Girl in the Red Hood (8 page)

As she walked, the trees began to thicken,
and it added to the gloom of the gray forest. Why would Kurt's
family live so deep in the forest, she wondered. Then she
remembered what the mayor had said. Kurt's family was comprised of
hunters. Perhaps the big game only lived deep in the woods. It made
sense, as Liesel had never seen any game large enough to hunt near
the town.

She had been walking for what felt like
hours before she was finally forced to stop and admit that she was
lost. Without the sun, there was no way to tell which direction
Liesel was going. She'd heard once that the moss grew on a certain
side of the trees, but the moss in this forest covered everything.
Tree trunks, stumps, and even the boulders had their lowest parts
covered all the way around by the soft sheets of yellow-green.

She stopped and stared up at the distant
forest canopy in frustration. No matter how hard she tried, though,
there was no way to tell the time of day or one direction from
another. Liesel considered calling out in hopes that someone might
hear her, but that seemed just as likely to bring harm as help.
Finally, unable to think of anything else to do, Liesel began
walking again. Her legs were sore and her feet ached by the time
the forest began to thin the way it did around Ward. She wondered
if she might not have wandered around to the other side of the town
until she saw the house.

It was rather large compared to most of the
other homes she'd seen in the forest, nearly as large as her
grandparents' house. Made of stacked timber, it sat at the top of a
very gentle slope. Liesel didn't bother to look beyond the house,
however, as she spotted a woman hanging laundry to dry on a line
that was hung from the corner of the roof. She hurried towards the
woman, grateful to have found help.

"Madam," she called out, hoping she didn't
appear too disheveled. "I was searching for my friend, and I am
afraid I got lost. Would you mind telling me where I am?" When the
woman turned around, however, Liesel was pleasantly surprised. She
had Kurt's deep golden-brown eyes and bark-colored hair. Instead of
greeting her back, however, the woman's own eyes went wide, and she
dropped the shirt she'd been hanging. An odd reaction, Liesel
thought. She tried again. "My name is-"

"Heavens, child, I know your name!" The
woman darted over to Liesel, and grabbing her by the arm, dragged
her back into the trees, away from the house. Liesel opened her
mouth to ask what they were doing, but the woman silenced her with
a threatening glare. Liesel stayed quiet until they came to a
stop.

"What are you doing here?" The woman no
longer sounded severe, only frightened. "How did you find us?"

"I was looking for my friend, and I got
lost...," Liesel stuttered anxiously as she watched the woman's
face. She was still holding Liesel's arm, and her grip was tight.
Someday, Liesel thought with a bit of annoyance, people would stop
grabbing her as if she were a small child that might run away.

"You can't let them see you!" The woman
whispered urgently. "They already think it's a risk allowing you to
live with your father! Seeing you here would only give them the
excuse they need to keep you here and now!" Liesel felt her mouth
drop open in horror.

"Who are
they
?" But the woman was
already shaking her head.

"There is no time! You must leave here!" She
paused for a moment and closed her eyes to listen. "They've heard
you," she whispered. "Get out of here! Go home as fast as you can!"
Liesel didn't need to be told twice. Gathering up her skirts, she
began to run in the opposite direction, but she stopped and looked
back.

"Which way?" Before the woman could answer,
two gigantic wolves bounded up and began to circle her, and they
were followed by a very tall, lean man. Something about him
reminded Liesel of Kurt, but in her fear, she couldn't say
what.

"Lothur, no! She is too young!" The woman
called out angrily. "Garrit said so, and you know it!" The tall man
said nothing at first, simply walked towards Liesel with a strange,
smooth stride. It was then that Liesel realized that he had Kurt's
gait, animal-like and silent. Finally, he stopped and spoke, his
voice quiet and composed.

"But she's already here."

