“You know what I am asking you. Do not play coy.”
Wolf sat back on his haunches and poked at the fire. He was wondering when this would happen.
Red had no patience. And he was innately curious of the answers himself.
Rapunzel finished the rabbit. All that was left was the carcass. She tossed it carelessly into the fire.
“I needed you. Both of you. To get out of the castle for one, and to fight.”
“Fight what?”
“The Brothers.” Wolf spoke softly.
Rapunzel nodded. “Yes, the Brothers.”
Red looked away from her gaze and into the fire.
“Do not look away, Red. You know I speak the truth.”
“Fine.” She shuffled her body looking over at Wolf.
“I’ll accept that they exist, but what is this fight for, what are we fighting against?”
“Against oblivion. Against the end of our world.”
Red started to laugh. “Sounds menacing.”
“You are wrong to mock this.”
“Our world? You say it like we were the same. We are definitely not the same. What were you doing in the castle, my Lady?”
“I was risking my life to learn as much as I could about them. About the people who worked for them.”
Rapunzel’s voice shook with anger.
“Enjoying the fruits of their labor, I think, nothing more.” Red’s eyes blazed with challenge.
Rapunzel stood, huffing. “I will not defend myself to you. You are so stubborn. I fail to see why you are so important.” She looked over at Wolf. “You talk to her; she obviously won’t listen to me. I am done trying.”
Rapunzel turned her back and stomped off into the night.
Wolf watched her go, then turned his eyes onto Red. She was looking at him, daring him to challenge her. He shook his head.
“Why can you not open your mind? Stop thinking with your mistrust and your hatred. Can you not let them go for one moment to listen to reason?”
“Did you lay with her?”
Wolf looked away from her burning stare. “That has nothing to do—."
“I do not trust a woman that f**ks without feelings. That uses sex to her own end.”
Wolf poked at the fire. Embers flew into the sky, flashing like lightning bugs. “Sounds like another woman I know.” He looked up at her, regret furrowing his brow.
She smiled thinly. “You’re right. So, I know how she thinks and how she feels. Don’t think for one moment, scoundrel, that she has any feelings for you.
She is a cold and heartless bitch that has one thing on her mind. Saving her own ass. Remember that.”
Red leaned back and curled over onto her good side, her back to the fire and to Wolf. She lay like that for a long time before she closed her eyes. Bitter tears streaked her face.
Wolf stared at her back. He regretted his choice of words. He had not meant to insult her, but to merely point out that the two women were the same. Made from the same tough material. Maybe Rapunzel was hiding her true motives. That was fine with Wolf, as they were all operating with hidden objectives.
He wanted to snuggle next to Red. Wanted to feel her warmth against him, but he knew she would push him away. She was not ready to accept him with open arms. She may open her legs soon enough, but it would be a long time before she would open her heart. And that was where he really wanted to be.
That night, he did not sleep.
They reached the Black Forest the next day, when the sun was at its zenith in the sky.
Wolf raised his face to the hot sun. “Take one last look at it, for you will not see it again until we reach the village Freeburg.”
They galloped into the dark dank woods. The forest was named rightly so. It was black as night inside the trees. The trees were so tall and packed in tight, and the foliage up top so thick, that sunlight could not reach the ground. It was like a great leafy canopy covering the entire forest. Only mosses and small shrubs were able to grow on the dirt floor without the sun’s life-giving rays.
They moved quickly through the woods. Wolf knew exactly where he was going. He had spent some time in the Black Forest. Hiding out mostly.
Cultivating allies and enemies. Biding his time.
By nightfall, they had reached the village. They heard it long before they ever saw it. The sound of laughter and ruckus reached their ears before they saw the first stone dwelling.
“Whom are we seeking?” Rapunzel asked.
“The Bears. We will find them at the Inn.”
“Who are these Bears?”
“You will find out soon enough.”
Red glared at Rapunzel as they trotted down the cobblestone lane. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“I like to know what I’m up against.”
“I thought we were all on the same side,” Red said, sarcasm dripping from her words.
They made their way through the village to the Inn. Villagers in the street stopped to stare as they passed. Their looks were not friendly.
They pulled short at the livery stable beside the Inn. They dismounted. Wolf helping Red down.
