Anitole's Red Riding Hood Ch. 02

"But he was still a wolf," Persephone said, pulling her legs up to her chest and hugging them slightly as the warmth of the fire began doing its job.

"Yes," her grandmother said, looking into the flames of the fire. "I went to the river quite often in those days. I would take bits of meat and my books and I would sit with his head in my lap reading aloud to him, all manner of stories. The first book I read to him was about Alexander the Great of Macedonia It was that book that caused me to start calling him Alexander."

"But when did you find out that he was also a man?"

"In a moment child," her grandmother chided. "I'm coming to that bit. Don't be impatient." The grandmother took up her tea cup and drained it, taking a moment to pour a little more hot water over the strainer before she continued.

"One day a boy from the village followed me to the river. He saw me with the wolf and ran back to tell my parents. My father was furious, he locked me in my room and said I would not come out again unless I had someone to make sure I stayed near the village."

"What did you do?"

"What could I do? I stayed in my room. First, days passed and then weeks. The summer gave way to fall and I was only allowed out for meals with my family and walks in the village square with my father walking within a few paces of me. It was a strange sort of melancholy that overcame me in those days. At night I would dream of the wolf, I would dream of his eyes and the feeling of his fur under my fingertips." The grandmother shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Some nights I would wake up suddenly with the sensation that I was being watched through my window. I would run to the lattice and look out but there would be nothing and no one. I began to think that I was losing my mind."

The grandmother's hands fidgeted slightly in her lap. She reached for her cup of tea and drank. "It was winter when my parents finally began to relent. I was allowed to leave my room and walk about the house and the yard alone. My father allowed me to walk anywhere in the village so long as I had company. The boy who had followed me to the river so many weeks before—he would eventually become your grandfather—he walked with me often, and was very sweet.

"One day, as we walked along the edge of the meadow, I looked up to the tree line of the woods. There was a man there, walking out of the woods, his clothes were very crisp and clean and he carried a walking stick. He walked with a stately sort of purpose toward your grandfather and me. And when he had crossed the meadow to meet us, he removed his hat and bowed to me. 'Hello,' he said, 'I am a traveler and I seem to have lost my way. It's growing dark out and I was wondering if there might be an inn in your village."

Persephone rose to her knees. "Was it him? Was it Alexander?"

"Hush," the grandmother chided. "His suit was of a fine cut and his face was clean and freshly shaven, not a hair seemed out of place. One, at first glance, would have taken him for a dandy or a fop, more concerned with his own appearance than with any other matter of import. My instinct upon meeting him was to dislike him instantly"

"So then it wasn't your wolf?"

The grandmother's eyebrows sank low and Persephone shut her mouth meekly.

"There of course is no inn at the village," the grandmother continued. "There still isn't to this day. So your grandfather and I decided to lead him back to my parents' house. My father and mother were in the habit of letting a spare room on occasion. The traveler introduced himself to my father as Monsieur Alexander, a Frenchman making a survey for the emperor."

"It was him!" Persephone clapped. "And he'd come to rescue you."

"Well, 'rescue' may not have been the term the people of the village might use, but yes, it was my wolf. He introduced himself to my father and mother, and he offered them money for a room for the night. The whole time he spoke to them never once looking at me. Once he had paid my father, I was told to take him upstairs to the spare room we kept for visitors. By that time dusk had begun to fall. I lit a candle and led him up the stairs to his room. He followed quietly with his hands folded behind his back, very respectful and quite the proper gentleman."

"Did he say anything?"

"He was quiet, as I said. I remember trying to engage him in conversation, muttering something about the irony of a map-maker getting lost in the woods... He didn't say anything until we had reached the door to the room he was to have for the night."

"And what did he say then?"

"He took the candle from my hand, bowing to me like a gentleman, and then, before passing into the room, his eyes seemed to change slightly in the flicker from the little light as he said simply, 'The River misses you.' And with that he went in and shut the door."

Persephone looked into the fire that had begun to dwindle in the grate. Outside the wind howled, crashing with great force against the windowpanes. She looked up to find her grandmother staring into the same dying embers in the hearth. "And then?" she asked.

The grandmother took off her spectacles and rubbed her tired eyes. "The rest will wait for another day," she said. "Go up to your loft. It is time for rest, now."

Though Persephone wanted to resist her grandmother's order for bed, she acquiesced, knowing that the old woman would tell the story in her own good time.

