Bedtime Story IV

Anna was locked in the high tower. She sat down and wondered what other awful thing could happen to her. After a couple of hours she started getting hungry. The crows brought her a ham sandwich and two thick slices of bread. "This tastes great." Anna said to the surrounding atmosphere. "Now if I only had something to drink"

Shortly after she said that the ravens returned with a glass of ale. Anna drank the ale down and got a little tipsy. She had never actually had the pleasure of drinking anything other than water before and she underestimated its effects. Once she was done eating and drinking she took a nap.

When she woke up, she spoke to the surrounding atmosphere again and stated, "I sure wish I had the key so I could get out of here." Soon the crows returned with a chocolate eclair. Anna enjoyed her desert but soon was complaining again. The crows returned a second time with some old socks. The third time they returned with graphite tennis rackets from the future. The fourth time they returned with moldy old cheese and finally on the fifth time they returned with a black key.

Anna tried the key in the lock and the door mysteriously opened reveals a set of stairs that lead into the darkness below. Anna slowly tip toed down the stairs so that she would not make any noise. She peeked outside. Everybody was cheering for the farmer’s daughter. They had built this platform with a chair on it for her to sit and the people were carrying her down the street on it. The farmer's daughter had a very satisfied look on her face. Anna just shook her head. She sneaked out of the village and started walking on the road in the direction away from the kingdom she lived in and the forest inhabited by the ruffians.

After she had walked for a while she came upon a man who was sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. "Excuse me sir?" Anna inquired, "But are you alright?"

The man looked up at Anna and after a few minutes and began to get excited. He stood up and looked her over, "That face, it's perfect" he mumbled to himself, "and that body." after another few minutes he spoke louder so Anna could hear what he was saying "Young lady," the man said, "I have a proposition for you."

Upon hearing this, Anna protested, "You can stop right there, sir, I have no intention of marrying you or anybody else."

The man laughed. "Marry!" He let out another hearty laugh, "Good heavens no, my dear", he continued, ”to marry is for fools, causes a man to lose his strength and his sanity. What I have in mind is more profitable, for the both of us"

Anna was intrigued, "I'm listening" she said folding her arms.

"I am a performer, an artist. I do tricks that are sleight of hand. With someone as beautiful as yourself to distract the crowd, I shall become the greatest trickster that ever lived." The man proclaimed.

"You want me to be your eye candy?" Anna asked rolling her eyes.

"Well, since you put it that way, yes! Look, everybody that passes by you stares at you for free, I'm just offering you to get paid for it." He said, "Just think of it, you'll be wealthy beyond your own imagination."

Anna gave a sly smile, "Don't make promises you can't keep, sir." she scolded

"Oh, I'll be able to keep my promises just fine. But where are your hand maidens that wait on your every whim?" the entertainer asked, "Did you send them away because you couldn't afford them?"

"Very funny, ha ha" Anna shot back.

"I'll tell you what, "the man said changing his tone, "Join me on a temporary basis, If you find that things don't go the way I promised, then we will part company and there will be no hard feelings. What do you say?"

Anna thought about it for a while. The entertainer was getting impatient but Anna finally answered him. "I will do it, but you will have to pay me something up front." Anna had not needed money since she left the Castle, but she wasn't sure when the need would arise and it would be nice to have some on hand when that time came.

"You drive a hard bargain, young lady, I liked that about you. It lets me know that you are shrewd and not just a pretty face. That will be quite useful in your new position." the Entertainer took out four coins and handed them to Anna. "This should be a good start." he concluded. Anna took the money.

"Now what do you want me to do?" Anna asked.

"All you have to do is be your pretty little self." the Entertainer replied.

The entertainer got up and collected his things and started walking. Anna followed him. It wasn't long before they entered a village and the entertainer started advertising his show. He was going to perform in the village square and the show was going to start at the end of the day. When the time came the Entertainer set up to perform his act and showed Anna what he wanted her to do during the show.

When the show started, only a few people showed up. The entertainer went through his tricks and the few people that where there enjoyed it very much. They didn't enjoy it because the entertainer was good, but they enjoyed it because they liked his assistant. When the show was done Anna complained about the lack of audience. The Entertainer explained that when the work spread about his amazing show, that there would be more people tomorrow.

When tomorrow came, the entertainer proved correct. The word had spread throughout the day and when the end of the day came, the whole village attended. The entertainer went through his tricks and the crowd was very pleased. The Entertainer was very pleased as well. He did a third show and it too was also a huge success. He split the proceeds with Anna and they left the village to perform in other places.

The entertainer and Anna went to other places and the results were the same. After some time, the entertainer and Anna were becoming rich. One day Anna decided she had enough of people ogling her and decided to part company with the entertainer. The entertainer protested because he had not yet earned enough money to retire. But Anna is insistent and finally the entertainer relented. Anna and the entertainer parted company.

The entertainer was a ruthless man. He hired some thugs to kidnap Anna, take all her money and place her on a ship. So Anna was sold to the captain of a trading ship where she was put to good use, cutting onions deep in the bowels of the ship.

That's all for now, goodnight everybody