Sara explored the middle house's interior. It was painted colorfully and there was a table with seven chairs.
"Seven chairs means that seven people live here. But what kind of people?" Sara wondered. Then, she looked at how much dust the place had, and how many cobwebs were at the ceiling. "Whoever they are, they could use some help in cleaning things up. This place is a real mess."
The squirrels nodded in agreement, and climbed up the higher spots to remove the cobwebs. The bird couple picked up the clothes on the floor, and with a little help from the platypus, washed and cleaned them up.
Sara picked up the duster and wiped the table. As the shelves were cleaned, she realized they had nothing to eat or cook.
"Hm… I know! Why not making some hazelnut soup?" Sara suggested. The critters seemed delighted with the idea. "Okay, but then I might need some help finding the ingredients." The rabbits and raccoons nodded, agreeing on helping the princess.
It took them all the afternoon, but the house was completely tidy by the time Sara White started cooking the hazelnut soup. All the clothes were hanged up to dry. The princess then yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"Oh, my… it has been such a day." The deer then nudged her gently to outside the house and to the treehouse on the left. As she climbed up the rope stairs, she saw many pillows all over the place. As she laid down at the pile, the bird couple covered her up and watched as she fell asleep.
Then, one of the raccoons heard something coming, and one of the rabbits started tapping its foot. This was a signal that the house's owners were coming and the critters should leave.
And they were right: the Seven Dakotas were getting closer, Elite and Vinnie on another argument. The long-haired one then stopped, making them all bump into each other.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!" The arguing Dakotas asked.
"Look, dudes. Our house's light is on!" He answered, and all the seven looked from behind the oak tree. As they stepped forward, they smelled the hazelnut soup.
"Wow… that does smell good." Vinnie said.
"Too good if you ask me." Elite proclaimed.
"Our house's light is on." Prophet said.
As they entered, they were surprised to see the house so clean and tidy. The afro one turned off the fire on the fireplace, and smelled the soup again. before grabbing a spoon and tasting it.
"Whoever was in here must be a great cook." He concluded. "This taste delicious."
"It does?" Vinnie asked, before tasting it himself. "Wow, you're right!" Then, the knight one called them out silently, and leaded them to the treehouse where Sara White was asleep. They were surprised to see her sleeping on their pillow pile.
"So it was her, huh?" Elite commented. "Just get her out of here and let's go eat."
"Hey, come on. She apparently worked to the bone to get the house clean and the soup ready." Vinnie pointed out. "Let's at least give her a chance."
"There is a girl sleeping on the pillow pile." Prophet said. The Western dressed one hushed them all and pointed out she was waking up with all that talking. As Sara White rubbed her tired eyes and stretched, she looked at them.
"Uh... hello?" She asked. All the Vinnies greeted her, even Elite muttered something.
"Hello, young lady." Vinnie greeted. "We're the Seven Dakotas. I'm Vinnie. These are Elite..."
"Hmph." Elite crossed his arms.
"...Prophet..."
"The girl's waking up." Prophet said.
"...Hippie..."
"Greetings, sister." The long-haired one made a peace sign.
"...Western..."
"I reckon you were lost?" The western-dressed one guessed.
"...Disco..."
"Yo." The afro one waved.
"...and Knight."
"Bienvenida, mistress." He formally greeted.
"Oh. Nice to meet you. I'm Sara White."
"Sara White?" Vinnie was surprised. "As in… the Princess Sara White?"
"Yes." Sara nodded. "Well, I was the princess… but I was forced to leave the castle, because she wanted to kill me."
"Who?" Hippie asked.
"Who else, you doofus? Queen Savannah, that wicked witch that keep the land on chains!" Elite pointed out. "I'm warning: she finds the girl's in here, she'll come for us all!"
"Oh, please don't send me away." Sara begged. "I never meant any inconvenience. I have no place to stay."
"Now, now, sweetie." Vinnie tapped her shoulders. "Don't worry. As far as we know, that witch never found this place."
"Really?"
"Really, really. Trust me, you're safer here than in any other place." Vinnie assured. "We saw the Queen in person once. We tried showing her our songs, but-"
"But that woman has no soul or consideration." Disco sighed. "She kicked us out of the castle, and forbade the people of having fun."
"Oh, my." Sara White shivered. "You and your brothers have been living here since then?"
"Yeah, we built this house… but we're not actually brothers. It's a complicated story." Vinnie assured. Gosh, how to explain someone of that century about time clones, and getting stuck on that time period for who knew how long?
"Sweetie, you can stay here with us." Hippie said. "Just keep making that sweet soup and help us keep our lair cool."
"I can make more than just soup." Sara White guaranteed. Then, her stomach grumbled. "Speaking of which..."
With that, they all climbed down the rope stairs to enjoy the hazelnut soup Sara White made. The critters, bit by bit, came over to watch if their friend was doing okay.