by Jen Calonita
“They must adore you, as we do,” gushed Bashful.
“And I you!” Snow would say. She found she could talk to them till the candle burned out each night.
It felt like she was finally waking up and finding her voice after years of silent darkness. And while she promised the men she would not do more than her share of the housework, she couldn’t help trying to find small ways to repay them for their kindness when she wasn’t busy strategizing. Despite their protests, she prepared a lunch basket for them to take to work each day. She mended tiny socks. And secretly, she was using yarn and needles she had found to knit them blankets for their beds. It might have been summer, but she couldn’t help noticing they had few blankets for the winter months.
Knitting helped her pass the time while they were gone, but it also made her think. And thinking about her mother without knowing how to avenge her was making Snow grow anxious. While her aunt continued to dictate orders from the castle, Snow was sitting in a lovely cottage doing nothing. But as Grumpy continually reminded her: “Without a real plan, you are as good as dead. And you dead is good for no one.”
And so she waited, and tried to come up with the answers. How could she end the Evil Queen’s reign and take back the kingdom? She was only one girl.
One voice can be very powerful when it is heard above the rest.
Those were her mother’s words. When subjects had grievances, they would sometimes hesitate, fearing that their voices would fall on deaf ears. Then Queen Katherine would speak up from her throne, as Snow sat nearby and watched, and say exactly that. And most times, the subjects weren’t afraid to tell their stories anymore. But how would Snow tell the people she was there for them if no one could even know she was alive?
Sleepy yawned next to her, bringing her back to the present. His eyes already looked heavy from the day. The men worked long hours.
“I overheard Fredrick from Knox Hills say many in his hamlet are thinking of abandoning the kingdom,” Happy told them.
“Abandoning the kingdom?” Snow repeated. “Why is that? No work?”
“No,” Happy said. “Too much! And too many tariffs. They can’t afford to stay.”
Snow put down her rag in dismay. “I must talk to this Fredrick. And his hamlet. They should not feel forced from their homes because of their ruler.”
“You’re as mad as a hornet!” Grumpy waved the fireplace poker around. “You have no power to change their fate.”
Snow’s eyes widened as a thought suddenly dawned on her. “Unless I gather men like Fredrick together and give them something to fight for!” She looked at the others. “If I speak with my people in person, tell them that I am alive and well and ready to take back my kingdom for them, maybe they will help me fight the Evil Queen.”
“But if someone goes back to the queen and tells her what you are up to . . .” Bashful looked worried.
Their eyes all went to the kitchen window. A raven had appeared on more than one occasion this past week, and the men had begun to wonder if the queen was watching them. But if she knew where Snow was, Happy argued, wouldn’t she have come for her by now?
“Guards don’t linger in the hamlets around here,” Doc reminded him. “They only come when there are taxes to be paid. As long as we avoid the guards, Snow can talk freely without harm.”
“But if the queen learns what she’s doing . . .” Sneezy wiped his red nose. His allergies had been particularly rough the last few days.
Snow inhaled deeply. “At some point she will learn I am alive. So I need to move quickly and talk to as many sympathizers as I can. If they will fight with me, then maybe we can stage a coup and overthrow her.”
Grumpy stroked his long white beard. “It’s risky, but it could work. There must be plenty of sympathizers like ourselves. We could try to organize them, and have them ready to storm the castle on a specific date.”
“Two weeks from today,” Snow announced decisively, and they looked at her.
“That’s not much time!” Sleepy said.
“It’s all we have,” Snow said. “The queen will learn I’m alive soon and then our time will be short. We must be ready. In two weeks,” she said again, trying to sound more confident than she felt. “That gives us enough time to talk to several hamlets and band together.”
“Where do we find more who might be willing to help?” Doc asked.
Happy pounded the table excitedly. “I’ve heard plenty of the men in the mine talking! Their hamlets aren’t far from here.”
