“Show yourselves! I command you!” Maximilian shouted.
“Yells and sounds like a human,” one of them squealed from beside Hannah. Once again, something pressed down on the needles that lay on the ground, this time deeper into the earth and leaving a tiny footprint.
Hannah leapt to the side and leaned on the bear, who again shouted loudly, “I am Prince Maximilian von Lichtenberg! I command you: show yourselves!”
“The prince, he said. But ‘tis a bear!”
“Sorcery is at play here, sorcery,” chirped another high-pitched voice.
The space sparkled and glittered, and the area right before Hannah was blurred as if someone were stirring the air with a spoon and mixing the colors of the forest, when several hazy little figures began to appear. A moment later, three little men were standing in front of them. They were no taller than the length of a forearm and appeared to consist almost entirely of long, bushy beards, oversized boots, and tall caps.
“Forest gnomes?” Hannah whispered in disbelief.
Their eyes gleamed with aggression. They propped their fists on their hips and grumbled. “What’s he doing in our forest? Even if he is the prince, all I see is a bear!”
“I am the prince! Otherwise, my command would not have worked!” shouted Maximilian, raising his paw. But he looked all the less menacing because his hind paw still remained stuck in the ground, making it hard for him to move around unhampered.
“Stuck in the roots! Got him trapped! ‘Tis all the same who it is. Bears are our enemies. We won’t need to starve this winter!”
Hannah was horrified. Were they planning to eat Maximilian? She squatted down beside the gnomes. “Dear forest gnomes,” she began, “listen to me. This is not a bear but the prince of the castle. There’s a curse upon him, but soon he’ll be freed, and then he’ll be human again.”
“Who is she?” they squeaked. “Why is she with him? A human woman and a bear? Ha, that’s funny! We’ll catch her, too!”
Suddenly, they whipped out ropes from beneath their bushy beards and raced so fast around Hannah and Maximilian that neither was able to follow the gnomes’ movements with their eyes. Hannah jumped up in a flash and wriggled her way out of the rope, which was already scraping against her ankle. She grabbed a thick branch and raised it threateningly. “Leave us alone! Get out of here!”
“Why is she doing that? Why is she threatening us?”
“You’re the ones who are threatening us—I’m only defending myself! I don’t want to hurt you, but if you don’t stop this instant, I will strike!”
The three forest gnomes giggled as if Hannah were the small one. Then, having raced around Hannah and Maximilian with astounding speed, they disappeared. Hannah felt a rope around her ankles again. She quickly leapt to the side, raised her hand to strike, and dealt a vigorous blow to the ground with the thick branch.
“Ow!” one of them squealed. “Why is she doing that? Evil woman!”
Hannah raised her arm once more and struck the forest floor in front of her. This time there was no wailing, so she immediately raised her arm again and slammed the branch down to the side. Maximilian was already tied up. He couldn’t undo the thick cords, and his hind paw was still stuck in the trap. But one of his front paws was free. He lifted it up and bashed the ground in front of him.
“Ow! Why is he doing that? Why is he hitting us? The prince is attacking us! We have to tell the others!”
There was rustling and crackling, and once again the air was swirling and mixing the colors of the forest into a blurry mess. Tiny glittery, sparkly lights whooshed around them, and the forest gnomes vanished from sight.
Hannah looked around on all sides. “Are they gone?”
“Yes, but they’ll soon be back with reinforcements. Quick, release me from these ropes.”
Hannah tugged at the ropes, which were tightly wound around the bear. “Where do these little gnomes get their strength?”
“It’s magic.”
“Magic?” She shook her head in bewilderment.
“Quick, set me free. We need to be gone before they come back!”
It took Hannah a moment, but she finally managed to undo the first knot, which the forest gnomes had tied with lightning speed. “How are we going to free your foot?”
Just a moment before, Hannah had felt so happy that she could snuggle up to someone and feel safe and secure, but now, once again, she was the one who was rescuing someone else.
She unwound the remaining rope from the bear prince’s body. Then she examined it, pulled on it, and weighed it in herhands. “What a strong rope. Ha! The little squirts inadvertently gave us just the tool we need.”
She squatted down next to the paw that was stuck, wound the rope twice around Maximilian’s leg, and fastened it with a firm knot. Then she ran to the nearest fir and wrapped it around the trunk. “All right, at the count of three, try to pull out your paw with all your might!”
