Page 31 of The Broken Mirror
“It’s so beautiful,” Filomena whispers.
Jack smiles at her. “Welcome to Snow Country.”
They soon spy a snowy pathway that snakes between the rows of pines. They begin to follow it, but sharp iciclessuddenly stick out over the path from either side, blocking the way.
“What the…?” Alistair starts.
A voice echoes loudly through the trees. “WHO GOES THERE?” it booms. “AND WHAT INTENTIONS HAVE YOU IN ENTERING SNOW COUNTRY?”
The group all looks at one another.What now?
Jack steps forward, a hand resting lightly on the hilt of his Dragon’s Tooth sword. “We come to Snow Country in peace. We’ve been summoned by allies.” Jack is unsure if he should mention exactlywhichallies. After all, he has no idea who this voice belongs to. And, these days, there are many sides in Never After.
Several voices start whispering to one another through the trees. They exchange expressions of confusion. Everyone is on guard, hands on sword hilts, ready to fight if necessary. Filomena catches a few phrases, likeDragon’s Tooth swordandcool earmuffsandprincess. Then the voices all hush.
Jack looks to Filomena and they exchange a silent agreement: They’re ready for combat. Suddenly from either side of the pathway emerge several huge figures, each wearing a pointed velvet hat. Filomena tenses. Giants!
“ATTACK!” one says.
Before they can regain their bearings, the group of travelers is ambushed. The giants’ weapons of choice are icicles, which are surprisingly sharp. Every one of them is suddenlyengaged in one-to-one combat and has to stretch high in order to fight properly.
“Wait!” Beatrice cries, midswing against an icicle. “We aren’t invaders! We’re just looking for my cousin Rose Red!”
As soon as Beatrice utters those words, the giants drop their icicles and start smiling. Jack, however, is caught up in the fight and bodychecks one giant even after they’ve already withdrawn their weapon.
“Hey! What the heck, man?” the giant yells, though Jack barely bumped their hip.
“Oh, my apologies.” Jack reddens, now seeing that everyone else has finished fighting.
Beatrice continues her plea: “You don’t happen to know seven dwarves who live with my cousin Rose Red, do you?”
A giant, this one in a yellow hat, chimes in, scratching his head. “Did you just say DWARVES who live with Rose Red? Why, that be us!”
“Dwarves? But you’re giants!” Alistair points out.
“Exactly!” says the leader. “We’re Dwayne’s Army of Really Very Extra-Large Soldiers. Or, you know, DWARVES for short.”
“Who’s Dwayne?”
“Me,” says one. “But they call me Cap.”
These huge giants live with Rose Red? Filomena counts: There are seven of them. Can it be? She gives Jack a look, and he shrugs. Then she thinks back to all the other timesshe’s encountered fairy-tale figures. They’re almost never what she’s been led to believe. So the seven dwarves are actually… seven giants?
“You’re Rose Red’s family?” one of the giants asks.
“Well, just two of us,” Beatrice says, motioning to herself and Gretel. “But the rest of these people are our dear friends, and we’re all traveling together! We actually came to Snow Country partly to find Rose Red.”
The giants look at one another. “Counsel!” one in a red hat shouts. They huddle together and begin whispering feverishly. It’s a charming sight, these seven creatures, each eleven feet tall and with a cute velvet hat in a different color, deliberating. Filomena catches the wordshungryandfire. She’s not sure if these words are a good sign or not.
The giants unfurl from their cluster and straighten, then size up Filomena and the group. “We aren’t sure about you lot,” says a giant in a purple hat and with a low, gruff voice. “It’s hard to trust travelers these days.”
“You look quite cold,” Gretel says. “I can make you all some nice warm clothes, if you’d like.”
The giants look at one another, considering, seemingly pleased by this offer.
“Nice, Gretel,” Jack says. “Who knew your seamstress skills could be a bartering tool?”
Gretel realizes something: “Oh, not that Rose Red isn’t already making you warm clothes. I’ve never met her, but I’m sure she’s quite good with needle and thread.”