In the loft, by the light of her little candle, she listened to the night winds howling long after her grandmother had gone to sleep. She let her mind dwell on the image of her lover as she had seen him that day, naked in the rain, sadness in his eyes, and then after her mind had dwelled some time, she let it wander until finally she felt her eyes close and sleep take hold of her.

~o~

There was feeling of a light breeze across her face. She stirred slightly at the sensation before the hand clamped down over her mouth and she awoke in a sudden panic.

"If you make a sound, it'll be your last." The red-haired woman's eyes seemed to glow green in the darkness and, even though the moonlight was weak, Persephone could make out her brilliantly white sharp teeth. After a moment, the woman removed her hand, slowly. "You will come with me, into the woods."

"Why should I? You'll kill me."

The woman's smile grew wider. "I could kill you here and now just as easily. Your grandmother is no one to scare me out of such action. Come, get dressed. We must talk." With that the woman moved to the open window at the back of the loft, climbed out and jumped out onto the ground below. Persephone hesitated only an instant before grabbing her cloak and draping it over the shoulders of her nightgown. She tugged on shoes and went to the window. She looked down to see the woman waiting impatiently, her arms crossed. "Come on. We haven't got all night."

~o~

The she-wolf was off and over the low stone wall that separated the garden from the rough scrub and bramble in a flash. She had not transformed in the moonlight as Persephone had anticipated, but still, though she was still in her human form, the she-wolf moved with incredible speed.

Persephone followed after only a second's hesitation and was already far behind the she-wolf as she jumped the wall, making her way along a deer-run.

When Persephone reached the crest of the small hill, the she-wolf stood waiting. "You're not very fast."

"Sorry," Persephone panted, slightly winded. "I didn't know it was a race."

"If it were I'd win," the she-wolf said. "I'm the fastest, you know. Nothing can outrun me. Not even your boyfriend."

"Where is he? Are you taking me to him?"

"I've no idea where he is."

"What do you want with me?"

"I'll tell you once we've gone a bit further into the woods," the she-wolf turned and began sprinting again at top speed.

Persephone did her best to keep the she-wolf in sight, and the she-wolf stopped every so often to make sure the red cape and hood were still within her sight. They moved like that for what seemed like miles until finally the deer-run opened up into a clearing. Persephone came into the clearing to find the she-wolf sitting still in the center, her legs folded underneath her, her head cocked back in a sort of silent contemplation of the night sky.

"Is this where you wanted to bring me?"

The she-wolf did not respond to Persephone's query. Instead, she sat quietly pondering the sky, as if she were watching some event of great and indescribable beauty unfolding among the stars. Persephone walked around her quietly and took in the bright glow of her pale face and vermillion eyes in the moonlight.

Persephone sat on the ground in front of the she-wolf, looking up, wondering what could hold her companion's attention so raptly.

"They say..." the she-wolf began, looking down into Persephone's eyes. "That very few creatures understand the concept of fidelity. Wolves, for instance, are among the only creatures in nature which mate for life. This is a lesson taught to us when we are young. We are told to emulate the wolf, for the wolf is the nobler half of our being."

Persephone sat silently a moment. The she-wolf contemplated the silence and then continued.

"You have been chosen to receive the love of a wolf," she sighed. "The males choose mates in our culture and none should question it. But in your case, as in a very few previous cases, the wolf has been misguided and unorthodox in his selecting you. Humans are ignoble. We are taught to shun them and avoid them; their civilization is too convoluted and unnatural. They once were like us, but they lost their way long ago."

"If you're trying to be insulting..."

"Shut up."

Persephone's jaw tightened, she wanted to tell the she-wolf what she could go and do to herself, but she said nothing.

"Do you love him?"

"Peter?"

The she-wolf made a face. "He said you had given him a label."

"A name," Persephone corrected.

"Very well, if he has accepted the name I can do nothing about it. Do you love him?"

Persephone leaned forward, pulling her hood back and away so the she-wolf could see her face. "What's it to you?"

The pain exploded across Persephone's face before she had even seen the she-wolf's hand move. Her face hit the grass-covered ground and in a second she felt herself pulled up by her hair. The she-wolf's sharp teeth spat words in her face. "Do you honestly think I will take any sign of insolence from you? He defended you on the path and I relented out of respect for him. He is prince among our clan, and for that reason alone did I spare your life."

