Hi~ I had to do the most tweaking of a character in this chapter than I think in any of the others. Still, I like how it worked out.

For a long time Matthew rode in the coach until it came to a thick forest. They started through it, a dazzling thing of beauty in the grim surroundings. Such beauty was truly a curse in that place, for it caught the attention of a group of robbers. It was so rich and fine they knew there was sure to be great treasures within. And so they set upon it.

The robbers surrounded the carriage quite suddenly, two young men grabbing the horses. A woman with long silver hair and fierce blue eyes ruthlessly cut the throats of the coachman, footman, and the jockeys. Not a flicker of remorse crossed her features as she did so. As she busied herself with that task and the young men calmed the horses another woman with short blond hair and a generous bosom opened the carriage, peeking inside.

Matthew cringed, quite frightened by all the sounds from outside. He looked at the woman with wide, terrified eyes, and she returned a startled look. They were frozen, neither knowing what to do or how to react. The woman with long silver tresses noticed her sister's frozen staring and went over, knocking her out of the way.

"And what do we have in here?" Upon seeing Matthew her face twisted in rage and she violently pulled him from the carriage. "You! Treacherous boy, I shall slit your throat for stealing my love from me!"

The other woman grabbed her arm before she could pierce Matthew with her blade. "Please Natalya! Do not kill him, you do not even know if he is the same boy."

Natalya gave her sister an annoyed look. "And so what Katyusha? Even if he is not I shall kill him anyway. He looks plump and well fed. I am sure he would taste quite good."

Giving her sister a horrified expression, Katyusha threw herself over Matthew, shielding him. "Please sister dear, he looks so innocent and kind! Let us not kill him. We can take him with us and he can be made to do work for us. And we can find out if he really is the boy that was seen with the Snow King."

The Snow King? Matthew found himself quite perplexed but was much too terrified to question his would-be savior.

Thinking upon it carefully, Natalya reluctantly put her blade away. "Very well. For the moment we shall keep him as our slave. He shall be questioned and if he proves troublesome then I shall slit his throat."

Katyusha looked quite relieved and hugged the boy to her chest protectively. "Thank you Natalya. I will take charge of him and promise to watch him diligently so he does not get away."

Giving her soft sister a look of disgust Natalya turned to the men. "Let us get going now, there is nothing else here. We can bring the carriage with us. Katyusha! As you are such a clumsy thing, you and the boy can ride in the carriage. Find out if it was indeed he who rode with the Snow King!"

There was much activity and the next thing Matthew knew he was back in the carriage with Katyusha pressed close and they were driving once more into the woods, bouncing over roots and stones. After a few awkward moments in which Matthew teared up from fear, Katyusha put her arm around him comfortingly.

"There, there, you will not be killed if I can help it. But you must do as I say, cooperate, and try to stay away from my sister. She rarely allows people to live. Tell me, are you perhaps a prince?"

Matthew shook his head. "Oh no, not at all. But, please Miss Katyusha, will you tell me what your sister was talking about? Having seen a boy like me? And what was that about the Snow King?"

Blushing softly, for none had ever called her Miss before, Katyusha explained. "Well you see, ever since we were little we had heard tales of the Snow King. My sister claims to have seen him once as a child and fell in love with him instantly. She is always looking out for him in hopes of finding him again and becoming his bride. I have many birds and there are two whom have spoken of seeing a boy of your exact description riding with the Snow King as of late."

Matthew felt his heart skip a beat. Perhaps it was Alfred! But... "Isn't the Snow King merely a story for children?"

Katyusha smiled and shrugged uncertainly. "I suppose there are those who say he is but my sister is convinced of it and the birds speak of him often."

Feeling dizzy with excitement and apprehension at the thought that Alfred might be alive—even if he was supposedly with the Snow King—Matthew told her his story from the beginning and how desperately he had been searching out his dear Alfred.

Katyusha listened sympathetically and hugged him when he had finished, wiping away the tears that had come to his eyes and then her own. "Do not worry. I will do my best to help you find him! If you talk to the wood-pigeons yourself perhaps they can tell you what you need to know."

Matthew silently took her hands, too grateful to speak. Perhaps he was on the verge of finding Alfred after all! He only need keep alive until he had a chance to escape.

They finally came to a stop in the courtyard of a shabby castle, walls filled from top to bottom with deep cracks. Large, dark birds, whether ravens or crows or both Matthew could not determine, circled it and perched in crevices. Fierce, bulky bulldogs patrolled the area. While they looked like they were capable of easily killing a man they were completely silent.

Matthew was forced from the carriage again and Katyusha stuck by his side protectively. They entered the castle, which was dimly lit and filled with smoke and the smell of sweat and something rotting. Finally they came to a large room where all of the robbers spent most of their time. A huge fire was burning, soup boiling over it in a cauldron while rabbits roasted on the spit. Matthew's mouth watered despite himself.

Katyusha got them both something to eat and started pointing to people and naming them—Toris, Eduard, Raivis—but the names started to blend together after a while and only the first three stuck with him. "You will have to sleep with me so that I may protect you. I will introduce you to my pets."

She took Matthew to a corner of the large hall where there was straw and carpet for her to sleep on. Above their heads on an astounding amount of perches were over a hundred pigeons, all asleep.

"These are mine," she said with some shy pride. She pointed to a number of cages fixed into the wall. "Those are the wood-pigeons. We have to keep them locked up or they would fly away immediately. And here, I have one more pet."

Disappearing for a moment, she soon brought out a reindeer, leading it by the horn. A bright copper ring rested around his neck and he was tied up nice and tight. "This is Ba. He would also run away if not held down tight with rope."

