Snow cried out, “It’s Wilhelm!” He was leading a group of men on horseback. She bolted out from her hiding place and ran toward him.
“It is!” shouted Valerie and Samantha. They also ran out to greet him.
“Look who’s next to him,” Sam shouted. “It’s the prince!”
The soldiers broke into quite a cheer when the girls made their presence known. The girls got their share of hugs from Wilhelm and the prince. The prince ordered a few of the riders to look for clues to see if the queen left any trail for them to follow, and let them know which direction she was headed.
“I thought you’d be gone forever,” Wilhelm said to Snow as he held her tight, fighting back tears.
“I am sorry about your house.” Snow’s happy expression turned sad.
“Don’t worry your pretty face about that.” He took her chin in his hand. “The important thing is that you are all okay. We have no need for things; it is people that count. You’re safe; that is the only thing that matters now.”
The prince spoke up. “I have offered to make arrangements for Sir Wilhelm and Lady Dorothea to stay with me on my palace property.”
“Sir Wilhelm?” the girls replied with great surprise.
“Indeed. I am forever in his debt and have dubbed him a Knight.”
“What for?”
“Without him, I wouldn’t have found my fiancée. Surely that’s Knight-worthy, don’t you agree?” The prince winked at Wilhelm.
Valerie and Samantha nodded in agreement with wide smiles.
“Even without my father’s persistence on the matter of marriage, I would have proposed to Danielle on the spot. Of course, without your meddling, I wouldn’t have found her, either. I owe you girls a great deal of thanks, as well. I’m glad I had the chance to see you three again.”
“Us too,” Val said. “I wish Danielle was with you.” She turned to Wilhelm with a pleading in her eyes.
“Enough of your stalling. You need to return home,” he said.
“Darn it,” Sam mumbled.
“I’m very excited to take you to your new home with us, Snow.”
“Wilhelm?” Snow said in a soft voice.
He knelt down at her side. “What is it, child?”
“I know you asked me to live with you and Dorothea, and I do feel as if you are truly my own family, but—”
“No ‘buts’ now, young lady, you will live with us. Don’t you think that just because…”
“Please,” she interrupted, “I love you two. I really do, but I don’t think the queen will stop looking for me—ever. I couldn’t bear for anything else to happen to you two, not to mention the baby once he or she arrives.”
“But, Snow—”
“Please, Wilhelm. The dwarves think I’ll be safe with them and I feel it, too. Besides, they need me. I don’t think any one of them could boil water without burning it, and no one lifts a finger to clean up. I think it’s time they had a woman to look out for them.” She turned and faced the dwarves, hoping they would like the idea. Over rolls and jam and intense conversation, she’d gotten quite attached to the funny little men. The dwarves were like uncles she never had. She felt protectiveness from them as well as the desire to make her laugh. Well, that was mostly Toby, but she loved them all immediately. She knew she was winning Billy over as well. He still blushed when she looked his way, but he was nodding his head in agreement when her gaze met his.
Even Grady nodded and said, “That would be okay,” to Hank.
“Seems to be an acceptable compromise, sir. We’ll happily take her in,” Doc said to the prince.
Wilhelm knelt in front of Snow. “My, you are older than your years. You are such a fine young lady. You would have made us proud parents. You still make us proud. If this is truly what you want, then you have my blessings. Promise me you will come to visit us often. My brother Jacob and his wife could not be more pleased that we will be living closer. He is quite the writer, you know. Maybe someday we can put to paper the adventures you three girls have found.”
“You go ahead and return home to your wife, Wilhelm,” the prince said. “My men and I will go after the queen from here. She will never again threaten young Snolindria or anyone else. I agree it’s best for her to go back with the dwarves. She will be safe there. Maybe someday soon she can return to her castle and claim her crown, but for now, she will be better off with them.” He turned to address the dwarves. “Men, will you escort these two young ladies back to their home? I believe you will find a mirror in the woods awaiting them.”
“It would be our pleasure,” Doc replied as he bowed to the prince.
“I have to see something before we go.” Valerie said. She walked over to Snow and put her arm next to hers. “I am the fairest of them all!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell my stepmom,” Snow said with a smile.
Valerie and Samantha said their long goodbyes to Snow, Wilhelm, and the prince, fighting back tears as best as they could. Billy, Leon, Henry and Simon waited to escort Snow to her new home, while Doc, Toby, and Grady began the journey to return Valerie and Samantha to their own time.
The girls did their best to keep up their share of the small talk on the way back. They answered the dwarves’ questions about modern living, but their hearts weren’t in the conversation. When they'd first arrived in this strange kingdom, their emotions had varied from scared to excited. Now that they were looking for the mirror to take them back home, they were reluctant to leave. Of course, they missed their parents, but there would be a hole in their hearts for the new friends they’d made. They grew sad thinking about the fact that they would probably never see any of them ever again.
“Next time we go through a magic mirror, Valerie, take us to see Al.”
“Who?”
“Al-ladin. At least then we could fly around on magic carpets and not have to do all this walking!” They both laughed, breaking their sadness just a little.
Chapter 18