The door of the bedroom slowly opened and creaked. The leader of the dwarfs looked inside while holding a lantern. The other dwarfs looked inside, too, and silently they walked towards the bed. But then the same moaning sound that scared Dopey, froze the dwarfs in place. They stared at the living sheets with fear. A second moaning sound made them even more careful. The cows, horse, and rabbit stood at the opening, watching very carefully.

"Ha. No wonder they thought it's a monster. Snowy almost looks like a ghost," Buck said.

"Shh," the animals said to make sure the dwarfs didn't hear them.

"Jiminy Crickets!" the sneezing dwarf whispered.

"Gosh!" the fifth whispered.

"Gee!" said the fat one.

"What a monster!" the sneezing dwarf whispered again.

"It covers three beds," said the fifth.

The dwarfs gathered together. "Let's kill it before it wakes up," said the leader.

"Which end do we kill?" the fat one asked loudly.

"Shh!" the leader said and then the other dwarfs.

The leader motioned them to walk towards the bed.

"Oh. We gotta stop them now," Mrs. Calloway said.

"Not yet, Calloway," Maggie said.

"But what if they..." Lucky Jack said, but couldn't finish it.

"Shh! Trust me," Maggie said.

The dwarfs kept walking silently towards the bed. They all took a position to attack at the right moment. Maggie looked as if she were about to charge at the dwarfs, ready when they attack.

"I can't watch this," Mrs. Calloway said while covering her eyes with her hat.

The leader slowly grabbed the sheets and quickly threw them away. The dwarfs began to strike, but the moment they saw what was under the sheets they ceased their attack and lowered their weapons.

"Phew," Maggie said when she saw their reactions. "They didn't kill her."

The others sighed in relief. The dwarfs stared at the human girl and the yellow cow who were sleeping peacefully next to each other. It was almost like the dwarfs had never seen a girl before. The leader couldn't help but smile. "Well, eh, ah..."

"What is it?" asked the fat one in confusion.

"Seriously, they've never seen a girl before?" Buck asked.

"Maybe this is all new to them. Just like when we met Snow White," Mrs. Calloway said.

The leader answered the question of the fat dwarf. "Why, it... It's a girl!"

"At least that one's smart," Maggie said. "Kinda like you, Calloway," she said with a smirk.

"And where, exactly, are you trying to go with this?" Mrs. Calloway asked with a raised eye brow.

Maggie giggled a little. "Nothin'."

Dopey saw the yellow cow, who was sleeping with Snow White. He pointed at her.

"Is that the cow?" the leader asked.

Dopey nodded first and then shook his head.

"Well, it's a very strange kind of cow. I don't remember them being yellow," the leader said, a bit amazed and confused by the sight.

"Aw, it's so cute how they sleep like this together," the fat dwarf said.

The sneezing dwarf was leaning while watching the human girl and cow sleep with a smile. "She's mighty purdy, and that cow, too."

"They're beautiful. Just like angels," the fifth dwarf said. The sneezing dwarf nodded at his words.

"Oh, that's so sweet," Mrs. Calloway said with a smile.

But then, all the nice things stopped when the second dwarf spoke. "Angels, hah! She's a female! And by the looks of that heifer, she's a female as well! And all females is poison! They're full of wicked wiles!"

Mrs. Calloway frowned when she heard that. "Well, I never. Hmph."

"Who does he think he is? I'll show him a thing or two," Buck said.

"Easy, Buck. Don't let his words get to you," Maggie said, trying to calm the horse.

The fifth was a bit confused at the words of the second one. "What are wicked wiles?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I'm agin 'em," the second answered.

"Shh! Not so loud. You'll wake them up," the leader whispered.

"Aw, let them wake up! They don't belong here nohow," the second dwarf said.

Buck still wasn't amused by the dwarf's attitude, but then Snow White and Grace began to move. The dwarfs noticed that.

"Shh! Look out," the fifth said.

"They're movin'," the sneezing dwarf said while holding on to the fifth dwarf in fear.

"They're wakin' up," the fat one said.

"What'll we do?" asked the sneezing dwarf.

"Hide," said the leader. The dwarfs ran around the room and all hid behind the bed where Grace and Snow White were sleeping.

Grace yawned cutely. "Did you say something?"

Snow White opened her eyes and said, "No." Then she stretched her arms wide and yawned, too. "Oh, dear. I wonder if the children are..."

But before Snow White could finish her sentence, her eyes went wide. Grace took notice of that. "What's the matter?" she asked. Then she followed the girl's gaze and saw a long set of eyes. Grace and Snow White yelled a little and quickly grabbed the sheets to cover themselves like they were naked or something.

"Oh!" they yelled.

The heads to which the eyes belonged disappeared out of sight, along with the stocking caps they wear. A few seconds later, the heads popped out again. But this time, they showed their noses too. When the girl and the cow saw that, they realized there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Oh, my. I think those are the seven people who live here. They don't look like children at all," Grace said.

