Sleeping Princesses Part 4 of 5

Hello, reader. We've almost got this whole story posted! If you haven't read part 1, start there. Otherwise, continue reading below. The final update for this story will be posted Tuesday at noon.

              “We did it! She’s awake!” Roman said.

               Snow blinked her eyes open.

“Have you got a death wish?!” Emil yelled at her.

“No,” Snow said carefully. “What happened?” She was inside the cabin, lying on the table with candles around and her hair was wet. There were strange, thick smells in the air.

“The comb that little boy gave you was poisoned,” Jozef said quietly.

“What?” Snow was fully awake now. “Why would a little boy want to poison me?”

“It’s the queen’s magic,” Vit said.

Jozef sighed. “It seems like the queen gave it to him to give to you.”

“But how could she be sure he would come here?” Snow asked.

Emil shrugged. “All she had to do was follow some kid from the castle into the forest, get him lost, and give him the comb to give to you. Easy enough to do with her magic. What I don’t understand is why you put it in your hair.”

“I thought it was fine,” Snow said. “What happened after that?”

“We had to cleanse the poison out of you,” Vit supplied. “We had to wash your hair.”

“You just washed it?” Snow asked.

“We did a lot more than that!” Emil snapped. “You almost died! Think before you take anything else from a stranger, girl. This queen is dead set on killing you.”

“I know,” Snow said, slowly sitting up. “I still don’t understand why. I barely know her.”

“Maybe it’s political,” Vit offered.

“No, can’t be,” Emil snapped back. “Since when has this queen taken any interest in politics? She’s been far too busy trying to be the most beautiful in the kingdom.”

“I think I’m going to go to bed,” Snow said, standing up.

“Do you want supper first?” Jozef asked.

“Oh. Right. Yes, please.” Snow sat in one of the chairs and she wiped away the intricate salt designs that were on the table to make some space. She barely tasted the food, but she ate everything in front of her before standing up and heading to her room. This was twice in two days she’d nearly been killed. Out of nowhere, Snow remembered the old gardener at Aurora’s castle. He’d been so worried they were going to die climbing the little trees in the garden. “If he could see me now,” Snow thought, laughing.

She laid down in bed, her laughter quickly replaced by fear. She wished Aurora was there to cuddle with. Snow’s stepmother might try to kill her again tomorrow, and she might keep trying until she succeeded. It was a long night for Snow, but eventually, she fell asleep.

~*~

               The next morning, Snow woke up, found her protection stone and put it back in her pocket, and headed downstairs. Vit was waiting for her again.

               “So, what should I do?” Snow asked.

               “The others should be back with the horses tomorrow,” Vit answered her. “Jozef will take you the next day to Aurora’s castle and get you out of this kingdom. That should stop your stepmother.”

               Snow nodded. “Thank you for taking me to Aurora.”

               Vit looked away. “It’s the least we could do. And it’s obvious you’re going to go there wherever we try to take you.”

               “I’m glad you figured that out,” Snow replied. She sighed. “Have you eaten yet?”

               Vit nodded, so Snow got herself some breakfast and settled at the table with him.

               “I guess I’m not talking to any strangers today,” Snow said after a moment.

               Vit nodded again. “That would probably be for the best. Also, you should stay inside the house.”

               Snow smiled a little. “I can do that. Is there anything upstairs I should clean?”

               “Oh. You still want to clean?”

               Snow shrugged. “It’s going to be a very long day if I’m just sitting here with nothing to do. And I promised to clean while I was here.”

               “I suppose that’s true,” Vit replied slowly. “Well, as long as you stay in the house, I think it will be fine.”

               Snow nodded. “Is your house protected?”

               “Oh yes. That was one of the first things we did when we moved out here.”

               “How did you all come to be out here, anyway?”

               Vit hesitated. “We tried to make our way in the world, but we found out quickly that the world didn’t want us there. So we ended up here and we went back to mining. Stick with what you know, right?”

               “There’s more to the story than that,” Snow objected.

               Vit shrugged. “Surely.”

               After a moment, Snow sighed and shook her head. “Well, I may as well start out by cleaning the dishes again.”

