First Frost (14 page)

“Ditto. But it’s good that we’re walking. Better than staying still and letting the bad guys find us.”

“I thought the only bad guy after you was a mean ol’ witch.”

“Yeah, but she could have an evil minion or something.”

“You have a point. God…I hope we find your mom soon.”

“Me too.”

“I wanna go home,” Ming whined.

“Yeah, me too,” Bianca whispered.

They walked in silence for several minutes when Bianca heard a branch break. She grabbed Ming’s arm and stopped her.

“What?” Ming’s dark brown eyes became big as saucers as they darted nervously from side to side.

“Did you hear that?”

“No. What is it?”

“I think someone or
something
is following us,” Bianca whispered.

“Oh, God.” Ming turned pale green.

They heard more branches breaking and the rustling of leaves. Bianca could feel her heart beat. It was going so fast she thought it was going to burst out of her chest.

“Run,” Bianca said.

Ming nodded and took off like a shot. Hand in hand they ran through the woods. Whatever it was that was chasing them began to run as well. Within moments, Bianca’s lungs started to burn and her thighs ached. She hadn’t expected to do this amount of running so soon. Just when Bianca thought about surrendering to whatever it was that was chasing them, she heard an even louder sound. Almost as though thunder had sprouted legs and decided to join them for a jog.

“What is that?” Ming asked between pants, but not once did she slow down to look over her shoulder to see for herself.

Bianca, who was still running, replied, “Sounds like a horse.”

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, a bright white horse appeared in front of them. Ming and Bianca fell down as they tried to avoid crashing into the four-legged beast. The horse reared up when the man that rode him forced the creature to come to a complete stop. Another man appeared moments afterward, riding a black horse.

“Do not worry, fair maidens. I shall save you!” the man on the white horse shouted and then rode off into the forest.

The other man muttered something unintelligible under his breath and followed his companion.

Bianca spotted a hollow tree a few feet away from where they stood.

“Come on.” Bianca grabbed Ming’s hand and led her to the hiding place she discovered.

“This is crazy, B,” Ming hissed once they were safe inside the tree.

“I know. I’m sorry I dragged you into this. I’ll make it up to you if we make it out of here alive. I promise.”

Ming’s ears perked up. “Really? How?”

“I’ll buy you that tokidoki purse you’ve been drooling over for months. The big one.”

“Deal.”

Bianca and Ming could hear the men shouting. Whatever was chasing after them was big.

Then…silence.

“Oh, God. They’re dead, aren’t they? They’re dead because they were trying to help us,” Ming muttered as she covered her ears and shook her head.

“Shh,” Bianca said gently. She was trying not to freak out. One of them had to keep a clear head.

After several minutes of waiting in silence, she heard a soft rustle. Then Bianca saw the bright white legs of the horse.

“Hello? Maidens? Where are you?” the man on the white horse called out in a singsong voice.

He sounds harmless enough
. The man on the white horse and his friend were the only people they had encountered since their arrival. She only hoped that her instincts were correct and that they were trustworthy.

Bianca slowly crawled out of her hiding place. Ming soon followed. She couldn’t help but stare at their rescuer. He was gorgeous. A man who belonged in one of the many fairy tales she had read. He had blond hair that was curled to perfection, bright blue eyes, and a dimple on his chin. Bianca had never seen anyone with an actual dimple on their chin. She noticed his style of clothing and wondered what century they were in. He wore a navy blue coat, with a form fitting vest and matching trousers. His shirt was so white it was almost blinding.

“Ah, there you are,” he said with a kind smile.

“Thank you for rescuing us,” Bianca said.

“Yes, thank you,” Ming echoed.

The man openly stared at Ming. Bianca guessed he had never seen an Asian girl before.

“Something wrong? Do I have a bug crawling in my hair or something?” She combed her hair with her fingers, searching for something that wasn’t there.

“I think you’re the first Asian he’s ever seen,” Bianca said softly.

“Oh,” Ming replied.

“Sir? Can you please tell me…what was after us?” Bianca asked.

“A buck,” he replied.

“A what now?” Bianca asked.

“What’s a buck?” Ming asked.

“I think it’s a deer,” Bianca replied.

“A deer?” Ming asked.

Bianca sighed. “Afraid so.”

“We’re so friggin’ doomed.
Doomed,
I tell ya.” Ming made a point to stretch out the
oo
in doomed for as long as possible. It didn’t help Bianca with her self-confidence.

“How am I supposed to save my mom when I’m running away from friggin’ Bambi?” Bianca asked herself out loud.

The man smiled and hopped off his amazing horse. “Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Prince Ferdinand, future king of Everafter.”

“At least now we know we’re in the right place,” Bianca told Ming.

“Yeah…but are we in the right century? Do you see what he’s wearing?” Ming whispered.

“Yes, I can see that. Let me…just give me a minute,” Bianca replied.

She then turned her attention back to the prince. “I’m Bianca Frost, and this is my friend Ming Lee.” Bianca did a mix between a bow and a curtsy since she wasn’t certain which was acceptable. Ming settled on a curtsy and stifled a giggle.

“Your Highness, the beast has been slain,” a young man said as he emerged from the woods and stepped into the clearing. It was the man she had seen on the black horse. He had the huge buck tied to the stallion by its antlers and dragged the animal’s corpse through the woods.

