The Candy Cottage

by GinStan

Different versions of our favorite ladies in a bit of a twist from the classic fairy tale.

A/N: Okay... so here's a strange little tale I twisted out of a well known fairy tale. It is a DWP uber, so it's not exactly the characters we know, but they have similar characteristics. :) I couldn't get them out of my head though, so I had to write them out. To be honest this story could probably use some more tweaking, but I've been working on it for a long time and I'm, quite-frankly sick of looking at it, so I'm calling it done. I did post it on the Facebook group and the people there gave me some lovely feedback. Not sure if I managed to incorporate any of the comments into the story or not. And I did have Jazwriter look it over for me, but then of course I made a bunch of changes, so any of the grammar stuff you see that is correct, that's Jazzy... any of the incorrect stuff, that would be all mine. :)

Anyway, if I don't post it now, it won't ever get posted. So here ya go. Hope you like it enough to at least think it wasn't a waste of time to read. :)

The Candy Cottage

by Gin

The storyteller's eyes glittered as the group of children in front of her leaned forward slightly, eager to hear this part.

"Then we heard a voice from inside the candy house... it said ?" She tilted her ear toward the audience.

"Nibble nibble like a mouse, who is nibbling at my house?" The children chorused. "It was Hansel!"

"That's right!" The old woman chuckled. "My naughty brother had broken off a corner of the roof and started eating it!"

"Tell us about the witch!"

"Ohhh... she was an evil thing, all twisted and horrible, with terrible stringy hair and horrible long wrinkled filthy fingers... just waiting to gobble up tender young children who stray too far from home..."

"Gretel!" Maria sighed as she approached the group that had gathered in the village square. "Please don't scare the children so!"

"Oh... pfft..." Gretel waved off the complaint. "Despite the color of your hair, you aren't old enough to tell me what to do." She gestured to her audience. "They're fine."

"Ya... we'll see how 'fine' they are when they wake in the middle of the night terrified by their dreams of wicked witches."

"Meh," Gretel scoffed. "The witch is gone. We closed her inside the oven. The iron door locked from the outside. We escaped. She did not."

"Yes, well, be that as it may, the story still frightens some of the young ones." Maria ran her fingers over her prematurely white hair, down the long braid, and gestured for her children to accompany her. "Come girls. We must be home with supper on the table when Stefan arrives."

"Yes, Mama." Elisabeth and Emma stood quickly to follow their mother home.

Maria sighed because she knew how they hated their stepfather and also knew that there would be little or no food on the table for them.

###

"Where did you get this?!" Stefan growled as he broke the small loaf of bread, taking more than half of it for himself before he tossed the rest to Maria.

"I did some washing for Anna..." Maria gave each of the girls a piece of bread.

"What?!" Slamming his beefy hand down on the table, Stefan shouted, "So, you're a washer woman now?!"

"It was not a hardship. We have so little to wash..." Maria saw it coming but didn't duck. She went with the motion, lessening the impact of his fist on her cheek somewhat. It still took her to the floor.

"Are you saying I don't provide enough for you? A lowly woodsman is not good enough for you? Maybe you'd rather I be a smith like Kurt? Apparently they have enough to give away. He should have enough with what he charges for his services." He raged, "You would be huddling out in the cold if I had not taken you in! No one else would have you know... for all your beauty, you're far too old for most to marry... and even your medical knowledge doesn't outweigh your burden of two demon children, you're lucky even I deigned to shelter you."

"No... I know... and I thank you!" She knew better than to point out that the bread was all they had to eat tonight. Maria held up her hands to fend off another strike and to try and calm him. "We have plenty. Anna has seven children and is heavy with the one nearly here. I was just helping her. She gave me the bread as a thank you. That's all." There was another reason, but she wasn't about to go into that with the angry man. He would only call her crazy.

Taking a deep breath, Stefan calmed down somewhat, enough to not hit Maria again at least. Turning on his heel, he grabbed the pieces of bread from in front of the children and stomped out the door.

"Mama!" The girls rushed to assist their mother off the floor.

"Shhh..." Maria blinked through the pain and held her children close. "I'll be fine, Dearlings... do not worry." Sitting back down at the table, Maria divided the small section of bread she'd kept for herself. "Eat, please."

"No, Mama." Elisabeth shook her head and refused to take the chunk. "You need to eat, too."

"I will be fine..." Maria again offered the food to the girl. "We will go into the forest tomorrow to forage." Patting her child's hand, Maria assured her, "I will be fine until then."

Emma scowled. "We wouldn't be hungry if Papa was still here."

"Shhh..." Maria waved the girl to silence. "You must not say such things!" She nervously scanned the empty room. Her blue eyes resting briefly on the door the man had exited through. "If Stefan had heard you, I would not be able to protect you from his rage."

"He's not here." Elisabeth scoffed and tore her bread apart. She kept the larger bit but offered the smaller section back to her mother. "And you must eat as well."

Reluctantly, Maria took the bit. "You aren't..." She encompassed both of her children with her smile. "Just because you have red hair and look very similar to each other, does not make you demons." She hugged them tightly. "You are my special gifts." She had been amazed to have two children at once, but after they had arrived, Maria was thrilled with the girls. It had been easier when Hans had been with them. He had helped when they were smaller. He had not loved her as she would have wished, but the children, he did love them so. Pulling herself out of her memories, Maria saw that the children had finished their bread. "Come now... time for bed."

They prepared for bed and as Maria was tucking them in, Emma asked, "Will he be back tonight?"

"I don't know, Dearling..." Maria brushed the girl's red hair away from her face. "Don't worry about it."

"Good night, Mama." Elisabeth curled against her sister, glad for the warmth of the quilts that their mother had made from the scraps they had gathered.

"Good night my Dearlings..." Maria kissed each girl on the forehead and moved away, blowing out the candle as she went. Emma's question rattled in her mind, Will he be back tonight? She truly didn't know. Maria sighed as she also slipped into bed. She hoped not.

A shiver passed through her as she gingerly rested her cheek on the pillow. It was not like the feeling she'd gotten at the river's edge earlier today. This one was made of dread. The one earlier was comprised of the eerie sense of someone watching her. It was the main reason she had offered to help Anna. She didn't want to walk from the river back to her small hovel alone. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew, someone had been watching her, from the woods. It had happened several times now. With a small chuckle at herself, Maria rolled her eyes and chided herself quietly, "Of course, Maria, it was Hansel's wicked witch, just laying in wait for you."

"You call this breakfast?!"

"It is all we have, Stefan." Maria had known better than to use the last of their grain last night. Stefan always demanded a bowl of porridge before he left for the day. She had no idea what she was going to do about that tomorrow. She also knew better than to ask him for any money to buy more grain, not when he was in this sort of mood. His late return and restless sleep were never good omens for the next morning. "I was hoping to take the girls foraging today... perhaps we can..." The look in his eye closed her throat and stilled her tongue. His growling words made her heart clench.

"You have washing to do." Hard eyes turned to the children. "The girls can come with me into the forest and see what they can find..."

"I finished the washing yesterday," Maria protested. "I can take them." The back of Stefan's hand across her cheek slammed her against the wall.

"If you don't do our washing, then do someone else's. You're good at that, right?" He sneered, "I'm sure anything they "thank" you with will be more than these useless demon spawn will find anyway." He took the nearly full bowl of porridge and flung it into the fire. "That was disgusting. Never prepare it that way again." He shrugged on his heavy coat and grabbed his ax. "I must sharpen my ax," he told the children. "Don't take too long to ready yourselves." He walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

Maria worked quickly, dreading what was to come. "Girls, listen to me. You must run from him. Take care of each other, and find your way home. You cannot stay with Stefan in the forest. He spoke in his sleep last night. He means to kill you."

"Yes, Mama." The girls' eyes were wide with fear, but they didn't doubt their mother's words.

Tears trailed from Maria's eyes. "Please, stay safe. Hide from him. If you cannot find your way home, I will find you. Remember your Papa's lessons?"

"Yes, Mama." Emma nodded, "We remember."

"Good... good..." Those had been happier times, if not for her, then for the children at least. Hans had been a good provider, as she had hoped Stefan would be as well, being in the same profession. Hans had been a hard worker, though. Stefan only did as much as immediately necessary for his own survival and often seemed angry that three more people couldn't live on what he usually did. Maria finished helping the girls with their threadbare coats, then held them to her tightly. "I love you, my Dearlings. Please stay safe."

She walked them to the door and hugged herself as she watched her babies follow Stefan into the forest. Maria closed her eyes, unwilling to watch anymore, but it was not within her power to close her ears. The tune Stefan was whistling as he walked away was almost cheerful, and it sickened her. When the sound faded, Maria rolled up her sleeves and walked toward the river. She hoped there would be someone there to help, quickly. Someone willing to part with at least a small loaf of bread. She wanted to follow her children as fast as possible, but to come home empty-handed would mean a beating for sure. She wasn't sure she didn't deserve it, for allowing the girls to fend for themselves, for sending them off with Stefan.

###

"Where are we going?" Emma glanced at her sister even as she questioned the man leading them. "Aren't we going to stay near the edge of the trees?"

"No," Stefan laid the ax on his shoulder as he continued to walk. "The storm that passed through last month felled a tree deep inside the woods. It will have had time to dry somewhat, and now I'm going to chop it." He glared at the girls. "Besides, if you two are to forage for anything edible, you will need to look far deeper into the forest than the edge of the trees. Anything that had been there will have all been taken long ago by others in the village."

Elisabeth pressed her lips together, holding back a reply that would surely get her the back of Stefan's hand across her face, and merely nodded. As they continued to walk slowly behind the man, both girls kept an eye on the shining edge of the ax.

###

Maria walked to the river's edge and sighed a bit of relief when she saw the group of women already there. She approached Anna first. "Good morning, Anna. Would you perhaps need help with your washing again today?"

"If it were only my children's clothes, then I would say yes. These are my husband's things, and he would rather only I tend them." Anna smiled and gestured to the others gathered there. "Perhaps Gertrude or Frieda would require aid today."

Nodding at that, Maria took a deep breath. "Perhaps. Thank you, Anna." She moved quickly toward the other women, hoping they would accept her offer of assistance and possibly be able to part with some small amount of food as compensation. Time was of the essence though. She needed to finish this task as soon as possible in order to go find the girls and bring them home. It was far too cold at night for them to stay in the woods without shelter. The village elders had even predicted that an early snow would fall soon.

The thought of snow was terrifying. The winters here were long and harsh. Once the snow began, it would not stop. Often practically burying the village and making roads impassable for many weeks. Maria knew they would not survive another winter trapped in their hovel with Stefan.

Pushing thoughts of the future away, Maria concentrated on the here and now. Plastering a smile on her face, she approached the other women in the village hopefully and wondered if it was possible to actually live on hope.

###

Elisabeth tried to keep track of the landmarks as Emma pulled her through the underbrush at a frantic pace. She wanted to protest, but from the loud crashing behind them, she knew if they slowed Stefan would catch them and kill them. After what seemed like an eternity, Emma slowed their pace. They both tried to catch their breath as they listened to make sure Stefan was no longer following them.

"I think we are safe." Emma gasped and sat on the moss-covered ground, pressing her back against a large tree.

Elisabeth found a place next to her sister and took a deep breath. She looked around, shaking her head as she did. "We are far from safe, sister." A wolf howled in the distance. She tried to find a reference point to help them return home. "Do you know where we are?"

"No." Emma pointed to the direction she thought they came. "We can backtrack."

"We're staying right here," Elisabeth chided her sister, pointing in the opposite direction Emma was and added, "and we came from that way."

"Oh." Emma's bottom lip began to quiver.

"No!" Elisabeth demanded, "Do not cry. We have to decide a course of action."

Emma took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. After she was calm, she inhaled a few more times. "Elisabeth, do you smell that?"

Sniffing the air, Elisabeth frowned, "Smoke." She stood and, following her nose, cautiously led her sister toward the aroma. It was possible that Stefan had built a fire to draw them out. She hoped not. She hoped that it was anything but that because it was getting cold, and smoke meant fire, which meant heat. They would need that while they waited for their mother to find them.

###

Johanna pushed a bit of her dark, stringy hair out of her eyes as she prepared the vegetables she'd harvested from her garden this morning. She needed a thorough bath, but there was too much to do. She'd spent too much time lately at the river's edge. She was there almost all day yesterday, and all signs pointed to visitors today.

"That should do it." She grinned as the house seemed to rumble slightly in the wind.

Dumping the vegetables she'd just diced into the pot hanging over her fire, she stopped for a moment and nodded, feeling the presence of visitors near her home. Almost on cue at the thought, she heard muffled voices outside and the crack of a shingle. Without much thought about it, Johanna crossed the room, opened the door, and spoke to her visitors.

"Nibble nibble, like a mouse. Who is nibbling at my house?"

There were two children standing at the corner of her home, just where the gingerbread shingles hung low enough to reach. The corner of one shingle was, predictably, missing. She smiled at them, then furrowed her forehead as they screamed and ran away. The only reason Johanna was able to catch them was that they tried to run through the underbrush instead of pelting down the small walkway that connected the cottage to an overgrown path through the woods. She caught up with them quickly and they screamed again as Johanna wrapped her arms around their shoulders. Her hands, still filthy from peeling and chopping vegetables covered their mouths. "Shhh..." she assured them. "I will not harm you."

