"Good morning, fellows!" Mike's booming voice was so loud as he came into the hut that morning, that he made Edward jump, "Dear God, man! You scared the hell out of me! We need to put a bell on you, I think." Ivanhoe eyed Mike's happy mood, "Actually, I think he's already wearing bells, from the looks of him!" Travis leaned up in his chair eagerly, "Alright, you've gone and given yourself away now, Mike! OK, spill it. How'd it go?" Mike side glanced Travis as though he were insane, "Why would I spill the details of the first honeymoon night with my wife to the likes of you, Travis?" Travis brought his voice down quieter, "C'mon...it's just us guys here. You can share." At that moment, Snow walked through the door carrying a tambourine in her hand with colorful ribbons attached, "Does this belong to anyone? I just found it behind our cabin." Mike gave a curious look, "Behind our cabin?" Just now realizing Mike were in the room, Snow turned to look at her new husband and gave him a warm smile, "Mmhmm. Pretty though, isn't it?" She shook the tambourine in the air as she waved her other hand, then danced around in a circle tapping the instrument against her hip as she swung them. After one circle, she stopped and lifted her hands in the air, "Ta da!" Mike was gazing at her dreamily, "No Snow, it's not pretty...it's absolutely gorgeous." He gave her a wink and she giggled. Travis leaned over to Ivanhoe, "Well, I suppose that look on his face answered our questions, eh?" Snow, who had excellent hearing and a keen sense that the fellows had been badgering her man with questions on last night, marched over to Mike's chair and addressed the small male crowd around him, "No, but maybe this will." Standing over Mike's chair, she lifted his head and planted a very large kiss on him. She leaned back up and looked at the guys as she put her hands on her hips. Ivanhoe shrugged in innocence as he started toward the kitchen, "We don't know what you're talking about." Travis added, "That's right. We weren't asking Mike any questions! What would we possibly want to know?" He also dashed off to the kitchen as Snow scowled at him halfway through a smile. Suddenly, Mike pulled her onto his lap as Snow dropped the tambourine on the floor, "So, are you busy later, beautiful?" She put her arms around his neck, "Well, I'll probably be spending the day with my husband." Mike whispered, "Ah, ditch him and be with me." "Oh no, I'd never do that. My husband means the whole world to me, and I plan to spend so much time with him that he will become positively sick of me!" She bent her nose down to touch his. "I could never get sick of you Princess...never ever. You're just stuck with me." She lifted her head from his and smiled as she toyed with his hair, "Oh really?" Mike suddenly wore a serious look on his face, "When I awoke this morning, you were gone." Snow looked down and fidgeted with his collar, "Yes, I must have heard a noise that woke me up, so I just got up. I thought I'd let you sleep." Mike held her a little tighter, as there was a hesitation in his voice, "I was afraid there might have been something wrong. I mean...you are feeling alright, aren't you?" Snow bit her lip and smiled, "No, there's nothing wrong. I'm fine. Actually, I didn't wake you partially because I wanted to watch you sleep...for a little while anyway." Mike gave her a little tickle as she giggled, "Oh you did? Well, I was watching you sleep for a little while myself, when I woke up earlier this morning." Snow asked playfully, "Oh, you were?" "Yes, I was." "Why?" Mike's tone suddenly grew serious, "Because, when I woke this morning, I was actually able to see my beautiful Princess next to me and tell myself that I wasn't dreaming." Mike always knew how to touch her heart, Snow thought as she felt her eyes grow misty. She leaned in to kiss him but was interrupted as Stevie came bounding through the door, "Oi! 'allo, Mike and Snow!" Innocently, he offered, "'Ow was yer first night as 'usband an' wife?" Mike softly chuckled and rolled his eyes as Snow bit her lip and casually stood up from Mike's lap. Yvonne, who was following behind Stevie cleared her throat, "C'mon, Stevie. You were going to help me in the kitchen this morning, remember." "Oi, a' course I do! You're gonna show me 'ow to make those li'l muffins that ya make so well! We need ta make 'nuf ta take over ta the Surg'ry, too...fer Dinger an' Karen. Hope he feels up ta some." He followed Yvonne into the kitchen like a little puppy. Mike seized his opportunity and grabbed Snow around the waist. She thought he was going to kiss her, but instead, to her surprise, he pulled her into the guest bedroom, shut the door, then pulled her across the bed with him, their feet dangling off the side. "Mike, they're gonna figure out that we're in here!" Mike stroked her hair and her face, "Nah, I just want a few minutes alone with you, that's all. You left so early this morning, I didn't get to say 'good morning' to my new wife." Snow gave a guilt-ridden look, "I'm sorry. I didn't think about that." She peered down distracted, as she fidgeted with her dress, "It was just those bells again." Mike took his eyes from the cleavage in Snow's dress he'd just discovered as they lie on the bed and instead looked into her eyes, "Bells?" "Yes, occasionally I'm awakened in the morning by bells...well, at least I think they are bells. It's been going on for several years. They don't frighten me, they just wake me up, most of the time. They sound kind of like...well, you know what? They sound a lot like that tambourine I found this morning. I just realized that!" Mike could hardly tear his eyes away from her lips, "Maybe you heard the wind jingle the tambourine this morning and it woke you up." "Perhaps...but that wouldn't explain why I've heard the same sound for many years. It's funny. I don't dream about the bells, I just hear them sometimes is all. They both heard someone in the hut pick up the tambourine and jingle it. "See...just like that. That's just what it sounds like. I'd say I hear it at least three days out of the week." Mike smiled as he brushed through her hair, "Maybe you have Tinkerbell following you, protecting you." Snow tilted her head, "Tinkerbell?" Mike chucked, "Never mind." Snow glanced over to the side of the room where there was a dresser and mirror. "Mike, tell me about what happened when you went into the mirror to find my mother's dress." Mike looked upon her face with her expression eager to hear what he had to say. All Mike really wanted was to kiss his new wife at that moment, but he obliged his Princess and told her about he and Ben's adventure into the mirror. She looked back over to the dresser mirror, as if for reference, "So you couldn't go through the mirror the first time when you saw me there with my father. It wasn't until the second time when you had a piece of the original magic mirror that you were able to go through." Mike rubbed her arm with his other arm supporting his head on his elbow, "That's right." She turned back to him, "It's a good thing you still had a piece of it, then." "Yep...top dresser drawer. I guess I'll keep it as a souvenir." Snow laid back onto the bed to stretch her arms as she yawned, "What's a souvenir?" Mike couldn't resist her any longer. She look too inviting stretched out in front of him, "Why don't I tell you another time. Let's not talk, then maybe they won't find us so soon." He leaned over her and began to kiss her lovingly. He moved from her lips across to her cheek and down her neck, then whispered with muffled words, "Let's just skip breakfast, crawl through that window, and sneak back to the cabin?" Snow lifted his head to look at him, "But you know at least Stevie will come looking for us if we're not there at the breakfast table." Mike thought for a second, "Hmmm. But I'll bet the others would be able to convince him not to look for us. I'm willing to chance it." As he went back to kissing Snow's neck, she sighed regretfully, "But honestly Mike, I am rather hungry." Mike dropped his head onto the bed and sighed. Then he looked up at her and smiled, "Alright, love. Let's go get some breakfast."

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"No way! If you think I’m sliding down that monster from this high up, you’re plain loony!" spouted Thomas as Mike and Snow prepared to sled down a large snow covered hill. As Snow held onto the rope at the front of the sled, Mike pulled Snow in closer to him, "But Tom, this is what you made the sleds for. What good are they if you won’t actually sled with them?" Tom put his foot on the sled, "Well, when I made them, I didn’t have myself in mind. I was thinking more along the lines of you or Stevie." Snow patted his sled sitting next to theirs, "Come on, it’s perfectly safe. Stevie has already done it. See…" she pointed to Stevie at the bottom of the hill waving and brushing snow off of his pants, "…he did just fine." Tom chuckled, "Yeah, but not before he and the sled went rolling off into the brush for a few tumbles!" Stevie yelled to them as he made his way back up the hill for another ride, "Oi! Did ya see that? Did ya see me wipe out back there? Oi, that snow‘s sure cold!" Mike whispered in Snow’s ear as he held her a little tighter, "Well, this Snow sure isn’t cold." Snow giggled at Mike’s comment before yelling back down to Stevie, "Yes, Stevie we saw it! Tell Tom here how much fun it is. He doesn’t want to do it!" Stevie reached them at the top of the hill out of breath after running the whole way up pulling his sled behind him, "Oi, no! Ya got’a try it, Tom! It’s jolly fun, it is! C’mon!" Mike slapped Tom’s leg, "Yeah, c’mon!" Thomas sighed as he reluctantly got on the sled, "I know I’ll regret this!" "Hooray!" Snow cheered as the three sleds prepared to ride down the hill at the same time. Stevie held up his gloved fingers, "Oi! On a coun’ a three…one, two, three!" And all three sleds pushed off. Tom’s was a little slow going as Stevie’s was again the first one down the hill. Snow squealed partially from the ride and partially from Mike tickling her the whole time. Down the hill Snow and Mike’s sled came, gracefully sliding to a halt next to Stevie’s. As they all turned around, they just caught glimpse of Tom’s sled rushing past them and into the brush tumbling over and over followed by a few painful ‘whups’. Mike tried to stifle his chuckling as Snow and Stevie rushed over to check on Tom. There they found Thomas covered head to toe in a combination of leaves, brush and most of all, snow. Snow went to help Thomas up, "Are you alright?" Tom proceeded to brush the clutter mixture off of him, "I knew I’d regret this." He wriggled uncomfortably, "Argh! I’ve got snow in places I should NOT have snow!" As Stevie pulled out his sled for him, Tom limped out of the brush, "I think I twisted me ankle. I’m going to go on back now, I think." Mike could no longer stifle his chuckling, "So you didn’t get your way and so now you’re going to go home, eh Tom?" With a hand on his slightly hunched over back, "Yes, that’s right." Mike continued his taunting, "So that ol’ bully of a sled got the best of you, did he?" Thomas didn’t turn around to look at Mike. He simply waved him off as he continued to head back to the village, "It’s no use trying, Mike. I’m not getting back on that blasted sled!"

