Chapter 8

The next morning, Princess Anna lied on the grass with her head over her arms snoring softly, while from her mouth leaked saliva. A loud eagle noise rang from the near making Anna snort and wake up a little confused.

„Where am I?" Yawned Anna getting up, followed by hitting her head under the carriage, then noticed she had slept with her head under the vehicle, then groaned at the pain. „Sheesh,"

Anna looked around to spot the farmer Hans sleeping with his head leaned against the wheel of the carriage, then the princess got up by grabbing by the wheel and looked further at the lake.

„What a beautiful morning," Commented Anna, then she moved further and felt down on her front. „What happened?" Asked Anna looking behind to see from under her dress Donny crawl out confused, then looked up at the woman and panted. „Oh good morning, also awake?" Questioned Anna watching Donny lick himself for a yes.

„Just right now," Commented Donny watching the princess stand up, then passed over Hans making her way beside the horses and took a look at them to notice they were asleep as well, afterward the second one puffed earning Anna's attention, which smiled and patted it beside his nose.

„Good boy," Commented Anna, then Donny watched her caress the large animal, then began to whine to obtain her attention. Anna looked down to see Donny tilt his head aside while dropping his ears down making Anna chuckle and knee down. „Aww you're jealous I didn't give you any attention?" Questioned Anna patting the dog beside his neck making him pant. „You're just as cute as well, young boy," Complimented Anna, then Donny lied himself down on the ground, so he would get from the woman belly rubs which he successfully obtained. „You've got one of the warmest belly's I have ever found," Commented Anna lovely watching Donny tilt his head aside enjoying the affection of the princess. After that the princess stood up and made her way towards a bush, then noticed Donny had followed her and she looked down at him, seeing him pant while admiring her.

„Will you just excuse me for a minute?" Questioned the princess, which saw the dog scent the ground for anything, then Anna lifted her head to block the sight to the dog. „I need my privacy in there, you know….I have to take a leak," Mentioned Anna. „You know…."

„Oh…..uh okay," Commented Donny turning his back against the princess.

„Would you go a little farther?" Questioned Anna.

„But you're vulnerabled here. Something could appear and attack you like…..an…..uh…..horse," Commented the husky making Anna giggle.

„I will be okay Donny, I promise. You don't have to worry about it," Said Anna making Donny blink his eyes in understanding.

„I'll be waiting there at the cart," Said Donny walking towards the carriage, while the princess sank into the bush disappearing out of sight. Donny sat by the horses watching the bush move a bit, then it stopped and Donny stared at it for several seconds. Donny stopped wagging his tail, tilting his head wondering why the bush had stopped moving, afterward he panicked and looked at Hans, which was asleep. Donny jumped with his front paws against Hans' face shrieking him.

„Whoa!" Exclaimed Hans getting up, then watched Donny do a spin.

„There's an emergency! Anna left into that bush there and now she's dead!" Commented Donny loud shrieking Hans.

„What?!" Shouted the auburn-haired man. „But how?"

„I'm not dead!" Shouted Anna. „I need to empty my bladder!"

„You were taking so long!" Complained Donny. „I thought something had happened,"

Hans placed his hand in front of his face, then got down on one knee.

„You know she can't just do her needs as fast as you do. She wears clothing,"

„I'm sorry I worried you," Apologized Anna from the interior of the bush.

„See, she's fine," Spoke Hans placing his hand on Donny's head. „I believe it's time to move on,"

„When will we have our next stop?" Questioned Donny making Hans shrug his shoulders.

„It's up to us all. We could travel for three-four hours and take a break or we stop short at the time for lunch," Suggested Hans. „We could eventually stop by any of the villages we will come along,"

„Okay,"

„If you want you can get up on the carriage, while I put the rest of the unused firewood into it," Mentioned Hans walking back at the cart to pack the wood and Donny tried to jump at the ladder to climb it up, then fell down on his back unnoticed by Hans, which stood behind the carriage putting the wood into it. Donny give it another try, then made it and got on top of the bank, afterward he got with his hindlegs stuck above the bank trying to move up with them, and slipped back on the ground. Letting out a yelp.

Princess Anna had returned, then noticed Donny sitting on the ground sad and she grabbed the husky to put him on top of the bank, making him smile and the woman mirrored his expression.