"Why, why, you're little men!" Snow White said with a smile and lowered the sheets she was holding. Grace did the same thing.

The so-called little men looked at each other and suddenly stood upright. They were most of all surprised that the strange cow they saw talked about.

"They sure look cute, but where are Maggie and the others?" Grace asked.

Suddenly, Snow White took notice of the missing animals at the opening of the room. "There they are." She pointed to them. The dwarfs watched in her direction and were even more surprised that there were more strange animals in their house. The animals were just standing at the opening.

"It's okay. Come join in," Snow White said.

"There's nothing to worry about," Grace said.

Maggie and the rest of her friends entered the room, and for the very first time, they met eye to eye with the dwarfs. The dwarfs looked at each other again, not knowing what to say about all this. They were also surprised when they saw Buck and Lucky Jack. They had their guesses about what they were, but they weren't sure.

"Hello. How do you do?" Maggie asked.

The dwarfs were a little startled when she talked and looked at each other again without a word to say.

"She said, how do you do?" Snow White said.

"How do you do what?" said the second dwarf, who was the first to speak.

"Oh, you can talk! I'm so glad!" said Snow White. "Now, don't tell me who you are. Let us guess."

"Oh, I love that game. You start first, Maggie," Grace said.

"Well... If I'm not mistaken, you're Doc," Maggie said to leader dwarf.

The dwarf couldn't help but chuckle. "Why, why, why, yes. Yes! That's true."

Then Snow White tried to guess one and chose the fifth dwarf. "And you're, you're Bashful," she said charmingly.

And just as his name says, the dwarf's face became as red as a tomato and he played with his beard. "Ooooooooh, gooosh!" He chuckled a little and tied his beard in a knot. The other dwarfs and animals couldn't help but chuckle.

The fourth dwarf began to yawn and it was Lucky Jack's turn to guess. "And you're, without a doubt, Sleepy."

The dwarf stopped yawning and said with a sleepy voice and a chuckle. "How'd you guess?"

"Because you were yawning. And the droopy eyes gave me the hint," Lucky Jack said while he chuckled along with the rest.

Mrs. Calloway was looking at the dwarf she chose to guess. "And you?"

The dwarf was on the brink of sneezing, but the second and Dopey were holding their fingers under his nose stopping his sneeze.

"And you're Sneezy," Mrs. Calloway said with a giggle, and the rest of the dwarfs chuckled.

The two dwarfs put their fingers away and Sneezy sighed in relief. But he still released one sneeze. It was so funny that the dwarfs and the animals started to laugh very hard.

"Hey, Sneezy. That was one heck of a sneeze you made downstairs. You totally got my respect," Buck said.

"T-t-thanks," said Sneezy, who didn't expect to get a praise for his sneeze, especially from an animal. Even though his hay fever worked like a handicap, the powerful sneezes he made could be of good use in times of need.

"Yes, then you must be..." Maggie said to the fat dwarf.

"Happy, ma'am. That's me." He pointed to himself and then he pointed to the silly dwarf next to him. "And this is Dopey. He don't talk none," he said and laughed. Dopey was just being silly as always.

"You mean, he can't talk?" asked Grace, who was laying on the bed like a cat.

"He don't know. He never tried," Happy said and then every animal and dwarf began to laugh.

"Oh, you poor thing," Grace said.

"That's too bad," Snow White laughed.

Then Snow White, the cows, Buck, and Lucky Jack looked at the only dwarf that hadn't been named yet. He already gave them the stink eye. Buck smirked a little.

"Let me guess. You must be Grumpy," he said in a fake grumpy voice.

And with that, the dwarfs began to laugh. Doc gave him a nudge with his finger. "Oh, yes! Yes!"

The laughter died down and Grumpy began to speak. "Hah! We know who we are." Doc nodded at what he said. "Ask them who they are and what they're a-doin' here."

Doc showed his serious face. "Hmph! Yeah! What are you and who are you doin'?"

"That last part doesn't sound very right," Grace said.

"Uh, what are you..." Doc stuttered. He tried to find the right words and his friendly face was shown again. "Who are you, my dears?"

"Oh, how silly of us. Allow me. My name is Maggie. This is Mrs. Calloway, Grace, Buck, and Lucky Jack."

"My eyes and ears do not deceit, uh, deceive me, do they? Are you really talking animals?" Doc asked.

"Yes, we are. Mrs. Calloway and Grace and I are cows, Buck is a horse, and Lucky Jack is a jackrabbit," Maggie said.

The cows, horse, and rabbit all nodded at that.

"Oh, I see. So where do you come from?" Doc asked.

"We're from Patch of Heaven. I'm sure you've never heard of that, but it's kind of a long story. We could tell you more about it later," Mrs. Calloway said.

Doc nodded at that. "And who are you, my dear?" he asked the human girl.

"I'm Snow White," she answered.

"Snow White?" Happy asked in amazement.

"The Princess?" all the dwarfs asked.

"Yes," Snow White said.

"Wait. You know who she is?" Buck asked.