Snow and Mike came back to the cabin to find Thomas sitting enjoying a hot cup of tea. "We brought back a sled plus there is an extra over at the hill with Stevie." Mike gave Thomas a smirk, "Old Tom here, didn’t seem to take to the element of sledding too well." Thomas merely grunted in reply. Bart nudged Ivan, "Wanna give it a try, there?" "Nah, I don’t think so. What about you, Ravens?" Nigel took a puff of his pipe, "Not really my style, sorry. Natalie?" The woman looked at him almost horrified, "Me? Go sledding? You’ve got to be joking!" Snow piped up, "Aw, c’mon. Someone go and keep Stevie company. Don’t make him sled all by himself…at least till dinner." Duncan had just finished a cup of tea and looked at Yvonne, "You want to try, Yvonne?" She thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded. Nigel tapped his pipe on his heel as Mike took Snow by the hand and started toward the door, "Where are you both off to…to sled some more? I thought you were cooking tonight, Mike?" Mike turned and smiled, "No, we’re done with sledding for the day." He looked at Snow with a loving smile, "It’s only one of many activities you know, Nigel. And Kahlua is cooking this evening. I’ll just be cleaning up after dinner. See you all later." As Mike shut the door, Nigel uttered under his breath, "Well, you don’t have to brag about your ’activities’," as he retired to the kitchen for some cider. Bartolome sighed as he sat in a chair next to Tom, "Ah, true love. Beautiful thing, isn’t it?" Tom swirled his tea around in his cup, "Yes." After a brief pause he offered, "Sometimes I miss Beth so much, it hurts...like my heart will explode. I wish that whatever force brought me to the Willows after the ‘incident’, would have brought Beth and Thomas along with me." Pushing his own pain aside for fear that he may become too emotional amongst his thoughts, he looked to Bart, "What about you, Bartolome? Have you ever been in love?" Bart sat back and gazed at the fire, "Well, I’ve courted women here and there, but I’ve only had one ‘true love’ in my life. Her name was Rosalinda, or ‘pretty rose’…my Rosa." He took a sip of his tea and turned back to Tom who looked at him as though he awaited the rest of the story. Bart smiled and continued, "We met in the open marketplace. We both reached for the last set of drawing supplies. I was a mapmaker and she was an artist…a good one, too. We both kept insisting that the other take the pencils until we both broke down laughing and split the supplies down the middle. Our friendship grew from there. We’d often swap the supplies, trading back and forth, until I started coming to see her for just that…to see her. I must have used every excuse known to man, until one day she finally made me break down and confess that I just liked to be with her. To my surprise, she felt the same way." "You were never married?" as Tom took another sip of tea. "No. There was an obstacle to our love…a rather large one---her father. Rosa came from a very prestigious family. Her father was quite strict about the company she kept. He very much disapproved of my seeing Rosa, so we had to start meeting in secret. It was mainly because of my brother Christopher. Rosa’s father was against any funding for making the travels abroad, and so he associated me with those travels since my brother had ultimately asked me to accompany him. But a secret courtship can’t last forever. He was furious when he found out and made arrangements to send Rosa to a prestigious school in another country. I’m not even sure where it was. He of course didn’t want me to know. That’s when I asked Rosa to come with me to the New Land. She thought about it seriously. I really thought she was going to go, in fact. But finally, she told me she couldn’t betray her father and she would be leaving for the school that evening." Bart gazed into the fire, "Her eyes were so sad. She turned away to say goodbye, but I knew she was crying. Without Rosa, I didn’t have a reason to stay, and so I joined my brother in the New Land." Bartolome picked a tealeaf off of his cup and flicked it toward the fire, "Times were very hard over there. There was a never ending supply of work to be done, bad weather, sickness…so much sickness. We just weren’t immune to their environment over there, and in the beginning, things were just plain dirty until we had things built, or at least started. But I’ll never forget the day that ship arrived. We were expecting medical supplies along with other provisions, when into the village along with our supplies…there came my Rosa." Bart smiled whilst holding back a tear, "She ran to me and jumped into my arms. I just held her and held her and held her. I never wanted to stop holding her." Thomas could read the sadness in his eyes as Bart stared out the window, "Something happened to her?" Bartolome looked down at his cup, "We were engaged only a few weeks before she became ill that winter. She had no immunities…it just hit her too quickly." Tom rested his hand on Bart’s shoulder, "I’m sorry, man. I never knew." Bart shook his head never taking his gaze from his cup, "No. I’ve not told that story very often. But I agree with you, Tom…" He looked at Killion, "I wish the Willows would have brought Rosa here, too." Tomas nodded in understanding as both men took a few moments to watch the flicker of the crackling fire.

Snow tried to offer to help Mike clean the kitchen after dinner, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He shooed her away, telling her she should rest after their sledding excursion and that he would be home shortly. As Snow dreamily glided around their cabin admiring the décor of her "nest", she found herself continually impressed by her new husband’s tastes. Aside from Mike’s artwork that she adored so, she also admired his taste in furniture, floor rugs, table coverings, and of course their cozy bed comforter. She smiled heartily as she touched the frame Ritchie made them that housed the new collage of wedding pictures from the Polaroid camera that Jenn brought back from her trip. As her gaze fell upon the fireplace, she noticed one thing that was severely out of place. "Oh, I meant to hang that up by now! Shame on me!" As she picked up the painting of her parents, she apologized, "I’m just so used to seeing you here by the fire, it just never occurs to me to hang you up. I’m sorry." Snow climbed up on a chair to hang the portrait over the fireplace when it slipped out of her hands and crashed to the floor. "Oh no!" Quickly, Snow jumped down to inspect the painting. The frame had cracked causing the backing to come loose. When Snow picked it up, a piece of paper fell to the floor. She set the painting down and picked up the paper. It was a trifolded message addressed to her from her father. Confused, she turned the paper over in her hands, "I’ve never seen this before." In the middle of the trifold separation was a broken wax seal. At the bottom was a note to Margurite: ‘Please give this to my beloved Snow’. Snow sighed, "It figures that she wouldn’t give me something from my father. She was always so jealous of he and I. And she even broke the seal, nonetheless…nosy woman!" Snow opened the trifold and pulled out yet another trifolded paper. This one was a letter to her from her father. As she sat down and began to read its contents, she couldn’t believe her own eyes. Her tears began to hit the page, as she tried to stifle her own gasps of surprise so that she could continue to read on. She was so stunned, as she shifted her weight she fell off of the edge of the chair she was sitting on. Could this really be true? It had to be…the letter was signed by her ‘loving father’. Snow didn’t know if she should scream or cry or perhaps even laugh. She wanted to just sit there and do all three, but she didn’t have time. She had to get to Ben’s right away. Before heading out the door, she yanked open the top drawer of the dresser. Thank goodness…there it was! She grabbed the object, threw on her cloak and quickly headed out the door disregarding all obstacles…wolves, weather, and even her husband.

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"Lord, girl! Get in here before you freeze to death!" Benjamin watched with concern as a shivering Snow quickly accepted his invitation out of the weather, where it had just started sleeting rather forcefully. Shaking the sleet off of her cloak, she still clutched the letter in her hand as she was greeted by Max with a bark. "What are ya doin’ out here in weather like this? And it’s after dark, even. You could’ve been attacked by the wolves. C’mon. Let’s go get some hot tea into ya." As they entered his chamber, Ben went over and poked at the fire a bit to try and help it to warm Snow up, "OK, so I know you wouldn’t come out here in the dark in the middle of a sleet storm for nothin’. There’s isn’t anything wrong in the village, is there?" Snow shook her head. "Well, you know I’m a good listener. So…I’m listenin’." Snow stared down at the letter in her hand. After a few seconds, she managed, "I was hanging the painting you gave me…" She acted somewhat embarrased, "…and I was clumsy and dropped it. This fell out from behind it." She motioned to the letter in her hand. "It was addressed to me. Supposedly, my father told Margurite to give it to me, but I never received it." She handed the letter to Ben. He looked up at her first, "Do you want me to read it?" Snow nodded, as she wrapped the blanket around her that Ben had offered. He unfolded the letter and began to read:

Ben folded the letter and looked over at Snow who held her face in her hands, crying. After a moment in thought he offered, "Wow! Quite a shock, isn’t it? I guess that just goes without saying. Well…" Ben set the letter down, got up from his chair and approached the teary-eyed Princess, "I would expect that you were hoping I might have some information, weren’t you?" Snow looked up at him and sniffed, "Yes…well, I hoped that by some remote chance that you might." Ben smiled and went over to his trunk where he kept his documents, "I’m glad you came to me Snow. I may be able to give you some clues…" Snow’s mood visibly perked up as Ben continued, "…but I don’t know how much good that’s going to do ya now hundreds of years later." Ben pulled out a handmade book bound with leather that looked to be extremely old. "This was a document of a trial held by the original seven dwarves….held even before they carved out this mine. Fascinating fellows…they kept records of everything. According to this, there were originally eight dwarf brothers living all together. When the other seven men discovered that one of their brothers had turned to evil, practicing black magic and putting spells on people in the kingdom and what have you, they put him on trial. After a few witness accounts of his evildoing, including their own observations, they found him guilty. After which, they disowned their brother and cast him away from their homestead. That eighth brother’s name was Rumplestiltskin, or Rumple for short. So it sounds like he became lonely after his brothers ‘ousted’ him and he went looking for companionship. Guess he figured that a baby and a band of gypsies would never reject him." Snow looked at the dwarf with purpose, but still through tear soaked eyes, "Ben…I have a sister! Don’t you see? I have to find her!" Ben snapped his head back to look at Snow, deathly afraid of the answer to his next question, "What are you saying, Snow?" Snow stood up, dropping the blanket to the floor, "Just that…that I have to go and find my sister."

