Red's cloak, her hood, was the only thing that stopped her from turning into a wolf. Without it, Red could end up killing anyone, including Snow White. With all the excitement, Red had not even realized she had lost it, at first.
As Red and Snow were making their way through another part of the woods, Snow saw Red's face go deathly pail. "What is it? What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.
Red's mouth moved a few times, but no sound came out. She finally managed to say, in no more than a whisper, "My hood." Her hands tugged at her collar, where the hood should have been clasped.
Then Snow's face paled, although with her skin, you could hardly tell. She knew what Red's hood did. "Where did you lose it? In the lake?"
Red shook her head. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to remember. "I think when the man grabbed me, I think he pulled it off then." When she opened her eyes, there were tears in them. "Oh, Snow. Without the hood I can't control the wolf. I'm a danger to everyone. I could kill you. I need to go away. I need to find it." By this point she was sobbing, and hugging her arms around herself.
Snow stepped toward her and wrapped her arms around her. "It's okay. Calm down. We can fix this. We'll get it back."
Again, Red shook her head. "No. You have to leave me. I'm a danger to you. I can't let myself hurt you."
Snow pulled back so she could look Red in the eyes, her hands still resting on Red's shoulders. "What I do is my own choice. And I choose to help my friend. Now, we've still got some time, right? Before you turn?"
Red sniffed and nodded. "The full moon is in five days."
"Good. That should be plenty of time. Now whats say we find a nice place to rest. I'm sure we'll come up with the perfect plan once we have our strength back. It's close to dark anyway."
Red consented, and they made their way to a secluded area in a ring of trees. Snow never left Red's side. When they went to sleep, Snow used her cloak to cover them both. However, Red did not find much sleep that night. She was far too worried she would never find her hood again.
The next morning, Red and Snow traveled back to the cliff. The hood was not around anywhere. Snow smiled sadly at Red, who was filled with fear and frustration. "Don't worry, Red, we'll find it."
"You don't know that. Those men could be miles away. They could have ripped it to shreds. They could have burned it. They could have tossed it down the river." Red's imagination was running away with her, but not without a bit of truth.
"Perhaps. But I bet they held onto it. It's one of the few clues they have to us. So, we find them, we find the hood. Now help me track them."
Snow began to search the area for signs. Red stood for a moment, her arms crossed, and a frown on her face. As she watched her friend putting so much effort into helping her, she was able to swallow her emotions enough to join in. A wolf was a pretty good tracker. Red had taught Snow how to track better, but she still wasn't as good as her. With Red's skills, they quickly picked up the trail of the henchmen. Red had been right about one thing. The men were miles away. To Red and Snow's credit, they had completely thrown off the men after their encounter yesterday.
They tracked for hours, but seemed no closer to finding the henchmen. The trail meandered back and forth, sometimes splitting, before eventually coming together again. Red's spirits sank as the better part of the day went by. Snow did her best to be cheerful, but it didn't really help.
By late afternoon, the two had come to the edge of the forest. There, the tracks had changed. There were many more boot prints than before. They were all the kind of the Queen's henchmen, and they all led out of the forest. Clearly, their henchmen had joined up with another band.
"Well. This just got a lot more complicated." Snow quipped dryly.