Girl in the Red Hood (25 page)

"Why didn't you tell me?" Liesel pulled back
and searched her grandmother's face.

"Believe me, love, I tried so hard. But the
magic wouldn't let me." She sniffed. "We've escaped every part but
that. No matter how hard I tried, it just wouldn't let me speak. I
knew though! I knew the moment I saw your father speaking to that
pale man before you left. He thought he had a secret, but I knew. I
just didn't think he would leave so soon though. I thought I would
get at least another day or so."

Quiet settled over them. So many times,
Liesel had imagined telling her grandmother about all that had
happened while she was gone. For years, she had longed to tell Ilsa
how she had saved up the money to ride on a grain wagon, and about
how she had found a home in Tag. But the details, the pieces of her
life that had once seemed so important were suddenly mundane,
useless. Because now she was here, trapped in a web far stickier
than she could have imagined even a few hours before.

Things got a bit livelier when it was time
to begin supper. Liesel enjoyed helping her grandmother in the
kitchen, and Kurt and Johan were happy to see the food. Whatever
they had been doing, it had plastered them with mud, sweat, and
grass, and with a laugh, Ilsa ordered them all out to the well to
wash up.

It wasn't long before Ilsa's gentle nature
had her guests at ease as she told silly stories about Liesel's
childhood antics. Even Johan smiled a few times. The only one who
seemed aloof to the merriment was Liesel's grandfather. He wore a
pained, contemplative look the whole evening, and it bothered
Liesel.

As she lay in her little bed that night,
Liesel breathed in the familiar scent of her surroundings and tried
to soak it up. She prayed to the Maker that it would be better
after this. She tried to think of ways to help Kurt find the peace
her grandfather said he needed to break the spell, but she was too
weary. Her grandfather's threat to keep her from returning with
Kurt, the difficulty of the task at hand, and the sheer weariness
of the journey held Liesel's thoughts captive. The future was
difficult to imagine without giving into worry or tears. For this
one night, Liesel decided, she would just stay in the here and now.
Because for now, all the people she loved were near. And that was
more than she thought she'd ever get, after all.

"Liesel,
get back inside!" her grandfather ordered as he tossed a staff to
Kurt. Liesel frowned, but stood and did as she was told. Of all the
changes returning home had entailed, being treated as though she
was still thirteen was most irksome. Seven years had held
unimaginable change for Liesel, but apparently, her grandfather was
determined not to see it. At least, he had chosen to ignore it in
the two whole weeks they had been at the vineyard.

"He's terrified of losing you, you know."
Ilsa said without looking up as Liesel walked inside. She was
cutting potatoes at the table. "He's trying desperately to find a
way to keep you here." Still annoyed, Liesel picked up a knife and
joined her grandmother in chopping vegetables.

"What happened to his leg?" She changed the
subject. It was a subject she had wanted to bring up since they'd
arrived, but her grandfather seemed determined not to discuss it.
Every time Liesel asked him, his brows would furrow, some sort of
undone chore would suddenly be remembered, and Bernd would shuffle
off in a stony silence. Eventually, she had given up on asking him.
Even now, her grandmother took a lengthy pause before
answering.

Ilsa hadn't aged much since Liesel had gone.
She was still a very handsome woman. There was more gray in her
yellow hair, and she had run more slowly to Liesel through the yard
than the last time she'd chased them in their cart. She still held
herself straight and proud as she stood at the table though. Her
long thin face was just as Liesel remembered it, perhaps with just
a few more wrinkles at the corners of the eyes and mouth. That
mouth was now turned down as it spoke.

"He was trying to save you." Liesel nearly
dropped the knife, but her grandmother went on. "As soon as he
arrived home the next day from that hunting trip, and I told him
where your father had taken you, he immediately found his horse and
made the chase. Didn't take food or water, the old fool. He wore
his horse out on the way and nearly lost him to exhaustion. By the
time he arrived at the forest's edge, several people from Ward were
waiting in case someone decided to follow you in. When they
discovered his intent, they refused to let him pass. He fought
hard, but he was tired, and they chased him back to the main road.
He always swore he should have gone through the forest after that,
but his ankle was broken in the fight, and it was all he could do
to return home." Liesel tried to swallow the lump in her throat. To
think he had been that close when her mother had died. Her gaze
shifted out the window where the men were training.