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 Chapter Fourty Four– "Journey Into the Looking Glass"

Ben was still taking the thought into his mind, "Snow, you’re not proposing going into that mirror?" "Why not? You and Mike did." Ben approached her quickly, "But we just went into a few castle rooms. That’s totally different than going back hundreds of years to search over an entire kingdom and then some. Snow, you have no idea where to even begin! You can’t go on a quest like this on your own." Snow sat back down and took Ben hands in hers, "Well, you know I’ll be looking for a dwarf. Come with me…you could help me." Ben pulled away defiantly, "No way! There’s no way I’m going back into that blasted mirror!" Snow stood, also defiantly, "Then I’ll go alone." "Snow, no! Please at least go and get Mike. Take him with you." Snow turned away, "He’d never let me go, and you know it! This is something I have to do, Ben. Look, my sister could be in danger. Margurite read that letter and chose to never give it to me. If she’s trying to kill me, then she could also try and go after her since she is the first born and heir to the throne. You don’t know what she’s capable of. She could be out searching for Lily right now. Lily…" Snow smiled as she thought, "I have a sister named Lily…what a lovely name." She shook her head with even more determination, "No, Ben…I must go after her. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing you can say that will stop me."

Ben followed Snow below to the old mirror chamber. He felt somewhat relieved in remembering that Mike had to have the piece of the other magic mirror in order to go through it. "You sure you won’t change your mind, Snow?" "No. But thank you for all of your help. Your information may come in very handy." She hugged Ben and approached the mirror. She lifted the mirror off of the floor as Mike had set it face down to try and keep Margurite out of the Willows. Then to Ben’s horror, she pulled the mirror shard out of her pocket as she prepared to go through. She turned at Ben’s gasp of surprise, "Oh…" she looked at the shard in her hand, "You didn’t think I knew about this did you?" Ben was frantic to think of something to keep her from going, but knew there was nothing he could say. "Wait! Why don’t you…" he hesitated as he patted his wolf on the head, "…take Max with you?" Snow smiled, "Thank you Ben, but I think you need him here more than I would. Anyway, it would be hard to explain having a wolf in the palace." After one more thought, she added, "I’m not even going to swear you to secrecy, as I know that you’ll be going straight to the Willows to tell Mike where I’ve gone." Ben nodded, "The thought did cross my mind." Snow motioned to the mirror, "Well, I don’t know how the time factor works in this thing, so just tell Mike that I love him and that I’ll be back as soon as I can." The mirror’s reflection suddenly shone her father’s room. It appeared to be empty. Sunlight was coming through the bedside window. "My father’s room faced the east. Good…that means it’s morning there. I’ll have a good day’s head start." Holding the mirror shard, she pressed her hand through the glass and then stepped through to the other side. Ben watched helpless as the Princess vanished from sight.

"Come on Max!" Immediately, Ben took Max and headed for the Willows to warn Mike. There was no telling how long Snow would be gone. Ben anticipated that Mike would be furious at him for letting her go. How was he to stop her? It’s pretty clear that she’s quite bigger than he was. Outside, it had stopped sleeting to Ben’s relief. But instead, it was deathly quiet…too quiet. As they headed through the woods towards the village, Max abruptly stopped and began to growl towards the brush. "What is it, fella? Ya smell somethin’?" Suddenly breaking through the brush was a black wolf headed straight for Ben. Max intercepted the wolf’s pounce knocking the creature off of its feet as Ben yelled, "Max!" Max leapt toward Ben and head butted him in the back. Living for years with Max, Ben knew this was his wolf’s signal to run. He took off toward the village as fast as he could. Max would always be following behind him to protect him. But to Ben’s horror as he turned around, this time Max was not there.

"Travis, will you put that blasted tambourine down! Me ‘eadache is bad enough as t’is!" Dinger held his head while sipping on some stout ale. Travis played like he were scared to death of Dinger’s threatening tone as he made his hand quiver setting the jingling instrument to the floor. Dinger was not amused. Mike looked on with observation, "Well, maybe if you’d have some hot tea rather than ale, you’d feel better." "Not that I asked for your opinion, mind you. But for your information, it’s the leftover remnants of this…this whatever it was, and not the ale that’s givin’ me the ‘eadache!" Karen leaned in to Mike, "Cranky, too." "I ‘eard that!" "I know ya did!" as Karen glanced back at him with a grin. Nigel was dealing out cards to Raif on the now clean dining table. "Where’s your new bride, Mike? I thought you two would be inseperable?" "I told her to go and rest after our tiring afternoon sledding. I thought I’d let her sleep for awhile." "For awhile before what, man? That’s the question. What are you having her rest up for?" Raif smiled wickedly as he looked at the cards in his hand. "Oi! Mike, that sleddin’ was fun today, wadn’t it?" Stevie was still thinking about their chilly afternoon. "Yes it was Stevie, " as Mike cast an unnoticed hard glare over at Raif. The loud forceful knocking at the main hut’s door just about made everyone jump. "Who would knock?" as Mike went to answer the door. "Whoever it is, they better have a damn good reason for scaring the hell out of me, " tutted an annoyed Natalie. She then appeared even more annoyed when she saw who it was, "Oh, it’s him again." "Ben! What are you doing here?" Mike observed that Ben was out of breath and very tired. "You look worn out. Did you run all the way here?" Ben nodded as he tried to catch his breath. He pointed at Mike and tried to gasp enough air to speak, "I need to talk to you." He took another few breaths, "Can we talk in your cabin?" "Well, Snow is sleeping in the cabin." Ben shook his head as he took a few more breaths, "No she’s not. That’s what I have to talk to you about." Mike was taken aback, "She’s not?" Duncan stood from his chair to approach the dwarf, "If there is a potential danger with a member of our community, it would be best if we all hear it." Ben nodded in understanding as Mike offered him a chair. He smiled and waved it off as he sat on the floor by the fire. Mike sat near him in a chair gaining a panicked tone, "Is there something wrong with Snow? Did she come to see you just now? Where is she?" Ben took a deep breath, now better able to speak, "Yes, Snow just came to see me. She knows I’m here right now." Mike stifled the urge to ask more questions knowing they will probably be answered in what Ben had run all this way to tell him. "You should have seen her when she got to the mine. I’ve never seen her with such a purpose driving her. She said she had tried to hang the painting I gave her for Christmas, but dropped it somehow." He pulled out of his pocket, Snow’s letter which he still had. "This fell out from behind the portrait. It’s a letter to Snow from her father. Margurite was supposed to give it to her when he died, but Snow never got it. Here, let me just read it. It pretty much explains itself." As Ben read the letter aloud, astounded looks spread across the cabin, especially from Mike. At its conclusion, there was a brief pause before Mike verbally spoke the new revelation, "A sister? Snow has a sister?" Ben handed the letter to Mike, "Yes. The problem is that she thinks it’s her mission in life to find her." Dinger crinkled his brow, "But tha’ was hundreds a years ago. Whas the point of…" He was interrupted by Mike’s realization of where Snow was, "God! Ben, she didn’t?" Ben’s lowered gaze gave it all away for Mike as the horror shone on his face. "Mike…I couldn’t stop her, I tried! She knew I was coming here, though. She wanted me to tell you that she’d be back as soon as she could." Mike shook his head as he started toward the door, "No, she couldn’t have gone without the…" Ben grabbed his leg, "Mike, she had it." Mike turned with a shocked look, "What?" "She had the mirror shard with her. I saw her go through with my own eyes." Mike looked down as if speaking to himself, "That’s right. I told her about how we went through. Bugger! I wish I hadn’t told her!" Karen stood and approached him, concerned with Mike’s public display of almost sheer panic, "Mike, don’t blame yourself. Isn’t there any other way to follow her? To bring her back?" Mike’s head snapped in Ben’s direction as the thought hit him, "Ben, where are the rest of the broken mirror pieces? We can use one of them and follow her, just like Karen said." "Well, I buried the rest. I didn’t want them to be causing any more trouble. I can show you where they are." Again, Mike started for the door when Dinger stopped him. He didn’t even have to say a word as Mike knew what his meaning was, "Dinger, don’t start with me on the woods again. We’re talking about my wife, here." Dinger’s tone was stern, "And I’m talkin’ ‘bout the wolves!" Ben interjected between them, "Mike, I forgot to mention…Max. He was with me, but on our way here, we ran into a wolf—at least I think it was just one, but there may have been more. Max saved my life, but I don’t know what happened to him after that. I really hope he can hold his own." Mike was silent for a second, "I can’t bear to think that you lost Max just to come and tell me about Snow." "Well, what else could I do, Mike?" Dinger answered it for them, "I’ll tell ya what we’re doin’…we’re stayin’ in the village till mornin’ is wha’ we’re doin’. If li’l miss ‘Alice in Wonderland’ decided to take a trek through the lookin’ glass, then she’s probably all cozy’d up in that castle of ‘ers. Believe me, it’ll wait till mornin’."

"It’s not here! I don’t understand…I buried the rest of them right here." Ben stood with Mike and a group of some of the men from the Willows at the place where Ben said he’d buried the rest of the broken mirror pieces. Out of habit, Dinger rested his hand on the pistol he’d brought with him, "Great! That ol’ witch probably got ‘em!" Mike thrust his shovel into the ground, "No, that’s not possible. She couldn’t have gotten through…not with the way we set the mirror." As Travis watched Ben pitch his small shovel over his shoulder, he couldn’t help but think how much Ben looked like one of the seven dwarves off to work the mine, and had to stifle a chuckle. Ben shrugged, "Well, nevertheless, they’re gone now. I don’t know what else we can do." "God, this can’t be happening!" Ribold put an understanding hand on Mike’s shoulder, "Don’t worry mate. She’ll be back…just like Jennifer. You know we men here in the Willows understand that…right, Mike? Family is important…like when Jenn left to visit her family. We can understand her reasoning for leaving ‘cause we have family here amongst our brothers in the village. You’d do the same thing, Mike. You know you would. She loves you, man. She’ll be back. You know she will." Mike prayed that Ribold’s words were true…that his Princess would return, that she’d be able to return.

