First Frost (17 page)

“Oh, God,” Bianca gasped and jumped a step backward.

The bear growled softly and took another step toward her. It was then that Bianca noticed his eyes. They were ice blue…just like hers. The bear groaned and moaned. He moved his mouth as though he were trying to speak to her.

Impossible.

“Daddy?” She quickly covered her mouth. Almost as if she wanted to force the word back down her throat. A lump formed on her throat—she tried to push that down too.

The bear nodded.

“How is this even possible?” Bianca wondered aloud as she walked closer to the creature she believed to be her father. Even though she knew exactly how it happened, it was still hard to accept the circumstances as true.

He covered his eyes with his paws and shook his head as though embarrassed.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to get you back to normal. Then we can all go back home.” Bianca hugged her father. She felt him put a giant paw around her. She pulled herself away and gazed into those soulful blue eyes. There was no denying that her father was trapped in there, somewhere. Bianca studied the creature her father had been turned into. He was massive and heavy bodied—all muscle. Her gaze traveled down to his huge paws; there were long, sharp and curved black claws. She gently patted him on the shoulder, taking a moment to feel his thick black fur.

“How did you find me?”

He lifted his head and sniffed.

“You could smell me?”

He grunted as he nodded.

Ten years.
Bianca stifled a sob as she thought of everything he had missed. All the times she needed him at home to…just be there.
Ten years
. Tears spilled forth, and the dark brown soil swallowed it greedily.
So this is where you’ve been all this time.

“Can you stay?”

He nodded.

“Do you know where Mom is?”

He shook his head and grunted.

“That’s all right, we’ll find her.” She patted him on the head gently and tried to sound confident.

He nodded once more.

“Okay…stay here.” Bianca used her hands and motioned for him to sit. “Just don’t go anywhere…don’t move. I need to go inside and wake Ming up.”

Bianca ran back inside the cottage. She tripped over the rug and hit her shin on the coffee table. She grabbed her leg and massaged the pain away as she hopped on one foot, still trying to make her way toward their room. She knew that she would have a black and blue bruise in a few hours. She prayed that she wasn’t hallucinating. She burst into the room she shared with her best friend and shook Ming’s shoulder.

“Ming! Wake up, wake up, wake up!” Bianca shook her friend so hard that she almost fell off the bed.

“Holy crap, what!? Are we being attacked?” Ming asked when she sat up and finally opened her eyes.

“I-I think I found my dad,” Bianca stammered, still unable to believe the words she just uttered.

“Are you serious?” Ming rubbed her eyes.

“Yeah.”

“Where is he?”

“Outside.”

“What are you waiting for? Let’s go see him.” Ming got out of bed and followed Bianca outside.

“Oh, my God,” Ming said as soon as she caught a glimpse of Mr. David Frost—the bear.

“Did I also mention that he’s a bear?” Bianca muttered while she chewed her thumbnail.

“You could’ve given me a little heads-up,” Ming said.

“Sorry.”

“Hi, Mr. Frost.” Ming gave David a tiny awkward wave.

David grunted in response.

“Halt! Who goes there?” Prince Ferdinand burst out the front door, sword in hand.

“Wait! Stop!” Bianca threw herself in front of her father. She tried to protect him from the overzealous prince and his very sharp sword.

“Unhand her foul beast.” Prince Ferdinand pointed his sword at Bianca’s face. It was a breath away from her nose.

“Ming?” Bianca whispered. She did her best not to move. She was practically cross-eyed as she stared at the blade hovering over her face.

“Yes?” Ming whispered in return.

“Find Terrance, please…and hurry.” Bianca was afraid to move for fear of encouraging Prince Ferdinand further into action.

Ming swiftly ran into the cottage and returned with Terrance moments later.

“Yes? What is it?” Terrance asked as he stifled a yawn. He was clearly half asleep and hadn’t noticed the scene before him.

“A little help here, please.” Bianca pointed at the prince.

His eyes widened in surprise. He sputtered a few times, trying to find the right thing to say. It took him a moment but he managed to speak. “Your Highness, please lower your weapon. It really is quite unnecessary, and if I may be so bold as to say that it is far too early to begin the day with bloodshed.”

The prince narrowed his eyes and tightened his lips. He clearly wanted to argue with Terrance but in the end he listened to reason.

“Very well, Terrance. If you say so, but I still think that this bear is searching for his next meal.” Prince Ferdinand reluctantly lowered his sword and returned it to its scabbard with one smooth movement.

Bianca realized she had been holding her breath when she finally took a deep lungful of fresh air.

“Prince Ferdinand, Terrance, I want you to meet my father, David Frost.” Bianca stepped aside, and the bear that was once her father bowed to the prince.

“But he’s a bear,” the prince said.

“Your Highness is very observant, but it’s obvious that Mr. Frost wasn’t always a bear,” Terrance said.

“A spell perhaps?” The prince wrinkled his face as though it physically hurt him to think and ask questions.

“Yes, your Highness,” Bianca replied.

“A quest and a spell to break? A mighty adventure indeed! The minstrels will sing songs about me.”

“Glad you think so,” Bianca muttered. “Dad? Do you know how to break the spell?” she asked, turning her attention to her father.

He shook his head.

“Great. Just…great,” she whispered.

“Now what?” Ming asked.

“We have to find a way to get him back to normal,” she said.

“Do you think there’s something in Mirabel’s spell book?” Ming asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t gotten that far into it yet. Plus…I feel weird every time I touch it. I think the book wants me to stay away,” Bianca said.

