Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

In the morning, Virginia worked hard to act as normal as possible. She helped prepare breakfast with Emerald and she listened carefully as the older woman explained how they would be adding hay to the diet of the goats.

“They can still do some grazing through the snow,” Emerald said. “But they might choose to stay inside the barn. I’ll climb into the hayloft and throw down a couple of bales. You can loosen them. After that, I’ve got to go into town. You can take care of dinner.”

“Of course.”

“You can make some stew out of the venison my son-in-law brought.”

“Sounds good.”

“There are some root vegetables in the cupboard. I should be back before dark.”

"Fine."

After Emerald left, Virginia flew through her chores and shooed the goats out into the yard. Since she’d seen Topaz come out of the forest at a spot not far from the barn, she decided to try going that way. It was hard walking through the snow and brush. And there weren’t any tracks to lead her. So, she just wandered on. She was very upset about everything she’d heard the night before and she was anxious to tell someone, anyone, what had happened.

The woods were beautiful. The deciduous trees didn’t look so dark and barren anymore with their edgings of snow. The green branches of the pines seemed almost proud of their white decorations. And every now and again, a dusting of snow would come sparkling down to the forest floor. But it was hard for Virginia to concentrate on the loveliness around her. Her thin shoes hadn’t been made for the dampness and her feet were beginning to feel a chill.

Suddenly she heard a noise behind her. She turned around just in time to see Wolf’s dark form bounding toward her. Without a word he scooped her up into his arms.

“Wolf!” she said burying her face in the warmth of his neck. “Wolf.”

“Oh, Virginia,” he said breathlessly. He kissed her face and her hair and then hugged her again.

“You found me.”

“I stay around Emerald's house a lot. This morning I smelled you walking in the forest.” He brushed the hair out of her face. It was getting longer again. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, but I’ve got news. Emerald and the farmers have hired some bounty hunters. They plan to exterminate all the wolves in the forest.”

“Aesophocles thought they might be planning something like that.” Lovingly he ran his hands over her face as if he still couldn’t believe she was there. Then he kissed her again.

Virginia shivered.

“You’re cold,” Wolf said.

“My feet are wet.”

“Aesophocles’s hut isn’t far from here. Come. We’ll get you something warm to drink.”

Wolf put his arm around Virginia to try to give her as much of his body warmth as he could. Just before they reached the hut, they ran into Scythian.

“Scythian, this is my wife Virginia,” Wolf said.

Scythian nodded his youthful gray head and eyed Virginia carefully.

“Hi,” Virginia said. She was visibly starting to shake now.

“Topaz left a good fire,” Scythian said.

“Is she home?”

“No. She went out with my father to talk to the other wolves. And Tony went into town to trade some furs and pick up supplies.”

“The farmers are hiring bounty hunters,” Virginia said through chattering teeth. “I heard them last night.”

“It won’t be the first time farmers have sent out bounty hunters against us. My father thinks we should go deeper into the forest.”

“Might be a good idea,” Wolf said.

“Maybe. You’d better get her inside. Topaz always runs a good fire and leaves a kettle of hot water on it.”

“Are you coming?”

“No. My father said I should keep watch for signs of trouble while they’re having their meeting.”

Virginia shivered again and Wolf pulled her closer. “We’d better be going. See you later, Scythian.”

“So that was your grandfather?” Virginia said after Scythian had disappeared back into the forest.

“Yes.”

“He’s a bit intense.”

“You should see him when he gets older. He’s gonna be a lot worse. He died when I was very young. So I really don’t remember him. But my foster parents were devoted to him. I don't remember my father talking about him much, though.”

“Was your father like him?”

“Not that I remember. Maybe he took after Scythian’s mate.”

As Scythian had said, the fire was going well and there was hot water in the kettle that hung above it. Wolf arranged some blankets in front of the fire and sat Virginia down on them. Then he made her some of Topaz’s herbal tea. As she drank it, he wrapped himself around her and nuzzled her gently. When she was finished, they made love in front of the fire.

Afterwards, he put his hand over her stomach and said, “You’ve gotten bigger.”

“I know. Rose and Wendell’s doctor both said wolf crosses develop quickly at first, then slow down.”

Wolf pulled her clothes around her. “You should stay covered so you don’t catch a chill again. I’ve been wondering, what’s Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother like?”

“Emerald?” Virginia snuggled into Wolf’s arms and rested her head on his chest. “She’s pretty bossy. She thinks she has a right to lead everyone’s life for them. And if they don’t do what she wants, she cuts them dead.”