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The morning sun felt warm on Snow’s face as she peered around her familiar surroundings. Even though no one in the castle would ever question her entrance or exit from the palace, she decided to exit through the back anyway. She was still shaking off the surprising and annoying sight she caught glimpse of in the basement, as she was thankful to pass the two certain lovers, unnoticed. The temperature outside was mild, as the season appeared to be spring rather than winter, as back in the Willows. She thought the nice warm climate was a refreshing change from freezing temperatures and fierce ice storms. Snow pondered how time would be reflected on her village back home. How long would her quest last? Would it be the same timeframe back in the Willows? Shaking off such thoughts, Snow knew she didn’t have the time to ponder them. She headed straight for the open village where she knew many gypsies resided. Careful to not go through the Enchanted Forest, Snow glided over the familiar path that she had walked so many times in her life. She remembered climbing trees and walking hand in hand with her father. Even though she knew that part of her life was over, she wasn’t sad…with such a loving and wonderful husband waiting for her at home. ‘Mike’, she sighed. As she thought of her Prince, she hoped he wouldn’t be too worried…futile as she knew that hope was. Snow heard voices, music and laughter as she approached Briar Patch village. The people were lively and friendly. Children were playing happily as they enjoyed the sunny spring day. She smelled the familiar scents of spices and incense as she neared the different vendor carts, each one eagerly offering their wares to sell. Snow briefly pondered if there may be anything that the Willows may need or anyone may want. Of course, she would have to return to the castle to get something to trade with, such as gold or silver. Since Snow felt she was on a strict time budget, she resisted the temptation. A familiar reddish colored cart came into her view. She remembered this one belonging to a band of gypsies that had resided in this village for some time…as long as she could remember. She approached an attractive young woman dressed in a dancer’s skirt and a summer-like top adorned with beads that would shimmy when she moved. The woman recognized the Princess immediately and curtseyed, "Your Royal Highness. How may I be of service to you?" Not wanting to attract attention to herself, Snow motioned for her to rise, "I’m needing some information and I wondered if you might be able to help me." "I will surely try, Your Highness." Snow wasn’t used to her title anymore after being in the Willows for so many months, with the exception of Mike calling her ‘Princess’. She smiled shyly, "You can call me Snow. I am looking for a dwarf that travels with a young girl and a band of gypsies, supposedly. Have you heard of such a group?" The woman thought for a moment but shook her head, "No. I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard of any dwarf travelling with gypsies. We don’t see many dwarves mixed with gypsies. They stay pretty much to themselves usually." "Not this one. He traveled with gypsies and a young girl about my age and my hair color. She looks…" "I know who you’re looking for." Snow was interrupted by an older woman with a gruff voice. She was still dressed as a gypsy would, but more modestly than the younger woman. "If you are speaking of the gypsy band I remember, then it’s not possible to find the dwarf you seek." "Not possible…why?" The younger woman backed away as the older gypsy stepped towards Snow, "Because the word spread that the dwarf with this particular band of gypsies was killed when the band was attacked years ago." Snow’s face shone the horror of the thought, "Attacked?" "Yeah…scoundrels, pirates if you will. The dwarf was killed…at least that’s what I heard. The band is still traveling around though, I think." Snow gulped, "Was anyone else hurt in the attack?" "Not sure. It happened four or five years ago. I’m sorry to be the one to tell ya. Was the dwarf a friend of yours?" Snow was distracted in her thoughts, but after a few seconds she answered, "No. I was actually looking for his female companion, the young girl." The woman thought as she toyed with the many bracelets she wore about her arm, "Well, I suppose she could still be with ‘em. You might ask around. In fact, there’s a traveling gypsy band over in the next village…it’s all women. They’re famous for their dancing…do a lot of training and such in dancing and music. You might ask ‘em. They may be able to give ya a lead." Snow thanked the woman and walked the rest of the way through the village. The next one was about an hour’s journey on foot. As she made her way through the woods, her thoughts flew around in circles in her head. Pirates! How horrible, she thought. Fearing the worst, Snow tried to think of anything else as she felt the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach begin. It was that ulcer again. She wished she had some mint tea…and for that matter, she wished Mike were there to make it for her. Snow heard a horse and cart approaching behind her. As she turned, she saw a farmer and his wife driving a cart full of hay. They slowed down as they approached the young girl. "Aye! Ya need a ride there, lassie?" Snow was apprehensive, but the farmer’s smile was kind and his wife’s tone was friendly as she added, "Where ya headed, there? We’ll give ya a lift." Snow smiled, "Just to the next village." "Jump in…we’re headed that way." Snow graciously accepted their offer as she climbed into the soft hay in the back of their wagon. They didn’t recognize the Princess, as they were from out of town. Snow was thankful for that. She liked conversing with people on their level instead of from some kind of pedestal that royalty was expected to stand upon. Snow made friendly conversation with the farmer couple. They admitted that they didn’t know much about gypsies, so they could give little assistance to her plight other than a peaceful ride and congenial conversation. The gentle rocking of the wagon threatened to lull the Princess to sleep as she fought to stay awake. She watched the trees go by as she listened to the couple discuss the harvest to come. As she admired the spring blossoms on the branches, she wondered what the Willows looked like in the spring. Surely, it was just as lovely, if not more so.

She had visited the Hawkwood village a few times with her father in the past. It was still under their kingdom’s courtship rule. Similar to Briar Patch village in many ways, this one was more wooded, with more shade trees to sit under and perhaps enjoy a mug of ale, as she noticed many folks doing. Though not recognized in the village, her presence didn’t go unnoticed, as her graceful innocence and beauty awarded her a few side-glances by the village men. Snow didn’t mind, and in fact hardly noticed, as her main purpose drove her stride along the dirt pathway through the village. In a clearing past the trees, Snow heard music…different musical instruments playing a cheery melody. Amongst them was a sound she recognized…a tambourine. The gentle jingling and rat-tat of its surface was unmistakable to Snow…just like the bells she often awakens to in the mornings. As she approached the clearing, she saw a group of ladies in colorful layered skirts and summer tops dancing in unison to the music in front of a traveling cart. Snow stood just off to the side to watch them. Their movements were graceful as they turned and leaped upon bare feet, their ankles adorned with small jingling anklets. After carefully studying each girl, Snow concluded that none of them were Lily. As her twin sister, she should look like more like herself, thought Snow. But perhaps they may know something that would help her. Snow was about to approach one of the dancing girls after their performance was finished, when she saw a woman stand up from the first row of the audience. Her back was to Snow, but she saw her set down an instrument that she had been playing for the dancers. As the girl took the stage and turned toward the audience, Snow gasped as she stifled a ‘yelp’ of surprise. Suddenly, Snow felt as if she were looking into a mirror gazing at herself adorned in a multi-colored skirt with ruffled blouse and a scarf around her head. It was her! It had to be Lily! The similarities in appearance were so startling to Snow, she trembled as she watched the young girl begin her dance. Snow felt frozen in her place as she watched the graceful swan-like motions of the woman. Her arms and legs danced in elegant harmony together with the music. Where the other dancers had danced in a flirtatious way with the male portion of their audience, this performance was nothing of the sort…it was a pure and artistic dance that illustrated nothing but the delicacy of its performer. Snow had never seen such a beautiful dancing style in all of the years of watching dancers in the royal court or villages. She was like a beautiful flower dancing in the wind…a gypsy flower. Snow was so lost in the dance that she almost didn’t notice when the music stopped, had it not been for the clapping of the small audience. The young woman went to speak to a girl about the same age who was smiling, and they appeared to exchange friendly words. The other woman was a petite dark-haired girl with olive skin and almond-shaped eyes. Snow was surprised to feel butterflies accompany her, as she remembered that they used to only visit her when she were with Mike. Still stunned by the likeness, Snow slowly approached the two girls. "Bootiful as us’al, Leelee. Zorry ‘bout dat wan bad chold neel dee end. Guess I steel need ah foo mol lezzonz on dee zaltely frahm you," the petite girl had an accent Snow had never heard before. "Nah, you did fine, Nika. But if you want, I can…" The girl stopped in looking over her friend’s shoulder. The young woman, Nika, looked upon her friend with concern, "Leelee, you al’ight? You’ve just tuln pahl white, like you zeen a ghost?" Nika turned around to a startling sight. She blinked a few times to be sure that she weren’t seeing double…even though that’s exactly what she saw. Lily’s mouth sat slightly open as she looked at Snow. Snow, still undecided on how to begin, wasn’t sure of the look in Lily’s eyes. She couldn’t quite read their meaning. It wasn’t fear or wonderment, really…what was it? Snow couldn’t believe her ears when Lily whispered ever so softly, "Snow?"