Half a day later, the trio arrived at a village stopping the carriage on a spot beside another carriage, where the horses were tied up on a pole and had in front of them a tank filled with water and hay.

„It's just 13:18. I assumed it was a later time," Commented Hans looking up at a church tower, which showed the current time.

„It must have been at least 5:30 in the morning as we got up," Commented princess Anna. „I don't have a decent feel for time, but I remember seeing the sun was up before I woke up,"
„Is a possibility," Mentioned Hans, then looked at Donny get up in his lap looking down at the ground, then trying to leap down. „You don't have to….." Spoke Hans watching Donny jump and land on his four paws. „jump….,"

„Great job, Donny!" Complimented the princess making Donny wag his tail and pant.

„I believe with a lot of practice it will get better for you, Don. Also when you get bigger too," Enunciated Hans, then got down of the carriage and held his hand out at the princess, which accepted it and got down at the ground.

„Thank you," Responded Anna, then both looked around the village to see the fewer people around them. „Do you think any of the places there sells clothing?" Questioned princess Anna making Hans shrug his shoulders.

„There must be one somewhere. Why do you need other clothes?"

„You know I would feel more comfortable if I could wear something simpler like pants and a pullover, rather than a full dress,"

„Yeah, that actually sounds good…..I've been really admiring how you're able to move along in a dress during the trip," Commented Hans making Anna chuckle.

„I'm used to it. If I end up finding nothing, I'll just keep this one and eventually try it out next time,"

„Good, while you're gone I and Donny will look for a water fountain and fill the jar with water. If you're back we could make a break and have lunch," Offered Hans making Anna nod.

„Sounds great to me, I will go look for a clothing shop," Commented Anna making Hans nod, then the two humans went separate ways and Hans got followed by Donny. Hans took from the carriage a blue jar out, then crossed the road along with Donny to look for a spring well.

„A water fountain is something, that squirts out water from a long...uh, cane? Right?" Questioned Donny making the adult nod.

„Yes, similar to the one for the horses we saw there, except that one is meant for the filling of the tank," Pointed Hans out, then Donny ran further making Hans curious. „Where are you going?"

„I think I had seen one before," Commented Donny, then Hans followed the dog and they stopped beside a bakery to see beside it a water fountain, where a teenager stood filling a bucket with water from the long tap. „That fits your description," Stated the dog making Hans smile.

„That's right, good job, Donny," Commented Hans patting the dog on his head.

„Good to know I could help,"

„You're still a child. I don't expect you to be able to do everything," Spoke Hans, then he reached the fountain to hold the jar under the tap to refill and Donny jumped on the side of the fountain to drink from the water, that was inside the tub. "Are you interested in taking a look at the village to see, what it was to offer?"

„Okay," Answered Donny waiting until Hans had filled the jar, afterward Hans walked off and accompanied Donny along the main road of the village. Hans placed the jar inside his carriage, then looked at Donny, which waited for him, and together both moved along the road to encounter a couple of shops and one of them had at the window a couple of bows displayed with arrows beside it

„They have bows here for sale," Mentioned Hans looking at them displayed on the window. „My father Gustav bought me when I was 15 my first bow. I remember the first few hours a hard time getting the hang of it," Recounted Hans as Donny paid attention to the story.

„Are you taking one?" Questioned Donny looking at them. „You already have a sword,"

„They could be useful for something else like I could catch fish with it," Commented Hans. „I tie a cord around the arrow, adjust it on the bow, and whoosh!…...got one,"

„Okay, I know humans do fish differently. They have some long stick with a small thread and a hook on the end,"
„Yes, a fishing rod. I haven't fished before, but one of the villagers works at sea and his son brought their fish for sale to the village. That's where we used to get the fish for us. Either there or towns had markets,"

„Okay," Said Donny, then Hans got into the store and Donny moved aside to encounter an alley and spotted on a wall several sheets hanging on the wall from wanted posters to offers from all over the place.

Donny got up on the wall with his front paws, then sniffed all over the wall.

Donny sat down to admire them all, then he moved his ears and looked aside to see Hans return with an archery quiver backpack carrying the arrows inside it along with the bow.

„I've got myself the last one of this type. They practically look all alike," Stated Hans, then looked at the wall to see all the posters hanging on it.

„Why are there so many pictures hanging?" Questioned the dog.

