Girl in the Red Hood (20 page)

"What did your uncle mean all those years
ago when he said I was the one who believed in magic? And your
brother this morning?"

"You are not to give heed to a single word
my uncle says. Do you understand me?" Kurt's voice was suddenly
rigid. Liesel was a bit taken aback. He'd never ordered her to do
anything like that before. She nodded silently. His eyes softened a
bit, however, when he saw her expression. "I'm sorry. I don't mean
to be harsh. It's just that I've been trying to protect you since
we met, believe it or not. My brother has good intentions, but he’s
spent too much time with my uncle. And my uncle would not hesitate
to sacrifice you or anyone else if it meant breaking the curse. He
wants you to believe in magic because he thinks you will be more
likely to follow along with his plans. In truth, he does little
more than study this book. It irks my father to no end. It's one
thing to be interested in the writings, but the investment he has
in it is something else entirely." Kurt put the book back on the
shelf. Liesel stood too, although she didn't know where she thought
she was going. It just felt so natural to follow him the way she
had once followed the boy.

"We need to go now," he mumbled at the
floor, suddenly appearing embarrassed. "I'm supposed to take you to
the dressmaker's home to get you fitted for the wedding."

Quietly, they left the cabin. Somewhere down
the road, Liesel's shoe caught on rock in the path and she
stumbled. Instead of getting up, however, tears filled her eyes and
made it impossible to see. She stayed where she was and silently
wept. She wasn't ready.

This would be her life. This dark town
without smiles or sunlight would be her home forever. She would
never see her grandparents again. She would never again climb her
mountain, and she would only ever dream of touching the salty froth
of the sea. And not even her children could have such dreams as the
ones she was giving up. She was loath to stay, but how could she
doom an entire village simply to ensure her own happiness? This was
where she would die, just like all the others. Kurt knelt beside
her. He placed his forehead against her own and softly cupped her
face in one of his rough hands, but she pulled away.

"I'm sorry, Liesel," he whispered after a
moment, his own voice strained. A sob broke forth from her chest,
as his touch had sent her head spinning in more ways than one.

"How long have you known?" she demanded
tearfully, staring only at the ground. "I just need to know the
truth."

"My father called me one night when I was
fourteen." Kurt's voice was husky as he stood. "My mother pleaded
with him to let me be, but he said if I was ever to be the pack
leader, I would need to know what to do one day when the need
arose." Liesel couldn't help but wonder if his next need would be
for himself or his son after him.

"He sent his youngest brother, my Uncle
Egon, to do it, but we were to watch from a distance. I was excited
to be going with the men. I wasn't old enough to turn, so it was a
privilege to be out so late at night." Kurt sat on the ground a
ways away from where Liesel knelt.

"I was enjoying myself until I saw the look
in your eyes. You were terrified," His voice grew quiet. "The next
day was even worse, when I realized that the same deed had been
done to my mother. I felt sick to my stomach for days after that. I
think that's when I truly began to grow up. I'd once longed to turn
sixteen, but no more.

"My father made it clear, however, that
without a Pure Blood, I and all the others would lose what precious
little humanity we did have. And without that humanity, there was a
very good chance that I could choose to spare you one day to
accidentally kill you the next." Liesel finally looked up at him,
tears still sticking to her eyelashes and making his figure
blurry.

"If you knew all of this, why did you
promise me we could leave together one day?" She felt rather silly
for asking. It seemed foolish that she had held on to a promise
made so young. But if Liesel was honest with herself, the hope she
had put into that promise had been the fire that had driven her on
for so long. It had become her anchor every time her life became a
storm.

"It was a boy's hope," he said quietly.

"Would you go if you could?"

"I'm afraid I cannot afford to dwell on such
thoughts anymore. I have others to care for."

The dress was old, possibly as old as the
curtains in the bedroom. That it had been altered repeatedly was
obvious, as the white lace was worn far more at the hems than the
rest of the raiment. Still, the basic shape was becoming, as the
seamstress was skilled. Liesel was silent as the woman finished her
fitting. The two women had hardly spoken a word since Kurt had
dropped her off. The seamstress had a kind smile, but Liesel
couldn't bring herself to make small talk today.