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Snow wondered if she was hearing things, or did she just say her name? "You know who I am…Lily?" Lily gasped in a whimper at Snow’s words, "Yes, I know. You said my name. You…you know who I am?" Snow’s lip trembled uncontrollably as it curled into a pout. She raised her hand to softly touch Lily’s face as she whispered, "Yes. You’re my sister." Lily touched Snow’s hand with hers as a tear streamed down her cheek. Snow grabbed Lily and hugged her tightly, almost as if their lives depended on it. She closed her eyes with a feeling of relief that she had found her…she had found her sister. Some of the other dancers began to start another dance as the reunion was starting to attract attention. "How did you know?" came Lily’s quivering voice. Snow parted from the hug, and instead took her sister’s hands in hers, "I might ask you the same question." "Snow?" They were interrupted by the voice of another woman. Snow turned to find an older woman with a kind face. She didn’t look like a dancer, but perhaps a ‘den mother’ of sorts for the young women. "Snow White…is it you?" The woman brushed back Snow’s hair lovingly, "Did your father tell you…after all these years?" Snow smiled and nodded, "He told me in a letter before he died." "Die? Da King of White is dead?" asked the petite friend of Lily. Lily’s face also shone a horror at Snow’s words. "No, my father isn’t dead…not now. But…well, it’s a long story, really. But all that matters is that I found you, Lily." She held her sister’s hand tightly, "I would have searched the whole world over to find you." Lily smiled, "Do you know who this is, Snow?" She motioned to the older woman, "This is Anne. She was there when we were born…she was our mother’s midwife. She’s been like a mother to me…the only one I’ve ever had." Snow broke down into sobs, "Oh, Lily…I’m so sorry this happened to you! Father wrote that giving you up was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He didn’t want to do it…but he loved Mother so much. He said that he searched for you after our mother died, but didn’t find you. And then I heard that your band was attacked a few years ago and Rumple was killed…" Lily shuddered at Snow’s mention of the attack as Anne looked at her with knowing concern. Snow sniffed as she continued, "You’ve just been through so much. You should have been with me all those years at the castle. But instead, that was taken from you…your natural birthright was stripped away. I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me." Lily clinched Snow’s hand tighter, "Hated you? Snow, why would I hate you?" "Because I was given all the things that you were supposed to have but didn’t." Lily pulled Snow over and motioned for her to sit with them behind their wagon out of sight of the audience, "Snow, for years I’ve pondered what it would be like to be with you…my sister. Anne told me the truth after Rumple died. I was finally set straight in spite of his web of lies. Perhaps his intentions were good, but he never told me the truth about who I was…just bits and pieces of things here and there that never really fit together. Finally, when he was gone, Anne was able to tell me the truth." Anne suddenly offered in a stern tone, "That Rumple was wicked! He practiced black magic. Everyone was better off when he was gone." Lily continued, "See, Rumple threatened to put a terrible hex on Anne if she ever told me the truth. So, it was only just the past five years, since I was fourteen that I’ve known who I really am. So many times I thought about coming to the palace, but I was afraid." Lily lowered her gaze to her colorful skirt as Snow put her hand on Lily’s, "I wish you would have! My father would have been so thrilled to have you return! Why were you afraid?" "I was afraid that the palace wouldn’t accept me after being away so long. Once, I almost did come, though. I made it to the castle, but…" Lily’s thoughts became distracted by her memories. She quickly shook them off as she thought of how to continue, "...then I ran away. I…I’m sorry." Lily shook her head as a tear rolled down Snow’s cheek, "Well, then we have so much to catch up on! I have so much to tell you! And I want to know all about you…I want to know all about my sister! My older sister in fact…by seven minutes, wasn’t it? I just can’t believe this!" Snow jumped up in her excitement and pulled Lily up with her, "It’s like a dream!" Snow looked lovingly at her sister…the same eyes as her own…the same nose and mouth. She looked up at Lily’s hair wrapped up in a scarf, with little tufts of hair coming from underneath just above her eyebrows, like bangs. She noticed Lily’s same dark-colored hair had red streaks in it. Snow wasn’t sure if this was natural or some kind of red hair dye that she used, maybe. But she thought it lovely, nonetheless. Snow’s eye was caught by an interesting charm Lily wore about her neck. On a silver chain was a curious looking silver charm that she couldn’t make out the shape of. She took the charm in her fingers upon Lily’s neck as Lily looked on. As Snow rubbed the charm-like silver piece in her fingers, it dawned on her. Snow reached down and unpinned the crest brooch from her dress and held it up to Lily’s necklace. She put the rugged edge up to a similar rugged edge on Lily’s necklace…the two pieces fit perfectly. Lily gasped as she saw the fit. She looked at Snow in amazement as Anne put her hands on their shoulders, "Where a family was once severed and torn apart, now let them be united as one…never to be parted again." Lily’s friend Nika jumped up from the bench as well, "Conglatulation! Is goo fol you two to be back togethah! Family is life’s gleatest gift." A realization hit Snow as she inquired, "Lily, you must come back with me. You’re in danger." Lily’s eyes suddenly snapped open wide in fear, "Back to…to the castle? No, no I can’t…" Snow shook her head, "No...well yes, we have to go to the palace in order to get back, but ultimately that’s not where we’re going. Well, like I said…it’s a long story. See, I don’t live at the palace anymore…this isn’t even my time, anymore really." Lily and the other ladies all gave a Snow a confused look. "Let me explain." Snow motioned for all of them to sit as she took Lily’s hand and sat down. "It all started this one day when the huntsman went with me out to the woods to pick some flowers…"

"Mike, why don’t you have some cider to calm your nerves? You’ve been an absolute wreck since Snow’s been gone. You’ll get an ulcer just like Snow if you keep this up." Thomas watched with concern as Mike continued to pace the floor, fidget with his village replica and stare out the window. "Maybe I should go see Ben. Snow might be there by now!" Mike started for the door when Bart stopped him, "Mike, come on. You just came from there two hours ago. Snow will be back, she knows her way from the mine and she knows her way around her kingdom. She’ll be fine. She loves you…you know she’ll be back." "Three days, Bart! She’s been gone for three days! What if she can’t get back? What then? I can’t even go to her, help her! I can’t do a damn thing!" "Geez Mike! You’re starting to sound like Ribold when Jennifer was gone! Calm down. Have some cider like Tom said." Nigel offered him his mug, which Mike promptly waved away. "You know I don’t much care for the stuff." Raif spouted an idea, "What about Irish coffee? I bet you’d like that. I’ll make some for all of us, in fact. Anything to get you to calm down. You’re starting to make ME nervous!" Mike surrendered his pacing and sunk down in a chair, "Maybe you’re right. Perhaps it would help. It seemed to work for Snow in calming her nerves on our wed…I mean when she was nervous about Margurite and what have you." Bart and Nigel exchanged curious glances. Bounding through the door came the usual cheery Stevie. He had Tweety with him, "Oi! ‘eard anythin’ on Snow yet?" He looked to Mike with hope in his eyes. Mike threw his head back against the chair as Tom quickly tried to ease the moment, "No, but I’m sure she’ll be back any time, Stevie. Let’s all try and keep a chin up, alright? I think it would really help Mike out if we’d all stop talking about it." Mike stared into the fire as he remembered all the nights he and Snow sat by the fire in the cabin. He could still see her warm smile and blue eyes. He wished they were there by the fire right now, as he added gently, "No, it’s alright, Tom. I like speaking of my Princess." Raif handed him a mug of Irish coffee. Mike took a sip, "This is really good, man. Thanks." "No problem, Mike, " as he passed mugs of coffee about the room, "Glad to help. Anyone up for a game of cards?" "How about strip poker?" Natalie was just coming into the hut as Nigel took immediate notice of her suggestion, "Strip poker, eh?" She shook the snow off of her shoes "Sure. It’s warm enough in here…warmer than out there in the blasted cold." She smirked at Nigel and then noticed Stevie holding Tweety in his hands, "God! Why is that stupid bird in here? Thing makes too much noise. Maybe we could get that silly cat to eat him this time." Natalie threw a flirtatious smile at Mike and winked. Mike glared at Natalie and got up from his chair. He went over to Stevie and gently took the bird, "I’ll pass on cards…" he turned and looked Natalie up and down then scowled in disapproval, "…and I’ll pass on the stripping as well." He turned and went into the kitchen with Tweety in one hand and the mug of Irish coffee in the other, leaving Natalie stunned as she picked her jaw up off the floor.

"Lemee get dis stlaight. Evely man in de Willows village looks ezactly iden’ical?" Nika sat with a most curious expression as Anne served them all bowls of her homemade stew. Snow took a bite of the stew, "Yes, that’s right…except for their clothes and different hair styles, and what have you. Mmmm…by the way Anna, this is delicious!" "Thank you…it’s an old recipe. In fact, I gave it to the cook in the palace before I left." Snow almost spit into her bowl, "That’s it! I thought it tasted familiar! The rabbit stew that Amanda taught me how to make…so it was your recipe all along! How marvelous!" Lily was quite distracted with Snow’s story and was eager for her to continue, "So, h-how many men are in this village you say? Didn’t you say there were only five women?" "Six now, if you count Natalie. I still don’t know too much about her, though. But there are thirteen men in the Willows. "Thurteen? What a numbah! Hope not unlucky for village." Nika laughed. "No wait…" Snow corrected, "There’s fourteen, now. I forgot about Neville. Goodness, I don’t know how I forgot him! He’s such a character!" Lily was not so amused at the thought of the men outnumbering the women by over twice as many. The thought of being outnumbered by this many men frightened Lily. Where most women would jump at the chance to visit a village of this nature, Lily was not one of them. She was accustomed to being in a band of all women, ‘Gypsy Anne’s Traveling Band’. She was uncomfortable around men, and stayed away from them as much as she could. She did not flirt with the men as the other dancers did…Lily was different. Snow grabbed her hand, "Oh Lily! I wish I’d found that letter a few weeks ago! I would love for you to have been at my wedding…to be in on the planning and everything!" Lily smiled, "Me too, Snow." "But you can see the pictures, at least!" "What are…‘pictures’?" Snow giggled, "Oh, I forgot. Well, you see, some of the people from the village are from a different time than we are. It’s really quite curious! They have these special objects that capture…" Suddenly, a flash of light followed by an explosion blew up right beside the bench they were all sitting on. The bench toppled over sending the women flying backwards into the brush. Small flames were now everywhere. Stunned, Nika and Anne managed to jump up and grab some rugs lying nearby to try and put out the flames. The other dancing girls rushed to help them save their travelling cart. "Ouch!" Lily rubbed at her skinned and bleeding elbow as Snow looked at her with concern, "Are you alright?" "Not really…what happened?" Suddenly, another flash of light came followed by the tree next to them bursting into flames. Both girls screamed as Snow grabbed Lily and pulled her over her and rolled them into a safe patch of brush. Snow looked around her in horror as she realized, "Lily, we’ve go to go, NOW! It’s her! She’s already found us...she’ll kill us both! Come on!" Snow grabbed the stunned girl’s hand and tore off into the woods away from the cart and flames. Anne looked on as her little gypsy girl fled with her sister into the woods and wondered if she would ever see her again.