Despite his bad ankle, her grandfather used
the staff as though it were a part of him. He whirled it around his
body so fast that it was nearly invisible. Johan hovered in his
animal form, ready to intervene in case things got out of hand.
Bernd was instructing Kurt on how to move his own staff, directing
Johan to feint one way and then another. Again and again they
practiced.

"Is this how Kurt is supposed to find
peace?" Liesel doubtfully asked. Every day, they practiced, and
every day the whole lot of them came in dirty and out of sorts. Her
grandmother gave a dry laugh.

"Your grandfather finds staff work relaxing.
He trained with one of the masters during the years we lived in the
east in Toku. That's actually how he broke the spell. He says there
is something in the movements that helps him focus and put life
into perspective. Nothing magic, of course. It just helps him
think." She shook her head at the window. "I can't see how anything
so demanding can relax him so, but it does. It may not seem like
it, but he's doing the best he knows how to help Kurt."

Liesel wasn't so sure the staff practice was
relaxing Kurt the way her grandfather had hoped. Sweat poured down
the young man's face and neck, and made his thin work shirt stick
to his chest and back. Liesel didn't know she was staring until her
grandmother laughed at her. Her cheeks warmed with embarrassment as
she realized she'd been caught gawking.

It was just so hard to believe he was the
same boy she'd left behind. As a boy, his arms hadn't been so
defined, nor had his back held such a fine arch. She had seen the
sharp angles of his face and the steady set of his jaw countless
times in the last two weeks, but she still couldn't get used to
them. As foolish as it seemed, Liesel actually felt a bit in awe of
him. She knew he was the same person, and yet, he sometimes just
felt like a stranger in a way that made her feel ridiculously young
and shy.

"It might surprise you what two people in
love can accomplish." Liesel turned away from the window. In the
weeks since they'd arrived, she'd avoided this topic. Her
grandfather certainly hadn't been in the mood to listen. He had
made sure to send scowls Kurt's way whenever possible.

"It's not fair."

"What's not fair?" Liesel forced herself to
look straight at her grandmother.

"What if Grandfather is right, and we can't
break the spell?" Ilsa stared back at her sadly. Liesel turned back
to the window. "I can't let those people die. I can't let them lose
it all. So many lives...and they all depend on me, whether I want
them to or not." She shook her head. "How can the Maker give me
such a choice? I don't want it. I don't want this choice to be
mine." Ilsa sighed and put down her sewing.

"Sometimes the responsibility of doing
what's right isn't idyllic like in the stories, Leese. It is given
to us without pomp or glory. And we are the ones who have to make
the choice of doing what is right, or doing what is easy." Nothing
more was said until the potatoes had all been sliced and they were
both seated with needlework in their laps.

"Your grandfather and I have had a wonderful
life," Ilsa said quietly, "but never going back to tell them we'd
found the way...that was the decision we made. And we've had to
carry that burden all these years. We always will. That's one
reason your grandfather is taking this so hard. If we had gone back
and risked our happiness to show them the way out, you probably
wouldn't be in this mess. Now you are paying for our wrong. So no,
it isn't fair. But," she nodded at Kurt. "It seems the good Maker
has deemed it fit that you should have a partner, that you won't be
doing this alone."

Liesel usually hated sewing, but at least it
provided her a bit of peace and quiet to mull over what her
grandmother had just said. She didn't get much of a break, however,
because at that moment, the men came crashing through the door like
a herd of wild animals.

"Ilsa, get water and rags."

"Mercy! What happened?" Ilsa exclaimed.
Blood dripped from a gash above Kurt's eye, and a knot on Bernd's
forehead was beginning to redden and swell.

"Practice got a bit out of hand," her
grandfather muttered. Kurt didn't say anything, but he looked
livid.