"When she's finished, you may walk around
the town a bit," Kurt had told her. "My family knows you like to
explore. I've told them to leave you be." Of course, what he was
really telling her was not to run away. Liesel set her jaw
stubbornly. Would this really be her whole life? Perhaps it wasn't
heartbreak the Pure Bloods died of, but rather boredom.

"You couldn't wed a better man," the
seamstress said sympathetically. But Liesel pouted.

"A good man wouldn't have lied to me."

"That was wasn't by his choosing," the woman
mumbled, her mouth filled with pins. She took them out and paused
in her work to look right at Liesel. "His father forbade him from
telling you. The boy was so taken with you from the start that Old
Garrit knew he'd fare better giving Kurt guidelines to follow
instead of trying to separate you two completely." The seamstress
nodded to herself and went back to pinning. "Things really couldn't
have turned out better." Liesel looked at her incredulously.

"Couldn't have turned out better?" She
echoed in disbelief. "My father was tricked into leaving our home.
I watched both my parents die. Now I will never leave this wretched
forest again! How is that in any way desirable?"

"Old Garrit could have laid claim to you,"
the woman said matter-of-factly. Liesel felt the color drain from
her face. The seamstress continued talking matter-of-factly on as
she worked. "Most pack leaders marry again and again until they
die. So don't you go thinking this pack leader has no feelings.
Garrit's a tough old thing, but he loves his son. When he realized
Kurt was sneaking off every day to see you, he told Kurt's mother
that you would be Kurt's and no one else's." The seamstress looked
a bit smug, nodding again to herself. "I know because she told me.
Good friends we were, despite her being Pure Blood and all. And
there," she turned Liesel before the mirror. "This will be all done
tomorrow. You'll be a lovely bride."

Liesel wanted to cry as she looked in the
mirror. Dressed in an ancient shabby lace gown without any family
or friends was hardly her idea of a lovely wedding. Instead of
crying, however, she decided to force another question in an
attempt to steady her voice as the woman helped her carefully out
of the clothes and back into her own.

"Why is everyone so quiet here?" Even in
Ward, the people had laughed and talked when she wasn't near. But
here she noticed that there was very little conversation going
on...anywhere. Only the children seemed to remember how to speak.
And the seamstress, of course.

"That would be the magic," the woman gently
laid the gown back on her work table. Liesel looked at her,
confused. The woman sighed. "When we're born, we are very much
human. As Kurt, I'm sure, has told you though, we begin turning at
sixteen. Fear is what turns us. You learn quickly, however, that
the human heart fears much. You eventually realize you can't live
your life that way, constantly letting the wolf rise up. People get
hurt, and you start to lose your mind. So we simply work to stop
turning. With every choice, however, we give a bit of humanity to
the wolf. We might keep our human form, but a piece of us dies. As
we feed more and more of ourselves to the wolf, we lose the words
that were once within our minds. Some of us have more words than
others. Take me for example." She gave a sad chuckle then sighed.
"But even I've begun to find moments, spells of time when the words
don't come because the wolf doesn't have any to give. I fear if I
live long enough, there will be a day when even I speak my last."
The seamstress's words painted a haunting picture. Liesel quietly
thanked her, more for the conversation than the dress, before
leaving.

It wasn't until Liesel stepped out into the
street that she realized she had nowhere to go. Though she'd craved
freedom since arriving, the looks the townspeople threw her were
almost more depressing than she could bear. Despairing eyes were
everywhere with not a smile to be seen. Suddenly, she wanted very
much just to go hide in the bedroom with the lace curtains and read
her book. Out here she felt exposed, especially as barks and snarls
could be heard scattered throughout the town. She did not have to
stand there for long, however, as a girl with light brown hair
rushed up to her and grabbed her by the arm.

"Let's go," she whispered excitedly before
yanking Liesel down the street behind her.