"P...," Liesel's voice was hardly more than
a breath. She swallowed with some difficulty and tried again.
"Please, just let me go home! I promise not to make any trouble. I
just got lost, and-"

"No," the man shook his head, a few strands
of silver in his otherwise dark hair glinting in the low light.
"It's too risky. Surely Garrit will agree with that." Seeming to
speak more to himself than anyone else, he began to walk again,
circling around Liesel the way the two wolves were. They took turns
growling at her. One even snapped at her heel when she stumbled
backwards.

"Liesel!" The girl nearly began to cry with
relief when she heard Kurt's voice from the top of the ridge that
separated them from the house. To her amazement, he ran down right
between the wolves without hesitation and drew her behind him,
glaring at the man. The man slightly frowned.

"This is the one that believes in magic, is
she not?"

"It doesn't matter," Kurt growled through
clenched jaws. As he did, Liesel realized his voice was really
beginning to get deeper. If she hadn't been so frightened, she
would have found it quite impressive. "I will take her safely home.
You need to return." The man looked as if he was about to protest,
but Kurt interrupted him. "I will tell him that you disobeyed his
orders. Is that really what you want?"

"You're rather cocky for a boy," the man
said in a flat voice. Kurt didn't blink as he continued to
glare.

"And you are disobeying orders." After the
man and the boy had scowled at one another for what seemed like an
eternity, the man inclined his head just slightly and gave a short
whistle. The wolves immediately turned and followed him over the
ridge and back towards the house. Only when they were gone did Kurt
look at the woman. They shared a sad smile before she climbed back
over the ridge as well.

Liesel felt her knees buckle. Kurt caught
her awkwardly just before she collapsed on the ground. As he held
her awkwardly, Liesel realized she felt oddly even dizzier than
before.

"We need to get away from here," he muttered
tersely. "Can you walk?" Liesel was trembling so hard and felt so
dizzy she could barely answer.

"I don't know." When he started to pick her
up, however, her embarrassment was greater than her fear and
disorientation. If Kurt hadn't thought her addled before, he
certainly must now. "Let...let me see," she tried to stand again.
This time, her legs wobbled, but she was able to walk on her own.
He kept a hand on her elbow though, as he led her away from the
ridge, and she saw him sneaking worried glances at her often as
they went.

It was only half an hour later that they
made it back up to the waterfall. Liesel realized with dismay that
she must have walked in circles before finding the house. Kurt said
nothing as she sat down and caught her breath. She tried to read
his expression through glances she sneaked when she thought he
wasn't looking. Was he angry with her for venturing into the woods
alone, despite his warnings? How did he know the man named Lothur?
When she finally looked enough times, however, she was surprised to
realize that he looked...sad. He stared out at her mountain
quietly, the look on his face much too old for a boy of almost
fifteen years. A piece of hair fell over his right eye, and Liesel
could have sworn there was a tear glistening in its corner. Guilt
burned down the back of her neck, and she could suddenly stand the
silence no longer.

"I am sorry." He finally turned to look at
her, looking genuinely surprised.

"What for?"

"I didn't sleep well last night, and I just
needed to see you, so I tried to find where you lived." Kurt shook
his head, stood up, and kicked a rock absentmindedly.

"None of that was your fault. My family
is...different from most other families. It is why we live so far
from Ward."

"You mean with the wolves?" Kurt raised one
eyebrow, so Liesel explained.

"Lothur had wolves that listened to him. You
ran right past them, and they didn't even notice. They nipped and
growled at me though." Liesel trembled at the memory. It suddenly
made sense. Kurt's family must be able to influence the wolves. It
was why he'd scoffed that first day at the thought of wolves
attacking him, and it must have been why he could run past the
wolves without blinking. "But what do they want with me?" she
finished with a whisper. Why had she been marked?

"Liesel, I told you before. The magic here
is not good magic like you have in your stories. It's dark, and it
seeks to do evil."

"How do you know there is dark magic here?"
Liesel whispered.

"You keep forgetting. This is my home."

"But why did the wolf bite me? And why won't
anyone talk about it?" Liesel was getting angrier the more she
thought about it. None of it made any sense. It was like a
confusing dream from which she couldn't awaken. Everyone knew. The
peddler, the mayor, and even Kurt's mother knew. Everyone but her.
And yet, she had the awful feeling that she was still being hunted,
and they were just watching, waiting for her to stumble.