“We’re going to need some currency.” Wolf and Red both looked at Rapunzel.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“A smart Lady would not escape without some sort of plan. Without some sort of insurance of her…well-being.”
Rapunzel looked at them both. She huffed angrily, then reached down into her bodice. She came away with a long, jeweled necklace. She raised it up for them to see. “Satisfied?”
“Very,” Red said.
Wolf put his hand out. “May I see it?”
Rapunzel put it in his hand reluctantly. Wolf looked down at it, eyes wide, marveling. There were rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds encrusting it.
“It’s beautiful.”
Rapunzel smiled. “It was my moth—.”
Wolf popped out one of the jewels, crushing the gold around it.
Rapunzel gasped. “You did not just do that.”
Red snickered.
“The necklace is worthless to us. The jewels alone will get us what we need.” Wolf walked to the stable door. He knocked sharply.
The door opened. A young boy with a dirty face and missing teeth peered out. “Yeah, whatcha want?”
Wolf stared down at him. “We need our horses stabled and clean clothes.”
The boy glared at them. “Bugger off.” He slammed the door shut.
Red launched at the door, banging fiercely on it.
“You little shit! Open this door, or I’ll kick it in and smash your face with my filthy boot!”
“Bugger off!”
Red was about to kick the door, when Wolf stayed her leg. He shook his head. She stood back.
“Boy? Have you heard of the man named Wolf?”
“Maybe. What’s it to you?”
“Open this door, and you may see him as well.”
There was silence behind the door, then the lock lifted and the boy opened the door a crack. He peered out. He looked up into Wolf’s face. The boy’s eyes widened with surprise and fear.
“Do as I ask, and I will reward you well.” He put out his hand. The boy looked down at it. Wolf opened it slowly. A small sapphire sat on his palm. The boy gasped. He reached out to touch it. Wolf closed his fist right before he neared the gem. “It is yours, boy, but only if you favor us first.”
The boy nodded eagerly. “I will do whatever yer ask.”
“Good, now fetch us some clothes.”
The boy opened the big barn door. He grabbed the reigns of their horses and brought them into the softly lit, warm stable. Wolf, Red and Rapunzel followed them in.
Red looked suspiciously at Wolf. “The Wolf I know would have crushed the boy’s skull with one hand and taken what he needed with the other.”
Wolf glanced briefly at her. “You do not know me, Red, just rumor and propaganda about the Big Bad Wolf. I designed it that way. As I started most of the rumors myself.”
She watched him as he unsaddled the horses. He did it gently and with care. Unwanted feelings were clouding her judgment. She knew he had warmth in him, she had felt it first hand. But she also knew he had viciousness and hate. She remembered too well that part of him. It was difficult to overlook that moment in her life. He had taken someone dear to her away forever. She was beginning to understand that the reasons were not so black and white. Somewhere in the gray middle, was the truth. She was just not sure if she wanted to believe it.
Her dreams about her Granny had been vivid.
They seemed real. But maybe Wolf’s words had somehow designed them. Designed them because she truly wanted to believe in him, trust him, and possibly love him. She flinched at that last thought.
Love? How on earth could she ever love a man like Wolf? And how could he ever love someone like her?
The boy was good on his word. He found them all clean clothes. Stole them most likely, but that was of no concern to them. They each found a private place to change.
Red struggled with her shirt. She could not lift her arm high enough to remove it. She cried out in frustration.
Rapunzel peered around at her. “Need some help?”
Red looked up at her, eyes flashing angrily.
Rapunzel was dressed in a simple empire-waisted peasant dress; her hair was up in a roll on top of her head. She was dressed common but still looked royal.
Red thought she needed a haircut.
“Go away. I do not need your help.”
Rapunzel shrugged. “Fine. But you will never get that off without help.” She wandered away, a coy smile on her face.
Red cursed and tried to rip at her shirt. She managed to rip the shoulder seam, but that would still do her no good.
“You struggle senselessly.” Wolf neared her, ignoring her sneers. He whipped out his knife. He twirled it once in his hand. He reached for her. She pulled back.
“Give me the knife. I can do it.”
“You will cut yourself.”
“I will not. I am not clumsy like you.” She reached for the knife swiftly. Wolf pulled back. Red’s fingers knocked it from his hand. It landed softly into the hay. They both looked down at it. “You see, you’re clumsy like an ox.”