"I-I can’t run anymore." "Me neither." Both girls sank to the woods floor in exhaustion from running away from the Hawkwood village. The twins lay in the brush and flowers under the trees as Lily tried to gage what time it was by what angle the sun was shining through the trees, "It will be dark in a few hours. We don’t want to be in the woods after dark." Snow looked at her sister with an almost annoyance, "You will fit in just fine in the Willows, then. You sound just like someone I know!" They heard a rustling noise approaching a ways behind them, "Do you think that’s still her after us, Snow?" "I don’t know, but we can’t take a chance. We have to keep going. We have to get to the palace." "No way I can run anymore. I have a better idea. I know someplace we can hide until she passes us by…at least I hope she does. We can only try, anyway. Come on." Lily led Snow through the woods a ways and over a small brook. They came to a clearing where in the midst stood a small cottage. Lily went to the door and knocked, "Hello? Anyone there?" There was no answer. "Good. They shouldn’t be back until dark. It should give us enough time to rest, anyway. Hopefully, that witch will go on by us." Lily opened the door, which was unlocked and entered. Both girls had to hunch over to go through the rather short door. Snow peered around the cottage. There was a long but stubby table with many little chairs and place settings on the table. She looked up towards the loft, which was just about eye level for them and saw many very small beds. Snow thought back to what the others had told her in the village, "Wait a minute?" As Snow counted the beds, her suspicions were confirmed…there were seven!

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"So, we’re a living faerie tale, here are we?" laughed Lily upon hearing Snow tell her of the ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ story that Mike had told her about. Snow giggled too, "Yes…sounds like a pretty tall tale, doesn’t it?" Lily smiled and looked around the room at all of the small things as she and Snow sat by the fire, "So I suppose Rumple lived here at one time, according to your dwarf friend back in the Willows, eh?" Snow nodded as she stared into the fire and thought of the fire in her own cabin with Mike. Lily nervously picked at some dirt on her skirt from the woods as she hesitated for a moment before stuttering, "So are these men in the Willows…a-are they, um, nice?" "Oh, yes. They have very good hearts, most of them—very nice." Lily looked up with concern, "Most of them?" Snow offered casually, "Well, there are a few who are rather ‘flirtatious’ and what have you…perhaps a little more so for my tastes, but they are still nice. Of course I’m always going to be biased to one man in particular---Mike, my husband. He is very nice---naturally I would think so! But, tell me more about yourself? I know nothing about my own sister. Tell me about life as a gypsy." Lily smiled, "Well, it’s fun. We travel around to different villages in different kingdoms and perform shows. I teach the girls dancing and playing different musical instruments." Snow’s eyes lit up with delight, "Instruments? How many can you play?" Lily leaned back on her elbow, "I can learn to play anything with some practice, but my favorites are the psaltery, dulcimer, and occasionally the mute cornett." Snow looked at her with astonishment as Lily continued, "I take it you’ve not heard of such instruments?" Snow shook her head. "Well, I’ll show you sometime. As much as I like to play the instruments, I get the most joy from dancing. Do you dance?" "No, but I sing quite often." "You do? Oh, well that would be perfect, eh? You could sing and I could dance sometime, perhaps." "That would be so much fun, Lily!" Lily picked up a small dwarf’s sleeping cap and twirled it on her finger, "Believe it or not, we ended up back here in this kingdom because of your father…well, our father. You see, gypsies are usually considered very much the ‘lower class’ and looked down upon. This kingdom isn’t like that. All the laws here treat gypsies very well. Since Father knew I was a gypsy…I guess that’s why he passed all of those laws in our favor. So Anne decided to bring the band back here, to this kingdom. We haven’t been here in years. After the attack…well, we just never returned till now." Her voice trailed off as she clutched her knees up into her chest and brushed away the thought. Her gaze quickly appeared sad, "Snow, will we ever be able to return?" Snow paused before answering, "I don’t know, Lily." "Because I would miss my friends terribly, but I definitely would not want to put them in any danger…that’s the only reason I would ever leave." Lily observed the sad expression on Snow’s face, "Of course, I want to get to know you, Snow…but they were like sisters to me as well…especially Nika." Snow reached forward and gave the fire a poke, trying to mask her disappointment, "She was the one with the accent, right?" "Yes…Far East. She said that’s where she’s from originally. She was teaching me some of their customs. The most interesting was their fighting styles over there…they’re very acrobatic. I’m still in training with her in that art. I like it. I’d really miss learning more about it. But most of all, I’d miss Anne. She really became my mother." Lily felt her eyes try to water as she fought it, "She was teaching me how to be a midwife. Gotten pretty good at it if I do say so. I’ve already delivered a baby all by myself. One of our dancer girls ran into an ‘unexpected’ situation. But the man was good to her. He married her and took her away to wherever…her and the baby. Anne said I did everything right in the delivery. She’s been so good to me…more so than that odd little dwarf. He was just creepy, to be honest. Kind of just handed me over to Anne. I think I was more of a ‘trophy’ to him than anything else. But that’s history now." Lily suddenly appeared uncomfortable, as she looked out the window, "We’d better get going in order to stay ahead of sunset. They’ll be home soon and we don’t want to be here." Snow thought for a second as Lily helped her up, "Hmmm…you know it might be interesting to meet these dwarves. I’ve heard so much about them and…" Lily quickly turned to her and interrupted, "Oh, no…we can’t be here when they return. We’re trespassers." Snow shrugged, "But maybe we could stay here for the night, just like in the story. We could explain why we’re…" "No! We have to go. Please, Snow!" Snow looked at her sister thoughtfully as she paused, "You don’t like being around men, do you Lily? I could see it when you danced…you stayed a good distance from the audience in respect to the other dancers. And when I was talking about the Willows…you looked very uncomfortable at the thought of being outnumbered by the men." Lily rolled her eyes and threw a half a smile, "Don’t be silly! First off…my dancing is for interpretive purposes only. I’m not there to flirt with the men. I train the other dancers in music and fluid movements. And second…you know I’m used to being around a band of women. Being around men will just take some getting used to, is all. Honest truth is…I simply don’t like the idea of being caught in this house when its seven owners return…even if they are dwarves! Now—let’s go, silly!" Lily gave her sister a wink and a grin and they left the cottage, heading in the direction of the palace.

"Look…there!" "Where?" Lily looked past the trees trying to see what Snow was pointing at. "It’s the castle. See? You can barely see the tip." "Oh, yes! I see it now!" Snow began walking again when Lily stopped her, "Wait…what will we do when we get there?" Lily hesitated before offering, "Won’t the…guards see us?" Snow shook her head, "No, I know many back ways we can go that remain unlocked till dark. But we must hurry." As they walked through the woods approaching the palace, Snow stopped. Something didn’t feel right. "What is it, Snow?" Snow turned around, but there was nothing…no signs of anyone following them. "Nothing, I guess. It’s alright Lily." Something else…what was it? As Snow turned to begin walking again she looked down to the path beneath their feet, "Lily, we have to run!" She grabbed Lily’s hand and took off as fast as she could. Lily was a dancer and could run fairly quickly but was confused at Snow’s sudden panic. Snow knew it was too late…they didn’t have enough time to get to the castle. It was surrounding them, all around them…it was the mist. It was Margurite. Snow thought hard…where were they? Yes! The path was familiar. They may still have a chance to escape, but they would have to enter the Enchanted Forest. But would it still be there…the hole she fell down that day she discovered the Willows, or rather, it discovered her? Snow cursed the day she blew up that portal…not only did it cause Mike’s amnesia, but now it might have also robbed her and her sister of their only chance to return to the Willows…perhaps their only chance to survive.

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There it was ahead…the patch of leaves and brush that masked the portal. Snow could never forget it. She hoped it would still take them to the Willows, otherwise, they’d simply end up stuck in a very deep hole. "Lily, we have to jump…this is it!" Lily gulped, "What is it?" "It’s the doorway to the Willows…how I first arrived there." Lily looked at her with the most concerned expression, "But you said you fell down a very deep hole and were finally knocked unconscious!" Snow was preparing to jump, "Yes, but at least I lived. If we stay here, we won’t! Please Lily…jump with me!" Snow plunged into the brush as Lily watched her vanish from sight. Snow’s voice became fainter and fainter as she called her sister’s name, "Lily!" Too petrified to move, Lily stared at the mound of brush as the mist collected around her ankles getting thicker and thicker with each passing second. Suddenly, a flash of light followed by an explosion of brush, leaves, and dirt sent Lily flying into the hole.

Lily landed hard after what seemed like an eternity of falling. Snow’s face shone her relief when she saw her sister pop virtually out of thin air and land next to her, "Lily! Oh thank goodness! You made it! I guess that portal is still here, even if that old tree is gone." For Lily, the pain of falling onto her hip was only masked by the cold realization that she was lying in a pile of snow. The ice was like needles on her legs and bare arms through her thin gypsy skirt and short sleeved blouse. She quickly curled up into a ball and wrapped her arms around herself, "Oh my God! Snow, you didn’t tell me it was snowing here!" Snow looked around, "But it isn’t snowing at the moment." Lily threw her an annoyed glance in between shivers, "OK…What I meant then was you didn’t tell me it was WINTER!" "Oh dear, I’m sorry. Well, take my cloak then." Before Snow had the chance to give her cloak to Lily, they both heard a noise in the brush. Snow grabbed her sister and motioned for them to slowly rise to their feet, fearing terribly what she knew was there. Out of the bushes stepped a snarling wolf. It’s eyes shone red and it’s teeth appeared sharp amongst the saliva that dripped from their edges. Both girls were now trembling, not from cold but from fright. Suddenly, an object came flying out of the opposite brush, clobbering the approaching wolf off of its feet. "Max!" cried Snow. Going straight for the throat, Max rendered the other wolf helpless in a matter of seconds. Snow dropped to her knees and hugged her furry friend, "Max! You saved us! What are you doing here? Where’s Ben? Ben! Ben, are you here?" There was no answer. Snow stood and took Lily’s hand, "The wolves here mostly travel in packs, so we better get going." Lily, still stunned by the incident, never took her eyes off of Max, "So this one is…" Snow smiled, "This wolf is a friend, yes. Come on. We’ll keep Max with us. We’ll be alright."