Both children stiffened in her arms. At first she thought they were scared of her, but then she heard the footsteps and the deep voice.

"Where are you, you little demons?!"

She released their mouths as she took their small hands in hers and whispered, "Come with me, quickly."

Leading them back to the candy cottage, they stepped across the threshold just as a man came into view. Johanna held their hands tightly and ordered, "Do not move." Her dark eyes watched as the scowling man passed in front of the cottage. He scanned the area, trying to find a trace of the children. At one point he looked directly into Johanna's eyes. A wolf howled somewhere close by, and thunder rolled in the distance. He snarled in frustration before moving off, swinging the ax in front of him.

"I'll find you," he roared into the trees, "or the wolves and weather will get you tonight! Either way, I won't have to feed you anymore."

Johanna held them still until they could no longer hear the swing of the man's ax. She pulled them into the house, closing the door quietly. "Well, it seems you two are not among his favorite people."

Emma nodded, "He wants to kill us."

"Emma!" Elisabeth scolded her sister. "Quiet!"

"She saved us!" Emma moved closer to Johanna but didn't touch the woman.

"Yes, she did." Suspicion crossed Elisabeth's face. "How did you do that? He looked right at you!"

Johanna smiled. "We were standing inside the door." She gestured to the room around them. "This is an enchanted cottage. No one can see it unless they are pure of heart." Seeing the confusion on their faces, Johanna elaborated. "Children... this house was designed to attract... children."

Elisabeth gasped, "You're the witch!"

"Ah!" Johanna held up her hand, one finger extended. "Some people call me a witch... yes." She blinked and looked at her filthy hand, then realized her hair was also tousled like a rat's nest. "Good grief, no wonder you screamed when you saw me." She laughed and led them to the table. "Wait here." They watched in confusion as the woman exited the room, but they did not move. The danger outside held them in their places.

###

Maria thanked the women and held the generous gifts in her hands as she made her way back to the hovel she now called home.

When she arrived, she looked around the tiny room and her breath caught as her blue eyes landed on the empty alcove where the girls usually slept. Without another thought, she stripped the thin quilts off their small bed, quickly wrapping their meager belongings and all but one loaf of bread from the food she had received from her washing efforts. She wouldn't eat any of it yet, not until she found the girls.

Shrugging on her own threadbare coat and shouldering the pack she had just created, Maria looked around the room again. No matter what happened in the forest this afternoon, neither she nor her girls would be back here. As she left, she picked up Hans' old ax. It was not sharp, but even the blunt end to the back of a man's head would do the job.

###

"Okay." Johanna returned to the main room of her cottage, still drying her just washed hair with an absorbent cloth. "Sorry for scaring you."

Emma stepped up, "You're pretty." She offered the item in her hand, the corner of the gingerbread shingle she had taken, to the woman. "I'm sorry I broke your house."

Johanna grinned, refusing the sweet. "Come with me." She led them outside, back to the corner of the house where she'd first seen them. "I told you this is an enchanted house. You did no harm." She gestured to the shingle. "You see, it has already replaced itself." Reaching up she broke off a largish piece taking a tiny bit for herself and handing the rest to Elisabeth. Taking a bite of the gingerbread, Johanna urged the girls to eat it. "It really is quite good." She watched as they both began to nibble on their pieces. Now that the immediate threat was over, Johanna saw how thin the girls were. "Perhaps some real food would be better for you?"

"Food?"

Now Johanna's heart broke, the tone of the child's voice and what could only be called desperation shining in each set of similar eyes. "Yes, Mausi. Food. One cannot live on gingerbread alone." She gestured for them to return to the house. As they passed by the cookie window ledge, she absently broke off a section, murmuring to herself, and winked at them. "For later." The window sill and roof shingle were both repaired before Johanna and the girls stepped inside the door.

Once inside, she set the table quickly and stirred the pot hanging over the fire. After a taste test, she ladled out three bowlfuls of the vegetable soup that had been simmering there. "Be careful. It is hot." Replacing the small pot on its hanger, Johanna retrieved a loaf of bread from the cabinet and set it on the table, too. Her dark eyes widened as the girls risked burning their mouths to gobble down the soup. "Easy, slow down." She sat and tore off a hunk of the bread for herself. "How long has it been since you two have eaten?"

"We had some bread yesterday." Elisabeth scooped up another bite of the vegetables. "I don't remember before that."

"There were some mushrooms, three days ago." Emma said, "They were good.. and Mama made us some porridge last week."

Trying to control her shock at the hunger the children must have experienced, Johanna turned the conversation slightly. "Your Mama will be worried about you."

"She'll be coming to find us soon." Emma continued to shovel the food into her mouth. "We need to figure out how to get back to where Stefan took us so we can meet her halfway."

Dunking her bread in her soup, Johanna took the flavorful bite and chewed thoughtfully. "Is she hungry, too?"

They nodded, and Emma answered, "Probably more than we are."

Elisabeth sighed. "She often gives us her food. Stefan took the bread we were supposed to have yesterday. She only kept a few bites for herself."

"You mean she hasn't had anything except a few bites of bread to eat in four days?" Johanna was appalled. She remembered the very thin, very beautiful woman she'd seen down by the river. She was part of the group of women washing their clothes. Johanna had been so fascinated with that woman she had returned many time to observe her. The others there had called her Maria. "Does your mother have long white hair?"

"Yes," Emma used a bit of bread to gather the last of the soup from her bowl. "She says it's one of her best features."

"You say she's coming into the woods to find you?"

Elisabeth nodded and told Johanna everything, about what a good father they had and his premature passing, about Stefan taking them in and the man's cruelty. She also related what Stefan had said in his sleep. "Mama told us to hide from him and that she would find us."

"She will not find you here." Johanna stood slowly. "I will go, find her, and bring her here." She pinned each girl with a glare. "You must stay here for your safety. I will return with your mother."

They nodded, each of them now looking forlornly at their empty soup bowls. She smiled. "Help yourself to more soup, bread, and cheese. There is milk and butter in the ice chest. Make yourself at home." Donning her thick warm coat, Johanna nodded to them and repeated, "Stay here."

###

The trees closed in around her. These were not like the woods they had explored in their previous village. Hans had shown them all how to find their way through those, using the trees and the streams as their guides. Now the darkening sky obscured details she needed and increased her panic. Her children wouldn't be able to find their way through this, either. She had tracked Stefan and the girls to a small clearing that showed signs of a struggle. A path away from the site clearly showed that the girls had run away and Stefan chased them. "Oh, my girls..." She tracked the broken twigs and disturbed foliage, hoping to find her children safe and whole. "I am so sorry," she spoke to her absent children, "Hold on... please. Find a place to hide..." Tears rolled down her face. "Please be safe."

"Don't cry."

Maria whirled, holding the ax up in front of her as she peered into the darkness. "Who's there?"

"A friend."

"Show yourself!" Maria gripped the ax handle tightly.

"Be calm. My name is Johanna." The woman moved out of the shadows so that Maria could see her. "You are looking for your children, Elisabeth and Emma..."

"What? Yes! Where are they?!" The ax wavered. "What have you done with them?!"

"Shhh... They're safe." Holding up her hands to show them empty, Johanna gestured back the way she came. "I will show you where they are. Come with me."

"They're safe?" Relief flooded through her, and Maria blinked as she suddenly lost all feeling in her fingers. She watched as the ax seemed to drop slowly to the ground. Her knees weakened, and she began to follow the tool. However, before she could fall, surprisingly strong arms surrounded her.

"I've got you." Johanna shifted her burden, concerned at the slight weight. Even with the makeshift pack, the woman in her arms weighed practically nothing and, with only a small amount of effort she retrieved the ax as well. Leaving it for Stefan to find wasn't even an option. Carrying the now unconscious woman back to the cottage, Johanna could only hope Maria would wake soon.

Johanna smiled as Maria's vivid blue eyes fluttered open. "Hello. Feeling better?" She brushed a lock of white hair off the woman's forehead then wiped the cleared space with a damp cloth. "You gave the girls quite a scare."

Maria gasped and sat straight up in the bed. "My girls!"

"Shhh..." Johanna pressed her hands against Maria's shoulders, settling her back against the headboard.

"I want to see my girls."

"Easy... they are in the other room, sleeping. You have been unconscious for several hours." She set aside the washcloth and picked up a small bowl. "Here. Try to eat something."

"I want to see them!"

"Are you always this stubborn?" Johanna shook her head, setting the bowl aside. "Come then..." She wrapped her arm around Maria's waist and assisted her into the other bedroom. "You see? Sleeping soundly."

Maria watched her daughters chests rise and fall as they cuddled with each other on the small bed. They were safe, just as this woman had said. She whispered, "Did they also eat?"

"Yes, between them they finished off a pot of soup." She led her guest back to the larger bedroom. Settling Maria in, with her back to the headboard, Johanna handed her the bowl. "Your turn."

Taking a tentative sip, Maria closed her eyes at the flavor. "It's delicious."

"It is only vegetable broth." Johanna spoke softly, "Perhaps in the morning you can try something solid."

Maria drank the warm liquid. "Thank you." Setting the empty container aside, Maria slid down under the thick blankets. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sleep so much."

"You're entitled." Again brushing the one stray lock of white hair that fell across Maria's forehead and right eye, Johanna whispered, "Sweet dreams."

###

"Mama!" Emma jumped up from the table and nearly knocked Maria over with an enthusiastic hug.

"Good morning, Dearlings." Maria held her daughter tightly, only shifting her hold slightly to accommodate Elisabeth as well. "I'm so glad you are both safe!"

"Johanna saved us!" Emma sighed as she looked across the room at their hostess. "She's wonderful."

The musical laughter coming from the young brunette enchanted Maria. In contrast to her smile, Maria's voice was serious. "I am eternally in her debt."

"A little soup and a place to sleep..."

"It was more than that," Maria crossed the room and placed her hand on Johanna's forearm. She now noticed that she had to tilt her head up slightly to meet Johanna's eyes. "And I am forever grateful."

"Look, Mama." Elisabeth returned to her seat and gestured to the half-empty plate in front of her. "Pan cakes like we used to have when Papa was here."

Emma almost bounced in place. "With butter, berry jam and honey!"

Johanna chuckled from where she stood and gestured to the small pot also sitting on the table. "There is porridge if you would rather." She continued to break the loaf of bread in her hand into tiny crumbs, dropping them into a large wooden bowl in front of her.

"Thank you." Maria scooped some of the thick cereal out of the pot and chose a small spoon from the many in the holder on the table. She took a bite of the warm, delicious mixture of grains and looked around the fairly large room she was in as she chewed. The fire was going, popping pleasantly from time to time, warming them nicely. There were five doors. One she knew led to the bedroom she had been sleeping in, another one led to the smaller bedroom the girls had been in last night. One was the door to the front, because there was a small window next to it allowing her to see outside. One of the others was probably a back door, although it had no window to confirm that guess. The last door was a mystery.

It wasn't the doors that caught her attention, though. It was the abundance of food in this room. Everywhere she looked, she saw a variety of herbs and spices hanging from racks to dry, pottery jars of preserves filled several shelves, and all manner of vegetables and fruits were neatly piled in ceramic pots, bowls, and baskets around the room. A large, woven basket sat on the preparation table where Johanna stood, and despite the woman's activity, it remained nearly filled to the brim with brown, crusty loaves of bread. Three good-sized cheese wheels were stacked next to the breadbasket. Managing to swallow her bite, Maria could not bring herself to eat another.

Johanna noticed Maria's distress. "Do you not like it? It is rather bland..." Halting her task, Johanna moved closer to the table. "There is jam and honey you may add to it, or I have some sugar in the cupboard."

"No... it's..." Maria found her voice. "It's delicious. I just don't know how we can ever repay you..."

Kneeling next to Maria, Johanna rested her arms on the arm of the chair. "Repayment is not necessary. It is something you need, so I will provide it." She grinned, and as she slowly stood, she moved closer to Maria's ear to whisper, "I don't even like porridge."

As she moved back to her task, Johanna spoke conversationally. "There is, however, much to be done around here. So after you break your fasts, if you would assist me?"

"Oh!" Maria nodded immediately, "Of course." She tried to ignore the slight tingling the woman's whisper had sent down her spine and took another bite of her cereal.

"We're already done." Elisabeth alternated pointing between herself, her sister, and their empty plates. "What would you like us to do?"

Smiling at that, Johanna tilted her head slightly in the direction of the sink. "First, you wash your dishes." She exchanged an amused look with Maria and continued to crumble the bread loaves while the girls busied themselves with the dishes and sudsy water.

Maria's heart thumped in a pleasant rhythm as she ate her breakfast and watched her children interacting with their hostess. After they'd washed their plates, the woman had put the girls to work, helping her crumble the bread loaves into the large bowl. Before she realized it, her porridge bowl was empty. Without being told, she carried it to the sink, washing it and her spoon thoroughly. She was a bit embarrassed, but spoke quietly to Johanna. "I'm afraid I've left some porridge in the pot."

