She knocked on the cottage door, unsure of what she would find. A beautiful blond-haired young woman about her own age opened the door with a look of surprise on her face. Snow White knew she looked a mess; her clothes were dirty and tattered from getting caught on branches.

"I am sorry," she said haltingly. "I have nowhere else to go. I ... I ... was hoping to find shelter here. If... if ... you ... don't mind?"

The young woman looked her over, and her surprise changed to concern. She held out her hand to help Snow White into the cottage and called over her shoulder, "Aunts, we have company." Snow White felt herself go weak in the knees, and she leaned on the young woman gratefully. The young woman steered her to the nearest chair. Seeing Snow White safely seated, the young woman turned and got her a glass of cool water. Handing her the water, the young woman introduced herself. "I am Aurora," she said softly. Snow White closed her eyes, savoring the cool water, and when she opened them, she nearly choked in surprise, floating on one side of Aurora were three small fairies. They couldn't be anything else. "These are the aunts, Nancy, Pansy, and Lavender," Aurora said by way of explanation.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the tallest fairy, Nancy, asked kindly. Aurora left the room and came back with a plate of bread, a small bowl of butter, and a knife. She put these on a small table which she placed in front of Snow White.

"I am Snow White," she answered. "The queen tried to have the huntsman kill me in the woods, but he let me go. I can't go back." She started crying then. When she had been struggling in the woods, her survival had been all she had allowed herself to think about, but here, in a place of shelter, her near miss with death overwhelmed her.

"Aunt Nancy, look what you have done to the poor thing," Aurora said reproachfully. "She is more than half starved and scared out of her mind. Let her be until she has eaten something." Then Aurora pulled up a chair and put her arms around Snow White, patting her hair and stroking her back. It felt so good to be held tenderly that Snow White cried a little harder for a moment, and then started to try and calm herself. Snow White sat up and dried her tears on her sleeve. Aurora broke of a piece of bread, buttered it, and handed it to her. Snow White ate gratefully, and Pansy, the short fairy, had a mug of hot cider float its way across the room to her. Snow White ate two more big pieces of bread and drank all of the cider. It felt wonderful to have the filling bread and the hot liquid in her belly.