"Did you tell the others about me?"

Persephone looked fearlessly into the she-wolf's eyes, already knowing the answer to the question.

The she-wolf released her grip on Persephone's dark hair. She walked to the edge of the clearing in silence.

"You mock me?"

"No," Persephone said.

The she-wolf turned, her eyes were damp and shown brighter in the moonlight. "Your secret is safe as long as I can keep it. He... Peter," she said the name slowly, as if adjusting to it, "Peter has been a prince in my heart for quite a long time. It is hard for me to feel anything but pain that he has chosen another over me."

Persephone swallowed hard, brushing her hands through her hair. "You're mad at me?"

"No. A bit irritated that he should choose a human over me, after what his father went through so many years ago. It is no secret that the great gray elder mingled with a human female and that the coupling nearly destroyed them both."

"My grandmother..."

"Even she," the she-wolf nodded. "And in their case the coupling was dissolved when she returned to her human world leaving him broken. Make no mistake, girl, if that happens to my love I will not let it stand. My vengeance will envelope you and all that you hold dear. I will see your village burned to a cinder, your grandmother's house will be swallowed up by the forest. And you will be made to watch it all."

Persephone's mouth was suddenly very dry as she realized she had been staring deeply into the she-wolf's eyes and in them she was certain she could see the scenes described in the menacing threats.

The she-wolf blinked and the sinister look on her face dissolved. "There. With that out of the way, we can now be friends. What are you called in your human tongue?"

"P-Persephone."

"Very well, Persephone. And what name would you devise for me?"

"I..." Persephone shook her head. She took in the girl's flowing russet hair, in the silvery moonlight it seemed to shine from within. "How about Autumn?"

"Autumn? Is that not a name of a season."

"Yes. But your hair, i-it reminds me of autumn leaves."

"I'll accept that name, then," the she-wolf said, moving in close to Persephone with a sudden rush.

Persephone cringed, thinking the sudden movement was one of violence, instead she felt herself enveloped in the she-wolf's arms. She opened her eyes to find the she-wolf hugging her firmly. "We will be friends," the she-wolf said. "I will care for you as if you were my own pup. So long as you are the first in my love's sight, you shall also be the first in mine."

"Th-thanks." Persephone could feel the she-wolf's arms around her. The embrace had been sudden but oddly, as Persephone adjusted to it, it felt comforting to feel the she-wolf's breath by her ear. Persephone reached her hands around her new companion and returned the embrace, adding the new name to her thanks. "Thank you, Autumn."

The embrace lasted a second longer than was necessary and when the she-wolf pulled away, her smile seemed to glow warm even in the cold half-moon light. "You are very pretty, for a human girl," Autumn said. "And you smell of sweet flowers and my beloved." Autumn looked down at her own bare feet. "I'm sorry, I should not call him that anymore. He is yours, now."

Persephone reached out a hand to touch the face of the she-wolf. There was a sadness in her animal eyes that drew Persephone closer to her. "You're very beautiful. I hate that I've made you sad."

Autumn reached up and held Persephone's hand against her cheek. "You are so warm," she said, and then she turned her head to kiss the palm of Persephone's hand, softly with her full pale pink lips. "It's no wonder he chose you to love."

As the she-wolf's lips continued to softly press kisses into Persephone's palm, Persephone looked over to the bit of scrub that had caught her red cloak. She was unprotected from this wolf, vulnerable, and yet she found herself oddly comforted.

The she-wolf was about the same size as Persephone in her human form. A bit thinner in the hips and waist, with a small face atop a neck that seemed only a few centimeters too long. The length, thickness, and quantity of her hair added to the impression of her size. The dark red barely reflected any of the moonlight, and fell in thick unruly ringlets over the she-wolf's tunic.

There was something girlish in the way the she-wolf moved, and her voice, when she spoke softly was supple and utterly feminine despite being deep and commanding.

"When you're not trying to blow me away," Persephone said with a smile. "You're really quite beautiful. Autumn suits you for a name."

The she-wolf's eyes met Persephone's and the two of them smiled at each other, and then, without ceremony, the she-wolf turned on her heel and began walking back in the direction of the cottage. "Friends, then," she said over her shoulder. "Now I must take you back so that your grandmother will not discover you have gone in the night."

Persephone did not linger very long, but couldn't help but smile at her odd new friend. Something was comforting about having Autumn on her side.