Before Matthew had a chance to comment Natalya strode up to them. She grabbed Ba's horn and lightly ran her knife along his neck. "Stupid creature, not plotting out your freedom are you?"

Ba trembled and kicked and Natalya pulled away, looking at Matthew in disgust. "So is it he?"

Katyusha quickly explained Matthew's story and that he was not, in fact, the one that had been with the Snow King. "Perhaps he is not him, but even if he is not I might feel satisfaction killing him anyway. How I hate his Alfred!"

Matthew shook and Katyusha pulled him close. "No sister, it would be a waste to kill him! Please, I promise to watch him carefully and maybe you shall find a good purpose for him."

While Natalya deeply wished to kill Matthew there was reason in her sister's words. Perhaps the Snow King could be lured with this double to his own sweetheart. And so she left Matthew in peace, much to his and Katyusha's relief.

"You must be very careful around her," Katyusha whispered. "She even sleeps with a knife and will kill you for any reason if she can find one."

Matthew nodded, quite frightened for himself. As everyone became preoccupied with drinking, talking, and sleeping, Katyusha whispered to Matthew, "Now you should question the wood-pigeons. I will be your lookout."

And so she kept her eye on her fellow robbers as Matthew approached the wood-pigeons. "Please, I hear you have heard of a boy that looks like me with the Snow King?"

The wood-pigeons were quick to respond, "Coo coo, we have not only heard it, we have seen it with our own eyes. A boy with a face like yours but slightly different at the side of the Snow King in his carriage. It went through the wood while we were in our nest. The Snow King blew upon us and all of our young ones died. Coo coo."

Heart beating so quickly he thought it might burst, Matthew frantically whispered, "Do you know where they were going? Anything at all?"

The wood-pigeons consulted and one finally spoke, "Most likely on their way to Lapland, where snow and ice always covers the land. Try asking the reindeer where it is, he should know. Coo coo."

The reindeer, which had been listening in, spoke softly. "Yes, always snow and ice. It is beautiful. One can leap and run freely across the sparkling ice plains. The Snow King is said to have a small place there, but his palace is at the North Pole. It is supposed to be on an island called Spitzbergen."

"Alfred...Oh Alfred I have found you at last!" Matthew began to weep with relief and joy. "Thank you for telling me these things."

Katyusha turned around as it seemed the conversation was over. "So you have found him?"Matthew nodded and Katyusha stroked his cheek. "Then let us get some sleep. There is not much more that can be done until morning."

While Matthew wanted to get going right away, he knew she was right and the two settled down, Katyusha putting an arm around him.

The two rose early and had some breakfast as they thought over the problem. Katyusha finally asked the reindeer, "Do you know where Lapland is?"

"None know better than I," said the creature, eyes flashing. "It is where I was born and raised and I once ran about there as free as any other reindeer."

"Then it's settled," Katyusha said quite seriously. "All the men are going out with my sister and shall not be back until evening. Once they are gone I shall help you escape."

Katyusha slipped away and spoke to her sister, begging to be allowed to stay back to watch the new prisoner. As her sister tended to be soft hearted and very clumsy Natalya agreed to her request and that was that.

When her sister and the other robbers left Katyusha gave it a little time then determined it was safe to help Matthew get away. She spoke to the reindeer, petting its neck. "You are such a lovely creature and I shall miss you. But I shall have to give you up. I will untie your cord and let you go free so that you may return to Lapland. But only if you will take Matthew there to the home of the Snow King so that he may find Alfred. I know you heard me tell the story to my sister yesterday so you understand how important it is."

The reindeer was overjoyed and quickly agreed to the terms. Katyusha took Matthew's hands in her own. "I wish you the best of luck in getting your Alfred back. Please be careful dear."

Matthew leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek. "Thank you for everything Katyusha. I will never forget you or your kindness. You won't be in too much trouble with your sister will you?"

Katyusha smiled softly. "No, my sister is wild and violent but she loves me. I know she does, even if she won't say it."

With that as reassurance she helped Matthew onto Ba's back, tying him on so that he would not slip. She also bestowed upon him new fur boots to keep his feet warm. And of course returned his gloves that the prince and princess had given him. "It shall be very cold so try and stay as bundled up as possible."

Matthew was so touched by her thoughtfulness he became teary eyed. "Truly, you are so kind Katyusha. Perhaps you should escape this place, this life. You are better than it."

Ducking her head shyly, she shook it. "No... I may not like this life and I know I am not well suited for it but all of the people I love are right here."

"Then that is what is most important," Matthew finally said.

She nodded and wiped her eyes, for she had started crying. "You must be quite happy now. I'm so glad I could help you in some way. Oh, here are two loaves of bread and a ham so that you will not starve."

These were fastened to the reindeer as well. Katyusha went to the door and coaxed the dogs all in so they would not go after the reindeer. Then she untied Ba and smacked him gently. "Go now! Fly upon your hooves to Lapland and take good care of this boy!"

"Goodbye Katyusha!" Matthew waved and she waved back until he was out of sight, which was quite soon. For the reindeer ran very swiftly, over the rocky path of the forest, through marshes and plains, all at a break-neck speed. Wolves howled around them upon occasion and ravens cried out above their heads but Ba paid them no mind.

After a while the sky came alive with red lights, as if it were ablaze. "These are the northern lights," explained the reindeer. "They flash so beautifully in the sky."

And on and on they ran, day and night, night and day, ever faster. But even with this great effort the loaves and ham were gone by the time they reached Lapland.