"Where are we going?" Liesel had to work to
keep from tripping and getting dragged along the ground. The girl
didn't answer though. Instead, she suddenly stopped and whirled
around.

"You can leave us alone now, Keegan! I can
handle her for a few minutes," she scowled. Liesel couldn't help
but feel a little unnerved. Kurt's brother had been following her?
Keegan seemed to appear out of nowhere, but Liesel could see now
that he'd been hunching to blend in with the street crowd.

"You might let her go," he frowned back. The
girl huffed.

"Really, Kee, do you think me so daft? You
have no business watching women relieve themselves in the woods."
At those words, Liesel was grateful. She really had needed to go
since arriving at the seamstress's cottage. "Besides," the girl
added, "I'm fifteen, and more than old enough to know what happens
if I lose her." Keegan stood uncertainly for a moment before
nodding once.

"Fine. But I'll be checking on you." The
girl stuck her tongue out at him before flipping back around and
breaking into a run. As she still had a good grip on Liesel's
wrist, it was all Liesel could do to stay upright as they ran. The
girl was strong and quick. It wasn't long before they were out of
the town and in a part of the forest Liesel had never seen before.
Though there was still no sun, it was a little brighter here. When
the girl released Liesel, she realized that they could see the
cabin and most of the town from the little hill they'd just
climbed. Gigantic cone-laden trees still towered above them, but
there was less brush, making it easier to see the town as a
whole.

In truth, the little hill would have been
lovely, had it been discovered under different circumstances.
Purple dew-laced flowers carpeted the ground and even the bases of
the tree trunks. Various boulders and stumps provided places to
sit, but not enough for the space to appear crowded. As Liesel
wondered at the tranquil scene, the girl said nonchalantly,

"If you truly do need to relieve yourself, I
would do it now. I'm not sure how long Kee will be able to contain
himself." As confused as Liesel still was, she hastened to do as
the girl advised. When she returned, the girl was examining a tear
in her skirt, muttering under her breath, something about how the
seamstress would have her hide this time. "Finally," she glanced at
Liesel, then returned to her torn dress. "I was starting to think
you'd run, and I would have to hunt you down." Liesel's expression
must have betrayed her, because the girl laughed and rolled her
eyes. "It was a joke. Now, on to more important matters. Do you
love my brother?" Liesel stared back, trying to figure out who her
brother might be.

"I'm sorry, but who is-"

"Oh, right. I forgot. I'm Lora, Kurt's
younger sister." As soon as she said it, Liesel could see Kurt's
golden-brown eyes in the girl's face. They didn't look greatly
alike, but she was very pretty, despite favoring her father. "So,
do you love him?" she asked again.

"I...don't know," Liesel faltered. And in
truth, she didn't. Lora studied her for a moment before finally
nodding.

"I think you do." Liesel wasn't sure how
qualified the girl was for making such judgements, but she held her
tongue. It wouldn't do to offend her. "This is for you," Lora
shoved a parchment at her that was sealed in blue wax. Liesel's own
name was written in a lovely script on the front. Liesel looked at
Lora quizzically, but Lora just shook her head. "I didn't write it.
But I can tell you that it's going to help you break the spell."
Liesel frowned.

"This spell has been active for two hundred
years. Why should I suddenly have the answer?"

"Because you want it more. No other Pure
Blood has ever loved the pack leader the way you do." She climbed
up on a round boulder and stared down at the town, her voice
resentful. "Kurt used to believe. But Father drove that from him as
fast as he could." The way the girl sounded made it seem as if she
knew everything about their unusual relationship, as if theirs was
a lovely tale for children at bedtime.

"But what can I do?" Liesel looked up at her
incredulously. The girl returned her gaze, the determination
suddenly returning to her face.

"We are stuck here. But you can leave."

"I can?"

"It's in the letter." She hopped down and
began to walk back the way they'd come. "Supper is in two hours
back at the cabin. If you don't show, Keegan is going to eat me
alive."