Chapter 18
18
E mi and Leon were huddled on the couch next to Frieda and sobbing as they clung to her. Marco was also sitting beside them and nervously tapping his foot. His voice broke through the quiet as he whimpered, “What’s going to happen to Mom?”
“Don’t worry,” Frieda said, reassuring the children. Never mind that her own heart was beating at least as fast as Emi’s, which she could feel by her side. “As soon as your mother has run far enough, I shall call her and conjure her back. Nothing will happen to her.”
“Are you sure?” Leon asked as he wept on her chest.
Frieda did her best to smile, but it didn’t come through her eyes. “Of course, my love. Your mother will soon be back with you.”
“What will happen to the prince?” Emi asked. “Does he have to be a bear forever now?”
“We shall see.”
“But Mommy and the prince have fallen in love,” Emi said through her sniffles. “And now they’re separated. The prince is a bear, and Mommy will be back with us soon. How can that be, Frieda? I thought now they would be together forever.”
“Is that what you’re hoping for?”
Leon and Emi nodded. Even Marco started to nod.
Emi wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand and gazed up at Frieda. There was a look of despair in her big, brown eyes. “Fairy tales always have a happy ending!”
Frieda smiled. “And what can we conclude from that, my little angel?”
Marco looked up. “That it’s not the end yet!”