Page 32 of The Broken Mirror
At this, the giants bust out laughing. They laugh so hard, tears stream from their eyes. Gretel looks to the group as if to ask,What did I say?
The giant in the yellow hat wipes his eyes. “Oh no, dear, Rose Red couldn’t sew a stitch if her life depended on it!”
“Well then,” Gretel continues, “we need a place to stay tonight, and we’d really like to see Rose Red. If you take us to her, I’ll be glad to make you some proper winter coats.”
Several of the giants are looking at the giant in the red hat—Dwayne, aka Cap,Filomena thinks—and nodding encouragingly.
“Come on, Cap,” one says shyly. “You know we’re freezin’ out here on our patrol shifts.”
Cap seems to consider this. “All right. But we need to be absolutely certain of which side you’re on. If you know what I mean.”
Filomena gets an idea. It seems risky, but she can see actual ice crystals starting to form on Alistair’s eyelashes. They need to get inside pronto. And if they’re going to trust these giants enough to sleep at their house, then they have to be trustworthy enough and show their alliances.
It’s decided, then. Filomena takes a moment to flash a light on her forehead and mutter the words her aunt taught her, and then steps forward to let the mark of Carabosse shine from her forehead. The moon and the stars that surround it glow brightly and and cast a warm light onto the giants. They look at her in awe.
“Carabosse,” the yellow-hatted giant says softly.
“All right, all right, that’s enough.” Cap waves at her. “Turn that thing off. We get it—you’re with the fairies. Good, good. Well, on to home, then! Our shift’s over, it’s almost nightfall, and you’re our final travelers for the day. Let’s get you lot cozied up by the fire.”
The kids almost faint at hearing that last sentence. Filomena laughs to herself, thinking how fire is one of those funny, remarkable things. It’s terrifying when launched by an ogre but sounds absolutely divine when offered by a gentle giant or, you know, a member of Dwayne’s Army of Really Very Extra-Large Soldiers.
CHAPTERSIXTEENINTRODUCINGROSERED!
“You know, guys,” Alistair says, “I’ve come to a conclusion: I think I’m done with being ambushed. I think I’ll take a break from it.”
Filomena and Jack laugh as they walk next to Alistair. The seven giants are leading the way in front, with Beatrice, Byron, and Gretel behind.
“Unfortunately, Ali, I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Gretel pipes up.
“That was actually one of the more pleasant ambushes I’ve experienced,” Jack says.
Filomena still isn’t quite sure what the deal is with these giants. She’s put together that they’re the famous seven “dwarves” she heard about, but of course in translation: The mortal fairy tales forgot to explain that DWARVES is an acronym. The red-hatted giant is Cap, who appears to be the pseudo leader. The yellow-hatted giant introduced himself as Joyful, and the giant Jack bodychecked is Crabby. So the other giants are presumably Slumber, Shy, Sniffles, and Silly. As one can imagine, it’s quite easy to guess who is who. But these giants are far from miners who sing about work; rather, they are the border patrol of Snow Country. They keep the kingdom safe from ogres.
“Miners? Why would they mine coal? We don’t even use coal in Never After! So bad for the environment,” Jack says when Filomena asks.
She busts out laughing. “You guys care about the environment in Never After?”
He smiles. “Of course! Mother Nature is the greatest power of all!”
She’s impressed. Jack the Giant Environmentalist. Who knew?
“Is this another one of your mortal world mix-ups?” Jack asks her.
“It must be. In the mortal world, the story goes like this: Snow White is super beautiful, and the Evil Queen is jealous. The Evil Queen’s Magic Mirror tells her that Snow White is the fairest in the land, so the queen sends the Huntsman tokill her off. But the Huntsman feels bad for Snow White, so he lets her escape into the forest, where she eventually finds and befriends seven dwarves—in our stories they’re actual dwarves—and basically does their laundry and cooks for them.”
Jack’s eyes have widened in disbelief. “Are you serious? So in your world, Snow White is so pretty, she gets punished, and then she’s just happy to do chores all day? That’s messed up.”
Filomena considers this. “I guess I never really thought about it like that. But you’re right, that is messed up.”
“Classic mortal world,” Jack says, rolling his eyes.
“Hey, it’s not the mortal world’s fault that ogres have been feeding us the wrong stories!” she says. She does like the mortal world after all, even with its many faults.
“True, but you guys believe them!”
“Okay, okay, let’s call a truce,” Filomena says, bumping Jack’s shoulder. “Tell me the real story. The Never After version.”
Jack sighs. “Once again, I think we’re sort of living it. But from what I know, Colette fled to Snow Country some years ago, after the Last Battle. She’s the fiercest warrior of the thirteen fairies. She has hair dark as night and skin white as snow, so that’s why she was nicknamed Snow White. But Snow White is also what she called her sword, since it was made from starlight.”
