Snow White (Enchanted Fairytales) (6 page)

“No. No, that can’t be. I mean, you’d be really old. But you look . . .”

“Nineteen, I know,”
Philip
said. “Time stands still here. No one ages. Just another of the cruelties heaped on by Katarina.
No escape, not even in death.”

“But
Katarina isn’t old either. So she
must not be the same one.”

“She’s the same,”
Philip
said.
“
Time stands still for her also.”

“No, this is insane. Not possible.”

“No?”
Philip
questioned calmly. “Tell me, Snow, haven’t you seen things here in Fableton that aren’t possible? Pieces of the puzzle that aren’t there until you’re shown them? Changing landscapes?”

Of course she had. That’s why she’d come to see
Philip
in the first place. But now, it just seemed so implausible, in spite of the red willow trees dancing in the breeze.

“I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I weren’t living it,”
Philip
said.

Snow pressed her hands against her temples, striding silently across the grass until she stood near
Philip
.

“You’re lying,” she said desperately.

Philip
twitch
ed at the closeness of her voice. He looked down at her and that was when she saw it. His eyes were white, the irises clouded over, obscuring his vision.

“You’re blind,” she whispered.

“Yes. Another gift from Katarina. If I can’t see, I’ll never know anything more beautiful tha
n her
. And I’m not lying, Snow. Oh, how I wish I were. But I’m not.”

“Can’t you help me get out of here?” she asked.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” he replied.

*****

Snow
looked back at the bridge she’d just crossed. The red trees had disappeared, replaced once again with grassy expanse. She shook her head and walked up the path. There, Dim waited for her.

“Hi, Dim,” she said.

Dim grinned happily. “Hello, Snow. How do you do?”

She thought about his question. How
did
she do? She was stunned, overwhelmed, disbelieving. In fact, she wasn’t sure
that this whole thing was anything more than a crazy dream, or a delusion caused by Katarina’s drug. She could be lying on the forest floor, heartless, for all she knew. That seemed more plausible than all the rest of this.

“I do well, Dim,” she said.
It was clear from the
halting
patterns of his speech that Dim was a bit . . . well, slow. She remembered a boy she’d gone to school with when she was younger. He had something called
microcephaly. His head was a little smaller than normal, kind of pointed on top. But he’d been able to attend school for part of the day. She didn’t know what happened to him, whether they’d moved away or just put him in
a different school.
Dim looked similar, though his head wasn’t quite as pointy. But his happy personality was very much the same.

“Do you like
Prince
Philip
? He’s funny.”

Snow smiled. She did like
Philip
, though nothing in their conversation could be called funny. “I like
Philip
very much,” she said. “Is he your friend?”

Dim nodded enthusiastically. “He lets me play with his
toys.”

“Oh?” She wondered what toys
Philip
might have. “That’s nice.”

“You’re pretty,” Dim said.

“Thank you,” Snow said. She knew better—had been told repeatedly by her stepmother
how very
un-
pretty she was
, but if Dim thought she was pretty, who was she to argue?

“Don’t eat the berries,” Dim said suddenly, skittering away from the edge of the
path.

“What berries?”

He pointed to a bush adorned with
dark red
berries
and bright yellow leaves
. She stepped closer to look, and Dim began moaning, hugging his arms around him. Snow walked over to him, placing a hand on his arm.

“Are those berries bad?” she asked.

“Bad berries, bad. Bad!
”

Dim was agitated
. “Okay, Dim. I’ll remember. I won’t eat them. Okay?” It took him a few seconds to focus on her. “Thank you for telling me.”

Dim gave one sharp nod and they continued down the path.

“What do you like to eat, Dim?” she asked, trying to distract him.

“Not berries.” He continued to wring his hands.

“No, not berries. What
do
you like?”

“Cake,” he said enthusiastically, dropping his hands by his side and forgetting about the berries. Snow made a men
tal note to ask Medic about the berries
.

When they arrived at the cottage, Coy and Grouchy had fixed dinner.
As on the previous night,
the food
was delicious. They were far better cooks than even the professional cook Katarina employed at home.

“Is there somewhere in town I can stay?” she asked them as they ate.

Seven pairs of eyes looked at her in surprise.

“Don’t you like it here?” Medic asked.

“Of course I do,” Snow said. “You guys have been amazing. You took me in and fed me, and gave me a place to stay last night. But I can’t expect you to keep taking care of me. Plus, because you let me sleep in a bed, Coy and
Sneezer ended up sleeping on the couches.”

“I don’t mind,” Sneezer said, a sneeze immediately following his words.

“Me neither,” Coy whispered, eyes glued to his hands, cheeks flaming red.

“I don’t want to be an imposition. I have some money, so I can afford to rent a place.”

“Money?” Blithe asked. “What’s that?”

“You don’t know what money is?” Snow was stunned. She went and got some of the bills and showed them.

“That ain’t money,” Grouchy grumbled. “That’s just pieces of green paper.”

Snow’s heart sunk. Her money was worthless. What now?