"Grandfather, I will take care of Kurt. In
fact, there's something I need to show him. I think you should take
the rest of the day away from practice."

"Liesel, if he can't find a way to do this
before-"

"I am going to show him
my
attempt at
finding peace," Liesel nearly laughed. "I don't think this one is
working." Kurt looked relieved as Liesel dragged him out to the
well to clean his wound.

"Just stay within sight," her grandfather
called after them.

"Don't worry, Johan will be nearby," she
called back. Johan wasn't one for spending time around the house.
He watched every practice session like a hawk, but as soon as he
knew Bernd wasn't going to beat Kurt to death, he disappeared. It
was apparent that just as Bernd and Ilsa hadn't ever forgiven
themselves for running, Johan still hadn't forgiven them
either.

"It looks like you made this session without
turning." Liesel began to draw water as Kurt sat on the little
stone well wall. "At least that was a knot on his head and not a
bite." Kurt reddened a bit. They'd had a number of turnings in the
past few weeks that had resulted in bites to Johan as he had
attempted to keep Kurt and Bernd from seriously harming one
another.

"I wasn't afraid, I was angry," Kurt
muttered. "He says he wants me to learn to relax and find peace,
then he repeatedly hits me with a stick. If it were not for your
stake in all of this, I don't think he really would want me to
succeed at all."

"Well, never mind him," Liesel dipped her
rag in the bucket. "Tonight we are going to try something new."
Gently, she began to dab at the gash. Once the blood was off, it
really wasn't very large. For some reason, however, she found
herself enjoying the moment, and drew it out just a bit. There was
something comfortable in being the one to care for Kurt, as though
she had been made for that very purpose. In fact, it was nearly
unnerving how very natural it felt to be so close, to turn his face
gently from side to side as she finished cleaning his brow, even
with the eddies of dizziness the magic sent through her every time
she touched his skin. When she was done, she realized he was
staring right up at her, not politely avoiding her gaze as she had
been doing with him.

His eyes looked starved, as though he had
never seen her before. Her fingers lingered on his chin, and she
felt her breath catch.

"If you're going to get up and down the
mountain before dark, you had better go!" Bernd shouted from the
doorway. "I want you home before supper, Liesel. And remember,
where I can see you!" Liesel inhaled deeply and closed her eyes in
an effort to control her temper and answer him evenly.

"Yes, Grandfather." As soon as they heard
the door slam, Liesel threw the rag down on the stone well wall and
took Kurt's hand. "I'm going to show you
my way
of finding
peace." Breaking into a run, she pulled Kurt behind her all the way
to the foot of the mountain, and without hesitating, Liesel plunged
up the path.

In her effort to respect Bernd's attempt to
help Kurt with his all-day lessons, Liesel had stayed away from the
mountain, biding her time so she wasn't too far from Kurt or Johan
for the magic's sake. But now, as she hopped lithely from rock to
rock, she immediately wondered why on earth she had waited.

It didn't matter that seven years had passed
since she had last touched her beloved mountain. She could have
taken the trail blindfolded. The crunch of the dirt and rocks
beneath her feet was a welcome sound as she followed the trail,
greeting every familiar tree and bush with delight. The grass
wasn't as vibrant as it had been in the spring, but the variations
of yellow and green were lovely as they became caught in the little
breezes that danced by. It was funny, Liesel thought, but the trail
had once seemed much steeper than it did now. But then, she had
grown a good deal taller since she had last followed it.

Neither Kurt nor Liesel spoke as they made
their way up. Liesel glanced back a few times to see the wonder in
Kurt's eyes as he took everything in. That made her smile even
more. Since they'd met, she had wanted nothing more than for him to
love her mountain as much as she did.

Nearly half an hour later, she stopped. A
ledge nearly as wide as her bedroom jutted out over the valley. The
drop over the edge was nearly straight down, but it was deep enough
for six or seven to sit comfortably on the natural little seats
that the wind and rain had carved into the mountain. She heard Kurt
gasp as he took in the sight below them.