               Snow tried to keep herself busy all morning while Vit was replaced by Roman. Then they had lunch. Lunch was tense and quiet and three of the dwarves seemed to run away once it was done, leaving Snow with Jozef.

               “So what exactly did you all do yesterday after I passed out?” Snow asked.

               Jozef looked at her for a moment. “I called the others back here and I got you inside as quickly as I could. I didn’t know if the queen was going to come by and try something.”

               “You called the others? How?”

               “We have an emergency communication system set up between here and the mine,” Jozef answered. “We haven’t always been welcome, so we’ve taken a few precautions out here.”

               “Oh.”

               “While I was waiting for them, I took a look at the magic on you and I knew it was that comb. It started putting out poison once you put it in your hair, so we had to be very careful getting it out. Then we had to get all of that poison out of you. We did wash your hair, but there was a lot more to it than that. I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to get it all.” Jozef swallowed and looked at the floor. “Look, Snow, we can’t let you die here.”

               “Because I’m the princess of the realm?” Snow asked.

               “And because of who you are. You’ve taken all of this in stride, even when you were pretending to be a servant. None of us wants to let you die. That’s why Emil was yelling at you as soon as you woke up. He was worried.”

               “Emil gets worried?” Snow joked.

               “We were all worried. I’ve never seen a poison like that and I’m scared about what the queen is going to try next.” Jozef hesitated. Then, in a smaller voice, he admitted, “I’m not sure if we can stop her if she tries again.”

               Snow set down the duster and sat next to Jozef. “I’m not going to die, okay? I’m staying inside the house today and not talking to anyone else. It’ll be fine.” Inside, Snow was shaking, but she didn’t know how to tell Jozef that. She had always been the strong one for Aurora and now she was being the strong one again.

               “I hope so,” Jozef said, patting her knee. He sighed and stood up. “I think I heard Emil downstairs. How about you stay here until I’m sure?”

               Snow knew exactly what he wasn’t saying, but she just nodded. Jozef left the guest room where Snow had been cleaning and shut the door behind him. She heard him walking quietly down the stairs and making it to the first floor. Then she didn’t hear anything.

               Snow tried to convince herself that everything was fine, but it was hard not to be worried. Then she heard someone walking up the steps. Would it be better to stay where she was so she didn’t make any noise, or should she try to grab a weapon? It was probably Emil. They’d said the house was guarded. The doorknob turned and the door opened.

               Snow had never been so glad to see Emil. She sighed in relief and stood up. “Oh, it’s you.”

               “Who did you think it was?” Emil asked.

               Snow shook her head.

               “Jozef got you worried, huh? He does that.” Emil looked around the room. “Anything left to clean in here?”

               “No,” Snow admitted.

               “Good. Let’s head downstairs. I want to keep an eye out for Vlad, Marcel, and Havel. They should be back any minute now.”

               “Sure.”

               They headed downstairs and Snow put all of the cleaning stuff away.

               “Most princesses wouldn’t spend three days cleaning just because someone asked them to,” Emil admitted.

               Snow considered. “Aurora would. You’d barely have to ask her. Sometimes she’s too nice for her own good.”

               “I know all about that,” Emil said. “This whole contract with the king. None of us are against it, but Jozef was ready to jump on board before we even heard the terms. He’d give away the mine if he thought he should.”

               Snow chuckled and nodded. Then something caught her eye out front. There was a motion almost too quick to see and then it resolved into three horses standing in the yard with three dwarves on their backs.

               “Oh good,” Emil said. “They’re back. And they’ve brought a lot with them.” He looked at Snow and made a calculation. “Stay in the house. I’m going to help them unload.”

               “I could help,” Snow offered.

               “I know, but just in case. You’ll be safe inside.”

               Snow sighed, but nodded. “All right.”

               Emil headed outside and Snow watched them through the window. She saw Emil gesturing and pointing into the house. She supposed he was explaining about her. The other three dwarves nodded and didn’t seem too concerned. Really, she was as safe now as she’d ever been out here. Maybe her stepmother wasn’t going to try again today. Snow relaxed and headed to the back of the house. She didn’t want to see Emil explain any more about her.

