Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

When Virginia came to, she found herself lying on the ground in a deep dark wood. At first she couldn’t remember what had happened. And then it began coming back to her.

A troll had killed a wolf. And she and another wolf had cornered him. It was funny because she’d recognized the troll. He was one of the three children of King Relish. If she remembered correctly, his name was Bluebell. The other two had nonsense names as far as she was concerned, but his was more normal. Or at least more ordinary. As far as she was concerned, it was pretty strange for an ugly troll to be named something like pretty Bluebell.

Slowly Virginia got to her feet. It was cold, much colder than it had been before. And so dark. There was only a sliver of moonlight breaking through the dense trees. Hadn’t the moon been larger before? And where was Wendell’s palace. The last thing she remembered was the troll throwing some kind of dust over her and then suddenly she was here. But where was here?

Virginia moved forward uncertainly. It seemed like an awfully deep wood, much thicker than the one around King Wendell’s castle. She had no idea which direction to go in. Had that dust been magic of some kind? Had it transported her somewhere? She remembered the troll yelling something like, “That’s for Dad.” Where had he sent her?

Her engagement ring suddenly came to life on her hand and started singing.

“Though it’s true you’re far from home,
You’re not quite so all alone.
Take a look and you will see,
That you still have little me.”

Virginia pulled her hand away from her cloak and put the softly glowing ring up to her face. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy to hear your voice," she said. "Where are we?”

“Instead of where, you should ask when,
For time has just turned back again.
The Second Kingdom this will be.
But not for some time soon, you see.”

“We went back in time. Is that what you’re saying? Boy, that was some strong magic. And if it’s before the Second Kingdom, that means we’re here before Little Red Riding Hood, right? That’s more than two hundred years ago. So I haven’t been born yet. And neither has Dad.” Virginia laughed at that thought. But her next one wasn't quite so funny. “Or Wolf. He hasn't been born yet either.” How lonely that made her feel. Her next thought of course was for the baby. She touched the little bulge in her stomach that was just developing. She and the ring weren’t completely alone after all. She still had the baby.

“Whoever now you chance to meet,” the ring warned,
“Don’t tell them of this magic feat.
Don’t tell them how you’ve traveled far.
Tell no one here, just who you are.”

“Fine. So I shouldn’t tell anyone where I came from. I can understand that. But where do I go now?”

The ring glowed a little brighter.

“A cabin in the woods does stand,
Not far from here, it’s close at hand.
A woman lives there you must see,
And watch her choose their destiny.”

“’Their’ destiny? Not mine, huh? I get to watch somebody else have a destiny for a change. OK. It looks like I’m on some sort of path. How about I follow it? Is that all right with you?”

“A cabin in the woods does stand,” the ring repeated,
“Not far from here, it’s close at hand.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Virginia said. Then she slipped her hand back into her cloak. It seemed to be getting colder by the minute. Was this the same time of year, she wondered. Or was she simply farther north?

She hadn’t gone far before she saw a light in the window of a little cottage. It was sitting in an enormous clearing and looked as if it had a big barn at the back of it. “OK,” Virginia said to the ring. “It looks like this is the place.”

She felt a little nervous as she approached the door, but she tried to make her knock sound strong. She had no idea what time it was. The woman who lived in the cottage could possibly be asleep.

“Who is it?” a woman’s voice called.

“Hi. My name is Virginia. I’m a traveler. I’m afraid I got lost in the woods and I wonder if you could help me.”

The door opened abruptly and the face of a woman appeared. She was old enough to be Virginia’s mother and had a bun of beige blond hair pinned securely at the top of her head. “A traveler? What are you doing in the woods at this time of night, child? You shouldn’t be out alone. Come in, come in. You’ll catch your death.”

The woman pulled Virginia into the little cottage’s sitting room. It was small, but warm, with only a few meager furnishings. “Don’t you know how dangerous it is for a woman to be walking in the woods alone at night?”

“I’m beginning to,” Virginia said. Going for a walk alone is what had gotten her into this mess. Why oh why hadn’t she listened to her father?

“Come sit by the fire and warm yourself,” the woman insisted. “Have you eaten?”

“A little earlier,” Virginia said, sitting down heavily into a thick homemade cushion covered in patchwork. “But I didn’t eat much.” Worrying about Wolf had stunted her appetite.

“Well, I’ve got some porridge still on the fire, if you’d like some of that. Nice and hot. It’ll get you warm.”

“Oh, that would be very nice.”

The woman smiled kindly and spooned up a healthy serving into a bowl. “And milk. I have plenty of goat’s milk. I raise them, you know. I also grow a few vegetables in back in summer and make my own cheese. I trade the cheese for whatever else I need.”