“How does she treat you?”

“Except for one moment last night when she thought I was going to cross her, she’s been pretty good to me.”

“Hmm. Well, my self-help books would say that she’s basically lost a daughter in Topaz, so she’s probably looking to make you her replacement.”

“Oh no, thank you very much." Virginia shook her head and waved her left hand dismissively. "I’ve already had one difficult mother, I don’t need a second. I just wish there was something I could do, you know. What good are we doing here if we can’t change anything?”

“We found you. That's reason enough for me. And I think you’ve given a lot of comfort to Topaz. She’s always telling us how much she likes you. And how glad she is that you two met.”

“So at least I’ve done some good.”

Wolf touched her face again. "Oh, huff-puff. You've got such corky freckles."

"So have you," she said, touching the most prominent on his nose.

Their reverie was broken by a knock on the door.

“Wolf? Virginia? Are you in there?” Tony’s voice said.

“Yes,” Virginia said. “Just a minute.”

Quickly they got dressed and tossed the blankets from the floor into a corner.

“Daddy,” Virginia said as she opened the door.

“Scythian said you were here. I guess you two found each other without any trouble.”

“I smelled her in the woods,” Wolf said.

“Yeah,” Tony said. “I know you've been hanging around Emerald's cottage. You’re just lucky no one has seen you yet.”

“It’s going to be even more dangerous now," Virginia said. "Emerald went into town today to talk to some bounty hunters about exterminating the wolves.”

Tony nodded and put the burlap sack he was carrying on the little table near the cupboard. “So that’s who she was talking to. I went to buy some supplies for Topaz. She’s been so good about taking care of us. I wanted to give her something in return. Anyway, I saw Emerald talking to these five unsavory looking characters. If she’d been alone I would have talked to her. Instead, I just waved and flashed her one of my special smiles." His brows tweaked up into his hairline and his eyes sparkled. "She kind of likes me, doesn't she?”

“Emerald?" Virginia looked more than a bit surprised. "Sorry to disappoint you, Dad. But she thinks you’re a real no-account. Do you want some tea?”

“No. What do you mean? I thought I had her charmed.”

“She says your hands don’t show any signs of honest work and you’ve got too much of a belly to be an outdoorsman.”

“I told you,” Wolf said.

“She thinks you probably get along mostly by spinning tall tales for drinks and food in barrooms. That story you told about saving the prince who’d been changed into a dog, she didn’t believe a word of it.”

“But it was true!”

“She still didn’t believe it. Remember, you gave her an old fur and told her you’d just gotten it trapping."

Tony thrust out his lower lip. "I thought my explanation for that was very reasonable. That I didn't want to give her a fresh pelt because it was messy."

"After that, she didn’t believe anything you said. She figures you’ve been out in the woods drinking, poaching, and avoiding work. And she intends to reform you into a decent farmhand come spring.”

“Oh, does she really?” Tony said, putting his hands on his hips.

“Probably on her son-in-law’s farm, so she can keep an eye on you.”

“Well, that’s just fine!”

Wolf walked Virginia back through the woods well before dark. They stopped at the edge of Emerald’s yard and kissed for a long time near a low bending pine.

“You’d better go in before you catch a chill again,” Wolf said at last.

“I don’t want to go,” she said, folding his collar around his neck.

“It can’t be much longer now. Something’s about to happen. I can feel it.”

“You just be careful walking in the woods with those bounty hunters."

“You too.”

He gave her another kiss and then said, “You’d better go. She might be back any minute.”

“O.K.” She stepped out into the yard. Sasha came over to greet her. “Be careful.”

“You too,” Wolf said. And he was gone.

The sky was darkening when Emerald finally came home. Virginia already had dinner ready and the table set.

“Sorry I’m so late,” Emerald said, hanging her cloak by the door. “I got caught up in haggling with Eugene. He got this shipment of cloth in today, hand made by elves he said.” She patted the large burlap package in her arms. “Well, I don’t know about the elves. But when I saw it, I just had to have it, all of it. I had some extra cheese put aside that I promised to bring him next week in exchange.” Emerald opened her bundle and exhibited the material proudly for Virginia. “See. It’s bright cherry red wool. I’ve been thinking for a long time that little Pearl would look good in red. What do you think?”

Virginia’s mouth opened but no sound came out.

“I know it’s a lot of material for such a small child, but I don’t plan to use it all at once. I figure I can use it over time.”