Grumpy ran to a chest in the living room. Unlocking it, he lifted out a rolled parchment and brought it to the table. The others gathered round to watch as he laid the parchment flat, smoothing its creases. It was a hand-painted circular map of the kingdom. The castle was in the center and the kingdom divided into four corners, including the farmland where her mother had spent her youth, the mining area they were now in, a section covered in mostly forest, and one surrounded by lakes. Little homes and names of hamlets dotted the four corners like prizes waiting to be collected. The parchment was yellowed and delicate, but the intricate map of the kingdom was Snow’s greatest tool at the moment. If she wanted to end her aunt’s reign, she would need more than just the seven men in front of her to help her do it. She would convince people, one by one if she had to, to stand up and fight alongside her. One voice can be very powerful when it is heard above the rest.
Snow touched the edges of the map gently. It dawned on her that the lovely places represented on this piece of paper—places she had never seen—made up her kingdom. It was beautiful, and slightly overwhelming. “Where do we start?”
“Here.” Happy pointed to a small array of cottages not far from the waterfall. “This is Fredrick’s hamlet. The weather in those parts has been stormy of late. We’ve had so much rain, he’s missed some work in the mines because of it.”
The men had left for work later than usual the day before for that very reason.
“Much of the kingdom has been covered with rain, from what I hear,” Doc added.
“The weather matches the people’s mood,” Grumpy said.
“If we wait till nightfall,” Happy said, “we can avoid you being seen.”
“We’re going to need some weapons,” Grumpy told them. “We can’t subdue the guards with our bare hands.”
“We have our pickaxes!” Doc reminded him, and the others nodded.
“Not enough!” Grumpy pounded the table. “Have you not heard what the queen is capable of? She has an army at her disposal—an army that listens to her, not you,” he said, looking at Snow. “You’re not just facing an evil queen, you’re facing a witch of the dark arts.”
“Grumpy’s right,” Happy said, looking anything but. “We’re going to need some potions of our own, men, if we’re going to fight her.”
“I know there used to be a dark magic shop in the marketplace. Perhaps it’s still there,” Sneezy suggested. “Some say the queen used to work there as a girl.”
Grumpy hit him with his own cap. “You fool! Then we can’t go there! Whoever runs it is in cahoots with her, you see?” He looked at the others. “Where else can we get some magic?”
They all looked at the map as if it had the answers. But from what Snow could see, there was no little hut or skull that was labeled “witchcraft.”
Bashful looked nervous. “In the mines, people talk about what they’d do if they were trapped. How they’d get out. I’ve heard men talk of an elixir found in the sap of a tree in the Haunted Woods that can change a person’s shape. Make you small or big. A bird or an ox. Whatever you need to be to get out of that hole.”
“A tree?” Grumpy repeated wryly. “The woods have lots of trees!”
Bashful leaned back. “This one is said to have a face, and it looks like it’s howling.”
Snow shut her eyes tight as a not-so-different memory sprang up. “I’ve seen a tree like that.” She opened her eyes and her heartbeat steadied at the sight of the men. “I wandered th
rough those Haunted Woods. After I ran from the huntsman, that’s where I wound up. It was dreadful.” She shuddered. “I felt like I’d never see the sun again.”
Just the idea of going back in there made her blood run cold. The thoughts that had run through her head, the images she had seen in her mind, the feeling of utter loneliness that had almost consumed her—it was all too much. She wondered if that was part of the tree’s power.
“You were alone,” Grumpy said, his voice softer. “This time you won’t be.”
“Spirits can’t get you when you have company,” Happy said knowingly. The others nodded.
She didn’t know if that was true, but the words gave her comfort. She exhaled deeply. Grumpy might be right in that they needed some sort of magic. She wouldn’t want the subjects she met with to be led into battle without protection. They were fighting for themselves, but they were also fighting for her. “All right. I’ll go back to the Haunted Woods. And we will find that tree.”
The dwarfs had the next day off from the mines, and they wasted no time setting out for the woods. They walked most of the way in silence—something Snow knew all too well, but on this particular morning she didn’t much feel like talking anyway. She was too nervous. Where would her mind lead her when she was back in that awful place? Hush now! she told her restless thoughts, steadying her heart and her hands. This time, she wouldn’t let it consume her. I will be brave.