“What do you use for currency?” They all looked at one another in confusion at her question. “To pay for things?” she prompted.

“We don’t pay for things,” Blithe said. “Everyone works together so that no one has to go without.”

“Oh.” Now Snow was really depressed. She didn’t have any skills. She was still a student, who’d lived in a house full of servants
. What did she have to offer?

“We’ll worry about living arrangements tomorrow,” Blithe said. He glanced at the others, and
each of them nodded almost imperceptibl
y. W
hat
was
that about
?
“Some of us have to work tomorrow, but I’d like to take you around and introduce you to some of the residents of
Fableton.”

“Yes, that’d be nic
e,” Snow said,
distracted. She had to find a way
to
earn her
keep
so she could stay somewhere else until she figure
d
out how to get out of Fableton. Maybe walking around the village tomorrow, she’d discover somewhere she could be useful.

*****

Snow discovered all the residents of F
ableton had strange names like The S
even
,
n
ames that either described their job or something specific about them, like Baker, Blacksmith, Farmer, Runner, Jumpy,
Plow, Digger, and Knobby (whose knees and elbows made his name clear). None of them had what she considered a normal name, and therefore none of them remarked on her own strange name. Two things particularly stood out to Snow: there were no children, and no animals other than a few chickens
, cows,
and pigs they raised for
meat.

As Blithe walked her throughout the village, more cottages appeared as they rounded each
bend in the road,
as if a paint
ing
were being created before her eyes. The colors of the plants were unusual as well. The greens were bright, and many of the leaves were yellow or red. Flowers were vibrant shades of blue and purple and orange.

They spent the entire day meeting and visiting with others, even eating lunch at Baker’s which was a spread of baked goods, rolls
,
and bread
s
that left Snow salivating.
Dusk
fell
as they made their way back to the cottage. When they neared, Snow saw a second, smaller cottage near the one belonging to the men.
She didn’t remember seeing it before, but since new things were constantly appearing, she wasn’t surprised.

It was a particularly cute cottage. Some of the purple and orange flowers had been weaved throughout the
yellow
thatched roof.
The shutters were a vibrant blue. It was about half the size of the other cottage. Snow
pondered
who lived there and why it had taken this long for her to see it. It appealed to her more than even the one she currently stayed in.

“Whose cottage is that one?” Snow asked Blithe.
“I haven’t seen it before now.”

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“It’s great,” she said. “Look at how colorful it is. I can’t believe the colors of the plants here. Back home we don’t have anything in these colors. At least, not anything that grows.”

“That’s part of the enchantment,” Blithe said.

Blithe led her past his own cottage to the smaller one. Snow assumed he was going to introduce
her to the owner. Instead he pushed open the door and entered. She hesitated. Blithe had knocked on every other door today. Why not this one?

He poked his head back out the door. “Coming?” he asked.

Snow shrugged and stepped inside.

“Surprise!” seven male voices shouted at her. She jumped at the sudden noise,
blinking
when she realized The S
even stood before her, all of them grinning except for Grouchy, who had a slightly less severe scowl on his face.

“What . . . what is this?” she asked.

Coy stepped forward, ducking his head. So quietly she nearly didn’t hear him, he said, “It’s for you.”

Snow was stunned.
“For me? What do you mean?”

Blithe smiled and waved a hand over the other men. “They built it for you. Today.”

“What? They built this whole thing
today
?”

Dozy shrugged. “Time doesn’t mean the same thing here as it does where you come from.”

Snow didn’t know what he meant, but she was stunned by the magnanimous gesture. She placed both hands on her heart. “I don’t know what to say. This is unbelievable.
I can’t believe you did this just for me.”

“Don’t get all goopy,” Grouchy grumbled. “We built it ‘cause none of them
,
” he jerked a thumb at the others, “—could stand to have you move away.”

Snow laughed happily. She stepped forward and placed a hand on Grouchy’s arm. “Only them, Grouchy?”

He mumbled, shrugging, his cheeks turning red.

Snow laughed again and kiss
ed
his cheek. He stepped back, looking at her in shock. His brows crashed together as if in a temper. In an instant, his face cleared and a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Amazing,” Medic mumbled, watching the smile form. Grouchy’s smile dropped into
a scowl as he turned to
Medic, setting the rest of the men into a bout of laughter.

Coy stepped forward, turning his cheek t
o Snow. She grinned and
kiss
ed
his cheek as well.

“Me next! Me next!” Dim cried, stepping forward to receive his kiss. She in turn kissed each of them.

“Thank you so much,” she said. “I can’t begin to tell you how much this means to me. No one has ever done anything so nice.”

Coy and Medic had made dinner, which they all shared around Snow’s new table that was a mirror image of theirs.
Snow couldn’t stop looking around her new home. The kitchen was a little smaller than theirs. There was a small sitting area with a sofa. Book
s lined the shelves
, something missing from the cottage next door.  She could hardly wait to see the bedroom.

After dinner, the men left her alone. Snow stood and twirled in a circle in the middle of the room. Then she hurried into the bedroom. Her jaw dropped.