I’ve always thought dragons and lawyers have been badly treated.
When I see a dragon, it’s usually being attacked by St George and skewered
with a lance. Lawyers are criticised for defending people the public have
condemned already in their own minds.
I decided to write a fairy tale about a dragon who becomes a lawyer to help
the sentient beings who’ve not been treated well in the fairy tales of yore.
Of course, this can only take place in a parallel universe to our own where
those fairy tale characters try to make the best of things for themselves.
When they need or want legal help, Wendy Draig is now there for them.
Wendy is the Dragon Lawyer who tilts the Scales of Justice in favour of the
underdog, undercat, and every other member of the underclass.
Buy the book here for $1.99 USD
This is Chapter 5
On her way to The Next Town But One, Wendy dropped into the dwarf compound, hoping to speak to Snow White to find out her situation. Wendy had walked two miles before seeing a signpost low to the ground showing the compound was on the right in two hundred yards.
‘I wonder what they mine here?’ said Wendy to herself as she stepped over the gate and headed up to the house. A brown chihuahua came out into the drive and barked, but then its eyes met Wendy’s stare and the dog suddenly decided it had something important to do in the depths of the house.
Wendy looked at the door and noticed there was a cat flap – through which the chihuahua had run at speed – and a larger version of this flap. Wendy suspected why this was but kept the reason to herself. She knocked on the door and then looked through the window into what appeared to be the kitchen. She observed a long table set for eight places, as well as a sideboard and mirror. On the sideboard were piles of small plates. One pile was all green and another all yellow.
‘Hello, who’s there?’ said a soft voice.
‘Hello,’ said Wendy, ‘my name’s Wendy. I’m a lawyer and I’m wondering whether I can talk to Snow White, please?’
‘Yes, that’s me,’ said the voice. ‘You can come in through the dwarf flap if you wish. Mind your head.’
Wendy ducked her head and scrambled through the flap into the kitchen, where her gaze landed on a young girl with a white complexion and jet-black hair. She wore a blue band in her hair and a blue dress with white swans on it. Wendy held out her hand and Snow White grasped it rather limply before indicating that Wendy may sit at a particular place at the table.
‘Thank you,’ said Wendy. ‘Who normally sits in this place?’
‘That’s the place reserved for Hamish, the missing dwarf, the missing eighth dwarf,’ replied Snow White. ‘I’ve never seen him, but the others regularly refer to him as though he was around for a long time and then he disappeared one day and hasn’t been seen since.’
‘They have mentioned him to me in relation to Cinderella and Rumpelstiltskin,’ replied Wendy. ‘Do you know anything about that?’
‘Yes, the remaining seven dwarfs discuss the local news after dinner and seem to think I’m not interested in what they’re saying. I understood about a year ago that Hamish had been a suspect in a bank robbery, that he’d tunnelled into the bank using his mining expertise and then Rumpel had framed Cinderella by giving her the wrong size of glass slipper to wear for the getaway.’
‘Do the other dwarfs know where Hamish might stay?’
‘Well, the obvious place would be at Rumpel’s, but I believe the police raided it and found no evidence of him ever being there.’
‘Is it possible he never existed, that he’s a fiction that people use as a convenience when they need to explain something?’ asked Wendy.
‘He might well be,’ replied Snow White. ‘Anyway, I should wash up the breakfast things, including the plates, so we should move into the washing room.’
Wendy stood up and followed Snow White as she headed next door, where a large sink appeared to be full of items for washing.
‘What exactly is your role here, in this house?’ asked Wendy, looking around at the rows of pots, pans, and utensils hanging on the walls.
‘My role is the housekeeper to the seven dwarfs. I do their laundry, cook their meals, and keep the house tidy for them.’
‘That sounds like a lot of work,’ replied Wendy. ‘I hope you get well paid.’
‘I’m not paid, I just get board and lodging.’
Wendy put down her bag and looked hard at Snow White.
‘Are you hiding here from anyone?’
‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about,’ replied Snow White, putting on a pair of washing-up gloves. ‘Why would I be hiding?’
‘Do you have a contract with these seven small men?’
‘I’ve signed nothing, if that’s what you mean.’
‘They should pay you for work like this. Snow White, board and lodging isn’t sufficient under the law. How did you come upon this opportunity?’
Snow White scrubbed the plates with great vigour as though she was searching for a suitable answer.
‘I heard you were placed with the dwarfs by slave traders. They did the deal at The Cat and Fiddle Hotel.’
Snow White scrubbed harder.
Wendy narrowed her eyes and hazarded a guess: ‘You don’t look over fourteen or fifteen now, so my guess is that the Pied Piper of Hamelin brought you to this area on one of his children’s marches from a neighbouring country – is that correct?’
‘Just why are you asking me that? I’m here now and I can’t do anything about my situation because there’s no one to help me. I can’t escape because I’ve no money to run away with and I own no possessions other than a few shirts and skirts and I don’t have a bag to put them in.’
‘Well, I can help you,’ replied Wendy. ‘I can take your case to the youth court and they would take you into care and provide you with an education and some hope for the future, because you have nothing at the moment.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ replied Snow White. ‘How will you do all this without the dwarfs finding out?’
‘That’s what I must work out,’ said Wendy. ‘I’m heading to The Next Town But One now to meet some people, but I’ll be back soon. I’ll visit you again and tell you what’s planned.’
‘That sounds exciting,’ said Snow White, rinsing a plate with a flourish.
‘There’s one last thing I’d like to ask,’ said Wendy.
‘Go ahead,’ said Snow White, scrubbing a spoon.
‘Do you know anything about Cinderella? I’m going to visit her in prison in The Next Town But One, but I’d like to have something to chat to her about, something to break the ice.’
‘Well, Wendy, I don’t get out at all, but I overheard the dwarfs saying that she went to the ball the night before the bank raid and that she charmed everyone there including Prince Quite Nice who’s the richest person in these parts, or at least his parents are, that’s Lord and Lady Quite Nice.’
‘Thank you, Snow White. That sounds perfect. I will see you soon.’
With that, Wendy exited through the dwarf flap and continued her journey.
Chapter 6 will appear on Substack on 10th May
Julian Worker Fiction Writing 