Debbie Banna - Shattered Dreams, New Beginnings

Wolf walked through the open door to the kitchen where the woman was stirring a pot of something delicious-smelling on the stove. She turned when she heard him clear his throat. “So there you are. I though you might have decided to leave us. I’m glad you stayed. I’m making a rabbit stew for dinner.”

Wolf closed his eyes and sniffed, taking in the tantalizing aroma. “Rabbit. That would be perfect,” he said as he made himself comfortable at the table.

“Well, it won’t be ready for a while yet but you’re welcome to wait if you want,” she said as she continued to stir the stew. “And if you like, it will give us a chance to talk a bit more. I guess I did all of the talking last time. I never even asked you your name. Please forgive my rudeness.” She watched Wolf, assuring herself that she had not overstepped any boundaries he may have erected, and continued. “My name is Loyaline. And what may I call you?”

“Wolf. Just Wolf,” he repeated when she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Wolf. That’s an unusual name.”

“I was named after my father,” Wolf stretched the truth a bit. “He was a…a…wild sort. But my mother knew how to tame him.”

“Yes. Women do seem to have a refining effect on the male of the species. We seem to be able to bring out the best in our men. And you, Mr. Wolf. From where have you come and how did you end up in the middle of our wood?”

“I have come from the Fourth Kingdom in search of…I don’t know what. Quiet, maybe. A place to hide. I really can’t tell you. I guess you could say I’ve run away from home, but there’s no one who will be searching for me,” he said sadly. “As I told you before, my wife is dead and now I have no one. I can’t go back and there’s nowhere else I want to be. I guess this is as good a place as any for now.”

“How did your wife die?” Loyalina questioned gently while pretending to focus her attention on the stew.

“It was a tragic thing. It shouldn’t have been,” he spoke, distress evident in his voice. “She was pregnant with our little wolf cub and something awful happened.” The woman turned and looked at the man before her, examining him with renewed interest. “I tried to get help but I was too late. My Virginia counted on me but I failed her and now, they are both gone. So now there’s no reason for me go on living.”

“Yes. I understand what you are saying. I know that feeling well,” she spoke. “But this is what gives me my strength…I have decided that I will never give up. My hope is that there’s a plan in all of this and I just need to be patient until it becomes clear. If I truly believed that things would never get better for me, I could not continue on day after day either.”

“Yet you at least, are not alone. There is one who truly cares for you. That, I do not have nor ever expect to have again,” Wolf spoke softly.

Loyalina turned to face Wolf, a confused expression on her face. “Someone who cares for me? What do you mean?”

“You, dear lady, are kept safely and watched over by one who has given his heart to you. Do you not see what is before your very eyes?”

“You can’t be referring to the beast?” she answered him in unbelief. “Oh no, no. He is kind and he is my friend but there could never be anything between us. He is an animal and I am human. I cannot give my heart to a beast,” she said, shaking her head and holding her hands up in front of herself in protest.

“I have heard such protests before in a woman. I myself have been wounded by such thoughts. You see, I am not what I appear to be. Here, standing before you now, is a man but not a man. I am part man, part wolf,” Wolf revealed. “My mother and father struggled with such a dilemma as did my beautiful Virginia, when I wooed her and declared my love. At first she thought it impossible. But then, as I opened my heart to her, she began to love me too. Her father was not too happy but, in time, he welcomed me into the family. And Loyalina, I will tell you that never was there such a love as I shared with my Virginia. My heart is hers and hers alone. I belong to her body and soul. Every inch of me is in her keeping. Wherever she may be, a part of me walks there too. Would you turn away a chance to be loved in such a way just because the one who loves you is not the kind of man you expected?” he questioned, looking deep into her eyes.

“So you’re a wolf! That’s what you meant by ‘she was carrying your wolf cub’. But this is different. You at least look like a man. I don’t even know what the beast resembles. From what I have seen, I’m not sure I could look upon the rest of him and not turn away. Why do you share this with me and how do you know he cares? Are you reading into the things I have told you?” she asked defensively.

“No, dear lady. Today, as I was walking in the wood, I met him. We talked together man to man. He told me many things that he has told to no one else. As he spoke of you, his face grew gentle and his feelings for you were evident for the world to see. I have found him to be a fine man and I can see that he would love you with his whole heart if you would but give him a chance.”

Deeply troubled by the things she had heard, Loyalina backed away from Wolf, retreating from the walls that were now closing in around her. “No. Do not speak to me of such things,” she shouted as she whirled and, like a frightened animal, bolted out the door. Wolf watched her go, wondering if he had again done the wrong thing. Then he stood and, picking up the long handled spoon she had dropped on the table, he took her place before the pot and began to stir the stew.

Tony opened the door and walked into the cabin, tossing his pack and two cloth sacks on the floor by the entrance. The room was large, dominated by an immense stone fireplace set into the back wall. A stack of logs, decorated with cobweb lace, stood in a pile to the right. A large picture window on the left wall allowed the sun, which had risen midway in the sky, to illuminate the cabin. A wooden picnic style table covered with a red checked cloth was situated beneath the window and two long benches provided seating around it. A hand carved shelf behind the table area provided a spot for the groceries he had toted along with him this time. But best of all to Tony, on the right side of the cabin was another of the extra large beds, similar to that in which he had spent last night.

This will do, he thought to himself. The house itself could have been a shack and he still would have stayed after catching a glimpse of what awaited him outside. Immerging from the overgrown bushes on the right side of the yard there was a wooden boardwalk that, when Tony followed it to its end, led him to a secluded fishing dock. And the dock overlooked a crystal clear blue lake surrounded by trees. His new landlord, Kendell, had assured him that the fishing was extraordinary and had informed Tony that there was a pole and fishing gear in a shed behind the house of which he could avail himself.

His mind on things other than housekeeping, Tony pushed the bags of food he’d brought into a corner with his foot and set off to find the shed. It proved to be an easy task, and, for once, the door was not locked, the pole was not tangled, and nothing hit him in the head. He almost began to wonder if something was wrong. Things just didn’t go this well for him. But, taking advantage of it while he could, Tony snatched up the gear and made for the lake. “Could it get better?” asked himself when he reached the end of the dock to find the comfortable looking folding chair he had seen leaning against the piling. He deftly opened the chair and prepared his line, hooking it with a worm he dug from the ground near the dock. “If anything could help me now, it would be a day of fishing by a tranquil lake,” he thought. And for the first time in days, as Tony threw his line into the water and settled down in the chair, he gave himself permission to think. He closed his eyes against the onslaught of the sun, leaned back into the comfort of the chair and let a tear trickle down his stubborn cheek.