"There we are. This will help warm you up." Snow poked at the kindling she’d just added to the fire to get it going. Lily’s wet clothes were drying next to the fire as Lily sat in a robe with a hot cup of tea, "Thank you for the robe, Snow." "It’s my husband’s, actually. Here…" Snow handed Lily a small towel, "Wrap your hair up in this and let it dry some. That will help take the chill off. It’s so good to have you here with me. My sister…it’s just so hard to believe!" Lily smiled, hiding her sadness. "I know you will like it here. You just have to give it some time. You’re much safer here than…" Snow gasped, "Oh my gosh! I have to go! I have to fix it or she’ll come right through it!" Snow quickly stood and began to put on her cloak. "What is it, Snow?" "The mirror…Ben was expecting me to come back through it. It’s still standing...Margurite could just walk right through it. I have to go and set it back down. It’s alright, I’ll have Max with me. I’m sure Ben is worried about him anyway. I’ll be right back. I’ll take one of the horses and be back in no time. You just stay here where it’s warm." Snow hurried out the door with Max. Shaking her head at the never-ending confusing words her sister mutters, Lily gazed around her sister’s cabin taking notice of the artwork and décor. One thing in particular caught her eye as she reached out to touch the portrait Snow had told her about. Up until now, everything had happened so quickly. It wasn’t until now that she pondered it all in her thoughts. Her real parents…her family, her sister. She couldn’t help herself but to break down and have a good cry.

"Why did I let ya guyz talk me inta havin’ tha’ cuppa Irish coffee?" Mike slurred as he attempted to get up from his chair in the hut and failed, falling back into it. Raif chuckled at his friend’s drunken state, "We talked you into one cup, Mike. We didn’t force you to have the eight that you did!" "Nine." added Nigel casually. "Why don’t you go home and get some sleep, man?" Mike slowly turned his head to look at Nigel, "An’ go back to an empty house? Wha’z the point." Mike slouched down in his chair, "My Snow isn’t there…juz a cold dark, empty, blasted cabin. Tha’z all it is." Raif and Nigel exchanged concerned glances. "Why don’t we help you get…" Mike quickly stood up, wobbling slightly, "No, no! I can make it myself! The last thing I need is pity, thank you! See you all in the morning." He slammed the door behind him. Nigel turned to Raif as he raised his pipe, "Or perhaps the afternoon, rather."

The warmth of the fire was just about to put Lily to sleep when she heard the cabin door open and shut. Lily yawned and stretched as she rose to her feet, only to practically be knocked off of them again. "Snow! Oh, thank God you’re alright!" "What the?" Lily found herself in a rather tight bear hug with a man she’d never met. "My precious darling! Why didn’t you come and get me? I would have gone with you!" Lily’s attempts to wriggle free from the man’s grasp were futile. ‘This must be Snow’s husband’, Lily thought. "Mike…" she began. "My little sweetheart! Please don’t go off and scare me like that anymore!" "I think you’re mistaken sir…" "You were gone for days…I was sick with worry!" "B-but I’m not…" "Oh, the awful thoughts that went through my mind…here I finally have you as my new wife just to lose you again!" "Please, let me go." Mike gently pulled away and took her face in his hands. As he looked into her eyes, he saw a frightful look about them, "Snow…my Princess, what’s wrong?" Lily couldn’t find it in her to speak now, being face to face with this extremely affectionate man who obviously mistook her for his wife. ‘What will happen now?’ she thought, ‘He thinks I’m Snow!’ Mike smiled at her and gently kissed her cheek next to her ear then brought his kiss in closer each time to her lips. Lily tried to say ‘stop that!’ which seemed to only come out in the form of a whimper. This was interpreted by Mike as a sigh of delight as he pulled Lily in to kiss her. Lily panicked…what else could she do? Snow opened the door of the cabin just in time to witness her sister clock her husband square in the nose with her fist.

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"I am so sorry, Mike! I was just frightened is all." Lily was ridden with guilt as she watched her sister carefully nurse Mike’s quickly swelling nose. "It’s alright, Lily. I should have paid more attention to what you were saying." He spoke in a nasal voice as he held the cool rag up to his bleeding nose and looked at Snow, "It’s just that I was so happy to see you…er, well…" he looked back at Lily, "I mean, to see YOU I guess, that I just couldn’t think of anything else…" He looked back to Snow and smiled, "…except how relived I was that you were back safe. I was worried sick." Snow also wore a look of guilt, "I know, I’m sorry to have worried you. But you understand, now, right?" She looked closely at Mike’s nose, "I don’t think it’s broken. Otherwise, I think you would be in much more pain. I also think the bleeding has pretty much stopped." He lowered the rag from his nose, "But, I do understand…about you finding your family and all, and I’m so glad you found her." He turned to Lily, "So, you’ve been living as a gypsy for all these years? What was that like?" Snow interrupted Mike’s attempt to try and bond with his sister-in-law, "I’ll tell you what…since it’s getting so late, perhaps we should all get some sleep? I’ll be introducing Lily to the group in the morning and she can tell us all about it then. Boy, won’t they all be surprised!" Lily wore only a half-smile at her apprehension of meeting the thirteen other men in the village. The thought suddenly occurred to Mike as his eyes shown great concern, "Um…Snow, where will Lily be staying?" "Tonight, she’ll be staying here." Mike had to keep his disappointment unnoticed by the girls, as he was looking forward to celebrating his precious wife’s return that evening. "After that, I’m not sure. I don’t trust Natalie enough to put you in the cabin with her, and I really hate to be a burden on Yvonne and Kahlua." Mike uttered under his breath, "Be a burden…please, be a burden." "What did you say dear?" Snow fluttered innocently. "I said…um…that perhaps Kahlua will be staying with Ritchie more often. It would just be Yvonne all alone in that cabin on those occasions. I’ll bet Lily and Yvonne would get along great…you and Yvonne do." "Hmmm…perhaps." Snow turned back to Lily, "But since you don’t know anyone yet, I want you to feel comfortable. You can stay with us as long as you like, Lily." Mike’s eyes widened as Lily looked to him for approval. He forced the best smile he could muster under the circumstances, which Lily could see right through. Stifling a giggle, "That’s alright. I’m sure I’ll get along just fine with the ladies." It was the men that Lily was concerned about.

"Snow!" Stevie flew over and hugged an again unwilling Lily upon seeing her come through the door with Mike. He hadn’t noticed Snow following behind. "Stevie…wait!" as Snow saw the concern in Lily’s eyes, not to mention that she appeared to be having trouble breathing through Stevie’s bear hug. Mike gently pulled Stevie out of the hug and muttered quietly, "Watch your nose, man. Watch your nose." "Stevie, I’m Snow." Stevie was confused for a second, but then proceeded to give a Snow a large hug as well. "Snow! I was sa worried ‘bout ya! I’m s’ glad yer a’right!" Kahlua squealed noticing there were two Snow ‘look-a-likes’, "You found her!" Snow beamed with pride as she parted from Stevie’s hug, "Yes. Everyone…this is my sister, Lily!" Around the room came a barrage of ‘hellos’ and ‘welcomes’. Mike warded off Dinger’s scolding Snow for leaving with a hard glare, and he shrugged in surrender. Jennifer threw back her flowing red hair, "Sa tell us all ‘bout it, girl!" Over breakfast, Snow told the others of the way she found the gypsy cart and how they were chased throught the portal by Margurite once again. Neville was simply taking it all in, as everything was still so new to him as well. "So that portal is still there even after that grenade, eh?" Travis washed down a mouthful of eggs with some milk. "Yes, thank goodness! Otherwise, I’m sure Lily and I would not be here now." Mike gasped in horror upon remembering, "God, the mirror!!" Snow lifted a hand in reassurance, "I went to set it down last night." Natalie’s ears perked up with curiosity twinkling in her eyes, "Set it down?" Snow turned to Natalie and hesitated before speaking, "Yes. We have to set the mirror down to the floor so that Margurite cannot come through it into the Willows." Snow then turned back to Mike with a grin, "That’s why you found Lily alone in the cabin just before she socked you." Lily lowered her head in shame as Thomas stopped his piece of toast just short of his lips, "What?" Mike sighed, "Yes, when I came in last night, I thought Lily was Snow and I…scared her. She was just defending herself, really. I didn’t mean to frighten her. I thought she was my wife. I missed her." Stevie pointed at Mike’s face with his fork, "I wondered why yer nose looked bigger today, Mike. An’ it’s kinda brown-lookin’ too, there." Dinger raised an eyebrow, "Wha’ did ya do, mate…to scare ‘er so bad that she clocked ya?" Lily offered quickly, "He just hugged me. I overreacted is all. See, I’m used to being in a band of all women. I’m just not used to being around men." She looked back down at her plate shyly. Raif leaned over and whispered to Nigel, "Oh great…another House of White daughter who’s glued at the knees!" Nigel spat his coffee on his plate to keep from choking while he chuckled. Mike looked over at them knowing that whatever was just said was probably not complimentary. To cover, Nigel quickly composed himself and grinned, "Too bad you didn’t bring the other gypsies with you." Kahlua gave him a ‘knowing’ look. With a mouthful of eggs, Stevie asked "So, wha’s a ‘gypsy’ anyway?" Lily smiled proudly and began, more comfortably now in speaking of her own home life, "Well, our group has been traveling from kingdom to kingdom for many years performing dancing and playing music…’Gypsy Anne’s Traveling Band’. I teach the girls the dancing and playing the instruments. I’ve been with the band ever since I can remember. Like Snow said, Anna our mother’s midwife, became like a mother to me." Snow added happily, "Yes, and she taught Lily everything she knows too! So now the Willows has their very own midwife!" Thomas looked up at Lily at the mention of her being a midwife. Mike felt a twinge of thought in the back of his mind and carefully kept his gaze straight ahead so as not to wander haphazardly to his wife’s ‘adornments’. Lily gave Snow half a smile whilst still wondering if she would ever be able to return home. Snow made her presence here sound so…permanent, thought Lily. "Tell them all the instruments you play, Lily!" Pushing her confused feelings aside, Lily explained the sounds and makeup of such instruments as the psaltery, dulcimer and mute cornett. "Doesn’t sound too hard to make. I’ll bet we could probably whip those up in no time." Bart offered with confidence. "And you should see her dance! She is like the most graceful flower, flowing in a gentle breeze." Lily blushed, "Snow, please." "Well, it’s true. You all just have to see her sometime." Stevie piped up, "Aye! You can sing and Lily can dance to it!" Mike smiled gently, "Well, we should probably let Lily get acquainted with everyone first. Speaking of which…" he added eagerly as he cleared his throat, "…we were thinking perhaps she could stay with Kahlua and Yvonne. Would that be alright with you ladies?" Snow quickly threw in, "Of course that would be after she is more familiar with everyone. Lily, you let us know what you would like to do." Mike sighed sadly under his breath. Kahlua looked at Lily thoughtfully, as she took a closer look at her hair, "Lily, I’m curious. How do you get those red hue highlights in your hair? It’s difficult to dye dark hair, isn’t it?" "Yes it is, except for some special herbs we use for hair dye. Anna makes the formula herself. It’s a mixture of henna, boxwood, and dwarf box, I believe. They can also be used as medicines as well." "Dwarf?" Stevie asked curiously. "Dwarf! Wha’ a coincidence! Ge’ it? Dwarf! Like when ya found the Seven Dwarves’ cottage an’ ever’thin’!" The table chuckled at Stevie, partly for his amusement and partly because he was just ‘Stevie’. Lily’s thought’s drifted to her adoptive mother and her little friend Nika. Perhaps this wasn’t best time to bring it up, but she just couldn’t help herself…she was homesick already. "You do think I will be able to return one day, don’t you Snow? I would like to get to know everyone here, but I would miss Anna and the others so much. If we could get that Margurite off of our backs, perhaps I could just go and visit?" Duncan interjected thoughtfully, "Lily, that woman is dangerous. If she is still searching for you back in your kingdom, it would be too dangerous to return until she is destroyed. Believe me, that is something we have yet to find out how to do. It would be safer to leave things as they are and keep her out of the Willows." Dinger had to throw in his opinion, "Person’ly, I think we need ta just get rid of that blasted mirror. Get rid of IT…an’ ya get rid of ‘er." Lily gasped in horror as Snow took her hand, "No!" Mike raised his hand, "Don’t worry Lily, we’re not getting rid of anything." Mike turned to Dinger, "Remember, that mirror belongs to Ben, Dinger." Dinger glared back, "Yeah, that’s such a convenient excuse, ain’t it Mike?" "Dinger, you can’t just go into someone’s dwelling and start busting up their property!" "Oh yeah…watch me! Under the circumstances, I think that’s exactly wha’ we should do!" "Alright!" Karen smacked her palms on the table, "Quit arguing at breakfast! If you want to argue afterwards, fine. But I for one, prefer not to get a case of indigestion from having to listen to you men throw your testosterone around…get it?" All the while, Natalie had not said a word. She didn’t take too kindly having another woman in the village to contend and compete with, especially if she was anything like that little pest sister of hers…Snow. So Lily wants to go home, eh…thought Natalie? Perhaps she could help her on her way.

