A.N.D. - Wolf Woods

There was a crowd waiting outside the prison. Some cheered when they saw Wolf; others booed and hissed. Wolf barely heard them. Now that he knew that Dell was found and safe, he was frantic to get back to Virginia and try to break the curse on her. Oh, why did he ever think that this world was safer than hers? They’d built a good life, why had he been so stupid to come back here, to the magic and the curses and all the other things she didn’t understand?

He wished he could hold Dell at least, but Tony wasn’t giving the baby up. The one time Wolf had reached for Dell outside, the mob had turned very ugly, very fast.

“Has anyone found Betty or Edwina yet?” Tony asked the crowd. A scattered chorus of “No”s and shaken heads answered him. “Keep looking,” he ordered, setting off towards Wolf’s house. “We’re going to go try to find out what’s wrong with Virginia.”

Wolf followed closely behind Tony, with Hardleather following behind. As they stepped into the mob, a wolf-oh, yes, that Sebastian guy-and a soldier closed ranks around them. Even so, several people managed to either punch, pinch, or throw something at Wolf. Sometimes they hit Sebastian instead, laughing as he yipped in pain.

“I don’t like it that the nursemaids are missing,” Tony muttered as they plowed through. “They’re the only other witnesses.”

“All the more reason for him to silence them!” Hardleather snapped. “He probably ate them both up in the night!”

“No! I didn’!”

“Like he ate the baby I’m holding?” Tony lashed back sarcastically. “If Wolf was up to no good, he wouldn’t need troll dust. I’m betting they’re neck-deep in whatever crap is going on here.”

“Why would they?” Hardleather snapped. “What would make a royal nursemaid give up her career and reputation over one wolf whelp? What could they possibly gain?”

“The destruction of Wendell’s pardon, the rout of all wolves, and the right to take over all we have built in these last months,” Great Wolf said grimly, pushing his way through the crowd, with his mate in human form beside him. “Lord Anthony, our windtalker has been found and freed. He says that there is a message being howled up from the south about a royal carriage on its way. It looks like it’s coming here.”

Tony grunted acknowledgement. “Wendell sorted out the trolls pretty fast then, didn’t he?”

Benjamin’s blood ran cold. Too fast, too fast, it was all happening too fast! Where was Queen Red? She was to have been striking out at the Fourth Kingdom by now, tying up Wendell so that he would arrive too late for the trial and execution. What could have distracted the stupid bitch? He’d spent too much time winding her up and working on her paranoia for her to give it all up now; he knew her too well for that. Why hadn’t war broken out yet?

He’d paused to think and the crowd flowed past him, following Anthony the Oaf and that mangy Wolf. No! Don’t let them out of your sight! He scrambled to catch up, keep evesdropping.

At least he’d found Betty and Edwina before anyone else did. Edwina was as dedicated to the anti-wolf conspiracy as he was; now that it was in motion, she was willing to do anything to make sure it all went according to plan. Betty had proved to be a weak link, but he didn’t think she’d betray them again.

Not after he and Edwina had showed her the error of her ways.

As the party reached the main square, a little old lady elbowed her way in front of them.

“You must let me hold him,” she told Tony, reaching for the baby in his arms.

“Yeah, right, and then you’ll sell me oceanfront property in Arizona,” Tony snapped back. Oh, great, it’s slice the fruitcake time again! As if I’d hand Dell over to this biddy, she’s like a thousand years old. At best she’d drop him.

Over his shoulder, Wolf was even blunter. “Don’ truh a’e’uh.”

“What was that, dear?” She tsked at Wolf, pulling a handkerchief out of her sleeve. “Blow your nose and try again, I can’t understand what you’re saying.”

Wolf glared at her. “Bohkeh ‘ose.”

She shoved the hankie into his hand. “Not a word of that was clear, dear.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, just do it so she’ll get out of our way and we can get to Virginia!” Tony told him, exasperated.

“Whoah ‘elp.” Wolf took the handkerchief gracelessly, blew his nose gingerly, and then offered it back.

The little old lady looked at the bloody rag, saying with only a tiny trace of disgust, “No, really, you can keep it. Now isn’t that better?”

“Blowing my nose won’t unbreak it,” Wolf said quite clearly, then stopped in shock at the sound of his own voice. Stunned, he reached for his face.

