Page 39 of Enchanted in Time
“We’re going to the playground now. Frieda promised!” Emi said, beaming, as Leon nodded in agreement.
“I’ll make sure they don’t fall off anything!” Marco added.
Well, well, since when had he become so responsible? Had her absence awakened that side of him? Relieved, Hannah gave him a big smile. “Thanks, big guy! Kids, it looks like I’m going to have to stay a little longer.”
“Frieda already explained that,” Emi replied. “You’re there to save the prince. But isn’t the prince supposed to save the princess?”
Hannah laughed and looked at the bear, who uttered another deep growl. “Don’t worry, children,” he said. “If an evil being appears, I’ll be there to save your mother!”
“Don’t scare them,” Hannah whispered.
But Leon was already swinging his fists in the air. “Oh, yeah, that sounds exciting! You have to tell us all about it, Mama!”
Hannah smiled. “All right.”
“Now we need to let them move on,” Frieda warned. “You do understand that, don’t you, my angels?”
“Yes!” Emi cried. “Bye, Mommy!”
“Kissy, Mama!” Leon exclaimed.
“Later, Mom!”
“Bye, you three. I love you.” But by then the water had already blurred, and all she could see was the reflection of the leaves and branches above. Hannah sighed.
“They’re doing fine!” Maximilian growled, then patted her on the shoulder with his paw. It was a gentle pat—he didn’t want to hurt her—and something he hadn’t felt before shot through him. He cleared his throat. “Let’s move on so you can be back with them that much sooner.”
Hannah reluctantly tore herself away from the puddle and stood up again. She marched onwards beside him through the forest, always keeping her feet on the red brick path.
16
They had walked for hours, and gradually Hannah’s feet began to hurt. The red slippers were certainly comfortable, but the balls of her feet had begun to burn, and now she was of a mind to simply toss the shoes.
The forest had hardly changed. If they hadn’t been following the path that could take them back, she would have long since said they were lost. The path went on and on, winding left and then right again, but no clue as to Mirabelle’s whereabouts had appeared so far.
“Did this brick pathway always exist?”How old was Frieda anyway?
“No, only after the curse was pronounced and the forest became dangerous. Before that, there was no need for a path like this. Friederike the Enchantress created it shortly after the night of the ball.”
“How do you know that?”
“My governess told me about it, and so did my parents and all the adults. They repeatedly told me how dangerous the forest was and that it was not a good place for children to play.”
“Did you listen to them?”
“Do you have any idea how tempting those stories and warnings are for a young guy?” He winked at her.
No bear had ever winked at her before. She had to laugh. “So, in other words, you had already been here as a child? Alone? And nothing happened to you?”
“Together with Hans, the kitchen boy. We had been in the forest a couple of times, though not as far as the two of us today. We figured out the purple flower thing and discovered the brick path. One afternoon, as we were returning from one of our secret forays, we saw my governess standing by the west gate. She grabbed us both by the ears, and that same day, the cook and his boy were driven out of the castle in shame and disgrace. I implored my parents and told them that I had forced Hans to come along, but they refused to give in.”
“How sad.” That was probably why the prince had no friends—at least, none that would stand by him and help him break this curse.
“As I said, I’ve spent a lot of time in this forest over the years. Whether as a bear or a human, I’ve explored the whole of it. I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is only one brick pathway. We just need to keep going straight.”
“Then what is that?” Hannah pointed ahead of them to a fork in the brick path.
“How can that...”
