon.

The wide, low barge sat tied to the pier, a smaller boat also pulled ashore. Three men stood on the boards of the pier, talking and laughing.

As the cart approached, the men on the pier called out to the driver, "Good evening! Are you looking to cross the river before dark?"

"Yes, I am," the man replied. "You still ferrying for the day?"

"You'll be the last trip!" one of the men on the pier replied. "Even with lanterns, this river is treacherous at night."

The man holding the reins tugged at them, stopping the wagon. He turned to Charyssa. "Well, I think this is where you get off, girl. Good luck with your journey."

Charyssa hopped off the wagon. "Thanks for the ride!"

Two of the men on the pier came forward to help guide the oxen and cart onto the ferry barge. Soon, the cartload of five people were settled onto the barge and the two men grabbed up their long sticks and began pushing the barge out onto the river.

The third man from the pier looked over to Charyssa. "Hey. You came up on that wagon. You supposed to be aboard? I can catch up to them and get ya there." He jerked a thumb at the boat, hauled up on the shore.

Charyssa tore her eyes from the waving people on the wagon. "Huh? Oh. No, they were just giving me a ride to the river."

"Ah." He turned and walked a little way up from the shoreline, to where a tent was pegged near a small stone fire ring. "You planning on just walking up or down the river?" He knelt by the fire ring as he spoke, carefully lighting a fire. "If you can wait 'til morning, I can save your legs some walking. We'll take the boat."

"Oh... No. But thank you," Charyssa replied. She cast her gaze around the landing, eyes darting over all the tussocks of grass and divots in the dirt where her ball may have fallen. "I'm just... looking for something. If it's not here, I need to go back home. Mom and Dad are probably worried that I'm out so late."

"Gonna be dark soon," the man replied as he set up a spit with an unidentified beast over the fire. "Too late to be walking the woods. 'specially by yourself."

"I'll be fine..." Charyssa mumbled, glancing back down the road, into the darkening woods. The long shadows made everything look menacing. In the distance, a wolf pack howled, then yipped as a creature roared.

"Tell ya what, kiddo," the man said, coming to stand beside her. "I'll get a message to your parents, let them know you're all right. You'll stay here with me tonight, so I can make sure none of the baddies in the woods get ya, then come morning, I'll walk ya home." He clasped her shoulder and she looked up at him. "Sound good?"

She nodded. A breeze brought the scent of the roasting beast to her nostrils and her stomach growled.

He chuckled and patted her shoulder as he returned to the fire, turning the spit. "Dinner'll be ready in a few. I'm Eldric, by the way."

"Charyssa," she replied, coming to sit on a rock near the fire.

"Well, Charyssa, what is it you're looking for?"

"I... um. I lost something."

"Clearly, if ya gotta look for it. Can ya tell me what it is? Or is it some kinda secret? I been travelling up and down the river all day—maybe I saw it."

"It's... my ball," Charyssa admitted quietly. She launched into the tale of the events of that morning, Eldric just nodding silently as he listened.

Once the story was concluded, Eldric stood and walked down the his boat on the shore. Bending down, he retrieved something and returned to the fire.

"This the one you're looking for?" he asked as he dropped a glittering ball of clouds into her lap, the stone facade of the temple barely visible through the clouds. "Dropped into my boat early afternoon. Lucky it didn't make a hole and sink my ship!"

She gasped as she cupped her hands around the orb, watching as the clouds parted to reveal Olympus. "Yes! Yes, this is the one I lost!" She looked over to him. "Thank you so much!"

"Well, good. Now, dinner's ready, so let's eat. And tomorrow, I'll see you home."

Charyssa sat happily by the fire late into the night, listening as Eldric spun wild tales of his adventures on the river.