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“Keep running,” Chester insisted. I never turned back for fear I’d turn into a pillar of salt and the mad guard would sweep me up and serve me to Dresdem. But I could hear their boots stomping faster towards us.
 

When we reached the main road out of the property, we saw two guards running from the gate towards us. The little men arranged themselves into two towers, piled human Legos, one upon the other. The twin towers rushed the two guards, and Chester plowed into one’s knees like a linebacker causing the guard to fly over his shoulders and ram his head into a wayward stone. Madeline and I stood back for a moment watching the twin towers poking, pinching, punching, biting, and all sorts of maneuvers until finally the one on top decked him in the face and the guard was out cold. We ran towards the gate, with the rest of the guards still hot on our heels. I trailed my small saviors and Chester and climbed the iron, now unarmed, doors. I heard a screech, looked back for the first time, and saw Madeline in a guard’s arms. I noticed that it was the one from our hall, and others surrounded him.
 

“Let her go,” I screamed.

“It’s too late. Hurry!” yelled Chester. By this time, the little men were already on the other side, and Chester was waiting at the top. I thought for a moment. I badly wanted Madeline, my only friend, to be with us.

“Go!” yelled Madeline.
 

Without another thought, I was on the other side and running with the others into the abyss of the enchanted forest.
 

The guards were quickly on our heels again. The darkness made it difficult for me to see Chester and the shockingly fast tiny men. They swerved violently around the wide trees, making abrupt turns that made no sense to me. One turn too many left me lost. I stood still, hoping that Chester would realize I was no longer following him and turn back for me. I doubled over, out of breath, and gasped. The cold air stabbed my windpipe like a razor. I looked around, but there were no signs of anyone. The moons were far and distant, leaving only a faint glow on the billowing fog that seeped into every crevice of the thick woods. My butterflies fluttered, and I suddenly felt the strong urge to throw up. I propped my exhausted body up against a tree.
 

My mind tried to devise a plan, but my fear crippled it. Suddenly, I heard a stick break. I looked but couldn’t see anything in the foggy gloom. I molded myself into the tree’s rough exterior in hopes of blending into its facade. I heard more steps, coming closer and closer.
What do I do?
I started dry heaving until the taste of my regurgitated supper filled my mouth. I swallowed hard and tried to remind myself to breathe.

“Chester?” I yelled. No answer.
 

Surely he would answer. Maybe it’s just one of the little guys coming back to help. But what if it’s something else?

I saw a glare of iridescent eyes staring at me through the fog. It was maybe six feet from me. The chaos of the night and the confrontation with whatever this was made my knees weak, and I fell to the base of the tree. It took one step towards me. My body shrank further into the tree, pressing myself into its broad trunk. It took another step closer. I shrieked in horror. I couldn’t make out its face or any of its features, but I could tell by its intimidating steps that it was large and unfriendly.

“Get away from her!” I heard Chester yell.

From deep within its throat came a terrifying, blood-curdling growl that bellowed through the forest and sent waves of utter fear throughout my body. Without warning, the creature finally retreated back into the misty woods.
 

“Chester, I’m over here!”

He came towards me, knelt, and helped me to my feet. We heard it traveling deeper into the forest.

“What was that?” I whispered. If he knew, he didn’t tell me.

He held my hand while we ran. I didn’t know where we were going, but I trusted it’d be somewhere safer. We approached a road, and Chester instructed me to walk and to act casual. We followed it for about a half-mile when we started to hear horse hoofs beating the path. We darted into the trees, hid and waited for them to pass.

A ravenous carriage was attached to four dark stallions. It crept slowly down the road. With every step closer, the anxiety between Chester and I saturated the air.
 

In that moment, I noticed his hair was now slung in his face, wet with sweat, despite the cold temperatures. His brows furrowed with anxiety. He glanced at me and saw me shivering. He slid off his overcoat and placed it around my shoulder. I put it on and burrowed myself in the warmth. It smelled like a sweet mix of musk and coffee.
 

