Rapunzel Untangled

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so that I may climb the golden stair.” Forget the ancient nursery rhyme your mother read to you! This Rapunzel is a twenty-first century damsel, complete with computers, Facebook, and Skype. Locked in a tower by a wacky mother who insists Rapunzel will die if she comes in contact with others, this modern day Rapunzel lives a sleepy, boring, little life . . . until she friends Fane on Facebook and the truth is unraveled as he shows her the world outside the tower.
Rapunzel Untangled
is the fun, exciting, and sometimes frightening adventure of 17-year-old Rapunzel as the sleeping beauty awakens and discovers the truth about her life.

—S
HERRY
G
AMMON
, author of
Unlovable

A fun, quirky romance taking an old fairy tale and setting it in the modern world with a fabulously creepy house and swoon-worthy love interest. A very cool twist on a favorite fairy tale, set in the modern world, and combining an interesting mix of original story and fun new ideas. Rapunzel is an incredibly unique love story that kept me second-guessing until the very end.

—J
OLENE
P
ERRY
, author of
Insight

Cindy takes one of my favorite fairy tales and reimagines it in the best possible way.
Rapunzel Untangled
is filled with romance, villains, heroes, magic, and Facebook. Loved it!

—K
AREY
W
HITE
, author of
For What It’s Worth

This book had me from the beginning! I couldn’t put it down. . . . It turns out that Rapunzel doesn’t just sit in her tower all day. She learns about life in her own interesting way, using modern tools like Facebook to educate herself. She takes risks. She’s not just some airhead waiting to be saved. Rapunzel is delightful, Fane is absolutely hilarious, and the story will keep you guessing until the end.

—S
HANNEN
C
RANE
C
AMP
, author of
The Breakup Artist

What I thought was going to be a sweet and innocent fairy tale turned out to be a “tangled” web spun with lies and deceit. Cindy C Bennett’s
Rapunzel Untangled
is a new kind of paranormal novel fraught with intrigue, danger, and believable romance. Every reader who loves original YA will be absorbed by this compelling read.

—R
ACHEL
M
C
C
LELLAN
, author of the Fractured Light series

Take everything you think you know about Rapunzel and throw it out the turret window! Cindy C Bennett brilliantly modernizes the classic tale of the girl with golden locks. Not just another fairy tale,
Rapunzel Untangled
is a riveting, edge-of-your-seat, contemporary romantic thriller. Bennett captivates your senses and holds onto them from start to finish. This is a definitely a book that belongs in your personal library.

—S
TEPHANIE
C
ONNELLEY
W
ORLTON
, author of
Hope’s Journey

Rapunzel Untangled
is everything you’d want from a modern fairy tale retelling: smart, funny, romantic, and true to the spirit of the original story. Ms. Bennett has created a strong heroine that you’ll fall in love with right from the first page, and her dashing hero is absolutely charming. The plot is intriguing, suspenseful, and sometimes dark, but interspersed with humor and heartwarming moments that make this a great read for anyone who loves a good fairy tale. You won’t want to stop reading until you reach the last paragraph—and then you’ll slow down, because you won’t want the story to end.

—H
EATHER
F
ROST
, author of the Seers trilogy

© 2013 Cindy C Bennett

All rights reserved.

 

The views expressed within this work are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Cedar Fort, Inc., or any other entity. This is a work of fiction. The characters, names, incidents, places, and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real.

 

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, whether by graphic, visual, electronic, film, microfilm, tape recording, or any other means, without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles.

 

ISBN 13: 978-1-4621-0362-1

 

Published by Sweetwater Books, an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc., 2373 W. 700 S., Springville, UT 84663

Distributed by Cedar Fort, Inc. www.cedarfort.com

 

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012953785

 

Cover design by Angela D. Olsen

Cover design © 2013 by Lyle Mortimer

Typeset and edited by Melissa J. Caldwell

 

Printed in the United States of America

 

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A
s a young girl, I was endlessly fascinated by fairy tales. From Cinderella to Red Riding Hood to Snow White, I loved them all. I particularly loved Rapunzel. The Rapunzel story I knew was the traditional story where Rapunzel is given away by her father in exchange for some rampion (a type of plant) for his wife. When Rapunzel grows, a prince hears her singing and falls in love, eventually climbing up to be with her. The witch Gothel blinds him when she finds out, cuts off Rapunzel’s hair, and sends her to wander in the forest. The prince finds her when he hears her singing. She then cries over his blindness, her tears being the magic needed to restore his sight. That always fascinated me, the idea of true love being able to find one another no matter the odds (have I told you I’m a romantic?).