"That is not a problem." Johanna finished crumbling the chunk of bread in her hands then brushed her hands together quickly. She moved the uneaten porridge to the edge of the hearth so it would remain warm. "Shall we move to the backyard? There are some things to be done in the garden."

Nodding at that, Maria directed the girls, "Please go get your coats..."

"You can get them," Johanna smiled, "but you won't need them."

"The girls chill easily." Maria helped them with their coats and pulled on her own thin overcoat.

Johanna picked up the bowl of breadcrumbs and moved to the door that Maria had correctly identified earlier as exiting to the back of the house. Opening it, she gestured for them all to precede her outside.

Maria only had a few heartbeats to prepare herself as her children ran ahead of her and gasped in surprise when they stepped across the threshold. She withheld her own gasp, but only barely. "What is this?"

"My garden." Johanna's eyes twinkled in apparent amusement. "Do you like it?"

"It's lovely." Maria looked around at the colorful patch of land. Flowers were blooming, and plants were growing in the warm sun. There was no fence but there were tall hedges and various trees growing very close together that created the boundaries of the space. In the far back corner she noticed an outhouse almost hidden between two of the large tree trunks. "But how is it possible?" She took her coat off, noticing that the girls had also already shed theirs.

"As the cottage is enchanted, so too is the garden." Johanna looked around. "It provides everything a person could need on a daily basis." Her eyes took on a harder expression. "The previous occupant chose to neglect this part of the property's benefits." She set the breadcrumbs aside and knelt next to a colorful flowerbed. Picking three fragrant blooms, she stood, breaking the stems off the flowers. "I, however," Johanna tucked one of the flowers into each of the girls' hair, just over their right ear before doing the same with the last one to Maria's lovely white locks, "tend to exploit them."

"Well," Maria found her voice and looked at anything except Johanna. "It's beautiful."

"Yes." Johanna's dark eyes remained locked on Maria. "Beautiful."

The girls were exploring the garden, oblivious to the exchange. "What do we do first?" A corner of the space drew their attention. "Chicken nests! Do you have chickens?" They both searched the area for the animals.

"I do... and I don't." Johanna picked up her bowl and moved to the nest area. She filled a narrow trough there with bread crumbs. "I hear them, sometimes... but never see them. I fill their food tray daily, and every morning I find eggs in the nest. There were six this morning." She pointed to a post with a hitching ring on it. "The same way every morning a cow appears for me to milk." Johanna gestured to a small trough with a pump at the end and a feed bucket next to the post. "I feed and water the animal while it is here."

"What happens to it when you're finished with the milking?" Maria was amazed at the convenience of the arrangement. She had not understood the reference to the enchanted cottage but seeing the strangeness of the garden she was beginning to feel uneasy. This was truly witchcraft.

Johanna shrugged, "I don't know. I milk them, they eat the food, and when next I look, they are gone." She admitted, "It is not the same animal every day, but I have noticed a pattern to the rotation. They are all docile creatures." Clapping her hands together, Johanna smiled. "The first thing we should do is harvest the corn, then pick the pole beans."

Nodding, the girls ran to the small patch of corn, quickly divesting the plants of the ripe ears.

Maria watched the girls happily tearing the corn ears away from the stalks. "I should be terrified of this...of you." She looked up at Johanna, seeing a bit of sadness appear in her large, dark eyes. "You truly are a witch, aren't you?"

"No, but, I suppose I am... in a way. I have not hidden my nature from you or the girls." Johanna sighed. "Magic. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. Does it?"

"I..." Maria's heart went out to the young woman, and she did seem to be above all else, a young woman. There were certain connotations associated with the term "witch". None of them apparently applied to Johanna. "I... guess not." Pressing her lips together for a moment, she gathered her courage and began to ask, "Do you..." The question was interrupted by the girls.

"This is all of it." Elisabeth struggled to hold her share of the harvest. Even though she had wrapped the corn in her coat, the ears were still cumbersome.

"There weren't that many plants..." Emma wondered why there were so few. Many of the farmers she knew from the village planted large amounts of corn so that they could sell it at market. This would only make a few meals at most.

Johanna smiled at the childrens' enthusiasm. "Excellent." She pointed to a chair with a large basket next to it sitting on the small back porch. "Put them in front of the chair." Looking down at Maria, the sadness in her eyes faded into concern. "You need to rest." She guided Maria to the seat. "You can sit here and shuck the corn while we pick the beans and other vegetables."

Maria protested as she sat down. "Despite my hair color, I am not an old invalid!"

"Your hair is lovely." Johanna smiled. "But you passed out yesterday. I would rather you regain your strength slowly."

"Please, Mama." Emma climbed onto her mother's lap. "You need to take care of yourself."

Hugging her daughter tightly, Maria sighed. "You're right, Dearling. I will." She didn't feel like she needed rest, not now. The fact was that she had slept better last night than she could ever remember.

"Good." Johanna clapped her hands together and motioned to the girls. "Come. We will make quick work of the beans and give your Mama more work snapping them." She grinned at the not so amused look on Maria's face. "Please put the waste in the basket next to you." Pouring the rest of the bread crumbs in a pile next to a tiny opening in the hedges, she handed the bowl to Maria. "You can put the corn ears in here."

Nodding, Maria took the bowl and began her task. Her conversation with Johanna was not finished, but it could wait. For now. She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to her next question anyway. She almost smiled when she saw movement from the corner of her eye and looked to see some field mice nibbling at the pile of crumbs Johanna had made. Mice normally gave her the shivers, but oddly she thought these were rather cute. Another oddity she noticed was that the very distracting scent of gingerbread coming from somewhere.

###

Elisabeth grinned as she shaped another blob of dough into a rough circle and placed it on the platter. "This is fun!"

Johanna laughed and braided the strands of dough in her hands together. "It can be."

Maria spoke softly. "I rarely had the ingredients to be able to show the girls how to do this." She placed the uncooked bread she'd just shaped onto the platter. "As of late, we've relied on the generosity of others for our bread." She sighed. "Generosity is not something our village is known for." Suddenly Maria remembered. "Where is the food that was in my pack?"

"You had food?" Johanna shook her head. "I didn't know." She pointed to the door to the room Maria had slept in. "The pack is in there, in the wardrobe."

Wiping her hands on a towel, Maria left the room and returned with the items in question before the other three could finish shaping the loaves of bread they were working on.

"I was a bit worried." Maria put the meager rations on the table, two small loaves of bread and a few strips of dried venison. She noticed Johanna's shudder when the venison was laid out. "I saw the mice in the garden eating the crumbs you dumped there, and for a moment thought they might have gotten into the pack."

Johanna laughed again. "No, they are my friends. That is why I fed them the crumbs. They would not eat anything inside the house. If anything they would nibble on the outside." She winked at the girls. "I often have trouble with little mice." Johanna saw that the bread loaves were ready and clapped her hands together, reaching for the platter. "Great. Let's put these in the oven." Elizabeth's eye widened, and Johanna stopped her motion. "What?"

"The oven." Elisabeth swallowed hard and looked at the arched hole in the wall, and the heated space beyond. The oven that Gretel had told them about, where the witch had tried to cook the children. She backed away from it and Johanna. "It's the oven!"

"You even said the thing Gretel said you'd say! About nibbling on the house!" Emma was now backing away from Johanna, too, reaching for her Mama. She was terrified because she had just realized the old woman in the village was telling the truth and an important fact was now thrumming in her blood, "You're the witch!"

"Gretel..." Johanna's breathing increased. "You know Gretel?" She managed to push aside her concern for the terror in the children's eyes and looked to Maria. "You know Gretel?"

Maria held her girls tightly to her side and nodded. "She is an old woman in our village, the innkeeper. She often terrorizes the children with the tale of how she and her brother escaped the witch who lived in the candy house." She shook her head, confused. "What does that have to do with you?"

Emma hid her face in her Mama's side. Her voice was muffled but understandable. "This is the candy cottage!"

"What?!" Maria didn't understand, but she did recall the scent of gingerbread in the air.

Johanna nodded. "You have never seen the front of the house. You were unconscious when I carried you inside." Her voice was hollow, but gentle. "Girls..." She knelt in front of them. "Girls, please..." She waited for them to turn their tear-streaked faces toward her. "This is the candy cottage, but I am not that witch." She pointed to the center of the children's terror. "And that is not the oven in Gretel's story." She assured them. "I destroyed it, and built this one in its place."

The distress in Johanna's voice was easily discerned, but Maria's first priority was to calm down the girls. She recalled the story Gretel had told so many times and looked at the oven they were about to bake bread in. "It's different." She smiled down at her children. "Remember the story? Gretel said it had a door that locked from the outside." She indicated the oven. "This one has no door and no place for one."

Johanna nodded. "There is no need for a door, especially one that locks." She pointed to the arched opening closer to the floor. "There is only the screen to prevent the fire from popping bits out onto the floor."

"You aren't fattening us up...to eat us?" Emma shivered at the thought.

"No." Johanna shook her head and laughed softly. "Definitely not."

"Are you sure?" Elisabeth obviously wasn't entirely convinced. Sure the woman seemed nice, but, even Stefan seemed nice sometimes.

"Positive." Johanna stood. She glanced at the bits of dried venison on the table, shivered, and informed them solemnly, "I don't eat meat." An odd scratching sound at the door drew their attention. Johanna bowed to them, slightly. "Excuse me."

Maria watched as Johanna grabbed the small pot of porridge from its place near the fire and moved to the back door then through it, quickly.

"Is it safe, Mama?" Emma looked around the room, seeing it now from a different perspective. It had seemed so normal but now she thought about all the magical things that went on in the garden. "Do you think she will hurt us?"

"Sometimes people trick you." Elisabeth shivered. "Like the witch in Gretel's story... Johanna's a witch."

Disengaging herself from the girls' grips, Maria moved to the back door and looked outside. She stood there for several long moments, watching Johanna before she returned to her children. Her voice wavered, but not with fear. "She will not harm us. We are safe." Glancing at the oven, Maria asked, "Shall we get the bread going?"

Both girls wiped their cheeks and nodded.

###

Johanna carried the porridge outside and smiled as a tawny colored doe backed away from the door, revealing a thin but scrappy fawn. "Hello, Mama." She bowed to the doe then turned to the baby, and tilted her head, grinning. "Little One." She sat on the edge of the small porch next to the baby deer. "And how are you today?" Dipping her fingers into the warm cereal, she held it out for the baby to eat, laughing as she was barely able to pull them out of his mouth for another scoop. "Hungry are you?" She eyed the doe as she fed the fawn. "There is more than enough for you to graze, corn leaves and shucks, bean plants." She waved her free hand to indicate the garden. "Please, eat what you want."

As the doe wandered away, Johanna returned her attention to the little fawn. "You, sir, are more piggy than deer I think." She scooped another bite for him. "After your mama has eaten, perhaps she will have some milk for you as well."

Stroking the animal's neck, Johanna let the tears she had been holding back flow unhindered down her cheeks. "You cannot help that you were born out of season. I cannot help being... what I am." She smiled sadly at the young animal. "Both come with hardships and rewards." Her thoughts were interrupted by the doe moving closer and nudging her shoulder gently. The nudge was answered with a pat to the adult deer's neck. "Thank you. I will be fine."

After a moment's hesitation, the doe again moved off to eat. Johanna continued to feed the fawn, unaware of the watcher from the house or what Maria had seen and heard.

###

The bread was baking, and they had eaten the dried venison strips before Johanna returned. Maria felt the sadness in the air as the young woman glanced at them, tried to smile, then went on to the sink to wash out the small porridge pot.

The afternoon continued with various tasks, mostly revolving around preparing food; baking or chopping vegetables. They had stopped midday to enjoy one of the loaves of bread, slicing it into thick pieces and eating it along with some cheese. Besides their individual trips to the outhouse, there was only one more foray outside, to fill the woodpile on the porch with good-sized logs for burning overnight. There were several times when the girls would jump at Johanna's voice, causing the young woman's sadness to deepen. Maria wasn't sure what to do about the tension in the atmosphere. The large pot of soup they had ready for the evening meal was doled out, and they sat at the table in silence while they ate. Maria noticed that Johanna merely pushed the vegetables around in the bowl instead of actually eating them. The young woman's voice startled them after the prolonged silence that had been ringing in their ears.

"I'm going to go." Johanna glanced up at Maria. "Maybe for a few days." She again began to study the vegetables in her soup. "Please do not leave the cottage. It still isn't safe for you or the girls." She again glanced at Maria. "You still need to build up your strength."

"Where are you going?" Maria wondered if her voice sounded as strange to the others as it did to herself.

Johanna licked her lips. "I... need to go, to give you time to think, and I have some business to take care of." She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "So, if you have any questions. Now is the time to ask."

Maria spoke quietly, asking the question she had began earlier. "Do you... worship Satan?"

Tears began to fill Johanna's large dark eyes. "No." She shook her head. "My power comes from Nature and Balance."

"So you worship Mother Earth?"

Johanna reluctantly conceded that point. "Something like that, yes."

Elisabeth straightened her shoulders as she gathered her courage. "Was there really an evil witch that cooked children?"

One tear trailed down Johanna's cheek. "Yes."

Gasping at that, Emma asked, "What happened to her?"