"Of course, we do. Everybody knows of Snow White and her kindness. Her father was a great man," Happy said.

Doc chuckled. "Well... Well, my, my dear Quincess... Uh, Princess. We're, uh, we're honored. Yes, we're, uh, we're..."

But before Doc finished, Grumpy tried to finish it in his words, causing Doc to fluster. "Mad as hornets!"

"Mad as hornets! No, no, we're not. We're bad as cornets... No, no, as bad as... What was I sayin'?"

"Nothing! Just standin' there sputterin' like a doodlebug!" Grumpy said

When Grumpy said that, the two began to argue.

"Oh! Who, who, who, who's butterin' like a spoodledug? Who's... Uh, gutter..." Doc said.

"Aw, shut up and tell them to get out!" Grumpy said.

With that, Buck got mixed in the conversation. "Hey! You can't throw us out like common stray animals!"

"Oh, I can't, eh? You invaded our house just like that! We don't want any strangers in our house, not even talking animals like you," Grumpy said.

"We? I thinkyou're the only one who doesn't want us in. We cleaned the entire house just for you guys, for the love of Pete! You should thank us for doing that!" Buck shouted.

"So what? I don't want all of you in the house, even if the wolves are chasing you!" Grumpy said.

"That's it!" Buck yelled and pounced on Grumpy.

The two began to hit one another, but Doc, Bashful, Maggie, and Lucky Jack stopped them. Doc and Bashful held Grumpy while Maggie and Lucky Jack held Buck.

"Calm down, nelly," Lucky Jack said.

"There's no way to stoop to that ruffian's level," Maggie said.

"Who are you calling 'ruffian', missy?" Grumpy said.

"Grumpy, don't," Bashful said.

"Now look what you did. That's what you get when you try to send nice people and animals away," Doc said.

"He attacked me!" Grumpy said.

"You started it, you ungrateful midget!" Buck said.

"Everybody, STOP!" Mrs. Calloway said. "Arguing is not the way. Grumpy, why don't you want us in?"

"Because I don't want to," Grumpy said, being the stubborn dwarf he is.

Buck and Grumpy were released and avoided eye contact. Snow White and Grace were very silent at that moment until Snow White decided to speak. "Please don't send us away!" she pleaded. "If you do, she'll kill me."

The dwarfs' eyes went wide when she said that. "Kill you?"

"Who will?" Happy asked.

"Yes, who?" Doc asked.

"My stepmother, the Queen," Snow White answered.

"THE QUEEN?!" the dwarfs said.

"Yes, the Queen. She wanted her and us killed, too, because we're more beautiful than she is," Mrs. Calloway said.

"She's wicked!" Bashful said.

"She's bad!" Happy said.

"She's mighty mean!" Sneezy said.

"She's an old witch!" Grumpy shouted and began to make sudden gestures at Sneezy while he spoke. "I'm warnin' ya. If the Queen finds them here, she'll swoop down and wreak her vengeance on us!"

Sneezy was completely silent when he did that. Grace wasn't that comfortable, either. But Snow White tried to look at the bright side. "But she doesn't know where we are."

"She don't, eh?" Grumpy reacted quickly. "She knows everything." The animals hated to admit it, but Grumpy was right about that. The evil Queen Grimhilde has certain ways to know things.

Grumpy then made gestures at Maggie when he spoke, and what he said began to frighten her a little. "She's full of black magic. She can even make herself invisible. Pfft!" Grumpy hit his fingers on Maggie's nose. She covered it after that. "Might be in this room right now."

The cows, dwarfs, horse, and rabbit were very uncomfortable at the moment. Maggie didn't know she would have competition with a monarch that used black magic.

Dopey raised Happy's beard, and Happy gave him a hit on the head. Maggie giggled at that.

"Oh, she'll never find us here. And if you let us stay, we'll keep house for you," Snow White said.

"Not for him," Buck whispered in Snow White's ear, talking about Grumpy.

"I heard that!" Grumpy shouted.

"Please, Buck. I know he acts rude, but I'm sure he has a good heart hidden inside," Snow White said.

"Yeah, right," Buck mumbled under his breath.

"We would like to help. We could wash and sew and sweep and cook and..." Mrs. Calloway said, but then she got startled by the dwarfs.

"COOK?!" the dwarfs said.

"Can you make dapple lumpkins... Uh, lumple dapplins?" Doc asked.

"APPLE DUMPLINGS!" they all corrected his words.

"Eh, yes! Crapple dumpkins."

"I can sure do that. I make the best apple dumplings in all of Patch of Heaven," Lucky Jack said with a proud smile.

"Yes, and plum pudding and gooseberry pie..." Snow White said.

Then all the dwarfs, except Grumpy, began to cheer. "Gooseberry pie? HOORAY!THEY STAY!"

"Thank you. Thank you very much," Grace said.

"It's our pleasure, Miss Grace," Happy said.

Then Maggie sniffed at the air. "Um, Snow White?"

"Yes, Maggie?"

"Weren't you cooking something downstairs?"