When Cedar Fort offered me the chance to write a Rapunzel retelling for Sweetwater Books, I jumped. As I sat down to write it, and began thinking about it, I realized it really is a dark story. No matter the version, the basic premise is always a young girl kidnapped or given away, locked in a tower by a crazy witch, and forced into solitude. I began writing my contemporary retelling and without warning my story became very dark. How could it be anything but, right?

Not to worry, it isn’t a complete downer. There’s humor and romance for my Rapunzel along with the insanity of being locked in a tower for nefarious purposes.

I’ve had a few early readers wonder why no one remarks on her strange name or the coincidental similarities between her life and the Rapunzel fairy tale. Simple, dear reader. The story of Rapunzel doesn’t exist—at least in my Rapunzel’s world. The fairy tale has never been told.
Rapunzel Untangled
is a
retelling
of the original tale. So sit back (or lie in a bubble bath as I do when I’m about to dig into a new book) and let go of all of your preconceived notions of what the story of Rapunzel is, and take a new ride with me. I hope you enjoy. As always, happy reading!

T
he woman stiffened, captivated by the child on the opposite side of the apple-filled bin. Still an infant, arms and legs flailed as she happily batted at a stuffed giraffe hanging from her car seat’s handle. The seat was firmly attached to the front of the shopping cart. The woman felt a shift inside of her:
here
was the child, the one she’d waited for. She admitted that somewhere deep inside she doubted the prophecy and believed what others claimed, that Vedmak was nothing more than a false warlock who only wanted to avail himself of the vast wealth that could be provided by the woman. But now, here was the proof, here was the child that had been foreseen . . . no,
promised
her by Vedmak.

The baby glanced her way and she drew in a quick breath. The bright green eyes that looked at her reflected intelligence above a happy smile. But that wasn’t the thing that had drawn the woman in the first place, though it reinforced the prophecy. Instead it was the thick, long blonde hair that sprouted from the baby’s head. It was pulled up into a bow just above her forehead, with some strands trailing down on the sides, long enough to brush her ears.

She sidled a little closer on the pretense of examining the many red apples spread out before her. From this position, she could hear the conversation between the baby’s mother and another woman wearing a large, floppy hat who appeared to be an acquaintance.

“How old is the sweet baby now?” the acquaintance asked as she took the baby’s tiny hand into her own. The baby cooed and grasped the offered finger. The woman felt a burning in her chest at the audacity of the floppy-hatted woman so freely touching the magical child.

“She turned six months three days ago,” the mother said with a grin that bespoke of both love and exhaustion at the same time. “She’s getting to be such a busybody. She can already scoot, and I suspect it won’t be long before she’s crawling.”

The woman felt a tingle of alarm. Her time was shorter than she thought.

“Her hair is amazing,” the intrusive floppy hat said. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen hair so long on someone her age.”

“Yes,” the mother agreed. “She was born with a shock of blonde hair, and it doesn’t look like it plans to stop growing anytime soon. I’ll have to cut it before long if she’s going to be crawling around. I already have to tie it back for her to scoot.”

The woman’s tingle turned into a full-body screaming alarm. She’d have to act very, very soon or all would be lost. The chatting women turned her way, and she realized she’d made a small squeaking noise. She forced a calmness on her face and smiled politely at them. As if sensing something about her, they moved away as one. The woman grabbed a sack and threw a few apples in. She must appear composed if she were to pull this off. Excitement and dread mingled in her chest until she felt she might explode with it.

She walked to the front of the store and paid for her bag of apples, noticing the young mother a few lines over with her own basket of groceries. As the woman spied the items the young mother had—diapers, baby food, formula—along with the other groceries, she realized she was woefully underprepared. If only she’d listened to the warlock, believed fully in what he had said, she would not be in the predicament she now found herself in and could act immediately.