               Something caught her eye and Snow looked out toward the dwarves’ garden. There was a woman out there. Was she stealing some of their food? Snow debated about confronting the woman or getting the dwarves, but she found herself just standing there and watching. Then the woman drew nearer to the house. It was almost like Snow couldn’t focus on the woman. She couldn’t see anything about her. But she looked pregnant.

               “Hello,” the woman said. Her voice sounded like it should be familiar.

               “Hello,” Snow replied. There couldn’t be any harm in talking.

               “Here.” The woman offered Snow an apple. It was beautiful. A bright red that spoke of how sweet the fruit would be.

               Snow’s mouth watered, but she shook her head. “No.” Why was it so hard to speak?

               “Here.” The woman thrust the apple at Snow.

               Snow shook her head and tried to open her mouth again, but her hand was reaching out through the open window and taking the apple. She opened her mouth to say no, but the apple came closer, and Snow found herself biting into it.

               She pulled the apple away from her face and looked at the bite she had taken. “What did I just do?” she wondered.

               The woman in front of Snow became clear just for a moment. Just long enough for Snow to see her laughing and laughing until everything went dark.

Katelin/Caleb

Hello, reader. Last week, we looked at the Ancient Greek story of Caenis/Caeneus. This week, I'm putting a modern spin on it. Sorry. No gods or goddesses in this one.

The ocean gives and takes away, but not always in ways we expect.

Katelin floated on the water, letting the waves move her back toward shore. She loved swimming. Nothing mattered when she floated on the ocean like now. It was peaceful and she could almost forget how wrong she felt in her skin. Then the waves changed and Katelin found herself underwater.

She opened her eyes, but she was disoriented and it was hard to tell which way was up. It was even more difficult with the ocean slamming her body around. Katelin tried to calm down and let herself float upward, but there was no up. There was just the violent ocean, trying to take something from her. She closed her eyes.

Then Katelin started coughing, drawing sweet air into her lungs and realized she was on land. A woman she didn't know was leaning over her. "Are you all right?" the woman asked. Katelin realized this woman was a lifeguard.

Katelin nodded and tried to sit up. The lifeguard gently pushed her back down. "The ambulance will be here soon."

"Ambulance?" Katelin croaked out. "I'm fine."

The ambulance got there before Katelin could argue much more. As one of the EMTs pointed out to her, she almost died.

So, Katelin's parents met them at the hospital and Katelin went through a few tests. All Katelin could think about was how she almost died. And how at least whatever was wrong with her would go away if she had drowned.

But Katelin didn't want to give up. Life was too short to feel like this. So, Katelin began trying to figure out what was wrong. She wore clothes that didn't fit so tightly and got a pixie cut for her hair. But it didn't really click into place until a cashier called her "young man". And it felt right.

Katelin began by looking at names. She didn't really know where she was going with this until she saw the name Caleb. She said it out loud. "Nice to meet you. My name's Caleb." It felt so right that Caleb started to cry. That was his name now.

It was easier than he thought coming out to his parents. "Sweetie, we know you've been unhappy and if it makes you happy to be Caleb, then we're here for that," his mom said.

His dad nodded. "I guess I get a son after all," he joked. Then Caleb's dad pulled him in for a quick hug. Just like he would give to any other guy.

Before, anything the other kids said at school would cut right to the heart. Now the teasing got worse from some, but Caleb finally liked himself. And the people who mattered liked him too. As time went by, Caleb grew a thicker skin. Their words couldn't hurt him. anymore.

It was a long road ahead, but at least now Caleb knew he was on the right road. He felt so light and free. Just like a golden bird in the sky.

Sleeping Princesses Part 3 of 5

Hello, reader. We're up to part 3 of this engaging story. If you haven't read part 1, start there. Otherwise, keep reading. This story will update on Tuesdays and Saturdays until it's all up.

               Jozef had been right. Snow woke up after the dwarves had left the house. Snow staggered downstairs and found that one of them had left some porridge for her. Gratefully, Snow scooped it up and ate it. When she was done, she found a stack of dishes in the sink. At least they had a pump inside their house.

