The Fox & The Crow

Chapter Eight *not edited*

"We need to cross," Peter says, looking out at the river of ice that is breaking apart faster by the second.

"Now!"

"Don't beavers make dams?" Lucy says.

I smile down at her, amused.

"I'm not that fast, dear!"

Peter takes Lucy's arm and pulls her forwards as we start our descent down to the river.

"Wait! We need to just think about this for a minute!" Susan yells.

"We don't have a minute!" Peter yells back.

"I'm just trying to be realistic." She says, slightly offended.

"No, you're trying to be smart," He says. "As usual."

Wolves howl from behind us and I try to quicken my pace, but when I nearly slip on a rock I decide that it is better if I try to make it to the river alive and then I'll worry about the rest later.

The ice is obviously not stable enough to hold us up, but Peter begins to step out onto it.

"Wait," Beaver says. "Maybe I should go first."

"Maybe you should." Peter replies looking down at the ice.

Beaver begins to carefully walk out onto the ice and slaps his tail against it. Part of it cracks beneath him and his wife shouts, "You've been sneaking second helpings, haven't you?"

"Well, you never know which meal's gonna be your last. Especially with your cooking."

I bite back a small grin and carefully step forward onto the ice. As it cracks under my feet I quickly jump to another spot on the ice.

One more step, my foot lands on the ice.

My feet dance across the cobblestone road.

My feet quickly slide to a more secure ice patch.

I tilt my head back and laugh as the accordion plays.

I put a hand up to shield my eyes from the sun and nearly lose my balance when my foot hits a slippery spot.

My eyes glaze over as I spin around. I see candlelights, people dancing and laughing, others are cheering as we dance.

I stamp my foot down on the ice before carefully walking out father.

I stamp my foot down and clap my hands as the song continues.

A small hand takes mine and I look down to see Violet with her hair pulled into two braids. She and I both laugh and continue dancing.

"Oh no!" Lucy cries out.

I look up and see wolves crossing the large ice glacier before jumping down quickly and standing in front of us, their jaws snapping menacingly.

The music begins to grow quieter, but Violet and I continue to dance. People begin to back into the shops.

"Verbrenne die läden. Nehmen sie alle leute, die sie können, in gewahrsam." A German soldier speaks out.

I stop spinning and pull Violet closer to me.

Three German soldiers approach our small crowd.

Beaver jumps out and sticks up a paw at the wolves, but ends up with his head in a locked position as a wolf bites down on his neck.

Peter pulls out his sword and points it at the wolves.