Gerda built a fire not long after Irene left, singing loudly all the while. The angels didn't reappear and she assumed (correctly, in fact) that they were scouting the area. Night was cold here and winter breathed in the air like a ghost growing in power. She wasn't sure how far she could have wandered into the nameless 'north' before finding out the Snow Queen had her own world. Miles. Too far by half.

A twig snapped in the undergrowth and she realized she had stopped singing, distracted by massaging her aching feet. She started in again with a vengeance on an old song of her youth—

"Schnipp-schnapp –schnurre-basselurre!"

It sounded fierce – but needed more lyrics.

"All flee or face my fury!"

Oh great, now it was a couplet. Couldn't leave it at that.

"Smash them, stomp them, into curry,

Thrown to Fabletown in a hurry,

Thrash them, trash them, noises burry,

Goblins flee or taste my fury!"

And she grabbed one of the sticks out of the fire and brandished it threateningly – in case they noticed she'd used fury twice in only six lines. The noises stopped, uncertainly. She recycled songs for about an hour after that, weaving in the 'schnipp-schnappe' whenever she could, and by the time Irene and Curdie returned three hours later, she was ready for whatever suggestions of rhyme Curdie could provide. The miner boy had bruises up and down his arms and a nasty cut above his eye, but he acted as a fount of rhyme, hardly short of breath.

"Don't worry," Irene assured her. "It's almost morning and these goblins will not pursue us during the day."

"Brilliant." Gerda tossed another 'schnippe-schnappe-schnurre!' at the bushes. "Are you going to be all right, Curdie?"

"Sure." The miner boy – maybe ten? – was eating some of the scrambled eggs (apparently the scent made goblins stay away too) Gerda had cooked. He nodded at her question, munched some more, and made a joke about the way goblins smelled. His hands were steady and if she hadn't been working with children for the past couple of years, she might have been stunned at his composure. He was quiet, when he wasn't joking, and she could tell from Irene's body language that this wasn't normal behavior for him. Irene tried to rouse him a little, asking about the Snow Queen on Gerda's behalf, and partially succeeded.

"She left, and the king was angry about it. She was supposed to be the new queen, since they couldn't get Irene, and partner with the goblin king, and terrorize the Mundy world. The king's idea. She'd agreed to it and then bowed out."

"And she left for… home?" Gerda asked.

"She said so. There was a weapon there, something she had to prepare."

"A weapon in her castle?"

"She wasn't doling out addresses, sorry. The goblins did think something was going on between her and a Mundy, though, if that helps you at all."

"A Mundy?"

It couldn't be Kay then, could it. Mundys were easy to corrupt and sway once you got them to believe in Fables at all. Whoever it was would be fully under Lumi's spellery.

"Thank you, Curdie," she told the little miner. "Stopping the weapon is my business and this has helped."

"As you helped Irene and I," Curdie replied and that was the end of his useful explanation. Both of the children insisted on going two more miles from the mine while it was still dark, despite the distance and excellent camouflage that Irene had set up at their camp. The sun came up and the children went to sleep, Gerda staying awake to watch for goblins. After an hour of struggling to retain consciousness, she wandered a bit from the camp, out towards the road. She planned to indulge in a suspicion.

"Burke? Kramer?"

The air quivered a bit and Burke walked out of the trees.

"You rang?"

"How long have you been around?"

"Off and on. You seemed to prefer travelling alone, and Irene was a safe enough child, so…"

"And her grandmother?"

"Ah, see, there we can help. Though we could not get you to this world, we can easily transport you back to your own. You and the Snow Queen originated from the same world, so there is no reason for you to accompany Irene further off your quest. It would not be dangerous, but it would be a delay."

"Why not just do this originally? I've been tramping around-!"

"We honestly thought she would be in the capital. It is her latest estate, it is where she slept, but we should have thought of…"

There was something in the way his voice trailed off. "Of?"

"It is where things must conclude. It's the way of stories to end in your own world and, to be honest, we are certain now that Lumi and Kay are both there. You must join them." He began detaching the sheath from his belt. "I'm coming with you but if anything goes wrong, you'll need to have this."

"Hang on, no, I don't even know how to use a sword. And the kids should probably have an escort home. It's not safe for—"

"They are more than capable, and Kramer will be staying with them."

"But they won't know…"

"Kramer will explain things and they will trust him. Burke and I have been long acquaintances of Irene's grandmother. We can go now, if you're ready."

"Okay, just a minute." She fumbled to attach the sheath to her jeans buckle, a process that wasn't working well. The sword was weighty and gave off an odd warmth. The attaching-to-belt process made no sense. "Burke, how do you—"

And the whole world turned to ice.