which was a relief because his gaze was almost too much for her to bear. “I shouldn’t have blurted this news out like that. There’s much I have to tell you, but not here.” He looked around the ominous woods with a sharp focus he hadn’t had when they’d found him.
“We can’t go anywhere till we find the howling tree,” Sneezy said, interrupting, and Snow and Henri broke apart.
“The howling tree?” Henri repeated uncertainly.
“The men heard rumors about a tree in these woods with a sap that can be used to make an elixir that allows a person to shape-shift,” Snow explained. “Finding it might be the key to us getting to the Evil Queen without her knowing. It could be our chance at fighting her.”
Henri’s eyes widened. “You’re going to fight the queen?”
“With our help,” Doc declared, and they all nodded. “Which is why we need to find that tree.”
“Do you mean this tree?” Henri asked. He led them a few feet away to a tree that truly looked like it had a face. Up close, Snow realized the ragged eyes and howling mouth were nothing more than hollowed-out parts of a tree with mangled branches that looked like claws.
She closed her eyes for a moment and pictured herself running past the tree, thinking it was actually coming for her. “Yes, this is the tree I saw.”
Happy and Doc began to examine it, knocking on the tree stump and using their lanterns to peer into the hollowed parts. Grumpy used a carving knife to try to open up the bark and see what was behind it.
“This tree is dead,” Grumpy declared. “There’s no sap in this thing.”
Snow’s heart sank.
“Are you sure this is it?” Sleepy asked.
“I’m sure,” Snow said sadly. She’d been so certain they had a lead. “I guess the rumor was just a rumor. The queen doesn’t get her dark magic from this place.”
There was a low grumble from somewhere deep among the trees. Henri grabbed Snow’s arm. “We should leave.”
“Yes. Why don’t you join us back at the cottage?” Snow suggested as Grumpy sighed. “We have much to discuss and you must be tired from your journey. Where did you find my father?”
“At the border of my kingdom,” Henri said, and the hair on the back of Snow’s neck stood up. “A day’s travel away.”
“But that’s not far!” she said. Had her father been this close the whole time? Why hadn’t he tried to come back for her?
Henri seemed to sense her struggle. He grabbed her hand again. His fingers were callused but warm, and she felt her body relax slightly. There was so much she didn’t know about the boy who stood in front of her. “I promise it will all begin to make sense once I tell you what he told me.”
The two of them stared at one another. The dwarfs watched them silently, listening to the sound of a crow in the distance. “All right,” Snow said finally.
“Are we going to get out of these woods and have dinner, or what?” Grumpy said, interrupting again.
Snow exhaled. “Yes. Of course. Let’s go home,” she said, realizing that’s what the dwarfs’ cottage had become to her in a way the castle never could.
The journey out of the woods could not end quickly enough. By the time they reached the dwarfs’ cottage, the sun was already beginning to dip. While Henri washed up, Snow and the men headed into the kitchen to prepare the roast for supper. Soon a fire was going, and the dwarfs performed their duties with Henri watching in wonder at how comfortable they all were together. Finally, he rose, grabbed a knife, and began chopping onions at her side. His hair was damp and pushed back off his forehead. He had changed into a beige linen shirt that was only laced halfway, revealing his chest and making her blush. Neither of them said anything for a while. Snow cut the carrots and peeled them, while Henri minced the parsley and cut the parsnips. Together they prepared the roast till all there was left to do was wait for it to cook.
Snow settled into a chair, a cup of tea in her hand, anxious to hear Henri’s story. Although she had never expected to see him again, he was here, having come looking for her. If he had gone the long way to the castle, what would have happened to him? Would the Evil Queen have put him to death? Henri’s finding her