She knew they had reached the edge of the Haunted Woods when she saw the fog seeping out of the forest. Up ahead, the foliage had turned from green to black and the grass near the edges of the woods was devoid of color. A bird made a lonely cry, seemingly begging them to avoid the darkness. Instead, they walked forward together.
“Don’t trust most things. Just the thoughts inside your own head,” Grumpy said, sensing her anxiousness.
A raven flew overhead and the men stopped. The same bird had been at their window earlier. This had to be a bad omen. Snow felt like an hourglass was marking her time before the Evil Queen found them—and she could sense the sand was dwindling.
Grumpy looked up at the bird. “And even then, maybe don’t trust the creatures in there, either.”
“Okay,” Snow said, stepping into the tree line. The sunlight and warmth on her face vanished almost immediately.
Inside, where shadows reigned, the air was colder, and a breeze prickled the back of her neck. As she let her eyes adjust to the light, she heard the familiar whispers from her last visit. She refused to allow herself to decipher what they were saying. Instead, she concentrated on her steps. Ahead of her, she saw the clearing she had run through on her way out of the forest. Beyond it, she knew, were the bleak lake, the trees that had seemingly pulled at her cloak and her dress, and the deep darkness. That’s where the tree had been. She was sure of it. “It’s that way,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.
“It’s dark in there,” Bashful whispered.
“So?” Sneezy asked. “You work in a mine. You should be used to the dark.”
“But the spirits,” Sleepy said, looking more somber than usual.
“Spirits?” Doc said. “That’s probably just a rumor the queen made up to keep people away from the howling tree. A tree that powerful needs protection; what better place than a supposedly haunted wood?”
Doc made a good point. Even still . . . Snow held out her hand. “It is quite dark,” she said. “Stay close to avoid being separated.”
“We will form a chain,” Grumpy said, ready as ever to take charge. “Come on, men!”
“Follow me,” Snow said firmly as she led them into the blackness ahead. The air was still. The quiet made every sound seem magnified, every crunch of dead leaves beneath their feet echoing in the darkness. Snow concentrated hard to make out the shadows in front of her. It was hard as the fog thickened. Every dead tree looked the same—mangled and gnarled, like its limbs were trying to grab them. She reminded herself it was only her imagination playing tricks on her.
“Anything?” Grumpy pressed.
“Not yet,” Snow admitted. There had been a tree that looked like it was screaming at her, had there not? She was sure she had seen it. But could that have been in her head like so much else that had happened in these parts? Had she led them into this awful place for nothing?
Snap! Everyone turned sharply at the crackling sound. Snow listened closely; she could swear she heard a familiar birdcall.
“What was that?” Doc shouted.
“It’s a ghost!” Sleepy cried.
Snow felt Doc’s hand slip from her grasp in his panic. There was shouting, and she heard a few cries. Snow tried to talk over them.
“It’s an owl!” she tried to assure the men, surprised she was remaining so calm. But she recognized that call. She and her mother had studied nocturnal birds as well. “There’s nothing to be afraid of! It’s just an—”
“No!” she heard Happy cry, and she whirled around. “No! Retreat! Retreat!”
She heard screaming and the rushing of sudden footsteps. The men’s voices sounded far away. What was happening?
“We’re not alone!” Grumpy shouted. “Run, Snow! Run!”
Snow froze. She had heard those words before—from the huntsman. Had he come back to finish her off? Was he going to hurt her new friends?
“Turn back, Snow! Run and don’t stop!” Doc yelled.
No. She wouldn’t run away. Not anymore. “No!” Snow cried. “I won’t let him hurt you!” She ran toward the commotion, deeper into the fog and the blackness, and seconds later, she crashed into someone larger than she. She fell to her knees on impact and quickly struggled to get back up. Feeling the dirt beneath her fingernails, she searched for anything she could use to defend herself and the others. Her hand closed around a large stick and she jumped up and swung the stick in the air. She heard it connect with a body.
