A.N.D. - Wolf Woods

Great Wolf finally had to rise to his four feet and howl to restore order. As the hubbub died down, he dryly noted, “We would all be anxious to know what the future holds for us.”

Thrilled to have found such a tidy solution to all the wolf problems, Wolf pointed dramatically over their heads to the dark bulk of the Disenchanted Forest in the background. In the sudden, shocked silence, an unearthly moan could be heard on the wind from that direction.

Great Wolf got back to his feet. For the first time there was neither genial curiosity nor approving interest on his face. His muzzle wrinkled in a snarl that was echoed up and down the line of Wolfs. “You would send us to that place of corruption?”

Oddly, Wolf wasn’t scared. He should be-the Great Wolf could eat him and his mate right up in just a few bites. But with the wisdom of having out-thought an evil queen and the reassurance of Snow White’s words still echoing in his ears, Wolf wasn’t worried at all. This was right, he could feel it from his heart to his tail. This was Destiny.

With as little concern as if it was Addie baring her teeth at him, Wolf leaned back in his chair and said, “There is something of great value in those woods, and Snow White says it belongs to us.”

“It’s haunted!” another Wolf objected. “It’s death to hunt too far into the woods!” He shivered, and many other shivered with him.

“I don’t know what you’re all going on about,” Virginia said in her practical way. “We were in there for days and we were all right. The forest didn’t do anything to us.”

“It’s perfect,” Wolf insisted. “It has everything the Council wants.” He started ticking the points off on his fingers. “It’s large enough for all the wolves here, without crowding the packs or displacing people. Humans don’t want it, so they won’t want to take it away from us. The packs who prefer to live in fur form can hunt game, while those who wish to live as or with humans can live in villages on the outskirts like this one.” He waved around at Wolf Haven. “And there are enough resources for you to establish trades, those who want to get an economy going. There is wood to be chopped, game to hunt...”

“No magic birds!” Virginia chipped in. “Nobody hunts magic birds!”

“...except magic birds. That will give us enough to trade with while we get our tourist industry ready. People will come for miles-maybe even from other kingdoms!”

“Tourists?” Great Wolf yelped like a tail-twisted cub. “What could possibly be in the Disenchanted Forest that tourists would want to see at all, much less want to see so badly that they will trust ghosts and wolves?”

Wolf smiled. “Snow White’s gift to us. Her cottage is in there, forgotten when the woods were cursed. That’s what she gave me in the dream. She told me to take the cottage where she lived with the dwarves and give it to you because wolves understand what it is like to be chased from their homes.”

Great Wolf’s jaw fell open. Then he shook his pelt dismissively. “I will not lead my pack into those woods chasing a dream! The cottage has been gone for hundreds of years.”

Wolf felt his toes tingle as he laid down the dominance challenge of his life. “If I show it to you, will you agree to support my asking Wendell for the land and help me encourage the packs to move there?”

Tony wiped his forehead, sighing. He’d gone soft since he’d stopped working for the Murrays. There was a time when he could repaint an entire room in a day, including setting out the paint, complaining about it, having a few illicit beers, and cleaning up. Now he felt exhausted and old, and there wasn’t a beer in sight. This was supposed to be penance, it didn’t seem right to have comforts. He oddly wondered if he should be praying while he worked to further the act of contrition, but no prayers seemed right. Hail Snow, fair of face... no, that was sacrilegious!

In retrospect, the tenants in the Murray building had been pretty kind to their property. A wall might be kicked out, wallpaper peeled, maybe a few stains on the rug. But at least none of them had carved obscenities into the walls or painted slogans in something that managed to show through even six coats of whitewash. He’d finally had to give up sanding some of the stuff off and walk to the nearest village to buy replacement planks for a few of the more damaged spots.

Still, he thought as he paused outside looking at his handiwork, you could see the improvement. Just as he was congratulating himself, a tile slid off the roof, almost hitting him on the head. He ducked, but not fast enough to avoid a bloody scratch down his arm.

“I liked the Sleeping Beauty story better than yours anyway!” Tony yelled in frustration.

The bushes rustled behind him, and Tony warily ducked back into the cottage. This forest was still full of freaks and fruitcakes, like everywhere else in this insane world. Every now and then he’d hear the thunk-thunk-thunk of someone chopping down trees and wonder if Juliet the axeman was still around somewhere. Boy, did he go nuts when he didn’t get to chop off Wolf’s head! Pity they had buried the axe. It might have been an evil tool, but Tony had to admit, it would be nice to have an axe that cut through everything as he worked instead of a rather dullish saw that eventually chewed through most things.

Indistinct voices were carried on the wind. Tony got a better grip on the plank that would one day be part of the fence around the poisoned apple tree. Not trolls, please don’t let it be trolls...

To his amazement, his own son-in-law came trotting out of the woods, calling over his shoulder, “See? I told you it was-Someone’s been here!” He sniffed deeply. “Tone?”

Tony stepped out. In unison, they asked, “What are you doing here?”

Tony was feeling much better now that he was on his third glass of Wolf Snout Stout and able to brag about all his hard work. “…So anyway, I thought if the dwarves love Snow White so much, they would forgive the broken mirrors if I fixed up her place. Their place. You know what I mean.”

“It might work.” Wolf sounded dubious.

“Can’t hurt,” Tony pointed out. “They can’t get madder than wanting me dead anyway.”

“But you’re not going to stay here forever?” the big wolf they just called “The Great One” insisted. “You won’t file a prior claim if we want to turn this into a tourist attraction?”

“Nah.” Tony took another long drink. “How are you doing, honey?”

“’M’okay,” his daughter muttered from where she was lying on Wolf’s lap. She really shouldn’t be running around anywhere in that condition, but he knew how hard it was to change her mind once it was made up. Fortunately the hike had left her too tired to want to go back inside; neither he nor Wolf wanted her exposed to all the paint and varnish fumes within.

A low, spooky moan came from all directions at once. He’d been hearing the same sound every day and nothing ever happened, so Tony was surprised to see all the wolves flinch.

Virginia grumbled as her living pillow was disturbed. “Wha’ kind animal is that?” she muttered sleepily.

“It’s not an animal,” the Great One said, looking over a shoulder. “It’s one of the ghosts that disenchanted this forest.”