"When I came here... I found her bones in the oven. There was an amulet that marked her as a witch." Unconsciously, Johanna reached up to hold the pendant around her neck. "Just as mine marks me for... what I am." Now locking her eyes with Maria's, Johanna spoke clearly. "I buried them in the forest."

Maria could not look away from Johanna's dark, sad eyes. "And what of the children that she..."

"Also buried." Johanna took a deep breath. "Each one with individual reverence."

Maria nodded. "And then..."

"I destroyed the oven and built this one in its place." Shrugging, the young woman indicated her handiwork. "It seems to have held up through the years."

Something occurred to Maria. The events Johanna recounted would have surely taken a great deal of time and stamina. The reference to years made her scrutinize the oven more closely. The wear shown on it was definitely the product of many years of use. "How old were you, when you did all that?"

Gracing Maria with a sad sort of smile, Johanna's voice deepened. "Old enough."

Knowing that tone of voice from previous experience with Hans and Stefan, Maria dropped the subject of age. "I would like to pay my respects to the children. Where are they buried?"

"I will take you there, after I return from my trip." Johanna stood. "Do not try to find it on your own. You will not find your way back to this place."

"I'm actually a decent tracker. I'm sure I could..."

"No." Johanna beckoned Maria toward the front door. "I will show you." Taking the woman's much thinner hand in hers, Johanna walked a few steps away from the door, then turned them back to face the house. "You see?"

"The Candy Cottage." Maria breathed. "That is amazing." It was just as Gretel had always described it.

"Now." Johanna ordered, "Close your eyes." She released Maria's hand when she complied and also asked, "Cover your eyes with your hands." She almost smiled when Maria did that as well. Taking the thin woman by the shoulders, Johanna turned her around several times then stepped away. Just before she stepped back across the threshold into the house, she gave Maria one last command, "Open your eyes."

###

Maria almost laughed as she lowered her hands. "I don't see what..." Her thought trailed off as she really didn't see anything except for trees. Thinking she had gotten turned around from the spinning, she spun on her heel. "What?" There was nothing. She was standing, alone, in the middle of the darkening wood. "Where are you?"

Walking in the direction she thought the cottage was, Maria held her hands out in front of her to try to feel what she couldn't see. "What have you done? Where have you put me?"

"I have put you nowhere."

Jumping at the sound of Johanna's voice, Maria turned again, facing her tormenter. "Why are you doing this to me?!"

Stepping closer, Johanna reached up, and gently moved the lock of hair that always fell across Maria's eye away from her face. "I need you to understand the importance of my words. You can not leave the cottage while I am gone. Because of the enchantment, you will not be able to find your way back. Do you understand?"

Dealing with the shivers rolling down her spine at Johanna's touch, Maria nodded and managed to answer, "Yes." She took Johanna's hand and immediately saw the Candy Cottage back in the opposite direction she had been moving. "We will not leave."

"Good." Johanna smiled. "I would miss you terribly if you were gone."

"Would you?" That shocked Maria. She would have thought that three more burdens would be gladly gotten rid of if the chance occurred. Looking up she was startled to see various emotions playing on Johanna's face, the mixture causing her own stomach to tighten. The woman's words only added to Maria's confusion.

"More than I can say."

They walked back to the cottage slowly, in silence. Maria knew that it was necessary for her to be allowed to see the enchanted house, but a part of her was glad. She liked holding Johanna's hand. It was strong, warm, and very, very comforting.

###

The children were still slightly subdued when Johanna and Maria returned to the cottage, but Maria hugged them, reassuring them, "I'm fine my Dearlings..." She kissed their heads. "Come now. It is already dark. Time for you to be in bed." She ushered them toward the room they had slept in last night.

They changed quickly into the nightclothes that Maria had brought with her and climbed into the bed. "Good night, Mama." Emma looked past Maria's shoulder to see Johanna in the doorway. "Good night, Johanna."

Smiling at that, Johanna spoke quietly, "Good night, Mausi."

Elisabeth also said good night to her mother then turned to their hostess. "Good night."

"Sweet dreams, Mausi." Johanna pushed off the doorway she was leaning against and walked back into the main room. It didn't take long for Maria to join her on the large rug in front of the fire.

Johanna held up a small jug. "Cider?"

"Yes, thank you." Maria watched as the young woman poured a measured amount of liquid into two tumblers. She took a sip and coughed at the flavor.

"It's... a little hard." Johanna grinned. "Sorry. I should have warned you."

"It has been a long time since my last drink of ale." Maria sighed as she took another sip. "Even longer since drinking anything this strong."

"I have other drinks..." Johanna began to rise, but Maria stopped her.

"No." Holding up the tumbler in her hand, Maria took another sip. "I didn't say I didn't want it, just that I hadn't had any in a long time." Reaching for the jug, Maria poured herself some more.

"You might want to sip that slowly." Johanna took the jug, refilling her own drink.

"Perhaps you are the one who should be watching what you drink." Maria recalled their evening meal. "I think the vegetables in your soup disappeared more from you pushing them around, wearing them away, than from you eating them."

"I will be careful." Johanna assured her guest. "I have to travel in the morning."

"Oh." Maria took a larger gulp of the hard cider. "Right."

They sat quietly, watching the fire, sipping their drinks. Johanna spoke. "I am going to talk to Gretel."

"What?" Maria shook her head. "Why would you..."

"I need to apologize to her for what happened to her and her brother." Johanna's eyes again filled with tears. "It was so terrible. They must have been so scared..."

Setting her drink aside, Maria moved closer. "It wasn't your fault."

"I know." Johanna buried her face in her hands, her dark hair nearly covering her arms. "I just... when I buried the others, I apologized to them and have made reparations to their families. I think I should give Gretel that courtesy as well."

A thought struck Maria. "How do you know Gretel's name?"

Licking her lips, Johanna stood. "Come with me."

She led Maria into the other sleeping room. Retrieving two books from the small bookcase there, Johanna sat on the end of the bed and opened one of them. "These are journals kept by the previous occupant of this cottage." She turned to the last entry in the book. "She names the children she just caught, Hansel and Gretel."

Maria picked up the other book and turned to the first entry. She swallowed hard as she read the account of the first child's capture and demise. She continued reading for some time, until she couldn't take it anymore. Closing the pages, Maria wiped a tear from her cheek. "All of them are in here?"

Johanna nodded, her voice hollow when she answered, "Yes."

"And you have tracked down their families... apologizing to them?"

"In a way." Johanna sighed. "I talk to them as a person looking for my own lost child, get to know them, and... grant them a wish."

"A wish?"

"Yes," Johanna nodded. "Within reason. I can't... bring people back from the dead."

This was too much. Maria had been unable to feel fear toward Johanna since she watched the young woman interacting with the young deer. She moved closer, wrapping her arms around the upset woman's shoulders. "Why would you do that? Make reparations to them..."

"It was," Johanna gave in and returned the embrace, burying her face in Maria's soft white hair. "It was just so sad. They had to have been so scared, and there was no one there for them, no one to help them. At least I can help their families."

Pushing the mass of dark hair away from Johanna's face, Maria smiled down into the dark, teary eyes. "You are one of the most amazing people I've ever met."

"Don't hate me."

"Why would I hate you?" Maria traced the outside of Johanna's cheek. "You're far too nice to hate."

"I'm not always nice." Johanna confessed, "There are times when I really would like to be not nice."

"Oh?"

Reluctantly pulling herself away from Maria's embrace, Johanna stood and moved away, admitting, "When Stefan was chasing the girls, I wanted to..." She wrapped her arms around herself, "hurt him."

"I did, too." Maria followed the young woman across the room, gently reaching out to touch Johanna's hand. "Why do you think I brought the ax?"

"You would have..."

Maria's voice hardened. "If he had hurt the girls, I would have killed him where he stood."

"Maria?" Johanna's voice trembled. Her gaze focused on Maria's hand, softly stroking her arm. "Don't hate me."

"I don't think I could hate you for being what you are or your past actions."

"Then I hope you can forgive me this as well."

Maria was confused. "This?"

Johanna's dark eyes searched Maria's face then focused on her lips. "I want to kiss you."

"You..." Chest rising more than normal with every breath, Maria's forehead furrowed. "You're...asking?"

Nodding, Johanna moved closer. "I would never force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"Oh." Maria licked her lips. "I... want."

Reaching out, Johanna gently pulled Maria to her, capturing the seemingly older woman's lips with her own. She groaned at the contact. The feel of Maria's soft lips, the taste of her along with the traces of cider drove Johanna to seek more. Deepening the kiss, Johanna's knees weakened as her tongue brushed against Maria's. She continued plundering Maria's mouth for a long moment, then pulled away, apologizing through her panting breaths. "I've wanted to do that for weeks now."

Maria was stunned. "Weeks?"

"Since I first saw you, by the river." Johanna sighed. "Perhaps that is when you put me under your spell." She began to leave the room when Maria's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Where will you sleep?"

"Last night I slept here," Johanna indicated the bed that Maria was about to use. It was overly large for one, but not quite large enough for two. The single, oversized pillow rested at the top of the bed. She blushed slightly. "I wanted to be close in case you needed something."

"Oh," Licking her lips, Maria thought about the kiss they had just shared and about lying next to Johanna during the night.

"No need to worry." Johanna continued to walk out the door. "The carpet in front of the fire is comfortable."

"Johanna..." Maria shook her head and intercepted the young woman before she left. "You cannot sleep on the floor. You must rest if you are to travel tomorrow." Leading her hostess back to the bed, Maria smiled. "You did not disturb me last night, so I believe the sleeping arrangements can stand."

Johanna hesitated. "If you're sure..." She nodded at the no nonsense look Maria shot her. "Very well. I have a few things to do before I retire for the evening. I will return momentarily."

Maria prepared for bed quickly. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she pulled the covers up to her chin. It was strange. She had no idea why she was suddenly so nervous.

###

Johanna quickly put the cider away and washed out the tumblers they had been using. She tended the fire, making sure it was properly set for overnight and wrung her trembling hands together. It was so odd to feel this way, but the fact that the feelings were so strong only proved to Johanna that this was something extraordinary. Steeling her resolve, she returned to the bedroom.

Maria was lying with her back to the center of the bed, so Johanna also faced the wall. She wanted to speak, but she also didn't want to disturb Maria. Instead Johanna just laid on the bed, her head on the other end of the pillow, staring at the wall until her eyes closed of their own accord.

The first time she woke up, Johanna was a bit confused at the odd pressure at her side and across her middle. She realized that she was lying on her back, and Maria had also rolled in her sleep. Maria was now snuggled close in the unconscious embrace they shared. Johanna told herself that it didn't mean anything, that Maria just wanted the warmth. The thought that Maria probably did this with her husband made Johanna irrationally sad. Pushing that feeling away, she tried to stay awake, listening to the sound of rain on the roof and just enjoying the moment for as long as she could. Eventually her traitorous eyes closed and she again drifted off.

The next time she woke was nearly as confusing as the first time. She hadn't woken like this in a long time. Trying to keep her breathing even, Johanna tightened the arm she had wrapped around Maria. Her breasts pressed against Maria's back as she burrowed her face into the thick white hair at Maria's neck. It was soft, and she could still smell the flower that the woman had worn in her hair for most of the day. It was a wonderful feeling that Johanna doubted she'd ever experience again. Closing her eyes, she sighed softly. A person could always dream. Johanna could do one better than a dream, though, and as she snuggled in, she murmured a quiet incantation.

###

The atmosphere at breakfast was less tense than supper the night before, but still, for the most part, silent. Emma broke the tableau with a slightly whiny question.

"Why can't we go with you?"

"It isn't safe." Johanna reminded them. "Stefan will not be happy to see you still alive." She glanced at Maria. "Or you for that matter."

Maria nodded. "He would rage against me." She admitted, "I left him with pretty much nothing."

Johanna nodded. "More than he deserved I'm sure."

"I took what was left of our things." Maria shivered as the atmosphere in the room changed slightly. "He always kept any money he had with him."

"I'm glad to have the quilts and our clothes." Emma scooped another bite of her breakfast. "But we have more than ever now that we live here."

"Emma!" Maria glanced at their hostess to see if she was offended. Oddly, the young woman seemed amused at Emma's comment. "We cannot assume. Our living arrangements are far from settled."

"We can discuss all that when I return." Johanna smiled at the girls and shrugged. "It is not only my decision." She finished her porridge then took her bowl to the sink to wash. "Please, though, make yourself at home while I'm away." She dried her bowl and put it away, along with her spoon. "Remember the garden is not off limits. You can be out there all you want. Just don't go out the front door."

Johanna picked up a pack that she had assembled while they had prepared breakfast. "Take care of yourselves. Stay safe."

"You, too." Maria watched Johanna slip out the door and sighed. She looked at her daughters and shrugged. "I guess we're on our own for a while."

"What do we do first?" Emma scooped up another bite of her porridge as her mother contemplated the question.

Maria had wondered herself what they were supposed to do all day long. Of course she wanted the girls to get out into the fresh air. It seemed silly not to take advantage of the warmth the enchanted garden provided. They had already been out this morning. The girls had collected the chicken eggs, and she had taken over the milking. At the time she hadn't paid attention to the plants growing in the garden. "I suppose first," she grinned at her daughters, "we should clean our breakfast dishes."