“I wouldn’t do that, dear, my magic’s spread pretty thin these days,” the little old lady said, reaching for Dell again. Tony was so surprised that this time he let her take him.

“Who are you?” he asked, followed with rapid suspicion by, “Are you good or evil?”

“I find that people judge good or evil by how good or evil they are themselves,” she said, taking a long look at the baby in her arms. Dell had been crying continuously at the crowd and the jostling and probably the pain he was in, but he quieted down in her hands, staring at the old lady with wide eyes.

“Please!” Wolf begged. “Virginia! She’s under a curse. Please, fairy godmother, break it!”

“I’m doing what I can for her, just as I’ve done what I can for that little wolf girl and this baby. Aren’t you cute? Aren’t you? Yes, you are!”

Any other time, Tony would take great pride in attention being paid to his grandson, but right now he was more concerned with his daughter. “She’s all right? You woke her up?”

“Make everyone understand that I didn’t do nothing!” Wolf urged at the same time. “Ask the ring!”

The woman sighed, giving Dell back. Tony looked at him in relief, then took a second, closer look. The cuts were healed down to scratches, the bruises just pale shadows. Dell gurgled and reached for him-using both hands and kicking with both legs, although the vine wrappings were still in place.

“He’s not completely cured, just as Virginia is alive but not awakened, and Wolf’s nose will rebreak if he’s not careful, and that other wolf still needs to recover from blood loss.” She sighed again, a little angrier. “The magic birds were right, you people are such a lot of trouble! I’ve never had to cast so many different spells at once!” She frowned at Wolf. “There’s nothing left over for that gaudy ring, sorry.” She didn’t sound remotely sorry at all.

“But you’re a fairy godmother, aren’t you?” Tony asked, confused. “Why can’t you just wave a wand or tug your earlobe and make it all right again?”

“That’s not how the godmothering thing goes, never was. We just make sure that people have what they need to help themselves along to the happy ending. It’s up to you to do the work, just as it was up to you to save King Wendell.”

“Um, your magic isn’t all going to end at midnight, is it?” Wolf asked worriedly.

“The healing I’ve worked on you, your sister, and your son will not. The spell keeping Virginia alive will.”

“But-”

“But-” Tony and Wolf gasped in unison.

The little old lady shrugged with a half smile. “Hey, everybody who knows my story knows my limits. Now, are you going to keep arguing with me until the deadline passes, or are you going to go take care of Virginia?” With that last warning, she disappeared in a blaze of sparkles.

All along the way, people had been shouting about Wolf being let out in jail. Wolf ignored it as much as possible; he’d been treated that way all his life and was used to it.

But just as they’d finally pushed to the front gate of his house, a shriek of “How can you let that animal loose?” stopped him in his tracks. He knew that voice!

“Edwina?” Wolf curled his lip. “Edwina, you have questions to answer! Why was there troll dust on the blankets? What have you done?”

“What have I done! Me? You’re the nasty animal!” She pushed her way through the mob. “How can you even think of letting that beast out of jail?” she shouted at Tony. “Do you know what he did?”

“He didn’t do anything to Dell, the baby’s right here,” Tony pointed out, gently bouncing the infant, who had started to cry again at all the noise.

“Not that brat!” Edwina snapped. Wolf curled his lip, furious that he had ever let such a shrew near his precious child. “I have no idea what he did to that brat! No! What he did to Betty!” She reached behind her and pulled her daughter out of the crowd.

“No, no, I...” Betty’s protests as she tried to pull away were drown by Edwina’s renewed shrieking.

“Look at what he did! Look at her!” They all looked, heads turning to murmur to each other in the crowd. Betty was as bruised and scratched as Dell, her clothing torn half off. “He violated my little girl! He came back, ranting and raving like the animal he is, knocked me out-just look at this knot on my head-and he violated my little girl!”

“No!” Wolf gasped. “You lie!”

Behind him, Hardleather cracked his knuckles in anticipation, while the crowd and soldiers gossiped as fast as tongue could move. “Tell them,” Wolf urged Betty, “Tell them it’s not true! I would never! Tell them what really happened last night!”

“I chose wrong,” Betty wailed, and burst into tears.