“Oof!”
It was a male voice. It had to be the huntsman coming for her. She didn’t want to hurt him—he had spared her life once—but she would have to scare him off if she couldn’t reason with him.
“Leave now and you will be spared, huntsman!” she announced, but even as she said it, she knew the words sounded silly.
“Huntsman?” Grumpy repeated, from somewhere in the darkness. “Men, it’s the man who tried to kill the princess! Get him!”
Snow swung the stick wildly and hit her attacker again. She heard him start to cough and the sound of the leaves as he fell to the ground. “Go now and you will not be harmed!” she said again, stepping forward. But her foot slid on wet leaves and she felt herself begin to slip again. She hit the ground hard this time and started to roll, smashing right into him. Her hand was still firmly gripping the branch. She picked it up, fully prepared to use it again, when a sliver of light fell through the trees into the darkness.
“Stop! Please!” she heard him say as he breathed heavily. “I am no huntsman!”
“Snow!” Happy reached down and pulled her up. “Are you all right?”
“Tie up the huntsman,” Grumpy demanded. “We will leave him here for the woods to do away with.”
“Wait!” Snow said, but the dwarfs held her back.
“Wait!” echoed the man, but his voice sounded different now that the threat was over. “Please! I know not who you speak of.” He coughed hard. “I mean no harm. I got lost in the woods. This place is odd. I’m not myself, but time was of the essence . . .” he mumbled. “I’m looking for someone. Please help me.”
That voice. It sounded familiar. It was warm. Where had she heard it before? Curious, Snow leaned down to get a closer look before the men could stop her. She removed the attacker’s cap and dropped it in surprise. “Henri?”
He tried to sit up fast, but fell back. He ran a hand through his brown hair and blinked twice at her in surprise. “Snow White?”
“You know him?” Grumpy kept a long stick trained on him.
“Yes!” Snow said happily. She couldn’t believe she was seeing
the prince again, and here, of all places. “What are you doing here?”
He was unsteady on his feet, so she held on to his arm even though it felt strange to hold a man’s arm like this. “I’ve been looking for you, Snow!”
“Me? Whatever for?” Snow asked, her heart beating a bit quicker.
“I was on an urgent mission to get back to your castle to find you and took a shortcut, but my horse was scared off by the darkness,” Henri explained. “I got turned around and couldn’t find my way out.”
“Humph. Some plan,” Grumpy mumbled.
“Urgent?” Snow repeated. “Is this about the queen? Has she told the kingdom I’m dead?”
“You dead?” Henri’s blue eyes held a world of surprise. “You mean him? We didn’t think she believed he was a threat, but he could be . . .”
He wasn’t making sense. Snow reached out and touched Henri’s head, then pulled her hand back again just as quickly. Everyone was looking at her. Her cheeks felt flushed. “How hard did you fall, Henri?” she said, trying to keep her voice light. “What are you talking about?”
Henri grabbed her hand. “Snow, I found your father.”
Ten years earlier
The second her fingertips touched the glass, she could
feel the energy draining from her body. Her fingers felt warm, then warmer, and eventually the sensation moved up her arm, past her shoulders, and spread throughout her body.
She didn’t look at the mirror while this change was occurring. For some reason, she always kept her eyes shut and distracted herself with the faint humming sound the mirror emitted. It reminded her of lightning crackling over the hills beyond the castle walls.
Giving more of her lifeblood, as the mirror called it, was a desperate move. After the last time, she’d sworn to the mirror she would never do it again. The procedure left her feeling weak and ill, more and more. She’d get so sick she’d take to her bed for days, drawing the curtains and blocking out all sound. Even a thimble falling sounded like an earthquake. Opening her eyes made her feel like she was staring into the sun. Every bone in her body seemed to scream out in pain if she moved even slightly, and her head throbbed with a bone-crushing migraine like she’d never experienced before. It took days before she could sit up again, or even eat the smallest piece of bread.