"What do we do with all this extra porridge?" Elisabeth's tone conveyed exactly how wasteful she thought it was to leave so much in the pot.

"I may have a use for it." Maria set the remainder of their breakfast on the hearth, far enough away to be kept warm until later.

They cleaned their dishes quickly and went out to the garden. All three stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the change the space had undergone in the short time they'd been inside.

"Wow." Emma's eyes bugged out. Almost the entire space was filled with tall, light brown plants gently swaying in the breeze.

Maria's eyes took in the wheat plants, obviously ready for harvest, and the threshing barrels standing just off the porch. With a deep breath she stepped off the porch and grabbed the scythe that was leaning against the railing right next to a small coil of string. "After I cut the wheat," she instructed her children, "take the string and tie it together in bundles." She walked forward. "We will thresh and winnow it together."

"There's gonna be so much flour when Johanna returns." Elisabeth laughed. "We'll be able to make bread for weeks!"

Maria made sure the children were standing back then began to swing the scythe. There was a lot of wheat to harvest. She wondered how they were going to grind it. She began to sing the traditional song women used during the harvest. It never occurred to her that she hadn't actually felt like singing since before she had married Hans.

The song helped the work go smoother, and it cleared her head. Maria chuckled to herself at the thought of the grinding phase and reminded herself not to be surprised if a grindstone appeared in the next few days.

It had taken longer than Johanna anticipated to reach the village. It had been more difficult than she thought to find a clearing to perform the ceremony required for her disguise. In the end she'd had to make a clearing for her purpose. Johanna glanced at the sun lowering in the sky as she limped into the tiny village. She often limped when she visited places. It added to her disguise of stringy white hair and a wrinkled face. It was also a good way to gauge people's level of compassion. Judging from the looks she was receiving, there wasn't much sympathy to go around in this particular village.

The tavern wasn't difficult to find. As with most villages, it was the most active building in the square. She shuffled through the door and made her way to a table. A much put upon barmaid approached her.

"What can I get ya, Granny?"

"Ale... and a room for the night." Johanna's wizened face gained more wrinkles when the barmaid laughed.

"You want that room with me in it?" It wasn't beyond reason. Many of the locals and the occasional traveler would avail themselves of the barmaid's hospitality, male or female. The joke was that Johanna looked quite old, and the barmaid was not. "You ready for that?"

Chuckling, Johanna waved the woman away to fetch the ordered ale. "I wouldn't want to hurt you, young woman. Just a room for sleeping and the ale."

Laughing again, in a much better mood from the jovial banter, the barmaid asked, "You got money?"

Johanna carefully laid a schilling on the table with what appeared to be arthritic hands. "Enough for the ale?"

"It'll do." Taking the money, the waitress left to fetch the drink.

Johanna studied the rest of the crowd with calculating eyes while she waited. One of the patrons, she recognized. Training her ears to that section of the room, Johanna heard the men talking to Stefan.

"She just left?"

"Gone." Stefan shrugged and took a drink of his ale. "She and the girls just vanished without a trace."

"Finally got tired of you, eh?"

"I looked for them," Stefan assured them. "I went very deep into the forest, looking." He shook his head. "I thought after spending a night alone they would come crawling back."

"They're probably dead. It got very cold last night. If the wolves didn't get them, the cold would have."

Johanna almost growled. Thunder rolled in the distance as Stefan gave his drinking buddies a knowing, pleased look.

The barmaid returned with the drink and pointed to the old woman who had just entered the room. "You want a room? You need to talk to Gretel."

"Thank you." Johanna picked up her drink and tipped it, slightly, toward the barmaid. "I will do that." She sipped her drink and watched the people for a while. After another schilling and another drink, Johanna was ready to approach Gretel. She smiled as she limped toward the innkeeper. "I'm told you are the person I should talk to about a room for tonight."

Gretel nodded. "One mark and you also get soup tonight, and I'll personally deliver a bowl of porridge to you in the morning."

"Acceptable." Johanna handed over the coin.

Gretel chuckled as her hand closed around the money. "I wish everyone paid in advance. If I had a schilling for every patron who skipped out on their bill, I would be a rich woman, indeed."

"Oh?" Johanna asked, "Would that make you happy? Being a rich woman?"

"I am happy." Gretel smiled. "I have had a long life. It has had its trials, but all in all I can't complain. Being rich though..." She grunted at the thought. "It would be nice to be able to give my children something besides a rundown tavern and inn, when I'm gone."

Johanna couldn't stop the image of Elisabeth and Emma from flashing behind her eyes. "Children are important." She looked around. "Room upstairs then?"

"Yes." Gretel pointed to the stairs. "Last door at the top of the stairs. It's the quietest room."

"My thanks." Johanna looked up as the barmaid approached them. The woman didn't speak to her, though, rather she spoke to Gretel.

"Everyone's asking if you're going to tell your story tonight."

Johanna perked up. "Story?"

"An adventure from my youth." Gretel nodded and answered the server, "I will tell the story momentarily." She gestured to Johanna. "Soup for my guest." Sighing, Gretel spoke quietly, "It is only vegetable soup, I'm afraid. Game has been scarce lately."

"Quite all right." Johanna nodded. "I don't mind."

True to her word, a few moments later Gretel moved to sit on a barstool, drawing all the patrons' attention as she went. Johanna was riveted, forgetting her soup, as the old woman's words captured her imagination.

###

Emma lay out flat on the carpet in front of the fire. "I'm exhausted!" She took a few deep breaths and sat up. "My back hurts, too!"

"Yeah!" Elisabeth flopped down next to her sister and began to knead the girl's back. "I'm not sure we've ever worked that hard!"

"Harvesting is a difficult endeavor." Maria sat at the table and wished her muscles didn't ache so much. She hadn't used a scythe in a long time and wished she had someone to rub her shoulders. "Just think, Johanna does it all by herself."

"Wow." Emma sighed. "I wish Johanna was a man."

"What?!" Maria scoffed. "Why would you wish a thing like that?"

"Then I could marry her...him." Emma sighed. "She would make a lovely, handsome man."

"That is enough of that." Maria stood and clapped her hands together, much like Johanna often did. "It isn't that late, but we have had a long day. Off to bed with you. I'll be in momentarily to tuck you in."

"Yes, Mama." Emma slowly rose from the floor.

"Yes, Mama." Elisabeth followed her sister to the bedroom.

Maria slowly pushed herself up from the chair. She was glad that she didn't have anything else to do this evening. She told the girls goodnight and then took herself to bed. Crawling under the covers, Maria sighed blissfully. As tired as she was, she couldn't seem to drift off to sleep. Her mind was whirling from the last few days' events, and now, exhausted or not, she lay awake in the comfortable bed. She chuckled softly to herself at Emma's wish for Johanna to be a man. The child had a point, but Johanna was so perfect the way she was that Maria didn't think there would be any improvement with a change of gender. The memory of waking, wrapped around Johanna's warm, solid form was distracting, but the memory of waking in Johanna's arms was even more so. Her eyes closed almost on their own, and her last thought was how much she wished Johanna was here with her.

###

The crowd clapped enthusiastically when Gretel finished her story. This wasn't the story she often told the children. This was the adult version of her and her brother's childhood experience. In this account she did not hold back on the gruesomeness of the situation. Johanna noticed that the ending of the tale was not terribly upbeat either. She had understood from the girls that Gretel had made it clear the witch was killed in the end. This one left the ending a bit more ambiguous.

As she made her way to the staircase, Johanna passed the table Stefan and his friends were using. The man's laughter and loud arrangements to take advantage of the barmaid's after hours services reached Johanna's ears. Thunder shook the building, stopping everyone's merriment for a moment. Stumbling slightly, Johanna fell into Stefan.

"Ugh!" Stefan pushed her violently away. "Get off of me!"

"Pardon, sir." Johanna wheezed and mumbled something under her breath. She spoke clearer as she ambled off. "Storms bother the leg." Ribald comments about Stefan and white-haired women did not bother her. She had accomplished her mission.

Making her way slowly to the room she'd been assigned, Johanna dismissed Stefan from her mind. Her uncle would take care of him now. Her thoughts turned to the nebulous ending of Gretel's story. She knew that the reason for that ambiguity was Gretel's own doubt about the witch's fate. That could be corrected, as well as granting the woman's wish for riches.

It was a small room, but a fire in the tiny fireplace warmed it quickly and sufficiently. The bed looked comfortable enough, and a sturdy table with one chair was tucked into one corner. Sitting at the table, Johanna lit the single candle there and took a piece of paper, ink, and quill from her pack and began to write. She filled the paper with her thoughts and looked it over carefully. Satisfied with the result, Johanna folded the paper, addressed it to Gretel, and sealed it with some of the wax from the candle.

Done with her task, Johanna curled up in the bed. It was late, but she wasn't actually tired. She settled for lying on the bed, staring at the fire. Maria entered her thoughts, and with a deep breath, Johanna muttered to herself a companion incantation to the one she had spoken last night when she had woken with her arms around Maria. Suddenly, she could feel Maria in her arms again. It was warm and nice. The comforting feeling of Maria's soft form next to her was too much to resist, and Johanna drifted off to sleep.

###

Maria shifted in the bed. The warm quilts around her were not quite as comforting as Johanna's arms, but it was still nice. She didn't want to wake up, but a presence in the bed with her caused her eyes to blink open. Sleepily she vaguely recognized the form sitting next to her, removing their shoes. "Johanna?"

"Shhh...yes." Reaching out, Johanna brushed Maria's sleep-mussed hair away from her face. "I didn't mean to wake you. It's early. Go back to sleep."

"What are you doing back?" Maria shook her head, clearing her fuzzy mind. "What happened?"

"I..." Johanna sighed, folding her hands in her lap. She studied them intently before admitting quietly, "I missed you." She shrugged. "When I woke I found it impossible to stop thinking about you and just came home." She omitted the fact that she had woken very soon after she had drifted off to sleep.

"But... the sun is not yet up." Traveling through the forest at night was never recommended.

"I have no fear of the darkness."

"No, I suppose you wouldn't." Maria studied her hostess' face intently and confessed, "I missed you, too."

Johanna stood suddenly and paced the room. "I don't know what is happening." She paused to look at Maria. "It is not often I am this much at a loss." She began to pace again. "I barely know you, and you, you know nothing of me. How is it that I feel this way about you? How have you done this?"

"I know some things." Maria smiled softly. "I know you are a good person, kind and loving. I know you care about things very deeply. I know you are decent and that you hurt for those people who are beyond your help." She raised her eyebrows, daring Johanna to refute even one of those conclusions. "It is you who knows nothing about me."

"I know you." Johanna sat back down on the bed next to Maria's hip. "I know you are a wonderful mother, loving and gentle. I also know you are fiercely protective of your children. You are strong willed..."

Scoffing at that, Maria blushed. "Too much so I'm afraid." She recalled Emma's wish to marry Johanna and the child's assumption that they would be living here now. Pulling her knees up to her chin, Maria wrapped her arms around her legs. "What will happen to us now? Where will we go?"

"The snows will begin soon. You will remain here until they clear." Johanna sighed and looked intently at Maria's widening eyes. "By then I hope you will not want to leave."

"Johanna..." Maria shook her head and whispered, "I don't want to leave now."

"No?" Hope flared in Johanna's eyes.

"No." Maria smiled. "The girls love it here, too."

"Yeah." Johanna smiled. "It's nice having them here." She took a deep breath that turned into a yawn.

"Oh!" Maria was mortified. "You must be exhausted from your travels." She threw back the covers. "Let me get up so that you may sleep for a while."

"No..." Reaching out to stop Maria from rising from the bed, Johanna grasped her arm. "Don't get up."

"Don't you want to sleep?"

"Yes." Johanna answered quietly as she released Maria's arm and shifted. Without changing her clothes, she lay down next to Maria. "But I want you with me when I do."

"Oh." Maria's heartbeat increased as she lay back. The warmth suffusing her also increased as Johanna's arm wrapped around her. "There isn't much darkness left."

"I know," Johanna murmured, "but there is enough."

Nodding, Maria relaxed and shifted closer, snuggling in next to Johanna. She sighed in contentment as she spoke, "Sweet dreams." Maria grinned into the darkness when the only response from Johanna was a soft snore.

###

Maria woke gradually. With her eyes still closed she slowly became aware of her surroundings and of the eyes upon her. Johanna's arms were around her, her back pressed firmly against Johanna's chest, so it was obviously not Johanna watching her, them. Opening her eyes, Maria turned her head, unsurprised to see not one but two sets of bright blue eyes locked on her. "Good morning."

Emma left quickly. Elisabeth swallowed hard. "We didn't know she was back."

Holding her finger to her lips to indicate quiet, Maria shifted, instantly missing Johanna's warmth as she moved away from the bed. Ushering her child out of the room, Maria spoke in a whisper, "She arrived early this morning, Dearling. Come now, let Johanna rest. She is quite tired."

"She walked through the forest alone at night?" Elisabeth was amazed by that feat.

"Naturally," Emma crossed her arms over her chest. "Why would she be scared? The creatures of the night are probably scared of her!"

