Misfit Trials

Chapter 35

How do you figure out that someone that you trusted to live in your house, someone you thought was good, is evil? Slowly and by incremental degrees.

Snow White and Rose Red had the brothers fooled, making them think that they were caring, loving mothers, even though the brothers were much older than they.

But Snick, ever the grumpy, suspicious brother, saw the sisters when they didn't think that anyone was watching. How their lips curled in disgust after speaking with one of them. How they stuck out a toe to make the ever clumsy and gullible Quee trip. How they spit in the brother's food.

None of his brothers believed him, All they saw was the beautiful and kind women. They didn't see or understand that not everyone had their best interests at heart.

It was something that Snick learned long ago, when they were left alone. And a lesson that he would never forget.

Snick decided that he needed to bring his brothers over to his side. One at a time. So he went to the next youngest brother in line, Whick. Whick was the only one of his brothers who half-listened to Snick's concerns about the sisters. He had seen some of the looks that the sisters had thrown at the brothers before they quickly morphed into the pleasant expressions they always wore.

"I swear to you, these women are up to no good, brother. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them," Snick confides on their way to the mine that day. "And I don't like the way that they've been pulling Pick and Glick aside. It feels...wrong."

"I want to say that you're wrong, brother, but I think that you're right. Something is strange about Snow White. I'm not sure what it is. And that Rose Red has given me the creeps ever since she came here. Something is dreadfully wrong." Whick says.

"What are you talking about brothers?" comes a voice from behind them. They turn to see Pick.

Whick and Snick look to each other before turning to back to Pick. "Brother? Are you ok?" Whick asks.

"Perfectly fine, though I hear that you are speaking poorly of our beloved sisters Rose Red and Snow White. That can't happen. Those two have sacrificed so much to come to our aid." Pick's intonation, his expression, his posture, everything about is wrong. His eyes are hazy, misted over almost as if he has cataracts. His gait is almost robotic. His gaze, though milky, not looking at his brothers at all. And then his tone...airy, absent of inflection, not like Pick at all.

Whick begins to say something, but Snick interrupts him with a hand on his arm. "Not so, Pick. Why would we ever say anything poorly about the wonderful sisters who have come into our lives? No, we were concerned that maybe they didn't like our food. I thought that maybe we should see if there was something that we could fix them. Something from their home. Do you know anything that they might like? I mean, I know that we aren't the most adept at cooking, but there has to be something that we can make, right?"

Pick gives an odd smile. Too big. Too many teeth showing. More of a stretching of his skin than an actual smile. "I love it. I will ask the sisters and see if we can find a recipe."

Whick swallows down a loud gulp. "Please do. Um, we should be getting to the mines."

"Go ahead, brothers. I will talk to our sisters." Pick turns around and uses his awkward, robotic gait to head back to the house.

"What is happening?" Whick asks in a voice so low that only Snick can hear.

"I don't know. But it's got those sisters written all over it," Snick says.

—

Over the next several days, it isn't just Pick that is acting strange, but Flick and Glick as well. All the same robotic, awkward walking. The same monotone intonation. The same milky, hazy eyes.

And by then, the other brothers have noticed as well. All except for Quee who doesn't quite understand what is happening, but can feel the tension in the air.

"What do we do about this? Our brothers...it's like they've been brainwashed. All they can talk about are Snow White and Rose Red. It's like they're their little minions. How do we fix it?" Blick asks.

"Maybe if you had listened to me sooner, we could have figured out what to do before it got this bad!" Snick exclaims.

"Not helping, Snick! We can't go back and change the past. We can only fix what's going to happen going forward," Whick says.

"Well, it needs to be said!" Snick mutters angrily.

"Ok, fine! I should have listened, but what do we do now?" Blick asks.

The brothers sit staring at the fire, unsure what they should do.

"What if we could convince them to take away the spells?" Snick asks.

"How? If we knew how to do that, we wouldn't be sitting here with our thumbs up our asses," Blick exclaims.

"Oh, do shut up, brother and let him get his idea out!" Whick snipes.

And over the next 20 minutes, the brothers design a plan that they hope will work.

—

Every third day, Rose Red goes out into the forest by herself. The brothers are not sure what she does when she is out there, but she is gone for several hours. And during that time, Snow White sleeps in.

This time, Snow White would get a bit of a rude awakening. As one, Whick, Blick, and Snick cover Snow White's body. Blick presses a gag into her mouth and hurriedly ties it behind her head. Snick ties the rope quickly around her upper body and Whick takes care of her lower body. Quee stands guard at the door to make sure that Flick, Pick, and Glick stay away.

Snow White, at first frozen and unable to respond. Thankfully Blick was able to get the gag over her mouth before Snow White realized what was happening. If he hadn't, no telling what havoc she could have wrought.

Still, she put up quite the struggle. It was only with Blick sitting one her chest, his small stature, but considerable dense weight weighing her down, that Snick and Whick were able to subdue her enough to get her tied up.

"Well, now what do we do?" Whick asks, breathing heavily.

Snick holds a finger up, indicating that he wants him to wait, as Snick tries to gain his breath. "We have...to take...her to the mine."

"The mine? Why take her there?" Blick asks.

"Because that is the one place that we hold power. The one place that we know everything. Every tunnel, every exit," Snick explains.

Whick and Blick agree. Snick is right. It's the only place that they may have an advantage over the magic that the sisters possess.

"Quee, go get the wheelbarrow. We need something to get her to the mine," Snick says.

"Yup, yup!" Quee says, nodding his head so hard it's surprising that his neck doesn't snap.

It takes a great deal of effort, but the brothers are able to get Snow White to the mine and back to the cottage just as Rose Red comes back.

She smiles at the brothers. "Good morning, boys. I'm just going to wake my sister so that we can get your breakfast ready." Her smile falls the second that she turns away.

Blick, Snick, Whick, and Quee just sit a the dining room table, waiting for the fall out.