“Oh, and this is my servant, Terrance,” Prince Ferdinand said nonchalantly.

Bianca was shocked to see that Terrance’s hands and arms were covered in blood. He had rolled up the sleeves of what had once been a white shirt. It was now stained with dirt and blood. Oddly enough…he didn’t seem to mind. He wore a suit similar to Ferdinand’s except that the pants and vest he wore over his shirt were black. His matching jacket was draped over the midnight colored horse that followed closely behind him. She quickly realized that the prince didn’t kill anything, it was Terrance that had done all of the dirty work.

“You’re both welcome to join us. There’s plenty of food for everyone,” Prince Ferdinand offered graciously.

Bianca turned to Ming. No words were necessary; the question she wanted to ask was plain to see in her eyes. Ming nodded. They didn’t need to speak to know that neither one of them wanted to spend the night alone in the woods in a world they knew nothing about.

“Thank you. We would like that very much,” Bianca replied to the prince.

“We will eat well tonight,” Terrance said with a wicked smile.

It didn’t take Bianca much guessing that he had enjoyed killing the buck. There was a slight glimmer in his dark brown eyes. Bianca couldn’t explain it, but there was something both primal and civilized about him, almost as if there were something more to this servant than met the eye.

Terrance seemed to feel her stare and met her gaze. Bianca didn’t look away. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw his bright white teeth as he grinned. He had long brown hair that she wanted to curl around her fingers. She didn’t know what it was about Terrance. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she was determined to find out.

Yeah…there’s something more to him.

Bianca shook herself out of his unfaltering gaze and took a deep breath. She was relieved that they weren’t running anymore. She looked toward the mountains and watched the sun slowly sink into the horizon. She had never seen a more glorious sunset. The sky was tinged pink, peach, and red. The sky changed from the deep blush to a cool blue, and slowly the stars began to peep through.

Bianca saw something glowing in the trees. She squinted but that didn’t help. She reluctantly reached into her backpack and put her glasses on. She gasped in surprise when she saw a small group of fairies shimmering high in the trees.

Bianca tapped Ming on the shoulder and pointed to the trees.

“Hey! You put your glasses on. Good for you, B,” Ming said.

“Shh. Look up there,” Bianca whispered.

“What am I looking at?”

“Fairies.”

“No way.”

The fairies squeaked and danced from branch to branch. Bianca didn’t dare get any closer for fear of scaring the fairies away. Some of them had wings that looked like the ones on a butterfly while others had wings that made Bianca think of dragonflies.

“So many colors,” Ming marveled.

She was right. The fairies glowed in soft sapphire blue, emerald green, light pink, and some were ruby red.

“Ah, yes. Fairies.” Prince Ferdinand stood beside them and gave the fairies a tightlipped grin.

“They’re beautiful,” Bianca said.

“They’re dangerous. Stay away from them,” he warned.

“Why? They’re so tiny,” Ming said.

“They are one of the most powerful beings known to mankind. Tiny doesn’t mean weak,” the prince explained.

“Point taken. Ming, stay away from the fairies,” Bianca said.

“Aw.” Ming pouted.

“Come on, let’s see if we can help Terrance with something.”

They found Terrance behind a tree, skinning the buck. Ming gagged and turned away from the awful scene. The buck’s skin was halfway down its torso.

“Umm, hi…Terrance,” Bianca stammered.

“Hello,” he said as he continued to work on the task at hand.

“We were wondering—” Bianca forced herself to look away and regain her composure “—if you needed any help with dinner.”

He wiped the sweat off his forehead. Without realizing it, he had smeared blood on his skin. He gave Bianca a puzzling look and then replied, “You could gather some wood.”

“Okeydokey. We’ll go do that.”

“That was so gross,” Ming whined.

“How do you think we get meat?”

“I swear to God, I’m going to become a vegetarian when we get back home,” Ming vowed.

“Whatever you say,” Bianca said dismissively. She knew that Ming wouldn’t stick to being a vegetarian. The moment she smelled a cheeseburger back home that would be the end of it. “Come on, help me gather wood.”

Ming was surprised to see that Terrance was able to build a fire using rocks and dry leaves because she whispered to Bianca, “No matches? How is he doing that?”

She could tell her friend was impressed by Terrance’s skills.

“Excuse me, I have a question,” Ming said.

“Yes?” Prince Ferdinand asked.

“Where are we exactly?”

“You don’t know where you are?” the prince asked.

“I know we’re in Everafter. But where exactly?” Bianca replied.

“We are in the Enchanted Forest not far from my summer cottage,” Prince Ferdinand said.

“Forgive my boldness, but I couldn’t help but notice that your choice of dress is very strange,” Terrance said as he studied Bianca and Ming’s clothing. He reached out and touched Bianca’s black T-shirt. “And you do not behave as maidens should. You are not from our land…are you?”

Bianca noticed that Terrance seemed amazed over the softness of her shirt. She gazed at his long fingers. She could see the dirt and caked blood underneath his nails. But she didn’t pull away from him. In fact, she was surprised by how little it bothered her.

“You’re right. We’re not from here,” Bianca replied.