Part 1

On the night Virginia and Wolf came back to New York, they returned to her old apartment and found it occupied by new tenants.

“Oh we've been waiting for you. Hang on,” said the beefy balding man standing at what used to be her front door. He made a quick phone call and minutes later Mr. Murray came to the scene.

“Miss Lewis!” he said. “You've returned! Where is Master Lewis?”

Obviously he was still under the magic spell of the dragon dung bean. She shot an amused look at Wolf. He gave a small nervous laugh and shrugged. She had no idea how long its effect would last. Better to play along for now.

“My father is, uh, still away on business Mr. Murray. He sends his best wishes and he hopes you are still taking care of things around here,” she told him in her best authority voice.

“Certainly, of course!” he replied to them. “I took the liberty of moving you out of the apartment. It's so small and unworthy. Plus there was an explosion, a little one—no harm done to the Master's possessions really. It was just a small boom with the refrigerator. I blame myself for that. We are still cleaning up the beer you see.”

“Well fine, uh, keep up the good work then,” she nodded to him starting to feel a bit like royalty. “We just came back from that business trip, the one my father is still on, and we're very tired. So we'd like to see the new apartment please.”

He actually bowed at her request. “Right away Miss and Mr.?” he looked up.

“Mr. Wolf,” Wolf answered, acting like the dignitary.

Murray took them to the top floor of the building. “My family decided to give the entire top floor to the Master and his family. Naturally that meant booting out the lowlifes who occupied the floor,” he told her.

Lowlifes? Virginia thought. There were some wealthy people living up here. The top floor apartments were the most spacious and had the best views in the entire building—and she was getting all of them. It was too unreal.

“We were working round the clock reconstructing and redecorating. It looks like we finished just in time too and please, do not concern yourself about rent. It is just part of my life long service to the House of Lewis,” he said. Virginia frowned on his last remark. The House of White, the House of Red, it was a creepy coincidence to her. The elevator doors opened and there was one large door on the entire floor. Murray handed her the keys. They stepped inside and Virginia and Wolf both gasped in awe at the spectacular size of their new home. There were too many rooms to count and all filled with the finest furniture.

“Wow, this must have cost a fortune,” she said aloud, gazing at the biggest TV screen she'd ever seen.

“The money my family and I have saved over the years by cutting corners on this building certainly added up to a healthy amount,” said Murray. She looked at him and regarded his “cutting corners” statement. She remembered how her father had to fix the elevator when Murray should have hired an electrician. How many times did he swindle her father and every other business client his shady family was associated with?

Wolf was running around every room like an excited child. “This is great Virginia! Much better than that small box you and your dad lived in. It's even better than your grandmother's place,” he said and then disappeared to another room down the hall.

She smiled and turned to Mr. Murray. “We'll take it.”

Not long after Murray left, Wolf came back into the living room. “Virginia, come look what I found!”

He grabbed her hand and brought her to one of the rooms. It was a library. “Look at all these books! It'll take me a lifetime to finish them all,” he said as scratched his head. “I don't know where to start.”

Virginia was too tired from all the excitements to make any suggestions. “I guess pick out something that sounds interesting,” she said and stretched. “I think I'll take a hot bath. Have fun in here.” As she left the room she overheard him say, “Hmm, War and Peace..”

The hot bath was a good idea. She relaxed her aching muscles in her brand new bathroom. It was quite large and immaculately white. She had begun to doze off, dreaming she was back in the Nine Kingdoms. She and Wolf lying on a flower bed, sleeping in the warm sun. Then suddenly she heard him cry out.

“Oh No!”

She jumped, splashing water on the floor. Her mind was racing as she reached for a robe. Trolls! Trolls followed them through the mirror her panicked mind told her. She found Wolf in the living room. He was alone.

“Wolf, what's wrong?” she asked.

He was staring at the big screen TV with frightened eyes. “It's another magic mirror! Cripes, they have an army!” he pointed to the images on the screen.

She looked down and a wave of relief came over her. She had forgotten that she had been watching CNN earlier. It was now covering the latest military crisis in a small European country that she had never heard of or could pronounce.

“No, no it's okay,” she told him. She reached up and turned his head to her.