"Many of them are, Mausi." They all turned to see Johanna casually leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom. "Some of them would even be scared of you."

"Me?" Emma dropped her arms to her sides, but her hands were balled up into fists. "Now you are teasing me."

"No." Johanna pushed off the door with her shoulder and walked into the room. "Most of the animals that scurry in the night are very timid. They hide in the darkness. You would most definitely frighten them."

"But there are large things, too," Elisabeth defended her sister slightly. "Wolves and bears... they wouldn't be frightened of a girl or even a single person, would they?"

Smiling at that, Johanna shook her head. "There is no reason for them to be frightened of me, just as I have no fear of them." She automatically began to prepare the morning meal as she explained, "All creatures of the forest are my friends. If they are in need, I provide for them." Setting a pot of water almost directly on the hearth fire, Johanna elaborated, "Most bears have already entered into their long winter sleep. Wolves, although you can hear their howling from time to time, have moved on to warmer weather climates. But even so, if either of them were to ask, I would give them edibles to sustain them."

"How could a wolf 'ask' anything? Even if he could, what would he say?" Emma clasped her hands together in front of her. "Please, Miss, I'm so hungry, may I gnaw off your leg?"

Johanna chuckled. "Well, if they are hungry enough to ask, then they are hungry enough to eat berries and grass." She grinned wryly at the girl. "You are correct, however, about one thing. Wolves always say please."

"What?!"

Nodding, Johanna confirmed, "They are very polite, wolves."

Maria laughed. "And which of the forest creatures are rude?"

"Squirrels." Johanna sighed as she seemed lost in thought. "Squirrels are so forgetful. They're constantly trying to remember all the hiding places they've devised for their winter caches of food and often forget to say please and thank you. Also chipmunks. They are forever talking with their mouths full." Johanna puffed out her cheeks, then grinned as Elisabeth giggled and Emma tried not to laugh. Johanna rolled her eyes slightly. "Very difficult to understand."

By the time the porridge was ready, they were back to an, almost, easy familiarity. There was still a bit of tension coming from Emma. Sitting down at the table, Johanna served the warm cereal. "So what did you do yesterday while I was gone?"

"Ohhh..." Elisabeth pointed to two baskets in the corner, both heaping full of grain. "We harvested wheat!"

"Ah." Johanna eyed the baskets. "I had not realized it was time for that."

Emma took a bite and nodded as she chewed. After she swallowed, she commented, "It was really hard. The scythe was extremely sharp, though, so that helped."

"You used the scythe?" Johanna was obviously shocked and glanced at Maria with wide eyes. "You let her use the scythe?"

Chuckling at that protectiveness, Maria held up her hand and shook her head. "Only once, so she could see what it was like."

"Ah." Johanna nodded. "And? How did you like it, Mausi?"

"It was hard." Emma grimaced at the memory. "Mama made it look easy."

Johanna smiled. "Well, I will be using it today."

"Today?" Elisabeth's eyes widened. "We have a lot of wheat already."

"Wheat yesterday." Johanna scooped up a spoonful of her cereal. "Rye today. Barley tomorrow. That is always the pattern." A low groan pulled her gaze toward Maria. Her dark eyes watched Maria's movements. Working the scythe wasn't the easiest thing to do, no matter how sharp the implement. Maria was obviously aching from her exertions yesterday. A familiar noise coming from outside caught Johanna's attention. "Time to milk the cow." Her eyes glimmered. "Will you please gather the eggs, Emma?"

"Yes." Emma finished up her breakfast and quickly carried the bowl to the sink for washing up.

"Will I be allowed to milk the cow today, Mama?" Elisabeth looked hopefully to her mother.

"Very well." Maria nodded. "Off you go. I will take care of your bowl." She chuckled as her oldest left the table, joining her sister at the back door before they both went out into the garden.

Johanna kept her eyes on Maria's back as the woman stood at the sink washing the dishes. She carried her own bowl over and pressed herself against Maria's back as she reached around to drop her dish into the sink.

"I can do this." She rubbed Maria's shoulders lightly. "You must be very sore from working yesterday."

"I can manage a few dishes." Unable to stop herself, Maria leaned back against Johanna's solid form. "That feels so good." And it did. The heat of Johanna's hands gently kneading her sore muscles sent warm waves all through her. Despite the warmth, Maria shivered as Johanna's fingertips brushed her neck, moving her hair aside for better access to her sore shoulders. "You have a gift for this."

Johanna's rich voice in her ear was nearly Maria's undoing. "I am gifted with many talents." Johanna smiled as Maria looked over her shoulder, placing their faces very close together, their noses almost touching, their lips mere fingerwidths apart. "Perhaps I can demonstrate more, later."

Unable to speak, Maria simply blinked, then nodded. Johanna was moving away before Maria finally managed to vocalize, "Perhaps..." She cleared her throat as Johanna turned to face her. "Perhaps I, too, have some talents you would be interested in." Her heart raced when Johanna smiled and tilted her head. The young woman's voice sent shivers through her, even though she only uttered one word before continuing on to the garden.

"Perhaps."

###

Maria picked up another bundle of rye to thresh, but stopped to watch Johanna swing the scythe. The younger woman had stripped off her long-sleeved shirt and now was only wearing a short-sleeved undershirt while she worked. Maria marveled at the definition of the muscles in Johanna's arms. They were different than the men's arms that she had ever seen, but Maria was sure they were just as strong or stronger than anyone else she'd ever encountered. With a final swipe of the scythe, the last of the rye fell, and Maria pulled her eyes away from Johanna. Continuing her task, Maria tried very hard to keep her mind on the threshing and not on how it felt to have Johanna's arms wrapped around her. Her daughter's intense comment did not help her focus.

"I saw her first." Emma's sad eyes were trained on her mother.

"What?"

"Johanna." Emma looked across the garden at their hostess, now picking up bundles of the rye. "I saw her first. I'm the one who wants to marry her..."

"Emma!" Maria's skin flushed a soft shade of red as the thought of marrying Johanna caught itself in her mind. "You are a child. She is much too old for you!"

"Maybe," Emma retorted, obviously before she could think, "but you are too old for her!" She gasped as the hurt Maria couldn't manage to hide showed on her face. "Mama... I..."

"No." Maria shook her head, holding up her hand for silence. "You've said your piece."

Emma began to cry. She stood there with her face buried in her hands as the tears flowed down her cheeks. Before Maria could gather Emma in her arms to comfort her as a mother should, Johanna was there.

Neither of them had heard the footsteps pounding across the garden until Johanna skidded to a stop and dropped to her knees in front of Emma. "Why are you crying, Mausi?"

Maria was shocked when the girl threw her arms around Johanna's neck, and Johanna returned the embrace. The young woman's dark eyes looked over Emma's shoulder. "Why is she crying?"

Through her tears, Emma spoke to Johanna. "You could do it, couldn't you? You could turn yourself into a man, then I can marry you. You could do it..."

Watching Johanna's dark eyes widen at the child's request, Maria could do nothing but hold her breath and wait for the reply. She felt Elisabeth's arms snake around her middle as the child watched her sister and their hostess interact.

"It would take some effort, but yes." Johanna confirmed. "I could turn myself into a man." She smiled as she wiped the tears from Emma's cheek. She looked into the child's eyes. "But, you are too much like my daughter for me to marry."

"Oh," Emma sniffled. "But... you're perfect."

Johanna's laugh brought a smile to Emma's face. "I am far from perfect, Mausi." Standing, she offered her hand to the girl. "Come now. Let us all get cleaned up." She waved her hand at the garden. This can all wait."

Elisabeth asked quietly as they walked, "Why are we going inside to clean up, Mama?"

Maria was at a loss to answer that. Yesterday they had used the water pump for the cow trough to wet cloths and wipe themselves down, though they had found clean clothing in their sizes in the wardrobes of their bedrooms. Maria didn't know why Johanna was leading them inside, but followed without repeating Elisabeth's question to the young woman.

Inside Johanna led them to a door Maria had noticed upon her first inspection of the place, the mystery door. It had not opened for them yesterday. Now Johanna opened it, and Maria couldn't believe her eyes. There was a huge tub sunk into the center of the room! She watched Johanna reach down and pull a large plug near the top edge of the tub. Water began to spill into it, filling it quickly. Maria, Emma, and Elisabeth looked at each other, astonished. When the water was at a level Johanna was happy with, she replaced the plug and motioned for the girls to come forward. "You can take separate baths if you wish, but the tub is large enough for you both."

After a quick discussion, the girls decided to bathe together. Johanna nodded and pointed to another plug at the bottom center of the tub that could be seen clearly through the water. "When you are finished, pull that one and the water will drain out." She pointed to a shelf next to the door. "There are drying cloths and soap on the shelf."

"Thank you." Elisabeth dipped her head in a sort of bowing motion.

"Yes." Emma copied her sister. "Thank you."

Emma absently reached into the tub. When her hand touched the water she withdrew it quickly. "This water is hot!"

"Warm, yes." Johanna smiled. "It flows from an underground hot spring." She winked at the child. "Never fear, Mausi. It isn't hot enough to cook you for my soup."

Rolling her eyes at that, Emma began to undress, eager to immerse herself in the warm water. Elisabeth did the same.

Maria followed Johanna out of the room, to give the girls some privacy. She accepted the tumbler of cider Johanna handed her. "Thank you." Locking her eyes with Johanna, Maria smiled. "For everything." Taking a sip of her drink, she sighed and set the tumbler down. "Emma is quite angry at me."

"Oh?"

"Apparently..." Maria blushed slightly. "She saw you first." Her blush increased as Johanna moved closer. Somehow a large number of butterflies had found their way into her stomach.

"Unfortunately for her," Johanna closed the distance between them, "I saw you first."

Maria watched as the tip of Johanna's tongue dart out to moisten her lips. That small act started her heart pounding erratically. Her eyes closed on their own as Johanna's hands slid up from her wrists to her shoulders, leaving a trail of heat in their wake. That was nothing compared to what Johanna's voice was doing to her. Fire raced down her spine as the witch's soft tone and warm breath filled her ear.

"You were so beautiful. Your eyes rivaled the sky, and your hair was as white as any cloud. You had it braided that day, exposing your neck."

Johanna's soft hands caressed her neck, and those long fingers threading through her hair caused Maria to whimper. This was so wrong. She should not be allowing this. Emma was correct. Maria knew that she was far too old for Johanna. But it felt so good. Not only did she want Johanna to continue, Maria wanted more. She had never felt this way, had never known she could feel this way, and only had one explanation for it. "You really are a witch." Maria murmured. "You've put a spell on me." She nearly fell forward as she leaned into a touch that was no longer there. Opening her eyes she saw Johanna stepping back. "What?"

"I am not a witch." Johanna took a deep breath, visibly trying to control herself. "It is you who have bewitched me, somehow." Shaking her head to stop Maria from speaking, Johanna continued, "I have been attracted to people before, but I have never... needed to touch them, the way I do you." She opened and closed her hands as if holding herself back from reaching for Maria. "I do not understand why you affect me this way." As if losing the fight with herself, Johanna stepped forward but stopped when the door to the bathing room opened and the girls entered the room.

"That tub is great, Mama!" Elisabeth wrapped the large, absorbent cloth around her. "It feels so good to be clean!"

Emma agreed, "Yes, it's amazing. You can dunk all the way under to wash your hair, just like in the river, but it's warm!"

Maria glanced at Johanna and smiled at her children as they moved to stand in front of the fire. "That's wonderful, Dearlings." Turning back to Johanna, Maria just glimpsed the woman disappearing into the bathing room.

###

Johanna rested her forehead against the closed door. She tried to control her breathing as she went over the conversation she'd just had with Maria. Looking down at her trembling hands, Johanna wrung them together, trying to stop the tremors. This was insanity, and she knew exactly when it started. Quickly drawing her bath, Johanna cleaned up and thought back to that day not so long ago. Johanna could see Maria in her mind's eye standing next to the river, her white hair shining in the sun.

She hadn't been just saying that Maria was beautiful that day. Johanna had nearly shown herself, just to meet the vision. It would have been a huge mistake. A single woman suddenly appearing in the forest with no explanation of who she was or how she got there was not a good idea. She had gone back for several days wishing only to see the intriguing creature and would have gone back to find Maria if the girls hadn't shown up at her door. She knew there was no possible way she would be able to stay away from Maria. They were meant to be together. From the very first moment she laid eyes on Maria, Johanna knew she would not stop until they were together.

Letting the warm water wash over her, Johanna sighed. It was impossible. Impractical. She and Maria were so different. But, Johanna thought as she closed her eyes, Maria felt so good in her arms. It felt so right to be in the same room with her, not to mention the same bed. Pressing her lips together, she resisted the urge to murmur the incantation that would allow her to feel that moment again.

"Johanna."

Johanna's shoulder's dropped slightly as she answered the disembodied summons. "Yes?"

"I would speak to you."

Exhaling slowly, Johanna nodded. "Naturally. What is it you wish to speak about?" As if she didn't know.

"Attend me."

Knowing better than to protest, Johanna agreed, with a caveat. "As soon as I inform my guests of my impending absence."

"Do not dawdle."