               Hoping they used this pump often, Snow began pumping water into the sink. It ran clear and Snow quickly found the soap and began washing the dishes. It was clear the dwarves had let them pile up and Snow found herself scrubbing to get everything off. Eventually, the dishes were done, dry, and Snow had managed to put them all away. She looked around the cabin, figuring out what to clean next. As she looked around, she happened to look up. The rafters were dusty and full of spiderwebs.

               Snow sighed. It made sense that it would be much more difficult for the dwarves to reach these ceilings, since the cabin seemed to have been made for humans. Still, it was going to be a difficult day if she had to reach up for that long. But, they expected her to clean to earn her place here, and Snow wasn’t one to take a handout. She walked over to the closet and found a broom and a few rags to wrap around her hair and her face. This was going to get messy.

               She was stopped by a knock on the door. Wondering who would be out here, Snow answered it.

               An old woman stood on the doorstep with a basket in her hand. “I’m afraid I’m a little turned around,” she said. “Can I have a drink of water?”

               “Of course,” Snow said, inviting the old woman in. Maybe the dwarves knew this woman. Snow didn’t want to make any enemies, even if she wasn’t here for very long.

               The old woman sat down at the table and Snow got her some water from the pump. The old woman set her basket on the table and took a big drink.

               Curious, Snow looked in the basket. It was full of ribbons. Immediately, Snow thought about the ribbons in her bodice. One of the differences in fashion in her kingdom versus Aurora’s was the closely fitted bodices the women wore. Snow hadn’t gotten the right size of ribbons for her bodice, and she wasn’t sure how to lace them up anyway. It was something they were going to fix soon, but Snow couldn’t be bothered and now she didn’t have the chance.

               “Any of them catch your eye?” the old woman asked, indicating the basket.

               Snow turned away. “I’m afraid I don’t have any money.”

               “I can spare a ribbon for a drink of water. Come, child. Let me lace you up properly.”

               It felt like so long since someone had wanted to take care of Snow like this. Queen Emilia was far away and Snow hadn’t connected like that with anyone in her castle. Smiling a little, she turned around and let the old woman fix her bodice.

               “Are you sure they’re supposed to be so tight?” Snow asked, her hand involuntarily going to her chest.

               “Oh yes,” the old woman reassured her. “They stretch as you wear them, so you have to start with them laced up tight.”

               “Oh.” Snow didn’t have much breath for more.

               “Thank you for the water,” the old woman said, grabbing her basket. “I think I know the way back now. Have a good day.”

               “You too,” Snow managed, watching the old woman leave. The ribbons would stretch, huh? Snow sat down, feeling a little lightheaded. Any minute now, she should be able to breathe a bit better. Snow started thinking about the old woman. Hadn’t she looked a little familiar? Maybe not in the way she looked, but in the way she moved. Snow had seen someone else use those gestures. She was trying to puzzle it out when everything slowly faded to black and Snow collapsed to the floor.

~*~

               Snow sucked in a huge breath. She was on the floor of the dwarves’ cottage, laying on her side, but for a moment, all she could think about was being able to breathe again.

               “I’m telling you, someone tried to kill her,” Emil snapped.

               “And I’m telling you not to jump to conclusions,” Roman replied.

               “How are you feeling?” Jozef asked Snow.

               “Glad to breathe,” Snow replied. “I didn’t know bodices were so tight in this kingdom.”

               “They’re not,” Jozef replied, confused.

               “You would know,” Emil replied.

               Jozef’s lips thinned and Snow could see him choosing not to reply. “Who told you that?” he asked Snow instead as he helped her sit up.

               “There was an old woman who had a basket of ribbons. I thought you all might know her, so I let her come in. She helped me with my bodice.”

               Emil snorted. “Helped you? Girl, she strung you up with wire. We had to cut your bodice to let you breathe again.”

               Snow looked down and saw the slit up the side of her bodice. It was the only one she had.

               “Is there anyone who wants you dead?” Jozef asked.

               Reflexively, Snow was about to say no, but she stopped to think. “Well…”

               “Your stepmother, perhaps?” Emil asked.

               “What do you mean?” Snow asked, stammering.

               “Look, we all know you’re the princess who just came back. It’s too much coincidence that she disappeared the same day you came here and you look like her,” Vit said.

               “I don’t know what you mean,” Snow said, wondering if she should run.

