Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

The battle at the foot of Snow White Hill didn’t begin until well after dark. King Wendell had placed his troops thickly at its foot. The men on horseback were out in front, with the foot soldiers waiting behind them. Wendell could hear the clash of swords against armor and the whinnying of horses. But over all that, he could still pick out the cursing of the trolls as they pushed relentlessly forward.

Behind the hill, Kissing Town itself was completely quiet. Most of its inhabitants had fled. The few that remained stayed locked indoors. Wendell had decided to keep only one or two soldiers in the town itself because he felt he needed every man to fight back the trolls. As the battle raged, he was at the top of Snow White Hill, standing next to the glass coffin that was displayed there. He was remembering his grandmother and wondering what to do next. What would he do if the trolls took the hill? Would he stand here and defend it till he himself was killed?

“Your Majesty?” It was Wendell’s first Lieutenant, a good man who had served in the army all his life.

“Yes, Burke.”

“I just thought you should know. The trolls are pushing our horsemen back. Pretty soon they’ll be starting up the hill.”

This wasn’t good. Wendell had hoped his horsemen would be able to hold the trolls at bay. But he knew from the new sounds coming up the hill now, that the trolls were making a point of killing the horses and then going for the soldiers. “Very well,” the King said, “Prepare the ground troops. Under no circumstances can we let them take this hill. Kissing Town must not fall!”

Burke saluted his King and went off to give the order.

Wendell, alone again with the sounds of war in front of him, knelt before the glass coffin and prayed for guidance. So great was his concentration that when he heard his name, it took him a minute to realize who it was.

“Wendy,” a familiar voice said behind him.

The King raised his head and turned. “Wolf?” Now he was springing to his feet. “Wolf, what are you doing here? We’re in the middle of a war!”

“I know that. That’s why I’m here. Didn’t you get my message?”

“Message? What message?”

“I guess the trolls intercepted it. I sent you a message that I was bringing you new recruits.”

“I can’t just take on new recruits in the middle of a battle.”

“From the way things sound, I don’t think you have a choice.” It was true. The sounds of battle were getting closer and closer. The agonized cries of dying men were starting to fill the air. “I smell blood, lots of it. And it’s mostly human.”

Wendell said nothing, but his face screwed up in distaste. He was remembering the time of his enchantment, when the Evil Queen had turned him into a dog and he had smelled human blood on the coat of the man who had killed his granddaughter in Little Lamb Village. It was a horrible smell. How great the stench must be now, in the heat of battle, with men falling at every side.

Wolf sensed some of what Wendell was feeling, but there wasn’t time to commiserate. “I have a large battalion of troops with me,” he said, “Waiting for my call.”

“What kind of weapons are they carrying?”

“None. They don’t need any, the lead troops, anyway. Those like me are carrying swords. My sister is leading a second troop on the right side of the hill.”

“Your sister!” Wendell was horrified. “Is she here?”

“Yes, like I said, she’s leading a troop on the right side of the hill. There’s a third troop also. This one is on the left side, led by an old wolf named Carpathian.”

“Who?”

“Oh, you probably don’t remember him. But he was chief wolf over the pack in the woods by your castle.”

“Carpathian?”

“Yeah, I know it’s unusual. But these older wolves like long formal sounding names. They think it gives them prestige. You know, by the way, you really shouldn’t have left the town itself unprotected. I didn’t see one soldier there when I came up. But don’t worry. I don’t think the trolls have tried to encircle you. If they had, my troops would have come across them already and would have signaled.”

Wendell looked at Wolf as if he were a madman. He still had no idea what he was trying to tell him. Untried troops without weapons?

The tall thin figure of Lieutenant Burke suddenly appeared out of the shadows. “Your Majesty. The trolls have started up the hill.”

Wendell took in the information and hesitated.

Immediately, Wolf stepped in. “Tell your men, to hold their line,” he said, “I will howl once to get my troops into place here on the hill. Then, there will be another howl on the right side near the bottom telling us everything’s all right down there. That will be followed by a third howl from the left. The fourth howl will be mine. And that will be the call to charge. At that point, your men should fall back and let my troops in. You’ll know they’re coming because they’ll make an awful lot of noise. But don’t worry, none of your men will get hurt. My troops won’t have any difficulty telling humans apart from trolls. They’re going to try and push the trolls down the hill and surround them at the bottom. With any luck they’ll divide them and send them running.”

Lieutenant Burke stood with his mouth open, looking hard at the shadowy figure of Wolf in the dim light of the quarter moon.

“Do it,” King Wendell said.

As Burke went down the hill, Wolf stepped forward and gave a long loud howl.

Suddenly, a large contingency of wolves moved silently out of the shadows. Wendell couldn’t believe how many of them there were. He hadn’t even sensed their presence a moment before. They were like dark ghosts moving across the top of the hill.

There was a pause. And then, at the foot of the hill on the right, came an answering howl, long, strong, and higher pitched. It in turn was followed by a third howl from the left. This one had a deep bass quality to it.

Out of the shadows came more figures. These looked human but the glow of their yellow eyes, told the truth. They gathered around Wolf and pushed forward with him toward the edge of the hill.

“Yip, yip, yip. Yoowwooo!” Wolf howled now. And the charge began.

The wolves at the top and bottom of the hill picked up the call and repeated it. The sound got louder and louder. And louder still, till it seemed to shake the very hill itself.

The trolls stopped in mid-ax blow.

Burly cried out, “Suck an elf! What’s that!”

But no one answered him.

Rows and rows of furry bodies, began sailing through the air. Claws and teeth were bared and ready to sink into anything that smelled like troll. They were like demons coming out of the darkness, hungering for a fight. They knocked the trolls easily to the ground, separating them from their weapons. Now it was the trolls who were crying out in pain. But it was hard to hear them, because the howling of the wolves went on relentlessly. It came from everywhere and nowhere. To the trolls it sounded like the cries of hell itself. The wolves were using sound as a weapon as well as teeth and claws. Their howls were also a form of simple communication, whereby Wolf could maintain contact with both Rose and Carpathian.

Wendell stood on the top of the hill, amazed at what was taking place. The wolves’ surprise attack was scattering the trolls in every direction. Whatever battle plan they’d had was completely gone. Retreat was now the only thing on their minds.

Wolf saw the trolls running away and called out, “Yip, yip, Yowooo!” They’re retreating. Pursue only.

The other wolves returned the call and immediately halted their attack. Instead they concentrated on chasing the trolls, only biting them in an effort to keep them moving. Carpathian howled that he and his troops would pursue them all the way to the border of the Third Kingdom. And Wolf howled back his consent.

“Yip, yow!” Wolf called. The battle is over. Return and bring the captives.

With that, silence began to return to the hill.

Since the full-blooded wolves had led the fighting, the part-wolves took care of most of the gathering up of prisoners and stray weapons. Wolf made sure everything and everybody was turned over to Lieutenant Burke before he made his way back up the hill to Wendell.

“It seems I have to thank you for saving my kingdom once again,” Wendell told Wolf.

But Wolf waved the King’s words aside. What he’d done was for all of them. Now he was tired and his voice was hoarse from howling. All he wanted was to find a grassy patch to down in.

Wendell patted Wolf on the back as he passed and gave the order to Lieutenant Burke for dinner to be passed out to the wolf soldiers.

“Thank you,” Wolf whispered. But even more than food right then, he wished he could have laid down next to Virginia and put his head in her lap.