Chapter 3: House of Little Children
All righty, guys! Are you ready to meet the prince? He's in this chapter… or is he? Anyway, read up! This chapter is kinda short, I know, but it's longer than chapter 2!
Snow and Heidi made it to a clearing where Snow began to clean Heidi's wound with the spring water. It looked pristine, so Snow assumed it could be safe to wash a wound with. It had also stopped bleeding, so removing the dried blood cleaned it and Snow could see the damage. It looked like a wolf bite. So that was it. Somebody tried to make dinner out of the poor little baby. The now clean pink flesh laid painfully on Hedi's leg as she whined. Snow worried. The sooner they found shelter, the sooner Heidi's wound could be properly bandaged and ease the pain. She searched around for anything that would perhaps soothe the pain. Her search ended, however, whenever when she made a frightening discovery.
"Heidi?" she called when she realised that her furry friend wandered off. "Heidi?!" she called again with more worry in her voice. She began to panic and searched the woods for her friend. "She couldn't have gotten too far..." she thought, frantically. She called out again and again without relent. It yielded no result. Heidi was nowhere to be found. Each call was more frantic than the last. "HEIDI!" This wouldn't do. Heidi was injured. Someone could hurt her. She could die. Snow continued to run, searching and calling for her friend.
Snow ran until she hit something. Was it another tree? That seemed odd. It certainly didn't feel like a tree, anyway.
"Goodness! Are you all right?" a man's voice asked.
Snow looked up and saw a handsome young man. A hunter, perhaps? He certainly did come equipped to hunt. Snow then thought about what the huntsman told her and realised she couldn't just trust anyone. This could have easily been an assassin her stepmother sent to finish the job. Maybe she somehow knew she wasn't dead. Even if she didn't, this certainly wasn't an optimal time for the princess to stop and chit-chat. Not with Heidi still missing.
"I'm fine! I have to go!" Snow said, before trying to dart off.
"W-wait! Do you have to be in such a hurry? Where are you going?" The young man asked, grabbing her arm.
"My friend is lost! I have to find her! She's badly injured!" Snow pleaded, trying to snatch her arm back.
The man had a look on his face that made it clear that he realised that this is serious. "I'll help you look for her!"
"What?"
"We'll cover more ground if we split up! Meet me back here in 15 minutes!"
"Why are you helping me? You don't know me and you clearly don't know who I am!"
"I know that you're in trouble and that your friend needs help."
Unable to argue with that, Snow simply looked down, realising the young man had let go of her arm, and took off.
Snow continued on the path and began to despair. She has already seen a hunter there. What if someone took the opportunity for easy prey and killed her? Tears began streaking her porcelain face as these thoughts flooded her head.
Snow tripped on a log and fell to the floor. She didn't bother to get up. She just sobbed and sobbed. She continued to sob until she felt something moist slither on her elbow and looked up.
"Heidi!" she cried out when she noticed her companion licking her elbow. She leapt up and hugged her dear friend. "I thought something terrible happened to you!" Heidi nuzzled Snow until she looked up and noticed a small house. "Don't you ever wander off on me again, missy!" Snow scolded playfully before leading Heidi inside.
"Hello?" Snow asked, knocking on the open door. "Is anyone home?" she asked walking through. The answer was no. The house was completely desolate. And a pig sty at that. "Goodness! Who can think with such a mess? Toys everywhere! Little beds not made up…" Snow trailed off and a lightbulb came on in her mind. "Why… this must be a house full of children!" she said. Children with no one to look after them… That just wouldn't do to her. Someone had to make sure these children were safe. And she did need a place to stay. "I guess I'll just have to do it!" she blurted out. Heidi looked confused. "Oh don't give me that look! How hard can it be? Cooking, cleaning, mending clothes? I do that every day! Nothing to it!" Speaking of mending clothes, Snow's purple frock had a tear in it from her journey through the forest. Not to mention she was cold. And hungry. "Now, now," she thought, "First things first," she said, searching for any medical supplies. She found, by some miracle, some gauze and disinfectant. She applied the disinfectant onto Heidi's wound and bandaged it with the gauze. She cleaned off a space on the rug in the centre floor and laid Heidi down so she could rest. She then found a blanket and covered Heidi before stoking the fireplace.
Snow continued cleaning as Heidi napped. After about an hour, the whole place, as far as she could see, was spotless. But SHE was exhausted. Snow did not want to, after all the effort she spent making the beds, undo it to sleep in one. Apart from that, they were just too small for her. She was too tired to figure that out. She grabbed another blanket, snuggled up next to Heidi, and drifted off, wondering what was to come next.
Yes. Yes, I know. These last 2 chapters have been pretty uneventful! I promise that will change once we get into the meat of things! How about that mystery hunter man! Was he the prince? Was he an assassin sent by the queen? Stay tuned to find out! Next chapter, we meet the seven dwarves!