               “No one here wants to hurt you,” Jozef told her soothingly. “We just want to help you. Have you seen this old woman before?”

               Snow hesitated. “She reminded me of my stepmother, but they don’t look anything alike.”

               “She probably used magic,” Roman opinioned. The other dwarves began to protest, but Roman replied, “She can do magic. You all know it. And if that’s true and she wants Snow dead…”

               They all looked at Snow.

               “The next attack might be something even worse,” Emil finished quietly.

               Snow was frozen. “But I didn’t do anything. I barely even know her.”

               “You’re pretty,” Jozef told her. “That’s all it takes, I guess.”

               “Has she tried to kill anyone else who came here?” Snow asked, desperately.

               The dwarves were quiet. “No,” Vit admitted.

               “Then there’s got to be something else. Something I can explain to her.”

               “She’s mad,” Roman said. “Crazy and with magic. Not a good combination.”

               “What do we do?” Snow asked.

               The dwarves were silent and Snow’s heart dropped.

               “Oh,” she said, standing up. She was a little lightheaded, but she found her balance after a moment. “Just point me in the direction of Aurora’s castle.”

               “You can’t just leave,” Jozef protested. “We’re charged to take care of everyone who comes to us looking for shelter.” He glared at the other dwarves and one by one, their gazes all dropped to the floor. “She may have magic, but we have older magic still. We can protect you. And we’ve been charged to.”

               “She is the princess of the realm,” Vit pointed out.

               The dwarves all nodded solemnly.

               “For now, take this.” Roman handed Snow a small rock.

               “What is it?” she asked, turning it over and looking at it.

               “A protection spell,” Vit explained. “It guards against most magical attacks. She’ll have to get in close to hurt you again.”

               Snow shivered. If that really had been her stepmother, she didn’t want to see that woman again.

               “Once the others get back with the horses, we can get you out of here,” Jozef said. “We can get you far away from her.”

               “How long until they get back?” Snow asked.

               “Two more days.” Roman kicked the ground. “I told you we shouldn’t have let them take all of the horses.”

               “They needed them to transport everyone,” Jozef replied. “And that’s neither here nor there now. We’ll do what we can. This witch won’t get past us a second time.”

~*~

               The next morning, Snow made sure to put her protection stone in her pocket. It really didn’t look like it was capable of protecting her from anything, but she wanted all the help she could get. Again, Snow wished Aurora were here. Not that Aurora would have any better idea of how to protect her from a homicidal witch, but Snow would feel a lot safer in Aurora’s arms than anywhere else in the world.

               Swallowing the lump in her throat, Snow headed downstairs. They had managed to find another set of clothes for her, and Snow planned on fixing her bodice today. At least Queen Emilia had been patient enough to teach her basic needlework.

               When she came down to breakfast, Snow was surprised to see Vit sitting at the table waiting for her. “Is everything all right?” Snow asked.

               “So far, yes,” Vit replied. “We’re not leaving you alone today. That protection stone can do some to help you, but one of us can send that crazy lady packing in a heartbeat.”

               Snow suddenly teared up. “Am I going to die?” she asked.

               “What? No! Just because some hopped up queen thinks you’re too pretty to live doesn’t mean she’s going to be able to kill you. You’re with us. We’ll stop her, sure enough.”

               Snow couldn’t help but smile. “Well thank you. I’m so glad you’re all willing to help me.”

               Vit grunted. “We’d have to whether we wanted to or not. You’re the princess of the realm. And we’re in a contract with your dad to help everyone who’s seeking shelter from his wife. But you’re a nice young lady and we’d hate to see you get killed.”

               “Oh. I didn’t know it worked that way.” Snow got herself some porridge from the pot and sat down across from him at the table.

               “I knew you grew up in another kingdom, but didn’t they teach you anything?”

               “Of course they did. I just didn’t know about this.”

               Vit studied her for a moment. “Did they tell you about the curse on Princess Aurora?”

               “No.” Snow was surprised at the bitterness in her voice.

               “Then they left out some pretty important things, it seems to me.”

               “Do you know how to break her curse?”

               “Me? Nah. It was set by some pissed off fairy. Their magic and ours don’t mix well. And I’d have to see it to know if I could do anything about it.”

