A Cake of Cherries and Charm (Enchanting Confections #8)

Chapter 1

If you’ve never heard the story of Snow White & Rose Red…

Once upon a time, there were two good little girls who lived with their mother in a little cottage at the edge of the woods.

Their mother had named one Snow White, after the rosebush that grew lily white roses every spring.

The other she named Rose Red after her other rose bush, which produced roses of a vivid crimson.

The little family lived happily in their cottage, and the girls grew into healthy, lively children, exploring the woods near their home until they were no more strangers to it than the animals that lived there.

Indeed, the animals themselves loved the girls, for no humans had ever treated them so well or with such kindness.

The girls were rarely idle, and while they had little money, they were always more than content with their happy life.

Rose Red liked to run about barefoot and climb trees to look for adventure, while Snow White preferred to work quietly with her mother in the house or in their little garden.

As different as the girls were, though, they loved one another dearly, and they were never long apart.

Each night, after their various adventures, they returned home for their mother to read to them from the Holy Book before they slept soundly in their beds.

One day in early winter, a great blizzard began to blow in, and the girls and their mother had just locked themselves in their warm little cottage when there came a great pounding at the door.

Rose Red went cautiously to open it, and to their great surprise, they found a great grizzly bear on the other side!

Rose Red would have shut the door immediately, but the bear let out a pitiful whimper and began to move its paws in a very human fashion.

“Let him in!” their mother cried.

Rose Red turned in shock to her mother, but her mother only nodded. “Let him in,” she said again. “We cannot leave such an intelligent creature out in the cold.”

The bear was indeed intelligent. The three ladies were all amazed when he wiped his paws carefully on the rug at the door before coming in and sitting properly in front of the fire.

From that day on, the bear became a dear part of the family.

The girls and their mother made sure he was fed and sheltered, and in exchange, the bear protected them from the wolves who prowled hungrily in the cold.

And very soon, they were all so happy that they could hardly remember a time when the bear had not been with them.

The next summer, however, and every summer after that, the bear left them. And though he couldn’t tell them why, for the bear couldn’t speak, he seemed to be searching for something—something he never seemed to find, for every autumn he returned yet again to protect them from the wolves once more.

One summer day, when the bear was gone, the girls were out foraging for berries. While they were out, they came upon a troll—all green and covered in warts—who was shouting and jumping around in anger. His long, white beard had become caught in a log, and he was stuck.

“Why are you standing there like stupid statues?” he cried out when he saw the girls. “Come help set me free!”

The girls weren’t sure what they thought of the rude troll, but they were kind girls, so they did try.

When the troll’s beard wouldn’t come free, however, Rose Red offered to go get help, but the troll refused.

“There are already too many of you here!” he snapped.

So with nothing left to do, Snow White took a little pair of scissors from her reticule and snipped off the end of his beard, freeing him from the log.

“You’ve destroyed my fine beard!” the troll shouted. “Bad luck to you! Bad luck to you all!” And with that, he snatched a heavy sack from the bushes and was gone.

The next summer, when the bear was gone again, Snow White and Rose Red were once more foraging in the forest, this time for mushrooms, when they spotted the troll. He was hopping about at the edge of a pond this time, as though he might jump in.

“What has happened?” they asked him.

The troll turned and scowled up at them. “You again! Well, if you must know, you nosy birds, I’ve been fishing, but the line has become tangled up in my beard, and the fish is now trying to pull me in!”

Sure enough, a large fish was trying to use the tangled line to pull the troll into the river.

So the girls, knowing they ought to be kind even to those who weren’t, tried to untangle his beard from the line.

But they could soon see that it was too knotted, and Snow White had no choice but to cut the troll’s beard once again.

“You’ve disfigured my face!” the troll shouted as he looked at his reflection in the water. “If only you’d been so unfortunate as to run the soles off your shoes!” And with that, he grabbed his heavy sack from the bushes and took off into the forest with it once again.

The girls were free of the troll’s rudeness for several summers after that, but eventually, they found him yet again, this time on their way into town to purchase sewing materials.

As they were walking, they saw a large bird of prey circling slowly.

Then, a moment later, it dived down into the trees.

And when it reappeared, it was holding the rude troll in its talons.

With a sigh, the girls ran to help him, grabbing his legs and tugging with all their might until they were able to free the troll from the bird’s clutches.

“You useless, clumsy creatures!” the troll screamed. “You tore my coat and filled it with holes!” And snatching his heavy sack from where it had fallen, he made his way into the woods.

The girls were used to his rude ways by now, so they simply continued on to town to complete their errand. When they returned, they decided to take a shortcut through the forest, as it was getting dark.

While they were traipsing through the woods, they came upon the troll once more. But this time, he wasn’t in any danger, nor did he see them. Instead, he had dumped the contents of his heavy bag onto the ground and was counting its gems and gold coins.

Shocked, the girls stopped and stared at the treasure. When the troll realized that he wasn’t alone, he let out a cry of anger.

“As if cutting my beard and tearing my coat wasn’t enough!

Now you want to steal my treasure!” He raised his hands at them, and Snow White and Rosie could feel the air around them crackle with magic.

Knowing he wished to do them harm, Rose Red grabbed the troll’s beard and yanked him so he lost his footing.

Seeing what her sister was doing, Snow White grabbed his collar, so he was stretched out between them.

“What do we do with him?” Snow White asked her sister as the troll shouted all sorts of insults and promises of revenge.

But Rose Red didn’t have the time to answer. A deafening roar shook the forest, and in another moment, a snarling bear had entered the clearing.

“You!” The troll began to shake. As he spoke, he did his best to raise his hands once more.

But the bear didn’t stop to listen or watch. With one heavy swipe of his paw, the troll fell to the ground. And he didn’t get up again.

The girls were so frightened by the fight that they had already turned to run, but they stopped when a man’s voice called them by name. Turning cautiously, they found a man standing where the bear had been.

“It’s me!” he cried joyfully. “I was your bear!”

The girls stared in awe. What could he mean by this?

“I’m a prince,” the man claimed. “And five years ago, I was on my way to deliver a royal payment from my father to a neighboring king. But this cruel troll stole my treasure and cursed me to take the form of a bear. I left you every summer to search for him, but he moved the treasure often, never remaining in one place for long. I’m only free now because of his death. ”

By this speech, the girls knew at once that he was their bear, and they all rejoiced with tears of joy. Snow White was immediately betrothed to the bear-prince, for she had loved him from the start. And Rose Red…

Well, you’re about to hear about her happy end.