When the carriage reached us, we bowed our heads to hide and prayed for it to speed by. But it didn’t. There were two men in a seat outside the cart. One of them was the driver, but they both looked like bouncers from a nightclub, with bulging muscles. I thought I recognized one of them. A moment later, I realized I had seen him in the mob of men chasing us at the castle. Both men’s eyes glazed the sides of the road, as if they were expecting to see us jump out any minute.
 

“Chester look,” I whispered, about to tell him I thought this was Dresdem’s carriage. I turned slightly and put my hand on his leg. His squatted body wobbled at my touch, and before I could help, he had already fallen backwards into the bush behind us. The breaking of sticks and the gasps by each of us made the men stop. I panicked. I looked at Chester; his eyes were wide and alert. I could see Dresdem’s silhouette through the door’s window. The men stepped off the carriage, whispered something to him through the opening, and began to walk our way inspecting the path. It wasn’t long before they found our footprints in the white and were following the tracks, which led right to us. I was ready to bolt, but something growled behind us. It leapt over our heads and charged the now stunned men. We watched for a moment as the incredibly large wolf tackled the men to the ground and snapped at their fragilely exposed necks. The men tried to run back to the carriage, but the enormous wolf snatched them back and pinned them down, each with one paw.
 

“Come on!” cried Chester. We both ran into the woods until our legs collapsed with exhaustion.
 

“That must have been the same thing I scared off in the woods earlier,” he said while struggling to catch his breath.

“A wolf?”

“It appears so, but I’ve never seen one that large. Anyway, the guys’ camp is near here. We will be safe there until we can figure out where to go next,” he told me. I tried to believe him. Needed to believe that we’d be safe, but safety was becoming an unrealistic expectation here.
 

We walked until we saw a wide clearing. I got a little ahead of Chester for a minute and walked into something unseen. “Oh no,” Chester complained.

Next thing I knew, the little men were belting rocks at us. We hid behind two trees while Chester explained to them that it was just us. The area must have been booby-trapped, and because almost nothing could be seen through the dense fog, they couldn’t have known who was invading their territory.

“You know the code, Ches. Why did ya have to go and get us all rallied up for?” one of them murmured.

“I’m sorry,” he said giving me a quick, resentful stare. I mouthed to him that I was sorry.
 

“Come on, then,” a couple of them said in unison. They all motioned with their hands for us to follow them, so we did. Chester still held my hand tight, as if I would ever let him out of my sight again.

We approached a large rock. There were runes written on the side of it. I only knew what runes were because of reading
The Lord of the Rings
when I was younger. I watched as one of them traced the symbols with their fingers. The phrase lit up bright green when he was finished. Then I heard something like an internal lock unlock. Another man slid the rock, effortlessly, which revealed a spiral staircase that led into the cold ground.
 

Another hole,
I thought.
I can add holes to the list of things I’m afraid of now.
One of them led the way, and the others waited for us to go before them. Candles, periodically placed on stands attached to the earth’s walls, lit the stairs. About halfway down, the rock opening closed and locked. I pushed myself forward, trying not to think about being in another pit.
 

At the landing, I saw that the room opened up into a large living area. A fire burned in a stone fireplace. Cozy, though small, chairs and sofas were scattered around the room. The floor was dirt, but the walls were a mix of earth, brick, wood, and stone. It was lovely, really.
 

A few minutes later, we were shown where we would be sleeping. The men carried us deeper into their burrowed dwelling. Large wooden beams braced the narrow hall and framed it from one end to the other. Rows of bunks, three beds up, lined either side.

“Pick whichever ones yous guys want. If you need something in the middle of the night, you can find us across the way.” One pointed to another hall that was adjacent from where we stood, separated by the living area.
 

“Do y’all have many guests?” I asked, wondering why they had so many beds.

“There used to be a lot more of us,” another said in a somber voice and hung his head in sadness. Guilt swept over me.
 

“Oh. I’m sorry,” I whispered.