               “Oh.”

               “When all else fails, fairies are always a sucker for true love’s kiss, though,” Vit offered.

               “True love’s kiss? I don’t even know the fairy that set the spell.”

               Vit laughed. “Well, it’s never true love for the fairy, but for the person affected by the spell. So in this case it would be Aurora.”

               “Do you think it would work?”

               Vit shrugged. “It usually does, but maybe this fairy sealed up that loophole. Can’t rightly say without looking at it.”

               Snow sighed and finished her breakfast. Then she set her spoon down. “Well, I guess I’d better keep cleaning. I was going to start on the rafters yesterday before…” She trailed off and stood up to do the dishes.

               “That suits me fine,” Vit said. “Roman will be along in a bit to trade places with me. Then we’ll all come back for lunch and Jozef will stay with you until Emil trades places with him. Then we’ll all come home from the mine. As long as I can keep an eye on you, I don’t much care what you do.”

               “I did agree to clean in order to stay here,” Snow reminded him.

               “That you did.”

               So, Snow cleaned the dishes and prepared herself again to clean the rafters. She had made decent progress on that by the time Roman came along and sent Vit to the mine. Roman was sneezing and coughing from all of the dust Snow raised, but when she asked if she should stop, Roman shook his head. “Better get it over with,” he told her. He tied a cloth over his face and that helped a bit.

               By lunch time, Snow had finished cleaning the rafters and was starting to gather all of the dust and cobwebs into a pile on the floor. The dwarves tromped into the house and looked around.

               “You didn’t clean off the table,” Emil said.

               Snow blushed and then got angry. “I didn’t realize what time it was,” she snapped, walking over and wiping it down with the rag she had been using to cover her face.

               “What he means to say is that the rafters look great,” Jozef said, stepping inside. “Would you like to join us for lunch?”

               “Thank you,” Snow replied, trying to master her temper. At least one of these men was nice. She washed up and joined them at the freshly cleaned table for a thick stew that had been cooking all day. Over lunch, Snow found out these dwarves worked in a gem mine. One of them had brought home a sapphire to show the others and Snow’s eyes about popped out of her head.

               “Why do you live like this when you have something so valuable?” she asked. “You could live in a castle!”

               The dwarves looked at her and laughed. “And make ourselves a target for every ruffian in the forest? No thank you,” Vit responded.

               “No one knows how much we really make from those mines,” Roman boasted.

               “Or where they are,” Emil said, cautioning.

               Snow got the hint and didn’t ask. “But you could afford to hire someone to cook and clean for you.”

               “But then our guests would have nothing to do,” Jozef pointed out. “We must all contribute.”

               “Has anyone ever asked to stay here?” Snow asked, curious.

               The dwarves all looked at each other.

               “Yes,” Jozef admitted. “But it doesn’t usually work out.”

               “Poor fool fell in love with you,” Emil laughed at Jozef. “Imagine! A human and a dwarf!”

               “Really?” Snow asked Jozef.

               Jozef shrugged, looking at his plate.

               “I don’t see what’s so odd about it,” Snow said, looking at Emil.

               “You don’t? Are you in love with him too?”

               “No,” Snow replied. “I don’t even know him. I just don’t think there’s anything to laugh about. If two people love each other, what’s the harm?”

               Emil shook his head. “Not everyone thinks like you, dearie. And there are those who are violent about it, so maybe don’t go trumpeting something like that.”

               Snow had never seen someone get violent about something like that, but she knew there was more that Emil wasn’t saying, and she did her best to let it go.

               The atmosphere around the table was tense and uncomfortable and Snow was glad when she dwarves left to go back to the mine. She was wondering if she’d said the wrong thing and she was glad Jozef was staying with her so she could apologize.

               Snow walked over to him and started to speak. Before she could get a word out, he looked at her and said, “Thank you.”

               “You’re welcome,” she managed. “I didn’t mean to bring up anything uncomfortable.”

               Jozef shrugged and looked at the floor. “It was bound to happen sooner or later with all the pretty girls coming through. I just didn’t think her fiancé would come looking for her.”

               “Oh.” Snow swept the floor a little. “What happened?”

