Chapter 18

“Do you trust him?” Annie asked Liam as they left the pigs’ cottage behind.

“Who, the wolf? I know his type. He’ll help us as long as he thinks it benefits him. He wants Beldegard to convince the dwarf to undo his magic, so he probably will try to keep Prince Maitland away. As for the pigs—I’m not sure I believe that he’s fighting his wolfly urges to kill for meat, so before we left I suggested that Curcio and his brothers stay inside for a while. He said he’s going to block off half the chimney to keep intruders out.”

“Do you remember the directions he gave to the dwarves’ cottage? They sounded fairly complicated.”

“No problem,” said Liam. “Go past the lake, then turn left at the fork in the road. Go right at the next fork, then left, then look for the cottage with the well-built chimney.”

“Sounds like this road has more forks than our old master’s chest of silverware,” said the cat from atop the donkey’s back. Neither Annie nor Gwendolyn wanted to ride that day, so the cat and the rooster were riding instead.

Beldegard grunted. “Unless I’m mistaken, we’ll have crossed the border between Montrose and Helmswood before we reach the cottage.”

“Do you think Maitland will follow us across the border?” asked Gwendolyn.

“He will if he really wants to get rid of me,” Beldegard replied. “My brother isn’t known for giving up easily.”

By the time they reached the last turn, the road was little more than a path winding between the towering trees. Annie was sure they’d found the right cottage when she saw the chimney that looked like a narrower version of the little pigs’.

An old woman pushing a cart was walking away as Annie and her companions approached the cottage. The woman’s shoulders were shaking, but because Annie could see only her back, she couldn’t tell if the woman was laughing or crying. For a moment, Annie heard a thin, high-pitched hum that she knew meant evil magic. Then the woman disappeared among the trees, Liam knocked on the door, and a lilting voice sang out, “Just a moment!” from inside the cottage.

When the door opened, instead of a dwarf, a lovely young girl with black hair and fair skin stood inside. “Oh!” she said, looking surprised when she saw them. “I thought the old woman had come back. We don’t usually get so many visitors.”

The high-pitched hum was louder now and seemed to be coming from the girl. Suddenly her eyes looked frantic and she began to clutch at the ruby necklace around her throat. Her red lips were turning blue when Annie realized what was happening.

“She’s choking!” Annie exclaimed, pushing Liam aside. “The necklace is strangling her!”

Even as she reached for it, Annie could see that the necklace was biting into the soft white flesh of the girl’s neck. The girl was gasping for air when Annie grabbed hold of the necklace. The moment she touched it, the necklace stopped shrinking and relaxed until it was back to its original size. The hum stopped then as well, and didn’t resume even after Annie had undone the clasp and tossed the necklace out the door into the forest.

“The old woman just sold that to me,” the girl said as she rubbed her neck. “She said that I should have it because the stones were the same color as my lips.”

“Are you all right now?” asked Gwendolyn.

“I think I should sit down,” said the girl as she took a seat on a bench just outside the door. She didn’t seem to notice the bear prince as he slipped away into the woods, but she smiled when Dog came over to be petted.

“Should we get someone for you?” asked Gwendolyn.

The girl shook her head. “No one’s here except me. If you hadn’t come along when you did… Oh, I forgot to thank you!” she said, blinking up at Annie. “That necklace was meant to kill me, I just know it!”

Liam frowned. “Why would anyone want to kill you?”

“Not just anyone; my stepmother. She must have found me somehow. My stepmother has always hated me, although I don’t know why. She tried to have me killed when I was a little girl, but the huntsman who brought me into the forest let me go. I don’t know if he was kind-hearted or if he just thought the wild animals would get me. I spent a night in the forest, then wandered around until I found this cottage. The dwarves who live here took me in and I’ve worked as their housekeeper ever since. My name is Snow White, by the way. The dwarves are always telling me not to talk to strangers, but I don’t think you’re strangers anymore, not after saving my life.”

“You aren’t related to a girl named Rose Red, are you? She has a sister named Snow White,” said Gwendolyn.

Snow White shook her head. “I’m an only child.”

“It must have been a popular name to give baby girls back then,” Gwendolyn said, shrugging.

“I suppose,” said Snow White. “But I thought my name was unique. My nursemaid told me that my mother wanted a daughter with hair as black as coal and skin as white as snow. I was always grateful that I wasn’t named Coal.” Snow White gave them a little half smile, which faded away when she added, “My mother died when I was born. My father married my stepmother a few years later.” Seeing their sympathetic expressions, she quickly said, “Well, enough about me. Tell me, why are you here?”

