Part 3

Snow White ran until she tripped over the skirt of her night gown and fell to the ground. Getting up, she looked down at her tatted clothes. Then she had an idea. Searching around her, she found a vine and ripped it from a nearby tree. Next she pulled at the top half of her night gown and separated the top from the skirt, making it two parts. Then she turned her skirt around and ripped from the bottom to the top. Turning the skirt around again she picked up the bottom and ripped up almost to the top and repeated the act a hands length over. Now her skirt was in three parts. The two larger parts she wrapped around each leg and held it in place by wrapping the vines around her legs. With the small part left she put it between her legs and tucked into her waistband at the back. To finish it off, she tied more vines around her waist just in case the material came out of the waistband.

The prince was totally excited. He knew he had to work fast as his fair lady had already taken out one of the little men which meant he was already losing. Cursing under his breath, he took off in the other direction to fetch his bow and arrows that he had stashed before confronting the princess. Since there were no rules to their contest, he figured why not use what was already handy to him and it just might give him the upper hand.

Having fixed her attire, Snow White was now ready to begin her hunt. Ripping more of the vines off the trees around her, she looped them like rope over one shoulder and under her other armpit, she wondered where to begin. Wanting to get off the ground to get a better look around, Snow White climbed up a larger tree that overlooked the forest. From there she could see everything around her. From her perch in the tree, she could see the remaining six little men and the prince scurrying around like ants. Then she noticed that one of the little men was heading her way.

Silent as a stone, Snow White waited as the little man with the number seven on his hat appeared under her tree. She watched, as he sat down and wiped his brow. Before long, the little man slumped and was fast asleep. Snow White looked around for something to kill the little man with, when her eyes fell upon the vines wrapped around her. She took the vine off and made a noose and slowly lowered it down to the sleeping man. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not get it around his neck as he was leaning the back of his head against the tree.

Snow White wiggled the vine and slapped the sleeping man in the face, who sat up straight but didn't open his eyes. The little man then brushed a hand over his face and as he was starting to lean back, Snow White looped the vine round his neck. She waited until he was settled against the tree once more and with vine in hand, jumped out of the tree. Snow White suddenly came to a stop with a deafening crack. Snow White looked up as she swung from the vine and saw number seven was down and out... for good. With a satisfied nod, she placed her feet on the ground just below her and let go of the vine. Number seven fell to the forest floor with a quiet thud.

The prince was washing his hands in the creek, when he heard footsteps behind him, instead of getting up, he waited until the person tapped him on the shoulder. The prince swung around, knocking the smaller person off their feet. The prince looked down to find one of the little men laying on the ground dumbfounded by what had just happened. The prince bent down and pulled out a tiny but long dagger from his royal boot and quick as a striking snake, stabbed the little man through his right eyeball. The dagger resisted slightly but with a little force from the prince, hit the stony creek bed where the water had once been.

Once the prince saw the blood slowly running through the pebbles and into the water, he knew the little man was dead. Dipping his finger in the fast cooling blood, he drew a number 6 on his white shirt. The prince left his dagger in the little man and walked up the creek, wondering how his fair lady was doing....