               Jozef sighed. “He came here to bring her back, saying we’d kidnapped her. It didn’t matter what she said. He dragged her away.”

               “Couldn’t you stop him?”

               Jozef gave a short, humorless laugh. “A dwarf attack a human? And over his fiancée? Not a great idea.” He swallowed. “I would have, but she was begging me not to. Saying she would come back when she could. That was about a year ago.”

               “I’m sorry,” Snow said awkwardly. Aurora was much better at things like this.

               Jozef shook himself. “It’s in the past. And you don’t need to worry about it. I’m fine.”

               Even Snow could tell he was lying, but she didn’t know what to say next to him.

               “What was it like growing up in that other kingdom?” Jozef asked, searching for a better topic of conversation.

               “It was great,” Snow replied with a smile. She told him about the adventures she and Aurora had gone on. About Queen Emilia’s kindness and patience with them. About how regal King Grant was in court but how silly he could be when it was just the family. She talked about how different it was here. “It’s weird to say I’m a stranger in my own kingdom, but it’s the truth,” Snow said with a shrug. “I know that palace inside and out and I know how to be a princess there, but here…”

               “Is that why you want to go back?” Jozef asked.

               “Well,” Snow stopped sweeping while she considered, “it’s my home and I miss it.” She didn’t want to tell Jozef that she missed Aurora more than anything else. It seemed too private.

               Jozef nodded. “Can you excuse me for a moment?”

               Snow nodded as Jozef headed out the back, toward the outhouse. She figured nothing could happen to her if he was gone for such a short time. Snow had been sweeping all of the rubbish and cobwebs onto a sheet and now she gathered up the edges to dump it in the front yard.

               Snow managed to heave the sheet out in front of the house, thought for a moment, and then headed over to the side to dump it all out. As she was dumping everything out of the sheet, Snow heard someone crying. Curious, she left the sheet behind and took a few steps toward the sound. A little boy was sitting on the ground, crying his eyes out.

               “What’s wrong?” Snow asked.

               He jumped. “I got lost,” he said, still sniffling.

               “Oh,” Snow replied. “There’s a path in front of our house and my friend can help you. Will you come with me?” She offered her hand.

               Wiping his face with his other hand, the boy took her hand and walked with her back to the house.

               “Now, do you know which way you came in?” Snow asked, kneeling to get to his level once they got back to the house.

               The boy shook his head.

               “Where did you come from?” Snow asked.

               “From the castle,” the boy sniffed. “My mom sent me out here to find some berries or mushrooms we could eat. She told me not to leave the path, but the best berries were off the path…”

               He trailed off and Jozef came out from inside the house.

               “He’s lost,” Snow said to Jozef. “He came from the castle.”

               Jozef crouched down a little to get on the boy’s level. “Do you want a hug?” he asked the boy.

               The boy nodded a little and hugged Jozef. Jozef brought out a handkerchief and wiped the boy’s face. “There we go. Now, you want to get back to the castle?”

               The boy nodded again.

               “Take this path and follow it until it forks. Take the left fork and follow it all the way out of the forest. Then you’ll see the castle just to the right. Okay?”

               “Okay,” the boy said quietly.

               “Can you make it by yourself?” Jozef asked.

               “Yes,” the boy said. “I found the best berries for my mom, too. See?” He showed them his bag. Sitting just under the berries was a beautiful hair comb.

               “What’s that?” Jozef asked.

               “Oh! That’s for the pretty lady,” the little boy said, handing it to Snow.

               “Thank you,” Snow said, touched, but wiping little bits of berry off of it.

               “You’re welcome,” the boy said, smiling. “I gotta give these to my mom. Bye!” And he started walking down the path.

               Snow put the comb in her hair and tried to use one of the windows of the house as a mirror. “What do you think?” she asked Jozef.

               “Are you sure you should be wearing that?” he asked. “We don’t know who that came from.”

               “Nonsense,” Snow said. “It’s just a gift from a little boy.” Her eyes started to get heavy. “A poor little boy who should have sold this for food.” She yawned and leaned against the house. “That’s weird.” She slid down the house and Jozef’s yelling soon dwindled to nothing.