She avoided mentioning that the book had literally attacked her and left a strange mark on the palm of her hand. She resisted the urge to inspect her hand for fear that someone might notice.

“That’s ridiculous. It’s just a book,” Ming said, dismissing the importance of what Bianca was trying to say.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to misjudge it, Ming. I don’t trust it. Not one bit,” Bianca said. “I’m going to have a quick breakfast and then we’ll be on our way. Dad? Can you wait here while we get ready?”

David nodded and sat down on the ground. The dirt and leaves floated and swirled all around him. It all slowly drifted back to the soil underneath him.

Everyone went inside and had breakfast. Bianca and Ming had some cold Pop-Tarts while they changed out of their pajamas and into their jeans, long sleeved T-shirt, and hiking boots.

“Are you okay?” Ming asked.

“I’m fine,” Bianca replied quickly. She knew what that question was going to lead to. She wasn’t ready to talk about it just yet.

“Yeah, you look
fine.
” Ming arched her eyebrow.

“Ming…not now. Please.”

“Okay.” Ming put her hands up in surrender. “But…if you change your mind and you
do
wanna talk about it, I’m here for you, okay?”

Bianca nodded. She wanted to say something more, but she felt that if she opened her mouth to speak she would burst into tears and not be able to follow through with the rest of their journey.

“Come on. We’ve got a long way to go,” Ming said.

“Yeah.” Bianca nodded.

They both went outside and waited for Prince Ferdinand and Terrance. She went up to her father, who unfortunately was still a bear. She sighed and sat next to him. David grumbled and buried his nose into her neck. She was surprised over the fact that his nose was so cold.

“Oh, Daddy,” she whispered.

He shook his head, but remained silent. She patted his head and still couldn’t get over the fact that she was touching thick, black fur and not the soft silky hair she remembered him having.

She looked up and saw Prince Ferdinand and Terrance emerge out of the cottage. She gave her father a kiss on the nose and stood up.

“So, which way do we go?” Bianca asked.

“I believe the witch you speak of lives north of here, but I don’t know the castle’s exact location,” Terrance said.

“How long do you think it’ll take us to get there?” Ming asked.

“I’m not certain. Perhaps five days if we only rest at night,” Terrance guessed.

What if we end up going the wrong way?
Bianca wanted to be absolutely certain that they were heading in the right direction. She remembered that she had Red Riding Hood’s cape in her backpack. She glanced over at her best friend. They had seen each other in some pretty embarrassing outfits, but she wasn’t sure she wanted
anyone
to see her wearing the famous blood red cape.

“I’m never going to live this one down,” she muttered.

“What?” Ming asked when she saw the annoyed look on Bianca’s face.

“If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you,” she warned.

“Tell anyone about what?”

Bianca remained silent and instead pulled out Red Riding Hood’s cape out of her backpack.

“Oh…my…God,” Ming said and then stifled a giggle.

“Shut up,” Bianca hissed.

Ming pretended to zip her lips shut and covered her mouth with her hands.

Bianca took a deep breath and put the red cape on and tied the silk ribbons into a knot around her neck. The cape swished from side to side, seemingly of its own volition. Bianca felt like an upside down red rose.

“I thought it would be longer,” Ming noticed.

“Well…remember it was worn by a little girl in the original story.” Bianca tugged at the end of the cape. No matter what she did it wouldn’t go past her waist.

Bianca knew she looked silly, yet she couldn’t help but love the feel of the velvety cape over her shoulders. It was almost as though she was putting on a piece of red armor. She could sense the soft veil of magic fall over her body. She closed her eyes and immersed herself in that feeling.

Okay, Red Riding Hood…show me the way to my mother. Help me find the right path.

She wasn’t sure that would work. Rose had never taught her how to use the cape or if it worked at all, but she hoped that being honest was enough to get the cape to work for her. When Bianca opened her eyes, she saw blue footprints softly glowing on the ground.

“That way.” Bianca pointed to the north east.

“Are you sure?” Ming asked.

Bianca nodded.

“Very well then, off we go,” Prince Ferdinand said as he mounted his white horse. He extended his hand out to Ming and helped her mount the four-legged beast.

Terrance did the same for Bianca although she barely noticed Terrance picking her up and placing her on the saddle. She was almost in a trance. All she could see was the path before her. The bright blue footsteps beaconing to her, urging her to follow them to the destination she had politely demanded from the cape.

David whined and sniffed Bianca’s feet. She could tell that he was worried about her. The horse neighed and took a few steps back, but Terrance took control of the stallion. He managed to calm the creature down. David did his best to stay away from the horses, but Bianca saw how hard it was for him. She smiled at her father; she didn’t want to be too far from him either.

“Are you all right?” Terrance asked when he noticed the state she was in.

“Just follow the path. Stay on the path,” she said in a soft voice.

“Very well,” he replied.

One by one, the witch, her friend, the prince, the servant, and the bear marched into the unknown.

Chapter Fourteen

Bianca opened her eyes. Darkness. All around her was dark, dark, dark.

Where am I?
Bianca wondered.

“Nowhere,” a seductive voice replied.

Bianca gasped and turned around searching for the voice that had answered her silent question.

“Who’s there?” she asked.

“Who’s there? Who is there?” the voice echoed, mocking her.

Bianca wondered if it was possible to have a heart attack in your sleep. She took a deep breath and decided to try again.

“Hello? Is someone there?”