“That's not a mirror. It's television. It's just pictures, see?” She went over to the set and changed the channel. It showed the Three Stooges slapping each other. “It's just pictures for entertainment really.” She changed it again and now it showed a man talking about how to build a deck. She turned back to him. He was still staring at the TV. He bent down and touched the screen.

“I've never seen magic like this before.”

“It's not magic,” she said with a little laugh. “It's technology.”

He looked up at her. “Oh” he said quietly, then looked down. She read the expression on his face. He was clearly embarrassed and felt foolish.

She felt awful for him. He was going to have a hard time getting used to her world. She turned off the set and lifted him up to face her. “Things will get easier. Just give it some time. Look how I was in your world. If it wasn't for you, Dad and I would be dead or rotting away somewhere.” That was the truth she thought. He smiled. She slipped her arms around him and kissed him. “Come on, let's go to bed,” she said softly. His smile turned into his familiar wolfish grin and he chased her to the bedroom.

The next few days were like a vacation. She had taken Wolf to see the sights of New York. When they arrived at the Statue of Liberty, Wolf looked up with amazement and asked, “Huff puff, who was that queen?” When she gave him the history he seemed even more impressed.

Then she tried to get him to taste a hot dog. After much coaxing, he finally took a bite and then immediately spat it out almost hitting a nearby pigeon. “Yuck! This is not meat! How can you eat this stuff?” he growled, wiping his mouth.

Finally it was finding a new wardrobe for him. She withdrew from an account her grandmother had set for her “in case of an emergency.” This was a good reason she thought.

They found a men's clothing store that Wolf seemed to like. The manager, a small man with a skinny mustache, greeted them.

“Hello. How are you two today? What you would like to see?” There was a snootiness hidden in his voice.

“I need a new wardrobe,” Wolf informed him. “I want clothes that will catch the eye, make people take notice but not too much that will cause me to stick out or look obscene. I want clothes that say: sharply dressed, classically styled but with a touch of risk taking.”

Virginia looked away from the two and bit her lip to keep from laughing. He continued on with his order: “I want clothes that make me look comfortable and inviting to the love of my life yet never losing a sexy magnetism that will drive her into ripping them off my body...”

“Wolf,” she broke in, “I think he's got the idea.”

“Sorry,” he said panting. “Got carried away.”

The man loosened his tie, his face was bright pink. “It's perfectly all right,” he said.

At first Wolf was hesitant about trying on the clothes. Virginia figured his nervousness had something to do with his tail.

“Just remember to keep the curtain drawn and you'll be fine,” she whispered to him and then gently pushed him to the dressing rooms.

The manager offered several outfits to Wolf. He found all the dark suits to his liking. Each suit he tried on he made sure Virginia added her opinions. She approved all of them. He looked good in just about anything, she thought.

Afterwards the manager gathered all the clothes. “I'll start ringing them up for you madam.” He began to walk over to the cash register but then stopped, turned and quickly proceeded to the dressing room.

“Sir, which sweater did you settle on? The navy or charcoal gray-OH MY GOD!!”

Virginia heard Wolf scream from the room. She got up out her chair and hurried over. Wolf came running out and almost collided into her. “See you outside,” he said and bolted out of the store.

She went in and found the little manager passed out on the floor. She knelt down and tapped his face.

“Sir, are you ok? Sir?” He started to come to.

“What happened?” he asked woozily. She helped him get up.

“You fainted,” she replied.

“Oh yes,” he said. “I thought I saw a tail on that man. An animal's tail. Like a, like a big dog's tail.” He looked at her, his head shaking in disbelief.

“A tail?” she said pretending to be just as shocked. “Are you all right? Do you want to still lie down?”

“No I'm fine I think. I think I took too many antihistamines this morning. Yes, I believe that's the problem.”

Virginia walked down the street carrying the shopping bags under her arms. “That wasn't easy,” she said out loud knowing that he was hiding nearby.

“Thanks,” he said coming up from behind, he took the bags off her. He looked both apologetic and grateful.

She playfully pinched his arm. “Someone was going to spot it eventually. That thing has a mind of its own,” she teased.