Fables #6

Snow puts Bigby in charge of Fabletown as she prepares to leave. He threatens Flycatcher and Jack with more community service hours if they get out of line. Jack questions why he has to do maintenance duty while Rose, who received the same sentence as he, gets to work off her hours with Snow on "vacation." To make things worse, Bigby puts Flycatcher in charge as he goes to his office while they are to strip and wax the ballroom floor. Jack asks Flycatcher why he's always doing community service. Flycatcher mentions that he gets a few hours for eating flies in public when Bigby catches him but the hours add up.

Snow and Red are going to drive up to the Farm. Colin the Pig needs to be brought back after sneaking into the city, again, and Snow wants to try to work on her relationship with her sister. Rose sulks and they pretty much bicker the entire way.

The truck overheats before they arrive. The Farm is miles upstate. Even though they are on the farmlands, it is still a ways to the community. Snow is surprised when she finds several shotgun shells and bullet casings off the side of the road. Rose doesn't see the big deal but Snow tells her that they do have a direct line into the city and should've reported this.

They finally arrive only to find that no one is about. Snow hears something in a barn and they find some sort of unofficial town meeting. Snow wonders why Dun (one of the Three Little Pigs) is conducting the meeting and not Weyland Smith. Dun quickly goes with the notion that, yes, they are simply having a town meeting. He motions that they postpone the rest of the meeting in order to make Snow comfortable.

Back in the city, Boy Blue finds several of the Fabletown inhabitants demanding to speak with Snow, including Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, Cinderella, and others. Blue tells them any emergencies are to go to Bigby and he is simply there to do some filing. He enters the office only to find books lying about. He sees that Bufkin has been drinking since Snow is away. What's worse is Bufkin got the Forsworn Knight drunk too. Apparently the last time that happened, it was a bit of a mess.

At the home of the Three Little Pigs, Snow finally finds out what the meeting was about. Dun says that since it's so close to Remembrance Day, they are talking about going back into the Homelands and taking on the Adversary to get them back. Snow is surprised to find that so many at the Farm feel the same way. Posey says that they feel this way since they are stuck at the Farm while the other, human-looking, Fables are free to go down to the city. They say that despite ninety cents of every dollar they take in goes to the farm, it is still a prison for them.

Since it is late, Snow says that she and Rose are going to bed. Before they leave to their room, Snow asks where is Weyland Smith. Dun and Posey say that he quit and left. He no longer wanted to be in charge of the Farm.

Dun and Posey continue to talk after they leave. Posey wonders if Snow suspects that they do, in fact, already have plans in motion. Dun says that there is no proof of anything and since Snow is so by-the-book, she won't make a move without any proof. Then he turns to Colin saying it's time to deal with him. Colin wants to put off their talk until the morning. They ask him if he's succeeded in his mission to obtain copies of the keys to Woodland Offices. He hasn't. They ask him how many Fables has he found that are sympathetic to their cause. Colin responds that Bigby kept him on a short leash and wasn't able to venture out.

In their room, Snow asks Rose when did things go wrong between them. They used to be so close and loving towards each other. Rose is only interested in sleeping at the moment. She tells Snow to shut up and close the curtains. Snow is shocked at what she sees by the truck. Someone has put Colin's head on a stick as a message to them.