Mirror, Mirr- A Twisted Tale (Disney Twisted Tales) - Jen Calonita Page 0,43
eyes everywhere! Don’t open the door for strangers!”) Instead, she tried to think of ways to thwart her aunt, of unexplored paths she could examine. But though she understood the reasoning behind it, she hated being cooped up all day. It reminded her of life spent trapped in the castle.
Dinner was a family affair. And oh, how she enjoyed it! Who knew there was so much to talk about each day? She loved when the men shared stories about their work in the mines, while she often regaled them with stories about life in the castle when she was a small child or about the types of birds she spotted from the window. And then there were the questions. She found she had many! After staying silent for so long, there was much she longed to know, and she was always interested in learning more about the men and their lives. She wanted to know who had carved the beautiful wooden doorways and furniture around the cottage, and why the deer and the birds seemed to linger at the kitchen window while she prepped meals.
“They must adore you, as we do,” gushed Bashful.
“And I you!” Snow would say. She found she could talk to them till the candle burned out each night.
It felt like she was finally waking up and finding her voice after years of silent darkness. And while she promised the men she would not do more than her share of the housework, she couldn’t help trying to find small ways to repay them for their kindness when she wasn’t busy strategizing. Despite their protests, she prepared a lunch basket for them to take to work each day. She mended tiny socks. And secretly, she was using yarn and needles she had found to knit them blankets for their beds. It might have been summer, but she couldn’t help noticing they had few blankets for the winter months.
Knitting helped her pass the time while they were gone, but it also made her think. And thinking about her mother without knowing how to avenge her was making Snow grow anxious. While her aunt continued to dictate orders from the castle, Snow was sitting in a lovely cottage doing nothing. But as Grumpy continually reminded her: “Without a real plan, you are as good as dead. And you dead is good for no one.”
And so she waited, and tried to come up with the answers. How could she end the Evil Queen’s reign and take back the kingdom? She was only one girl.
One voice can be very powerful when it is heard above the rest.
Those were her mother’s words. When subjects had grievances, they would sometimes hesitate, fearing that their voices would fall on deaf ears. Then Queen Katherine would speak up from her throne, as Snow sat nearby and watched, and say exactly that. And most times, the subjects weren’t afraid to tell their stories anymore. But how would Snow tell the people she was there for them if no one could even know she was alive?
Sleepy yawned next to her, bringing her back to the present. His eyes already looked heavy from the day. The men worked long hours.
“I overheard Fredrick from Knox Hills say many in his hamlet are thinking of abandoning the kingdom,” Happy told them.
“Abandoning the kingdom?” Snow repeated. “Why is that? No work?”
“No,” Happy said. “Too much! And too many tariffs. They can’t afford to stay.”
Snow put down her rag in dismay. “I must talk to this Fredrick. And his hamlet. They should not feel forced from their homes because of their ruler.”
“You’re as mad as a hornet!” Grumpy waved the fireplace poker around. “You have no power to change their fate.”
Snow’s eyes widened as a thought suddenly dawned on her. “Unless I gather men like Fredrick together and give them something to fight for!” She looked at the others. “If I speak with my people in person, tell them that I am alive and well and ready to take back my kingdom for them, maybe they will help me fight the Evil Queen.”
“But if someone goes back to the queen and tells her what you are up to . . .” Bashful looked worried.
Their eyes all went to the kitchen window. A raven had appeared on more than one occasion this past week, and the men had begun to wonder if the queen was watching them. But if she knew where Snow was, Happy argued, wouldn’t she have come for her by now?