The porridge smelled wonderful. Virginia slurped it down hungrily. “This is wonderful,” she said.

“Eat as much as you like.” The woman sat across from Virginia and looked her over carefully. The outfit Virginia had on was casual, but well made. To the woman, the cloth seemed to be a much finer quality than her own homespun. “Where are you from?”

“The east,” Virginia said, trying to remember the general location where King Wendell’s castle would be eventually. "And maybe a little south."

“Ah.” The woman seemed to like that answer. “There’s a lot of farm land there. You must be a farmer.”

“Not really, no. My father’s an inventor of sorts.”

“And your husband? I see you’ve got a wedding band and a fancy engagement ring.”

Virginia thought quickly. The ring had told her not to tell people who she really was. That probably included the truth about Wolf. “My husband is a soldier. He’s off fighting the trolls.” She didn't know what the trolls were doing in this time, but it was pretty safe to guess that they were fighting a war against somebody.

“Ah, yes.” The woman nodded knowingly. “I’ve heard how they’re warring in the east. Has your husband been gone long?”

“No. He just left. I’m traveling to find my father. I thought I’d stay with him till the war was over. But he moved from the last address I had for him.”

“So, you think he’s come up this way. Makes sense. We’re trying to start a real farming community here. The ground’s not always willing. But if you put your back to it, you can do well enough. We’ve been sending out word that there’s plenty of land to be had here. All you’ve got to do is clear it. You just watch. One day all these woods will be gone and there'll be nothing but farmland as far as the eye can see. We'll make a great farming kingdom that'll rival anything you've got in the east. You'll see.”

Virginia nodded. She felt warm and comfortable. She leaned back in her chair and let the cloak fall back around her. Without thinking she patted her slightly swollen stomach.

The older woman watched her movements thoughtfully. “Forgive me for asking, but you’re wearing loose clothing and developing just a bit of tummy. Are you expecting?”

Virginia smiled and blushed. “Yes,” she said.

“Thought so. It’s hard to keep a fact like that from an old woman like me who’s had her share of younguns. Does your father know yet?”

“Yes, he does.”

The woman rocked slightly. “I’ll bet he’s proud. I have a cute little granddaughter, just a year old. Her name is Pearl and she's the light of my life. By the by, my name is Emerald.”

“I’m Virginia.”

“Glad to meet you. You’re just about the age of my daughter, you know.”

“Yes?”

“Her name’s Opal. She's married to a farmer in the village, two years now. He’s a nice young man, with a nice little tract of land. He’s planning on cutting down more of the woods around him next spring and extending his acreage. The ground’s not as fertile here as it is in the east where you come from, so you need to plow more land to make a profit.”

“If you admire farming so much, why do you raise goats instead?”

“I was a farmer,” Emerald said with pride. “I came here with my parents a long time ago. They cleared the land and raised peas and onions. Then I met my husband, Henry. He chose this property here in the woods. Said with the little river running through it, we’d never have to worry about the crops lacking for water. You see, he’d figured out a way to bring it to the fields. I guess he was something of an inventor like your father. We were going to clear more and more of the land over time and build a big prosperous farm. Only, typhoid got him. Left me here with two children to raise. I couldn’t run the farm by myself, so I changed to goats. They’re ornery critters who can take care of themselves, not like sheep. Henry had already cleared a lot of land. I guess you saw that when you came up to the house. I let it go and use it as grazing land for the goats now.” Emerald stopped to reflect a moment. “Henry was a good man and a good farmer. He was tall and thin like a sapling. With thick red hair and this stubborn beard that just wouldn’t stay shaved.”

“You said you had two children,” Virginia said.

Emerald’s whole demeanor suddenly changed. She sat bolt upright and said quickly, “My elder girl, Topaz, is dead.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. She’s dead and that’s that. All I’ve got left is Opal and my little granddaughter.” Emerald fell silent for a moment and then softened. “This place is mighty empty. Why don’t you stay on for awhile? You could send out word asking about your father. And start off when you’re more sure of where he is. It’s not good for a girl to be traveling alone in these woods. The place is full of wolves. They’d as soon eat you as look at you. Or maybe worse.” Emerald leaned in far toward Virginia, her eyes catching the firelight for the first time. They blazed a bright clear green.

“Why sure, I’d like that,” Virginia said. At the same time she was repeating Emerald’s last words to herself. Or maybe worse. What was that supposed to mean? “To tell the truth,” Virginia continued, “I don’t have any idea how long it’ll be before I find my father.”