Mirror, Mirr- A Twisted Tale (Disney Twisted Tales) - Jen Calonita Page 0,44

don’t linger in the hamlets around here,” Doc reminded him. “They only come when there are taxes to be paid. As long as we avoid the guards, Snow can talk freely without harm.”

“But if the queen learns what she’s doing . . .” Sneezy wiped his red nose. His allergies had been particularly rough the last few days.

Snow inhaled deeply. “At some point she will learn I am alive. So I need to move quickly and talk to as many sympathizers as I can. If they will fight with me, then maybe we can stage a coup and overthrow her.”

Grumpy stroked his long white beard. “It’s risky, but it could work. There must be plenty of sympathizers like ourselves. We could try to organize them, and have them ready to storm the castle on a specific date.”

“Two weeks from today,” Snow announced decisively, and they looked at her.

“That’s not much time!” Sleepy said.

“It’s all we have,” Snow said. “The queen will learn I’m alive soon and then our time will be short. We must be ready. In two weeks,” she said again, trying to sound more confident than she felt. “That gives us enough time to talk to several hamlets and band together.”

“Where do we find more who might be willing to help?” Doc asked.

Happy pounded the table excitedly. “I’ve heard plenty of the men in the mine talking! Their hamlets aren’t far from here.”

Grumpy ran to a chest in the living room. Unlocking it, he lifted out a rolled parchment and brought it to the table. The others gathered round to watch as he laid the parchment flat, smoothing its creases. It was a hand-painted circular map of the kingdom. The castle was in the center and the kingdom divided into four corners, including the farmland where her mother had spent her youth, the mining area they were now in, a section covered in mostly forest, and one surrounded by lakes. Little homes and names of hamlets dotted the four corners like prizes waiting to be collected. The parchment was yellowed and delicate, but the intricate map of the kingdom was Snow’s greatest tool at the moment. If she wanted to end her aunt’s reign, she would need more than just the seven men in front of her to help her do it. She would convince people, one by one if she had to, to stand up and fight alongside her. One voice can be very powerful when it is heard above the rest.

Snow touched the edges of the map gently. It dawned on her that the lovely places represented on this piece of paper—places she had never seen—made up her kingdom. It was beautiful, and slightly overwhelming. “Where do we start?”

“Here.” Happy pointed to a small array of cottages not far from the waterfall. “This is Fredrick’s hamlet. The weather in those parts has been stormy of late. We’ve had so much rain, he’s missed some work in the mines because of it.”

The men had left for work later than usual the day before for that very reason.

“Much of the kingdom has been covered with rain, from what I hear,” Doc added.

“The weather matches the people’s mood,” Grumpy said.

“If we wait till nightfall,” Happy said, “we can avoid you being seen.”

“We’re going to need some weapons,” Grumpy told them. “We can’t subdue the guards with our bare hands.”

“We have our pickaxes!” Doc reminded him, and the others nodded.

“Not enough!” Grumpy pounded the table. “Have you not heard what the queen is capable of? She has an army at her disposal—an army that listens to her, not you,” he said, looking at Snow. “You’re not just facing an evil queen, you’re facing a witch of the dark arts.”

“Grumpy’s right,” Happy said, looking anything but. “We’re going to need some potions of our own, men, if we’re going to fight her.”

“I know there used to be a dark magic shop in the marketplace. Perhaps it’s still there,” Sneezy suggested. “Some say the queen used to work there as a girl.”

Grumpy hit him with his own cap. “You fool! Then we can’t go there! Whoever runs it is in cahoots with her, you see?” He looked at the others. “Where else can we get some magic?”

They all looked at the map as if it had the answers. But from what Snow could see, there was no little hut or skull that was labeled “witchcraft.”

Bashful looked nervous. “In the mines, people talk about what they’d do if they were trapped. How they’d