Wynter (A Snow White Retelling)

Found

Wynter tugged on her sleeve to cover her bandaged arms. She listened to make sure no one was approaching the house, but all was quiet outside. The queen called Doc to the castle, and the boys were at school for another hour. She had just enough time to slip out of the house for some fresh air.

She wrapped her head with a brown scarf to hide her hair and part of her face. Wynter glanced at herself in the looking glass and frowned. Her brown sack of a dress was hideous, but Doc told her she had to wear it in case anyone found her in his house. At least this way Wynter could pass for Doc's niece, instead of the dead princess.

She opened the back door and slowly closed it behind her. Wynter was glad Doc lived on the edge of the town with the back of the house facing the forest. The trees behind the house and to the right created a barrier between her and any passersby.

Wynter took in a deep breath of fresh air. Doc and Shai had been watching her and caring for her every minute of the day, and they wouldn't let her do anything except for sleep and eat. After four days of lying in bed in that cramped room, she needed fresh air and a chance to stretch her legs.

She welcomed the sound of birds chirping in the trees. Their sweet song brought back memories of her father singing songs to her in the gardens. Wynter started humming along to the birds' chorus as she walked around behind the house.

She shook her head at the cluttered yard around her. Metal objects and oddly shaped pieces of wood were scattered all across the ground like a tornado hit only their backyard. Wynter remembered Doc saying that some of his boys were experimenting to see if they wanted to be carpenters or metal smiths, but it looked to her like they needed to first learn how to clean up after themselves.

She began picking up the lighter weight pieces and organizing them into piles by the house. She tried to pick up a round metal wheel, but her arms were still too tender to handle the strain.

Wynter picked up a wooden rod, but she dropped it because the other end was heavy. She moved the tall grass to the side and found an axe pick at the other end. She laughed to herself. Daniel was a miner's apprentice, but he had lost his ax weeks ago. She grabbed the ax handle and drug it across the grass to the tool pile.

As she continued her work, a loud snap from a branch breaking stopped Wynter's humming mid song. She looked down at her feet and didn't see any branches or twigs. She gripped the ax handle even tighter and took a deep breath. She heard someone running up behind her. She waited until they were almost to her and then she used all her strength to swing the ax up as she spun around to face her adversary.

"Wynter!"

She found herself face to face with Cyrus and unable to stop the ax from swinging towards him. He caught the neck of the ax just before it struck his shoulder. She dropped the ax and stared at Cyrus, horrified.

"I'm so sorry...I thought you were..." Wynter choked on her words, unable to process what had just happened.

"I know. It's all right. I'm not hurt," said Cyrus as he embraced her.

"Ow!" Wynter moaned.

Cyrus jumped back. "What did I do?"

"Nothing," Wynter replied, cradling her arms. "I just scratched myself up pretty badly after you told me to run." Wynter pulled back her sleeves to show him her bandaged arms.

Cyrus face dropped at the sight of them. He reached his hands out, and Wynter carefully placed her hands in his. "I am so sorry, Wynter."

"I was beginning to wonder if you'd come," said Wynter.

"I tried to get here sooner, but I've had a shadow that hasn't left my side for days. Andrew has been following me everywhere I go."

"Do you think he..." Wynter glanced around, suddenly afraid the queen had turned even the birds into her spies. "Do you think he knows about me?" she whispered.