###

Maria looked up as the door to the bathing room opened. The vision that greeted her made her gasp. Her mouth went dry as her slackened jaw refused to work. Johanna was just stunning, almost glowing, dressed in a flowing white gown. The top of the woman's dark hair was encircled with a band of flowers and leaves, the length of it flowed over her shoulders contrasting with the fabric. Anyone who saw her now would think she was a goddess! At this moment, Johanna was the personification of graceful elegance. Johanna's dark eyes locked with hers.

"I have been summoned." She smiled mirthlessly. "It is not something I can ignore."

"Why are you dressed like that?" Emma blinked at the gown. It seemed to shimmer.

"Because, Mausi, I cannot arrive where I am going dressed as... a mortal." She licked her lips and turned back to Maria. "I will return. You must believe that. The person I am meeting loves to drag things out." Moving forward, Johanna reached out to take Maria's hand, squeezing it slightly. "I will return as soon as I can."

Pulling Maria to her, Johanna pressed their lips together. She'd intended it to be chaste, but as soon as she felt the softness against her Johanna deepened the kiss. When Maria's arms slid around her, Johanna hummed softly and tightened her own embrace. She would have spent much longer exploring Maria in every way, if her summons was not looming. Reluctantly breaking the contact, Johanna rested her forehead against Maria's. "Stay here." She promised, "I will be back soon."

Unable to speak, Maria nodded and watched as Johanna stepped back and with a flash of light and a very loud clap of thunder, disappeared.

"Mama?" Elisabeth moved closer to her mother. "She isn't a witch, is she?"

Blinking at the question, Maria thought back to her conversation with Johanna and shook her head. Unconsciously her trembling fingertips brushed her lips, her voice barely a whisper as she answered, "She said she was not."

"What is she?" Emma was obviously still a bit dazzled by Johanna's dress and subsequent disappearance.

"I'm not sure, Dearling." Maria blinked against the impossible thought that raced through her mind. "Perhaps she will tell us when she returns." She smiled and tapped each child's cheek with her fingertips. "Go on now and see if there are clean clothes in the wardrobe." He blue eyes glittered as the girls' eyes lit up. They had rarely received new clothes although Maria's talent with a needle and thread kept their few items of clothing nice and sometimes transformed them into interesting designs. "I believe it is my turn to use the bathing room."

"Yes, Mama." Elisabeth tugged on Emma's arm. "C'mon. We're dry. Let's go see about clothes."

Maria watched them go then made her way to the bathing room. She stopped short when she saw that the tub had been prepared for her, flower petals floating lazily in the water, petals from the same kind of flower that Johanna had placed in her hair the first day they had arrived. Her chest tightened for a moment, and she chided herself. Johanna had not even been gone a few moments and she already missed her? Disgusted with her lack of self-control, Maria undressed and eased into the fragrant water. Despite her anger with herself, she could not help wondering how long it would take Johanna to return and hoping that it didn't take too long.

###

"Johanna! Come back this instant!"

Ignoring the voice echoing down the wide marble hall, Johanna continued walking intently toward the door. The audience had not gone well, and the last exchange still rang in her head.

"That's not fair!"

"When has a mortal's life ever been fair, Johanna?"

"You're forcing her to make a choice that even you are unwilling and unable to make!"

At that point, Johanna had chosen not to continue the argument which had already gone on for much too long. Insistence on drinks and light snacks had preceded the point of the meeting. That, being displeasure in Johanna's choice of house guests. Instead of continuing the pointless discussion, Johanna turned and walked away. She knew, eventually she would return, but for right now she was far too angry to remain. She shouted her response to the echoing demands for her return, "I love them, and I am going home!"

"Love? Johanna..." the voice mocked, "how long will that last?"

The words sank into Johanna's angry brain. She ground her teeth at the implication and clasped her hands together. The thunderclap that accompanied her departure drowned out the frustrated voice echoing her name down the hall.

Appearing a short distance away from the Candy Cottage, Johanna walked slowly though the fading light and snow-dusted trees. She had approached the cottage this way because of the residual anger from her confrontation with her mother.

Her mother's offer had been shocking, and it had also elated Johanna for all of two seconds, before the ramifications had popped into her brain. The elder Goddess' sudden, generous, offer to make Maria immortal was not the benevolent gesture it might seem to be. It was actually one of the worst things that could happen to Maria, and Johanna if things weren't exactly as she thought them to be.

Johanna had faith that there was love between them. They had not known each other for long. A mere blink of the eye by Johanna's measurement, but still she could feel the love between them and was almost sure that could stand the test of time. But the consequences for Maria were too much, endless days watching those around her grow old and die while she remained in her current state, forever.

This was not an offer she was excited to bring to Maria and she was not sure when the subject could be broached. She knew it would be difficult to explain the torturous side effects of immortality. It was the one thing most mortal people wished for above all else. Death always terrified them.

And even more terrifying than the consequences of acceptance was the absolute loneliness Johanna knew she would feel for the rest of eternity if the offer was refused.

###

Maria woke slowly, loathe to fully wake up and lose this fantastic dream. She was dreaming of being in Johanna's arms again. She rarely had night time visions anymore. They had become dull and dark since Hans' death. Her time spent with Stefan had all but taken them away, until she had found herself sleeping here in the candy cottage. She found her dreams now had become bright and happy, but this morning it was especially vivid.

Johanna's sudden departure had featured vividly in Maria's night visions. There had been a great passage of time when Johanna had not returned. She and the girls had just remained in the cottage, using the garden to sustain themselves. In the dream, turned nightmare, they were all alone, for months on end before Johanna had returned. Now Maria felt that Johanna was with her in the bed and if this was a dream within a dream she didn't want to wake and find out what was real and what her sleeping mind imagined. She tried not to move. Motion had a way of dispelling the sensation. She went even stiller when the warmth around her shifted and the soft pressure of lips brushing against her skin graced her neck.

"Good morning."

Suddenly Maria remembered the events of last night and with a sobbing cry turned to face her bedmate. Searching Johanna's face intently, Maria reached up to caress Johanna's cheek, disbelief evident in her voice. "You're here." She swallowed hard. "You're really here!" She pulled Johanna to her, needing to feel the solidity of her. "I had such a terrible dream..."

"Shhhh..." Johanna threaded her fingers through Maria's soft white hair. "I'm here and I will never leave again."

"You can't know that." Maria leaned into the touch, savoring the feeling she'd missed for so long in the dream. Her mind still processing that it had only been one night.

"I can." Johanna promised, "Next time I will take you with me."

"Where?" The question had been on her mind. "Who summoned you?"

"The where is a bit difficult to explain." Johanna took a deep breath. "The who is... Mother."

A reluctant sort of reverence in Johanna's tone put Maria on alert. "Your mother is..." Some things fell into place. "...a Goddess."

"Yes."

Maria gasped and tried to pull away. "You're a Goddess, too!"

"No." Johanna maintained their embrace. "I am only half god. Traditionally the term is... demigod."

"Traditionally?"

"I am not exactly... accepted among the gods." Johanna shook off that line of thought. "No matter. I am not there often enough anymore for their tolerance to be necessary."

"But," Maria questioned, "You grew up... there?"

"Yes." With a sigh, Johanna shifted and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Mother is loathe to give up her children for any reason." She sighed. "For an immortal she can often be very childish."

"Shhh..." Maria sat up in the bed, not touching Johanna. "You shouldn't say such things!"

"Why?" Looking over her shoulder, Johanna shook her head. "It's the truth."

"You will make her angry!" Maria blinked and shivered. "I cannot imagine a goddess being angry with me!"

Rising from the bed, Johanna stretched. "Mother can rage all she wants. She would never physically hurt me, and she saw to it long ago that the others can't either." Lowering her arms to her sides, she only now realized that she was still wearing her diaphanous gown. She turned to face Maria, then very deliberately, murmured the words to change her clothing into regular, mortal attire. Pushing aside her feelings at the awe etched on Maria's face, Johanna asked, "Breakfast?"

Maria looked into Johanna's deep brown eyes and could only nod.

###

"So you just left?!" Elisabeth was amazed.

"Yes." Johanna sighed as she served the girl another pancake and placed one on a plate for herself. "She coerced me into taking a meal with her, so that took some time, but afterward our discussion quickly became heated. It does not take long for arguments with my mother to become tedious." She grinned at the children's widening eyes. "You don't argue with your mother very often, eh?" Her dark eyes glittered as their young faces moved side to side. Maria's amused voice drew their attention.

"I'm sure that will change." Maria took her seat and answered the questioning look on her daughters' faces. "You will soon reach the age that calls for such things." Dipping out a bowl of porridge for herself, Maria took a bite quickly. She was glad to have something else to discuss. Johanna's absence was not a topic she wanted to touch on at the moment. The dream was still quite vivid in her mind, that long absence she'd endured felt so real, it made her feel vulnerable and raw.

Johanna acknowledged that sentiment by catching Maria's gaze and nodding slightly. Cutting a bit of her pancake, Johanna chewed slowly.

The children were not as attuned to the tension in the air and began to talk about the past evening, filling Johanna in on all the things they had done while she had been gone. Johanna paid rapt attention to the recital and remembered an important thing. "You are still unable to leave the cottage."

"The garden was available, but if we wished to continue to enjoy the comforts of this house, we could not." Maria met Johanna's eyes. "You demonstrated that quite effectively before your first, short, absence."

"We must change that, first thing." Johanna stood and walked to the middle of the room. Raising her arms she began to speak in a language none of the others understood. The ground began to shake. The walls began to groan, and above the sound of creaking rafters, Johanna's voice rang. "Do you three swear to use the gifts of this cottage to help those in need?" Wind whipped through the room, fanning the fire in the fireplace and tossing all their hair around their faces. She smiled as all three of her guests nodded their heads. "You must speak the word!"

All three responded, even though the cacophony of sound nearly ripped their voices away. "Yes!"

The wind died down, the creaking eased, and the shaking of the earth ceased. Lowering her arms, Johanna crossed the room to stand in front of Maria. "The cottage has accepted you. This is your home now. You may come and go as you please." Reaching up, she caressed Maria's cheek lightly and focused on Maria's eyes. "You will always be able to find your way back here now, whether I'm with you or not." Dropping her hand away, Johanna stepped back and included all three of her former guests in her gaze. "You all can."

"Our home?" Emma looked around curiously. "It seems different, but not."

Johanna nodded. "I asked the cottage to accept you as its family. It has changed slightly, to accommodate you." Glancing at the girl's bedroom, Johanna tilted her head in that direction. "Go look."

It only took a few heartbeats for the girls' gleeful shouts to bring Maria and Johanna to the doorway of the room that the girls had been sharing. It had become slightly larger and suddenly contained more furniture. An extra bed and wardrobe now occupied the space.

"Look, Mama!" Emma bounced on a bed. "My own bed!"

Elisabeth lay on another equally sized bed, her arms and legs splayed out. "I won't have to squish up against Emma anymore!" She giggled. "And she won't kick me either!"

Emma grabbed the small pillow off her bed and tossed it at her sister. "I'll still have to listen to you snore!"

"Girls!" Maria called them to order. "Please do not destroy your new room!"

Johanna smiled at the antics and asked Maria, "And what of your new room?"

"My...?"

Maria went to the room she had been using since she arrived, stopping short in the doorway. She swallowed hard as long arms slid around her middle and Johanna's low voice warmed her ear.

"Do you like it?"

"It's..."

"Wow!" Emma pushed past the adults and walked into the room. She touched the blue covering on the slightly larger bed. "It's your favorite color, Mama!"

"But..." Maria held the arms around her in place but turned her head to see Johanna's profile so close to her. "What of you?" Dark eyes turned toward her and Johanna smiled as she spoke quietly in a slightly husky tone.

"I also prefer shades of blue."

As Maria tried to speak, her words spilled past trembling lips. "Perhaps this is your room then?"

Johanna tightened her embrace slightly. "No. It is yours now."

Licking her lips, Maria felt a bit faint and was glad for Johanna's arms around her as she spoke. "Perhaps it could be... ours." Her voice became a whisper. "If you wish."

"I wish for many things, Maria."

"You have granted people's wishes for many years." Maria moved her lips closer to Johanna's. "Perhaps it is time for a few of yours to be granted."

"I look forward to that."

###

Two days after Johanna returned the snow began in earnest. It fell on and off for several weeks before there was a break in the weather. The snow already on the ground didn't melt, but no more fell.

"How long do you think the snow will hold off?"

"It will be clear for nearly a week." Johanna predicted and grabbed another loaf of bread to crumble.

"Can we go out and play in the snow?"

"Perhaps another day." Johanna smiled, then sighed, and moved away. "Today, we have a lot of work to do because tomorrow we must take a trip."

"Where are we going?" Elisabeth's tone conveyed her unwillingness to leave their new home as did her definitive seat at the table and her stubbornly crossed arms.

"To the village... your village." Johanna also took a seat at the table. "I want to make sure... things worked out."

"Is it safe?" Emma spoke. "Time has passed, but Stefan was so angry."

"I will not let anyone harm you, Mausi." The corner of Johanna's mouth twitched when the girl looked at her. She scanned the young face. "I promise." Her dark eyes twinkled. "We can go in disguise if it will make you more comfortable."

"Disguise?" Emma's eyes widened. "How so?"

