Ehrhart

Meeting Snow White

One day Anastasia was sent by one of the palace stablehands to the well to get some water for the horses. Anastasia, who had never ventured beyond the castle's moat, eagerly agreed. The good news was that Anastasia could get some fresh air. The bad news was that the nearest well was in a village that would take Anastasia a forty-five minute walk, and she still had several other tasks to complete back at the palace.

Finally, Anastasia decided to ride a horse to shorten the trip- and she chose Wilbert, the fastest horse. The other stablehands would be eating and hopefully wouldn't notice the absence of their best animal.

And Anastasia tore off across the seven hills, heading straight for the village. She arrived there in under twenty minutes, and the villagers immediately began to whisper about the girl who was riding a horse.

Anastasia ignored them and brought the horse over to the well, which was on the outskirts of town, where there weren't many people.

In fact, there was no one at all- save for one girl Anastasia's age. Anastasia gave a simple nod to the girl. Then she detached the first bucket from the saddle strap and filled it with water.

"Hello," said the girl. She was sitting on the ledge of the well, but she was only in profile. "Do you own that horse?"

The girl had a beautiful voice- like the flight of a butterfly, or a cloud floating lazily across a blue painted sky.

"Oh," Anastasia said, patting Wilbert's mighty leg. "No. He's the Queen's property."

"The Queen?" The girl gasped. "My. Do you know her?"

Anastasia shrugged. "I've only seen her a couple of times. I'm just a servant girl in the palace, after all."

The girl shook her head in awe. "I've never been to the palace. Is it grand?"

Anastasia offered a wry smile. "I've never seen any other palaces, so I wouldn't know."

The girl turned her head fully to look at Anastasia, and the huntsman's daughter sucked in a breath of surprise. The girl seemed almost to glow- hair as black as ebony, lips as red as blood, and skin as white as-

"They call me Snow White," the girl said, offering a hand as Anastasia attached a wooden lid to the third bucket on the horse's saddle so the water inside wouldn't slosh around. Anastasia could only nod. Suddenly she felt extremely underdressed in her forest green servant girl's tunic, leggings, and boots. She pushed her caramel hair, which was braided tightly down her back, to sit on her shoulder and rest on her chest. "What do they call you?"
Anastasia shook Snow White's hand. "My name is Anastasia," she said. "But at the palace, I usually go by 'Come Help Me Over Here, Girl.'"

Snow White laughed, a sound that reminded Anastasia of the tinkling of bells. "That's all right. Is the palace work hard?"

Anastasia shrugged. "I suppose not. My father and I don't see each other much, but secretly-" she leaned in and put up a hand to her cheek as if to make her statement private- "I hate the Queen."

Snow White gasped. "Is she mean?"

Anastasia untied the rope of the well from her last bucket and began reattaching it to Wilbert's saddle. "Well, some in the kingdom say she's evil. Others say she's amazing. I've seen both of her personalities, and I must say that I believe the Queen truly does have malevolent intentions."

"Malevolent intentions...?" Snow White echoed. "My. That sounds quite fearsome indeed."

"I really must be going, before the stablehands notice I've taken Wilbert," Anastasia said, then clapped a hand to her mouth.

Snow White's eyes widened in horror. "You mean, you-"

"It's all right," Anastasia assured her, smiling. "This could just be our little secret."

Snow White nodded, her eyes still opened wide. Then she stood up from the ledge on the well. "Will I see you again, Anastasia?"

Anastasia paused for a moment. "If I-" come back again to get water. Then she looked into Snow White's eyes, a mahogany chestnut color. Innocent... sweet... she seemed so clueless to... well, to everything. She had her whole life ahead of her, and just from being around her, Anastasia could tell that Snow White definitely had an adventure in store for her in the near future. And suddenly, Anastasia knew she wanted more than anything to be a part of it. She tilted her head; smiled.

"Yes," she said. "Yes, you will."