“We’re looking for someone,” said Liam. “A dwarf, actually. One who has lived somewhere else and would have just come home because of a family emergency.”

“Seven dwarves live here,” said Snow White. “They just fetched their brother home. Their grandfather is ailing and wanted to see them all together before he died. That’s where they are now. I have no idea when they’ll be back. It could be tonight, it could be next week.”

Annie sat down beside her. “My name is Annie and this is my sister, Gwendolyn, and my friend Liam. We’ve come a long way to talk to the dwarf who just came home. Do you mind if we wait until they get back?”

“I wish you would,” said Snow White, her eyes brightening as they met Annie’s. “I’d enjoy your company. It isn’t often that I have someone to talk to during the day, and I haven’t talked to a girl close to my age in years. You and your sister can sleep in my room with me. It used to be the dwarves’ parents’ room. Your friend can sleep upstairs until the dwarves get home.” She glanced shyly at Liam. “There are plenty of beds up there to choose from.”

“Thank you,” said Annie. “We’ll be happy to help you in any way that we can while we’re here.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” said Snow White. “Just having someone to talk to will be enough.”

Although Gwendolyn said she was too tired to help, Annie insisted on working alongside Snow White. Annie scrubbed the kitchen table while Snow White used long paddles to take bread out of the brick oven and Gwendolyn grudgingly arranged flowers in a vase for the table. While Snow White started a pot of stew for supper, Annie swept the floor and Gwendolyn folded napkins, grumbling. Snow White whistled while she worked, which Annie found annoying, so she ignored both girls and studied the house while she cleaned.

The first floor of the cottage was one large room with a staircase in the middle dividing it in half. On one side of the staircase stood the kitchen, most of which was filled with a long table and the benches that sat on either side. A brick oven was set into the wall next to the large fireplace, which was also used for cooking. Opposite the fireplace stood a dry sink and a cupboard stacked high with eight sets of dishes, a basket filled with apples, another with onions, and a third stuffed with potatoes.

Large windows on either side of the room filled it with light, making it easy to see the carving that decorated every wooden surface. The legs of the table had been carved to look like tree trunks, the benches were covered with carved leaves and flowers, as were the cupboard and dry sink. The door and window frames, the beams on the ceiling, and the mantel above the fireplace had been decorated with the birds and animals of the forest, including unicorns, griffins, and dragons.

As Annie finished the kitchen floor and worked her way around to the other side of the staircase, she saw that this room had been decorated in a similar manner. Along with birds, animals, and plants, however, the artist had also included insects. Butterflies swarmed across the front of the fireplace, and dragonflies decorated the mantel, where flower candleholders rested. The carved faces of mice, chipmunks, and squirrels peeped between the vines growing over the backs of the eight chairs facing the fireplace. Although the carving had obviously been done by the same person, each chair was different from the others. Some had wide seats and thick cushions, some had thin cushions and deep seats, and one had a curved seat and no cushion at all.

“I can’t wait for Liam to see this,” Annie said when Gwendolyn and Snow White walked into the room. “He loves to whittle.” Liam had gone hunting with Dog and had yet to come inside the cottage.

“I’m going to make up the dwarves’ beds,” Snow White announced. “I washed the sheets this morning and they should be dry by now.”

“I think I’ll sit this one out,” said Gwendolyn as she headed for the chair with the plumpest cushions.

The first thing Annie saw when they stepped through the back door was the garden. Butterflies danced over rows of carrots, onions, peas, beans, and cabbage. Rooster stalked through the rows, gobbling insects, while Cat slept in a patch of sunlight, his head pillowed on his paws.

Snow White led the way to a rope stretched from one tree to another just past the end of the garden. Eighteen short white sheets hung from the rope. “Cragery’s sheets haven’t been washed since he was here last,” she said. “When I decided to wash his, I thought I might as well wash everyone’s. Then I won’t have to do them again until next week.”

“Is Cragery the one who just came home?” asked Annie.

Snow White nodded. “He left home about nine years ago, before I arrived. Here, you can help me fold this.” She handed the end of a sheet to Annie.

“Were the dwarves this good at keeping their own house when you met them?” Annie asked as she set the sheet in the basket.

“Oh, no! The house was a terrible mess. That’s why they let me stay. They said that there was no way I could do a worse job, even though I was young. I wasn’t very good then, but I muddled through and got better over the years.”

“Do you like living here?” asked Annie.