„This must be one of the walls, where people can hang up any type of poster, this one for example. He's selling his carriage for 1200 Thaler," Explained Hans. „Or this one here is a wanted poster. They're looking for a Flynn Rider. A thief known for well…..stealing"

„And what are those big letters there?"

„It just says wanted. So people know it," Commented Hans then pointed to the next two. „Here we got an Hänsel and a Ruslan. Here's a babysitting offer, down there is an announcement for a musical and…...hey this one is written in Danish," Commented Hans grabbing the poster to take a better look at it, then widened his eyes curious. „This is from the Southern Isles," Spoke Hans making Donny tilt his head.

„What are Southern Isles?" Questioned the husky.

„That's an island where I used to live when I was younger. Not really an interesting topic," Commented Hans seeing the image, then took a closer look at the picture to see the drawing of the person on it and its subtext to it. „This looks like my brother Kasper but without any facial hair," Mentioned Hans, then looked down at the subtext. „At the age of 14 pushed the finn prince off the roof from the Westergaard castle. Wanted since said night. Possible looks at the age of 20,"

„Wow, who's so mean to push someone from far up a house?" Questioned Donny watching Hans wide his eyes as he saw his name written on it at the end.

„Oh no," Spoke Hans in shock from recognizing, that he's wanted in his hometown. „I can't believe it,"

„What happened?" Questioned Donny tilting his head. „Do you know anything about it?"

„This guy here…..is supposed to be me," Admitted Hans.

„You pushed the man from the roof?" Questioned Donny surprised, making Hans shake his head.

„It was an accident, Donny. I was devastated with the life I was living and in despair, I ran out on the roof to escape and he came closer to me to try to convince me to get back. He stood near the edge of the roof and made a false step losing his balance and I tried to pull him back, but I failed and he fell into his death,"

„And what happened then? Didn't you tell them you were not guilty?" Questioned Donny.

„I did, but…..I'm not sure if anyone believed me. I just ran off. I saw the look in my mother's eyes and I couldn't bear facing my entire family on that night. Perhaps the fact that I ran away made people assume I'm guilty of Prince Miika having lost his life and his parents want justice by having me arrested,"

„And it's not,"

„Exactly," Commented Hans sad. „I have sometimes thought about that night, what else happened but I never left the farm. Gustav said, I didn't need to worry I was far away from there. Now I just wonder if it's a coincidence, that there's only this one poster of me around the place or if they are more of it,"

„I only saw that one,"

„I know, I'm referring to how years have passed since I left, they could as well have distributed around the whole peninsula these posters….Okay, maybe they only made this in like four years ago. It states me as a twenty-year-old here and I'm already older than that,"

„Maybe people won't even recognize you. I don't know how people can just look at the image and immediately know, who it is,"

„Well, this varies from person to person. I had an uncle that could only by looking once at a picture keep it in his head. That's one rare gift,"

„Okay,"
„The other good thing about the image is that it doesn't have the sideburns as I do. This does make it a little harder for people to notice," Commented Hans, then watched at the road leading to the alley princess Anna appear making Hans jump, while Donny tilted his head confused at the man's reaction.

„Oh there you are," Commented Anna watching Hans sigh in relief, then move her head aside slowly. „Uh did I miss something?" Questioned Anna rolling her eyes at the wall to see the many posters, then she took a look at them. „Oh you're looking at this, right?" Questioned Anna looking back at Hans, which stored his wanted poster back.

„There's a lot of wanted posters, but also offers," Hans added, then noticed Anna was still wearing the same dress. „Didn't you find anything adequate for you?"

„Most of the things I saw weren't from my size and I left," Stated the princess sad. Her stomach suddenly began to grumble calling Hans' attention and Donny tilted his eyes curious at the sound. „Talking about size, there's a bakery nearby. What about we buy a baguette or two?"

„For lunch and additionally with some of the other ingredients would be not such a bad idea. Also, you can make more things with the bread like…..

„Sandwiches!" Both said at the same time, then began to laugh at the same thought. „What a coincidence!"

„Hey, this was now awkward," Commented Hans making princess Anna nod.

„Yes, it really was," Admitted the strawberry-blonde woman. „Shall we go?" Asked the princess making the man nod, afterward the trio got out of the alley making their way back to their carriage.