We were summoned for supper. We sat at a huge wooden table and benches, much like the one I ate at in the Tresels’ kitchen. I watched as the men ate their soup hurriedly, missing their mouths more than ringing them.
 

Afterwards, we all sat by the fire watching it dance among the bricks and sipped tea. We resisted the results of a long, tiring day until finally one of them suggested that we all “hit the sack.” I couldn’t have agreed more. I’d been fighting sleep since supper started. Chester and I walked down our lonesome hall, and I plopped on the lowest bunked bed near the back. Chester settled into the one directly across from it. All that separated was a narrow walkway. And I have to admit that being that close to another man made me feel awkward. I tried to ignore it, but the silence weighed heavy between us until I couldn’t stand it anymore.
 

“Thank you for coming for me,” I whispered.

“I didn’t feel right about disappearing on you that day in the woods. I shouldn’t have done that. I was scared. One never wants to be on Hans and Greta’s radar. But it doesn’t matter. As soon as I received your letter, I started planning for your escape. The guys and I knew the timing had to be perfect for any chance of us all making it out of there in one piece. That’s why we waited until the first white. We knew that the cold weather would send the gardeners home early, and that people would be more distracted keeping the house warm. Who would have thought that you’d be breaking out yourself at the same time?”

I told him the story about how Dresdem wanted me, and that’s why I was trying to escape, which piqued his interest.

“We’ll have to address this with the guys tomorrow,” was all he’d say even though I could almost hear his worried thoughts. “I’m sorry, Rowena, for letting you down.” He changed the subject.

“I understand.”

He rolled towards me. His eyes pierced through me until I felt compelled to meet his gaze.
 

“I’m not going to let anything else happen to you. I promise.” I could tell he was sincere, and it touched my heart a little. I felt happy to have someone on my side. My mind then made a b-line to Madeline.
What are they going to do to her?
I wondered.

“Try not to think about her,” Chester said, seemingly reading my thoughts.

“I’m trying, but I feel so guilty for leaving her. I wanted a better life for both of us.”

“I know. What do you think they’ll do to her?”

“I don’t know. I know the guard that was holding her when we escaped likes her. In fact,
all
men do. There’s just something about her. It’s strange.” I looked at him after realizing that he was a man and might could shed some light on their thoughts about her. He didn’t, though. His lips might as well of been sewn shut on the subject. “I’m sure they won’t hurt her badly.”

“Even if they do. We can’t die here, remember? Pain still hurts, but it eventually subsides. The worst thing they could do is use magic, which unfortunately could last an eternity,” he said.

I rolled over and fell into every nightmare my mind could create about Madeline.
She could be a tree right now adorning the Tresels’ courtyard all because of me.
It was too much. I cried a few tears but tried to suppress them so Chester wouldn’t hear. If he did, I didn’t know it. I drifted into a-thousand-ways-Madeline-could-die kind of dream. She was ravaged by the wolf, turned into stone, and turned into an owl (which wasn’t really that bad since I also imagined her flying with Humbert away from that wicked castle).
 

The next morning I awoke to the smell of coffee and nervous, chattering voices in the living room.

Chapter 8

I glanced over to see if Chester was still asleep, but his bed was empty. Slipping quietly out of the blanket, I crept down the long corridor, stopping just short of its entrance. The seven men were huddled over the dining table, which sat at the far side of the living room. Chester sat silently at the head of the table, looking like he was lost in thought.
 

“We’ve got to get her out of here,” one said.

“She’s too high of a risk,” another proclaimed.

“What if Dresdem gets one of his dogs to sniff her out. They could be right outside, and us all be none the wiser,” said yet another.

“I made a promise to her.” Chester finally chimed in. “I’m not going to let him get her. And either you gents are in or you’re out. The choice is yours, but just remember that you owe me.” His fists clinched as he laid them softly on the table. He had all of their attention. I took another step closer to be sure I heard what they said next, but the wooden floorboard creaked, sending all their eyes glaring in my direction.