“Most of the time,” said Snow White. “Although I do get lonely. You know, I’ve felt safe here for years, but now that my stepmother has found me, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Are you sure it’s her?”

“It has to be. I can’t imagine that two women mean to kill me!”

“Didn’t you recognize her when you saw her?”

Snow White shook her head. “But then I wouldn’t necessarily. My stepmother is a witch and can make herself look however she wants. I tried to tell my father that, but he wouldn’t listen. He wouldn’t listen to anything I said once she came to live with us. Here we go—all done. Come on. I’ll show you the upstairs.”

Snow White divided the sheets in half so they could each carry some. They passed Gwendolyn, napping in one of the chairs, and started up the steps. Annie was delighted when they reached the top and saw the room where the dwarves slept. It was a bright, cheery room with a window in each wall. A trunk sat beside each of the eight beds, providing storage for personal possessions.

At first Annie thought that all the beds were identical, but as she helped Snow White make them up, she saw that each one was distinctive. She laughed when she saw the ducklings on the headboard of one bed and snarling lions on the bed beside it.

Snow White turned to see what Annie was looking at, and smiled. “Their father did all the carving. He built this house before Hummfree was born. Hummfree is the oldest. That’s his bed over there,” she said pointing across the room to a bed with an owl on the headboard. “The boys got to choose what he carved on their beds, but they were young and weren’t always happy with their choices later.”

“Who has the ducky bed?” asked Annie.

“That’s Sheckley’s. He can’t stand it now. And the one with the lions is Shandy’s. He’s the youngest and was always the noisiest, so I think the roaring lion is still appropriate. I have to confess, I have secret names for each of them and his is Loud.”

“Really? What are the others?”

“Promise you won’t tell them, because I’ve never told anyone before and they’d be so hurt if they knew.” Snow White waited until Annie nodded, then said, “Well, Hummfree thinks he knows everything and always has to be in charge, so I call him Bossy. Bilyum, who has the bluejays on his bed over there, speaks without thinking, and hurts people’s feelings, so he’s Rudie. I told you about Sheckley and his duck bed. He has bad allergies, so I call him Itchy. Bobbert has the bed over there. He can’t sit still for a minute, so I call him Twitchy. The one with the cats with the creepy smiles? That’s Dewane’s bed. He reminds me of a tinker who would sell you a used pot with a leaky bottom while acting as if he’s doing you a big favor. I call him Dodgy. Rigg sleeps over there in the bed with the fruit tarts pictured on the headboard. He’s always hungry, and I guess he was when he was young, too. That’s what I call him—Hungry. He loves my cooking more than anyone else, although I think he’d probably love anyone’s cooking as long as he got to eat it.”

“And what about that bed?” Annie asked, pointing to the far corner.

“That’s Cragery’s bed,” said Snow White. “You probably can’t see it from here, but he has bags of gold on the headboard. He isn’t a close friend of yours, is he?”

“I’ve never even met him,” said Annie. She was reluctant to say much about the dwarf, or why they were there, because she didn’t want to offend Snow White or make her angry enough to send them away.

“Good,” said Snow White. “I don’t want to insult a friend of yours, but from what I’ve heard about him, he isn’t very nice. His brothers have told me that he’s greedy and selfish, so I named him Greedy. I’ve been hoping that Cragery isn’t that bad and that his brothers were exaggerating when they told stories about him, but from the little bit I saw of him, I think it was probably all true.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t heard anything good about him either,” Annie told her.

“Ah,” said Snow White. “Then you and your friends didn’t come for a friendly visit.”

Annie shrugged. “He may not be happy to see a certain friend of mine.”

“I take it you don’t mean your sister or your friend Liam,” said Snow White. “So you must mean that bear I saw sneaking off into the woods.”

“You saw him?” Annie asked, surprised. “You didn’t mention it.”

“Do you think I’d miss a bear so close to my house? Of course I saw him, but I figured he was enchanted, since I saw him talking to Gwendolyn. He is, isn’t he? Enchanted, I mean.”

“We think it was Cragery who enchanted him,” said Annie.

“Really? I didn’t know Cragery was that awful! Or that he could even do magic,” Snow White said, looking thoughtful. “I hope he doesn’t enchant one of his brothers. None of them like Cragery and they’ve been fighting with him ever since he showed up. He and Hummfree fought so much on the way home that they split up and came back separately. I love the dwarves as if they were my own brothers and I don’t want to see anything bad happen to them. Although, if your bear friend doesn’t like Cragery… You know, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing that nasty dwarf again, but now I can’t wait to see what happens when he gets back to find a bear waiting for him!”