Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

Topaz stepped forward and clasped Wolf by the hand. “I think I met your wife today,” she said. “She’s staying at my mother’s house.”

“Virginia?” Wolf’s face clearly showed how much he’d been worrying about her. “Is she all right? I mean, I smelled her.”

“She seemed quite well,” Topaz assured him. “And I hear you’re to be congratulated. She told me you were expecting a child.”

“Thank you.” Wolf’s expression changed from one of fear to one of foolish happiness.Aesophocles watched with interest. If he’d had any doubt about Wolf’s story before, it evaporated now. The love and concern Wolf had for his wife gushed forth innocently from him. It was no less than Aesophocles felt for his dainty little Topaz.

Wolf grew silent for a moment, still with Topaz’s hand in his. He cocked his head to one side and said, “It seems you’re also to be congratulated.”

“Yes,” Topaz said blushing. “I can’t get used to wolves being able to tell that.” She took her hand from Wolf’s and turned toward Tony. “It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Lewis.”

“Well, I’ve got to return to the forest,” Aesophocles said. “I was out hunting when we met. Please make yourselves comfortable. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.Topaz will be glad for the human company.”

Topaz stroked her husband’s head by way of farewell. And he was off.

“Please,” she said, pointing to a little table at the center of the room. “Sit down. I’m afraid I don’t have much on hand. A little rabbit stew maybe. Wolves don’t go in for canning and food preservation. They like everything fresh. But I’ve got a few things put by. Aesophocles is even starting to get used to the idea of bread.”

“Thank you,” Tony said. “We didn’t eat that long ago.”

“I could eat,” Wolf said.

Tony sighed. What else was new? “O.K.,” he said. “But why don’t you eat some of the provisions we brought and share them with Topaz.”

“Oh, sure,” Wolf said, taking the leather bag that Tony was handing him. “Where are my manners? Please, you should share our things.” Wolf pulled out the sandwiches they’d been given for the trip and placed them haphazardly on the table.

Topaz looked at the little bundles oddly and then reached for one. “What’s this?” she asked, folding back the paper that surrounded the sandwich.

Wolf and Tony exchanged glances.

“That’s paper,” Tony said. “Haven’t you seen paper before?”

“No. But I’ve heard of it. Very wealthy educated people, great kings and that sort, write on it don’t they? Like books and such.”

“Sometimes,” Tony said. “They also do other things with it too.”

“You must come from a very wealthy kingdom.”

“Not really. We just have different uses for things, that’s all.”

“I guess. No one around here can read, so I guess none of us ever thought of making paper for anything else.”

“Why don’t you try the sandwich,” Tony said, trying to change the subject. “It’s chicken.”

“Really? We don’t have many of those here. They keep them mostly in the south where it isn’t so cold.”

“Then you should definitely try it. Your appetite is probably like Virginia’s right now.”

“Yes,” Wolf chimed in, “please eat.”

“After I’ve brewed us some tea,” Topaz said. She got up and put a kettle in the little fireplace. Then she put a motley group of cups and saucers out across the little table. “This used to be trapper’s hut,” she explained as she worked. “When I came to live with Aesophocles he fixed it up for me. He said he understood that I wasn’t used to living outside the way the pureblooded wolves were.”

“How did you two get together?” Wolf asked.

“We had the same vision for the area. My mother and her friends see the wolves as competitors here. And a lot of the wolves see the humans in the same way. Aesophocles and I have hopes of finding some kind of compromise so both groups can exist peacefully. Unfortunately, it’s been a very hard road. The wolves have been pushed deeper and deeper into the forest as the farmers take down more of the trees. You see, the soil isn’t very fertile here. The ground grows these tall pines readily. But it doesn’t grow much else. And the growing season is so short. A lot of the farmers have to turn to hunting to feed their families and that brings them into direct confrontation with the wolves, who are trying to feed their families as well. Some of the farmers keep sheep and goats. But then they claim there’s a lot of poaching from the wolves. And the wolves in turn complain about the lack of large game in the forest. It’s an endless circle of blame.”

Topaz had finished her preparations and was now sitting down to eat. Wolf and Tony politely waited for her to begin before they started.

“What would you and Aesophocles like to see happen?” Wolf asked.

“We would like the farmers to stay out of the forest all together and leave it to the wolves. The wolves in turn would stay away from the farmers and their livestock. But at the moment, that doesn’t seem likely. And to confuse things further, there are also the trappers, like the man who built this hut. The wolves don’t care if there are a few of them. But when they come in great numbers, it lessens the game still further. It’s upsetting to the wolves especially, when the local hunters take the large animals like the elk and moose. Those are the animals the wolves prefer. But of course, you know that.”

Wolf nodded and smiled uncertainly. The truth was, he’d been brought up to think of small game mostly. Probably because there weren’t that many of the big herbivores left in the woods of his time.

“Aesophocles mentioned he has an adolescent son,” Tony said.

“Oh, yes,” Topaz said, “Scythian. You weren’t introduced, but he was with Aesophocles when you met him in the forest. He was born to Aesophocles’s first mate, Siba. From what I’ve heard she was a shy little thing, killed by a trapper when Scythian was still very young. Her death has preyed heavily on the boy’s mind. He hates humans. It took him awhile to warm up to me. But I think I’ve worn down his resistance somewhat. He now seems to accept his father and I being together. I’m glad you’ll be staying with us. It will give Scythian a chance to see that other humans besides me can be trusted.”