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 Chapter Fifty– "Music Lessons"

"That sounds about perfect!" as Lily strummed the new psaltery stringed instrument that Thomas carved for her, just after she’d finished testing out the new dulcimer Bartolome made from her description. She took the dulcimer in her hand, "Come here, Stevie! I’ll teach you to play…it’s very easy." Lily placed two stick-like objects in Stevie’s eager hands, "These are the hammers. You use them to strike the strings of the dulcimer…like this." She demonstrated how to play the instrument that to Stevie looked like a small harp that you set on the ground to play. Lily’s psaltery looked like a small piano that you pick up to play, only it had strings instead of keys. The instruments possessed a rich, traditional sound. As Stevie continued to practice, he beamed a smile at Lily, "Oi! Listen! I’m playin’, Lily! I’m playin’!" Lily smiled at the child-like behavior of this kind and gentle young man. Surely, he is the gentlest in the group, thought Lily. She couldn’t imagine a reason to be nervous around him…in fact she wasn’t, not of this one. His friendly nature toward her and her sister calmed Lily. She could feel comfortable around this fellow, whereas, she still felt as if she had a long way to go with the others. "Wow, Stevie! You’ll be accompanying us in no time!" as Snow glided over to Lily’s music lesson followed by Karen in hearing the music. "Would you like to learn, Snow?" "Sure, why not." Stevie handed Snow the dulcimer hammers, "’ere ya go, Snow! It’s so much fun!" Amazingly, after a while of practicing, Stevie was learning the instrument quickly, more so than Snow, even. "You know, Stevie seems to be catching on so well, perhaps we should let him play and I’ll just stick to singing." She and Lily laughed as Stevie took the hammers back and continued to strike the strings. "Stevie, how about we work toward performing sometime. You can play the dulcimer, I’ll play the psaltery, and Snow…you could sing. What do you think?" Snow thought for a second, "Sure! That sounds lovely! What piece should we work on?" Stevie jumped up in excitement, "Oi! I know wha’ we could do! I know lots a’ great songs we can do!" Bart tried to stifle a chuckle, "Stevie, I don’t know that these ladies would share your taste in music." Lily asked politely, "What were you thinking, Stevie?" "Well, there is this one by Rod Stewart…" "Eghad!" came a mournful disagreeing moan from Karen, as she wondered if Stevie’s singing voice were as bad as Dinger’s. Bart quickly offered, "What about a more traditional folk song, perhaps?" "Who is Rod Stewart?" inquired Lily as the twins looked at each other in wonder.

"My goodness! That has GOT to be the biggest spider web I’ve ever seen!!" The two sisters lie on their backs in the open cell staring at the jailhouse ceiling. Lily stared in awe at the creation, while at the same time hoping it’s creator was not nearby. She was jingling the tambourine that she carefully balanced on her feet raised high in the air. Snow watched her fumble with the ribbons that dangled from the instrument, "You know, I just thought of something?" Lily blew on one of the ribbons thrusting it up into the air, "Mmmm?" "Sometimes in the morning, I hear…bells. Well, actually, I thought they were bells until I found that tambourine. Then I realized that it was the tambourine I was hearing. For years, I’d awake to the sounds of it jingling. And for years I’d wondered if I’d just gone mad, or if there was really something to it. You played the tambourine in your dancing group, right?" "Mmmhmm…every performance." "Well, then maybe that’s it. Since we’re twins, maybe we have a connection…a bond if you will." Lily grabbed the tambourine and lowered her legs to the floor. She rolled over and rested her head on her elbow as she gave her sister a most curious look, "Are you suggesting that you could actually hear me playing the tambourine all those years?" "Well, perhaps…it’s not a totally new idea. There was a pair of twins that were servants in our castle, and they would sometimes speak of strange things like that happening. Like one time when one of them fell out of a tree as a child and broke his arm, the other twin claimed that his arm started hurting, too. It was really bizarre!" "Hmmm…maybe that would explain why I’ve always heard the wind singing to me." Snow’s eyes grew wide as she propped up on her elbow, "What?!" Lily continued, "Well, for years I always heard this faint singing, and it always seemed to come from the wind. But I suppose, when you put it that way, it was your singing, dear sister!" "Oh, Lily!" Both girls started laughing and hugging, when Thomas came into the jail, "Hey, what’s so funny in here? The iron bars?" Snow rose to her feet and helped up her sister, "No, we were just making…’sisterly’ discoveries." Lily giggled, "Yeah, that’s it!" Thomas nodded, "Hmmm…well, I was coming to fix the broken lock on this cell here, and then I had planned to take out the sleigh to gather up some herbs for Karen. There’s room enough for two…anyone care to tag along? This fix here won’t take long. How about you, Lily? You haven’t ridden in the sleigh yet, have you?" Lily bit her lip in thought, "Um…no, but thank you. Snow and I were just on our way out." The girls made their way to the door when Lily added, "I’m teaching her to dance today." Snow stopped dead in her tracks, "You are?" Lily grabbed her hand and pulled her along grinning, "Yes I am! Now come on!"

"Oh Lily, I’m sorry. I’m such a klutz! I’m not graceful like you are. I’ll never get this dancing thing down." "Nonsense, Snow. Anyone can learn to dance. Believe me, I have taught the worst!" "You have now!" as Snow sat on the ground allowing the throbbing pain in her backside to ease up before she stood again. She looked at her sister and couldn’t help but admire her endurance as well as her patience. Lily’s frame was lean and firm, while Snow’s was a bit more endowed and plump like her husband’s. Snow figured she’d just spent too many hours helping Amanda ‘taste-test’ her food in the royal palace kitchen. "Come on, Snow! One more try?" After one more painful lesson in how to fall to ground as hard as you possibly can whilst flying through the air, Snow decided she’d had enough. "Alright, put a fork in me…I think I’m done, as Mike would say. I am just not made for dancing, just like you wouldn’t let me teach you to sing." Lily snapped her hand up, "Ah-ha, but that was different. I just didn’t want all of your friends running for their lives screaming once I opened my mouth and this horrible screeching noise suddenly burst their eardrums!" "Lily, you know that wouldn’t happen." "Oh no? Well, I’m not taking the chance. I’ll leave the singing to you, sis!" "Lily, why don’t you go ahead and dance some more? I’d love to just watch you. You dance so beautifully." Lily smiled and nodded, knowing that her sister had decided that she just wasn’t cut out for dancing. Snow turned the music on the boom box once again and watched her sister dance in the clearing. Snow was reminded of how leaves would dance and tumble with the wind as she watched Lily’s delicate gliding and jumping. Her flexibility added to her graceful movements as her skirt softly brushed against her legs. She finally came over and plopped down beside Snow, "You know, I have to keep dancing, or I’d freeze to death, I think!" The girls giggled and gathered up the boom box. "Come…you haven’t seen the barn, yet. Do you like horses?" Lily’s eyes lit up, "Yes! We have Bessie and Sir Spencer to pull our gypsy cart. I love to look after them. And I ride them all the time." Snow took her hand, "Oh, you’ll love Thorn and Nugget. But most of all, you’ll love 24Carrots! He was just born early last fall." "A colt! Oh, I love baby animals!" As the girls made their way back to the village, a figure stood hiding in the nearby brush. Still mesmerized by the graceful beauty of their newest female visitor, he closed his eyes and simply meditated for a moment as he replayed her elegant movements in his thoughts.

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