"That's how the magic works. They're not
allowed to talk about it. They might want to, but most of them
can't. Not to you, at least."

"But the peddler!"

"What peddler?" Liesel related to him all
that had happened the evening before. As she spoke, Kurt's face
paled. "Kurt, what's wrong?" He grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Liesel, you cannot tell anyone about any of
this! Do you understand?" When she was too frightened to respond,
he gave her a shake and asked again, "Do you?" Liesel would have
been angry with him for the shake if it hadn't been for the terror
in his eyes. She had never seen him frightened. He was often oddly
quiet, and he sometimes liked to strut around the way most boys his
age did, but now all the playfulness and bravado was gone.
"Liesel," he whispered tightly. "I am trying my best to protect
you. There are things going on here that you've never imagined, not
even with that book."

"Tell me," Liesel breathed in fear. "Tell me
what's going on! Tell me why that wolf bit me, and why the peddler
said I was in danger." Kurt shook his head.

"I can't." She glared at him.

"You are just as bad as the rest of them!"
The look of hurt in his eyes was unmistakable, but she was too
frustrated to care. Neither of them spoke for a while. She stood
next to the roaring waterfall, just at the edge where it plunged
over, and she stared at the outline of her mountain. She wanted to
look at him, to see if he was still sad, but her pride wouldn't
permit it. She remembered some saying her mother used to quote
about the danger of pride, but she ignored it. The pride was all
that was holding her together. Without the indignant fold of her
arms and raised chin, she would crumble to pieces. The knowledge
that Kurt had known and not told her was jarring. He had been her
rock. He finally spoke again, his quiet words interrupting her
thoughts.

"I can't tell you, but I can promise to do
my best to keep you safe." Liesel finally turned and looked for a
long, long time into her friend's anxious face. His brown eyes were
repentant, and she was reminded that he was not yet a man. He might
be rather proud sometimes, and could act as if he owned the forest,
but in reality, he seemed no more in control than she was. She
sighed.

"How can you promise that? You're just a
boy." She didn't miss the flash of annoyance that moved across his
face.

"I promise!" he moved closer, his expression
suddenly fierce. "I can't make it all stop, but I
can
keep
you safe. Would you just believe me?" Still feeling a bit resentful
and defiant, her first impulse was to say no. But the longer she
looked at him, the more she remembered. He was the one who had
found her. He'd brought her as close to her mountain as she could
get. He was the one who found her in the forest and saved her from
the unnerving man and his wolves. He was all she had. And deep
down, she somehow knew that would be enough. Against her will, a
small smile crept to her lips. As she nodded, she felt a foreign
sensation wash over her. It took her a moment to realize it was
peace.

They stared out at the massive ocean of
treetops for a long time before she remembered a question she
couldn't shake.

"What did that man mean when he said I was
the one who believed in magic?" Kurt frowned in disgust.

"My uncle has always been far too obsessed
with magic for his own good, my father says."

"Your uncle?" Liesel shivered. How Kurt
could be related to that frightening man was beyond her. But Kurt
didn't seem to hear.

"We've had enough of that around here, thank
you very much!" He muttered underneath his breath. The look on his
face was so ominous that Liesel didn't dare ask what he meant.
Instead, an idea formed, and where there had been none before, hope
suddenly surged in her heart. Aside from her mother's healing, she
knew instantly that she had never wanted anything more in her
life.

"Come with me!" She grabbed his hands
without thinking.

"Where?"

"Away from here! Anywhere! We can see the
mermaids! We can climb the mountain and see what lies beyond it. We
can go anywhere we want...together!"

"Now?" He was looking at her as if she had
lost her mind.

"No," she shook her head and gripped his
hands more tightly. "When we are older. We'll escape this place and
never look back at! No dark magic, no more secrets. We can see the
world!"