She hoped Blake was wrong, but in less than hour she was a goose again. She was not surprised. That was the saddest part. But what Blake had was encouraging and intriguing. He had to leave, did he? She fell asleep that night theorizing that Blake was a handsome prince transformed into a squirrel, bound by the same rigorous time frame.

"Good morning, my chickies!" A shrill voice tore Mimi from a rather romantic dream involving herself and Blake. She blinked wildly, and flailed at the blankets she expected as a covering. No blankets. The sun forced itself into her eyes along with a sharp memory of what had happened. For a moment she hoped it had all been a dream, but there she was. A goose. A silly goose dreaming about a squirrel. Good grief. She looked up into the round face of an old, plump woman with a pink cloth tied around her face. The stupid geese around her honked, and the old woman smiled. "We're off to market, dearies! Perhaps one of you will end up the Duke's dinner tonight!"

What? Market? There was not supposd to be a market! Blake was returning to help her out of this mess. Mimi flapped her wings again with thankfully more power than the day before, but to her horror the woman grabbed her around the neck. It was not enough to choke her, but it hurt and Mimi gasped.

"No, no, my dearie," said the woman. "None of that behavior."

Mimi did not want to be eaten.

A rickety little cart sat outside the pen. The cart was filled with cages, and an old mare stood in front of it, ready to contentedly pull. And the woman had a large cane.

"Don't you dare!" Mimi screamed as soon as the woman released her neck. "I will not be eaten!"

But it had begun. Mimi tried to force herself away, but the gaggle let itself be herded into the cage. She flapped and flapped her wings and almost had something akin to liftoff, but the stampede of geese chased by a cane had her squashed most uncomfortably against the cart.

"You are misbehaving!" the woman said.

Mimi just wanted to know what she intended to do. Hit her over the head? Mimi was supposed to wait for Blake and she was not going to be sent to a market to be eaten! But there was no injury. Instead, the woman scooped her up firmly and held her against her chest. For a plump old woman, she was strong. Then she walked to the mare, grabbed the reins and used her other arm with the cane to shoo the rest of the geese forward. Mimi fought all she could, but the woman was a rock. Probably had dealt with wayward geese before. And like so many lemmings the old woman herded her gaggle toward a city, high grey buildings rising like the gates of death. It was utterly humiliating. Mimi wanted to run. She wanted to peck the old lady's eyes out. But it was not her fault. She was just doing her business. And she had no idea the goose she carried as an innocent girl.

They entered the city, the dirt road suddenly giving way to cobblestones. Walking into the city was bursting into a storm of sound. People were everywhere. Mimi had never seen so many people at once, moving and talking and laughing. Part of her wanted so much to watch them. The fear left her, even the thought of Blake left her.

"Elva!" A woman shouted from the crowd.

The old woman carrying Mimi stopped and turned. "Gretel! Good to see you. How is your flock?"

Gretel, a tall, skinny thing with hair down to her knees, laughed. "A more common market for business than yours!" Gretel, too, had geese, chattering and honking next to a pile of cages, completely unaware people intended to cook them.

Elva chuckled. "I don't live in town and can't spend every day here! I have geese to raise!" She marched on, finally stopping at a clear little spot near Gretel. She did not let Mimi go.

It was a terrifying morning. Mimi felt the heat of an oven every time someone glanced in Elva's direction. People came, picked geese, paid for them plus a cage, and walked away, the dumb creature having no idea what it was in for. Mimi should have felt safer at not being picked, but logically it just meant that she was a better choice each time a customer came about. Really, Elva could not expect to sell her entire gaggle today. It was impossible. This was just her inventory.

Then she heard a gasp from Elva, as well as from several other ladies selling geese. Instinctively Mimi turned to see the source of the fuss.

There, coming toward us, was a creature out of a nightmare. Or at least a story. It was a dwarf or a goblin, or something similar. It was short, barely above four feet, with green-tinged skin and thick brown arms that hung to its skinny knees. Its eyes were small and dark, but gleamed like the very fires of hell. Its nose was a long and curved hook and its mouth curved from giant bat ear to giant bat ear. Despite these looks it dressed like one of the richer travelers that had visited Father, fine cloth stretching over a humped back and a broad-rimmed hat with a buckle over its head.

The dwarf made his way over, examining each gaggle with interest. "Good day, ladies."

"Good day, sir!" the ladies echoed. It was as if they would claw each other to meet the hideous creature that kept walking until he stood just before Elva.

"Ah, my dear Elva." It was difficult to describe his voice. The best way was to say his voice matched his clothes more than his body, but was still not quite refined. "I haven't you seen you here in weeks!"

She gave a clumsy curtsey. "The geese need to be fattened up, sir!"

"Well, I am happy to inform you that they are. Unlike you, Elva."

Elva giggled like an idiot. "You flatter me, Dwarf Longnose."

What an appropriate name.

"I would never dream of flattering you. I speak only the truth." He clapped his gnarled hands together. "Now, the Duke has requested roast goose tonight and it's always wise to have one for backup so I believe I will be taking… three. Because you have earned the business."

Mimi did not want to be roast goose. She froze in Elva's arms. Perhaps she would be seen as a pet?

Dwarf Long-nose took his time looking at the geese. Twice he pointed to a goose and asked Elva to put it in a cage.

Only one more left.

Please don't be me, Mimi silently begged. Blake had wanted her to be careful. Blake had also wanted her to stay back at Elva's home.

"That one will do. It looks exceedingly healthy. Not that the rest don't. And spirited, if you must hold it."

Of course he was pointing to me. And there was nothing Mimi could do but let Elva shove her into a cage. Her heart pounded as if it would burst. Shewould probably die before even arriving at the Duke's.

After he had finished paying the still-blushing Elva, Dwarf Long-nose hoisted the cage onto his humped back. He was quite strong considering his size. Then, with Mimi's fate on his ugly back, he trotted off.

The two other geese were terrified, probably because they did not like being in a cramped rather than in fear of their futures. They flapped their wings and carried on and continually bumped into Mimi. She could not move. This could not be happening.

She felt sicker and sicker the further they went. People traveled around, completely ignorant of her fate though many were sure to greet that stupid dwarf. What had he done to become so famous and respected?

Soon, a large manor came into view. The Duke's.

She panicked. She had to say something. He wouldn't hear, but she had to say something. "Think about cooking me and I swear I will slit your throat!" Normally she was not so violent a thinker, save when it came to Lavender, but the idea that the ugly dwarf couldn't understand her was a help.

The dwarf screamed and let go of the cage. All three of us geese shrieked as the cage smacked against the cobblestones. Mimi had landed upside down. When she righted myself, there was Dwarf Long-nose staring down.

"Did you just speak?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes." Then, as an afterthought, "Please don't kill me."