Mary Anne Gruen - The House of Red

“Where did he go?” Virginia asked. He was here a minute ago. Wolf! Wolf!”

“Now don’t panic,” Tony said. “Maybe he’s still around the house. You go that way and I’ll go this way. We’ll circle it once.”

And so they did. But Wolf was still no where to be seen.

“All right,” Tony said. “He must have gone off to the place where they burned his parents.”

“But we don’t know where that is!” Virginia said. She was starting to get hysterical with visions of Wolf burning along side of Scarlet and Josiah. Virginia ran her hand over her swollen stomach and wished it would all go away.

“Now, think a minute," Tony said. "I’m sure they wouldn't go all the way back to town. That’s too far. So what other central community type place would they use?”

Virginia shook her head. She was too upset too think.

“The school. They must have taken them to the school. I know where it is. I’ll run ahead and try and find him. The moon is coming up now, so it shouldn't be hard to find the way. Take the first two lefts off the main path.”

“Hurry,” Virginia said.

And Tony took off.

Running to the school wasn’t easy for Tony. After all, he wasn’t young any more. But he figured the sprint would do less damage to him than to his pregnant daughter. And if anything happened to Wolf, he’d still have time to double back and keep her from seeing anything. After he made the second left on the path, he saw a glow up ahead. The school area was lit with dozens of torches, their light writhing through the trees like strange mangled creatures. He paused for catch his breath and then pushed on.

When he reached the clearing, he saw a multitude of angry people buzzing around a pair of stakes surrounded by piles of wood. There was shouting and screaming and even cheering, as the fire was set around the intended victims.

Tony ran to the back of the crowd just in time to see Wolf climbing up over the edge of the woodpile at Scarlet’s feet. She had mercifully passed out. But Josiah was howling mournfully as the wood around him slowly caught fire.

What was Wolf doing? Tony wondered. He screamed out to his son-in-law. But of course his cry of “Wolf!” was lost among the others. With strength he didn’t know he had, Tony pushed through the crowd of screaming onlookers. He couldn’t save little Warren, but somehow he had to save the older version. He was at the base of the woodpile when he looked up and saw Wolf put the mirror talisman around his mother’s neck.

“What’s he doing?” someone yelled behind Tony. “Get him down!”

“I will!” Tony responded. And he climbed up the woodpile after Wolf.

The flames were growing now, especially on Josiah’s side. But his howling had faded because he couldn’t breathe through the smoke rising up around him.

Wolf was just standing there patting his mother’s face, like a lost little boy in a trance. Tony caught his collar and yanked him off the woodpile. Then he threw him to the ground. It hadn’t been a difficult rescue because of Wolf's dreamlike state. But just then Scarlet started screaming. Her dress had caught fire and the pain had caused her to wake up.

In a minute Wolf was on his feet screaming too, trying to claw his way past Tony to rescue her. There was nothing left to do. Tony hauled off and hit Wolf as hard as he could across the jaw and then to the side of the face. When his son-in-law crumpled at his feet, he dragged him through the crowd, trying hard to close his ears and nose to what was happening behind him. His eyes couldn’t see anything because they were filling with tears.

Virginia was waiting near the path at the edge of the clearing. Somehow Tony found the strength to drag Wolf to her.

“What happened?” she asked, falling to her husband’s side.

“He gave Scarlet his talisman,” Tony said, gasping.

“So they could see everything.” Virginia wiped the blood and soot from Wolf’s face with her skirt and cradled his head in her lap.

“You’ve got to go. Now!” Tony said.

“But how? We’re one talisman short?”

With shaking hands, Tony took off his piece of the mirror and gave it to Virginia. “Here. Put it around his neck.”

“But what about you?”

“Matilde will come for me.”

“Oh, Dad.”

“No, she will. You’ve got to go now because if Wolf comes to, I won’t have the strength to wrestle him down again.” Tony swayed on his feet as he pulled the red leather satchel with the magic traveling dust from around his neck. “Are you ready.”

Virginia nodded, tears in her eyes.

“I love you, sweetheart,” Tony said. And he threw a handful of the traveling dust over his daughter and Wolf. The dust hung in the air for a moment. Then they both disappeared.

Alone now, Tony staggered into the woods away from the school and dragged himself under some bushes well off the path. Then he cried, long heartrending sobs. For himself. For Virginia and Wolf. For Scarlet and Josiah. For Topaz. And for all he’d seen.

“I’m sorry,” a soft voice said.

“What?” Tony looked up through his tears and saw a soft glow in front of him. “Who’s there?” he sniffed.

“It’s Matilde. I wasn’t in Wendell’s castle when this happened. They had to send for me.”

Tony wiped his eyes. “The war?”

“Yes. But not in the way you think. I’m sorry.”

“I just wish I could have stopped it,” Tony said, crying again.

“I know.”

“I can still hear them yelling like savages back there. Cheering.”

Matilde held up her staff and the air around them grew magically quiet. “Is that better?”

“No. I can still hear it.”

“Let’s go back.”

“I can’t get up.”

“You don’t have to.” Matilde sat down next to Tony and placed her staff between them. “Touch my cane. It has enough power to guide us both back.”

Tony reached out grasped the white cane. Matilde pulled some magic dust from her pocket and sprinkled it over them. It held in the air for a moment. And then they too left the past behind.