Rapunzel: a tale of men and mermaids (working title)
an excerpt

“Who are you?” asked Wesley.

“Call me Mel,” she said with the accent of a high class and well educated Parisian whore. She smiled. “I knew your father,” she said, gently touching his cheek. “You should come see me sometime,” she said a beguiling tone.

“Wesly, get away from her,” ordered Mabel in a tone half angry, half frightened.

She looked Mabel up and down and smirked in a way that she was cruelly amused by what she saw. She turned to Captain Small. “And this dear little frumpy haus frau is, I take it, your great love that you were willing to bargain anything away for?”

Mabel’s check burned red, but she stood up straight and looked Melusine straight in the eye. “Leave. My. House.” she ordered in a steely voice.

Melusine merely laughed. “Oh how quaint – are you going to try and fight me for her? Oh how typically American. You should read the papers more often – Europe has the right idea about not getting in Monsieur Hitler’s way."