Summary

Finch tells Alice they should call the cops, but she begins to panic over her mother’s loss. He helps her sit down and says again that her mother must have been taken by people from the real Hinterlands. He tells her a theory that when Althea disappeared, she actually went to the Hinterlands, which many people believe is a country in the north. Finch thinks Althea may have stolen the stories and now someone wants them back. Alice does not tell Finch about the red-haired man, but asks him to tell her about the story of Alice Three-Times. They go to a diner and he begins the story.

Once upon a time, a daughter with black eyes was born to a King and Queen. The Queen despised her and refused to name the child. Two years past and she did not grow. However...