"You asked once, if I could..." Standing from the table, Johanna mumbled a short chant. At the end of it, her appearance began to change. Her long, dark hair shortened, her shoulders broadened, and her jaw squared slightly. In the space of a few heartbeats Johanna had taken on the appearance of a man.

Emma stared at the woman, man. She, he, was very handsome. "Wow."

"Indeed." Johanna looked at her hand and flexed it a couple of times, evaluating her new appearance. "Very nice." She looked up at the girl. "It has been an extremely long time since I have been a man." She told them, "We can be a family of traders..." Her guise began to fade, and just as quickly as she had become a man, Johanna was suddenly herself again.

Maria's raspy voice carried across the table. "It doesn't last long..."

"That wasn't meant to last." Johanna sat back down. "For the lasting guise, I have to perform a ceremony. We can do that on the way."

"Can I be a boy, too?!" Emma grinned as Johanna laughed.

"Possibly." The half-goddess winked at the girl. "You will also need to decide what color hair and eyes you want."

Elisabeth's quiet voice cut through the silence. "I want to look like you." She swallowed hard and glanced at her mother before she pinned Johanna in her gaze. "So there is no... confusion."

Johanna's smile faded as Maria left the table quickly. Both girls studied their plates as Johanna followed Maria into their new room. "Maria?" Johanna approached the upset woman slowly. "What is it?" Cautiously wrapping her arms around Maria, Johanna relaxed slightly as Maria leaned into the embrace.

"It's so unfair... to my girls." Maria sighed, seeming to draw comfort from the arms around her. "They have endured so many rumors. All of them vicious and all of them completely unfounded." Turning to face Johanna, Maria rested her head on Johanna's shoulder. "Their red hair has caused many tongues to wag. I am not originally from that village. Hans and I moved there when he couldn't find work in our hometown." Teary blue eyes looked up. "All the women in his family had fiery red hair. All the men had brown hair... like his."

"So the girls didn't resemble either of you?"

"No." Maria shifted closer. "It was so unfair, but no one in the village knew Hans' family or believed that there was a striking resemblance to their paternal grandmother." She wiped a tear away. "They were teased quite often and told that their unnatural red hair made them demon children."

"It's not true...red hair does not denote demon blood." Johanna smiled down at the woman in her arms and, maintaining her hold with one hand, wiped away a tear making its way down Maria's cheek with the other. "Many of the Gods have red in their hair."

Maria sniffled, "Oh?"

Johanna smiled. "Yes." She chuckled. "It is a source of amusement among them. They claim it's a way to track their dalliances, to know which families have been...touched by the Gods. Perhaps one of Hans' ancestors had an encounter with a God?"

"Possible, I suppose." Maria's eyes twinkled. "Perhaps that was one reason I was drawn to him. I seem to have a weakness for...that."

"Lucky me." The hand Johanna had been using to gently caress Maria's tears away now found its way to the back of Maria's neck. Easy pressure held Maria in place as Johanna leaned down to capture Maria's lips with her own. It was meant as a comforting gesture, reassuring. Instead as soon as their lips touched, Johanna felt the attraction that was always smoldering within her flare. Maria was so soft, and they fit so perfectly together. Johanna deepened the kiss, her tongue exploring Maria's mouth with abandon. This was even better than the last time she'd kissed Maria, and the thought that she could have this forever excited her. She wanted more. She wanted forever. The reality of that wish allowed Johanna to pull away from the contact.

Maria stumbled forward as she tried to press against Johanna's form that was no longer there. "Johanna?" Licking her lips and trying to catch her breath, Maria shook her head. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Johanna smiled weakly and ran her fingers through her dark hair. "We have a lot to do, so we had best get started."

Visibly controlling herself, Maria nodded. It was a voice from behind them that spoke quietly.

"What should we do?"

Johanna turned to see Emma, and by the blush on the girl's face, she had obviously been watching the kiss. "Well, Mausi, we are going to pose as a family of traders, so we must have things to trade, yes?" She grinned as the girl nodded along with her. "So we will load the wagon today with the items we have to trade." She gestured to the aging cheese wheels and the plethora of produce stored around the cottage. "We will be making some outrageous trades, anxious to be on our way before the next big snow hits, so don't be surprised if I let some things go for nearly nothing."

Elisabeth joined them and shook her head, focusing on Johanna's words, one in particular. "Wagon?"

"Mmm..." Johanna tilted her head toward the front door. "It's outside, waiting to be loaded."

"In that case, I suppose we should get on with it." Maria ducked past Johanna and moved toward the produce that needed to be sorted and packed.

Johanna and the girls quietly followed.

###

Maria walked out of the bathing room already wearing her nightclothes. The warm water had soaked away many of the aches from today's efforts to load the wagon and work in the garden. She had put the girls to bed before she'd begun her bath and now there was nothing to do but sleep. Maria stopped short as she stepped into her bedroom and blinked. Johanna was patiently sitting on the end of the bed, already dressed in her nightclothes as well. Maria had thought Johanna would already be in bed. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you." Standing, Johanna crossed the room to stand directly in front of Maria.

"Well." Maria took a step to go around the sudden roadblock Johanna created. "I want to go to sleep."

Johanna smiled and matched the motion. "No you don't."

"Yes," Maria insisted but didn't move, "I do."

"No." Gently cupping Maria's face in her hands, Johanna shook her head and licked her lips as she moved in slowly, speaking softly. "You don't."

Maria closed her eyes as Johanna's low voice moved through her, however the anticipated kiss did not happen. The hands on her face fell away and with a quiet gasp Maria's eyes flew open. When Johanna moved away slightly it was more than Maria could take. With a frustrated cry, Maria reached out, grasped the material covering Johanna's shoulders and pulled the woman toward her. She captured Johanna's lips with her own and was overwhelmed by the growing need within her.

Pulling away to catch her breath, Maria trembled as she spoke. "Don't leave me." She felt herself being swept up in Johanna's arms and buried her face in the dark hair falling next to Johanna's neck. "I need you."

"Shhh..." Johanna lowered Maria onto the bed. "I am here." Covering Maria's body with her own, Johanna assured her soon-to-be lover, "I will not leave you." Peppering kisses along Maria's neck, Johanna murmured softly, "I will never leave... never... never." She knew this was going to make things difficult. After this, the temptation of forever would be even greater than ever, but she honestly couldn't help herself. Maria's white hair was so soft, her skin was warm and inviting, and her lips were too tempting to resist.

"You are amazing." Johanna explored Maria's curves. The warmth of Maria's skin seeped through as Johanna's hands sought to find their way under the fabric. Heat built between them until the material became too much of a barrier for them both. Johanna tore the garment from Maria's body and sent her own shredded clothing to the floor a heartbeat later. Now she was free to use her mouth as well as her hands to explore the flesh Maria offered her. Johanna was ecstatic when Maria began to satisfy her own curiosity. There was no way to describe the sensation of Maria's hands on her. No words were adequate to that task. Nothing in her long experience had prepared her for the connection she felt when she touched Maria, when Maria touched her.

###

Maria felt her clothing being ripped away from her and was amazed that she didn't protest the action. In fact, she welcomed it, just as she welcomed the opportunity to explore Johanna's body. The firm muscles that rippled just below Johanna's velvety soft skin drove her desire even higher. There was a concern, though, and as Johanna's long hair brushed against her stomach, Maria gasped softly, "The girls..."

"They are sleeping soundly." Johanna continued her assault on Maria's breast, taking one firm nipple into her mouth, pulling another, much louder but still relatively quiet, gasp from Maria. Murmuring, Johanna assured her lover, "They can not hear us."

"You're sure?"

"Trust me." Johanna nipped at Maria's ribs. "Even when you begin screaming my name, they will remain blissfully asleep and unaware."

Looking down the length of her body, Maria asked, "You believe I will scream? I never have before."

Johanna looked up, meeting Maria's gaze. "Trust me."

Lowering her head again, she smiled against the smooth skin covering Maria's stomach, then moved lower.

Maria could do nothing but grasp at the blankets in a desperate attempt to prevent herself from flying off of the bed. "Oh Gods!" Maria clutched the handfuls of fabric she found. "Johanna... what... Oh!"

Glancing up, Johanna saw Maria throw her head back on the pillow. The length of her neck clearly showing the convulsive swallows as Maria fought the urge to cry out.

"Let go." Johanna urged. "Maria..." Draping her arm across Maria's undulating stomach, Johanna repeated, "Let go... for me."

She felt the muscles under her hands go rigid and as Maria cried out Johanna's name over and over. Johanna carried Maria through the endless tremors of pleasure as gently as she had carried her through the forest. Wave after wave, until Maria totally relaxed under Johanna's tender touch. Johanna's low voice whispering in her ear.

"There now. I've got you."

"That was..." Maria tried to catch her breath. "I don't... How..." Finally organizing her thoughts, Maria asked what she really wanted to know. "What did you do to me?"

Moving to wrap her arms around Maria, Johanna nestled in next to the woman and whispered, "I did nothing but love you."

"I've never..." Maria swallowed hard and managed enough strength to return Johanna's embrace. "I've never felt anything like that before."

"It would be my honor to repeat it any time you wish." Johanna promised. "I will not grant the experience to anyone else."

A smile crossed Maria's face. "Anytime eh?"

"Mmm hmmm..." Johanna let out a contented sigh. "Tonight, tomorrow, next week, next year, next decade... whenever you want, I will be here."

Maria's eyes flew open and she looked at Johanna. "Are you," she paused and shook her head, "are you saying you want to be with me... for the rest of my life?"

"Yes." Johanna snuggled closer. "Oh yes..." Even the thought of this ending caused a pang of sadness in her heart, but she knew the heartbreak the other option would cause as well. She was unwilling to put Maria through that. Closing her eyes, she urged Maria to do the same. "Sleep now... we should leave early tomorrow."

###

Emma giggled again, Elisabeth joined her.

Maria sent a disapproving glance at her daughters. "Perhaps we should have chosen a younger form for my daughters. Their tendency to giggle places them in the toddler years."

"We can't help it, Mama." Emma looked down at herself, unable to stop looking at the breasts she'd developed as a result of her disguise. "It's just so funny to see!" She indicated the long, straight brown hair that matched Johanna's. "This is odd as well." In the past, she'd often cursed her curly red hair. Of course the oddest thing of all was that they didn't look the same anymore, similar as sisters should, but not identical as they always had.

"I'm not sure about younger," Johanna, now Johan, grinned. "I do believe the choice not to make them young men was a good one." She laid her hand on the lead horse's neck to guide the team through a particularly narrow bit of the trail, and her walk took on a bit of a swagger. "The protruding parts of a man's body would certainly cause them to die of laughter."

"Yes." Maria nodded. "There is certainly no reason for them to become acquainted with that aspect of male anatomy at this point in their lives." Her breath sped up as she tried not to think about the changes Johanna's body had undergone. Her eyes darted toward the bulge in Johanna, now Johan's, trousers. She tried not to think about the significance of that change. Johanna was still the same person, she just looked different. Very different. Maria admitted to herself that Johanna made a very handsome man. He would be very popular with the women at the tavern.

Thinking about the changes in her daughters and her companion kept her mind from examining her own changes too closely. She had become younger, but not so young that having daughters that looked the age of Emma and Elisabeth was out of reason. Her skin was not quite as wrinkled around her eyes, and her muscles were a bit more toned in her arms and stomach. The biggest difference was her hair. Her normal white locks had been completely transformed into midnight black. She had to admit that she looked very good at the moment and wondered if this was what Johanna wished for instead of her natural appearance.

Maria thought about their new appearances as they walked. She hadn't paid attention to where Johanna had led them. Now she looked around and realized where they were. "How did you manage to bring us east of the village?"

"We need to arrive from the east so that when we leave heading west it will not be suspicious." Johanna smiled at her companions. "I believe when we are ready to leave you will want to go directly home."

Stressing the pronoun, Maria questioned, "We will want to go directly home?"

"Walking the long way around would be difficult, for you three." Johanna grinned. "My stamina is not in question."

Maria's nostrils flared as her blue eyes flickered again to the top of Johanna...Johan's legs. She swallowed against her suddenly dry throat. "I suppose not."

They continued in silence for quite some time before they crossed a wider, clearer, road. Turning the cart toward their destination, Johanna winked at the girls. "Almost there." Grinning, Johanna got into character. "Yep. Sure it will be nice to sleep in a warm dry bed tonight..."

Maria swallowed again. Her heartbeat increasing at the thought and watched the grinning, handsome, man continue to lead the team down the road. Surreptitiously wiping away a tear with a shaking hand, Maria wished Johanna was here with them, not Johan.

###

It was late enough in the season that their arrival in the village was a spectacle. And late enough in the day for the shadows to be long and the street to be deserted, at first. People who were not already gathered at the tavern crept from their homes to see the new arrivals. A large man, that Maria recognized now as Anna's husband, Kurt, approached them. He was the town smith and had often sharpened many of the woodsmen's axes including Stefan's before he'd acquired his own sharpening stone. He spoke to Johan.

"Traveling late in the season aren't you?"

"Aye." Johan responded with a smile. "We tarried too long at our last stop." He patted the neck of the horse closest to him. "Needed to give our team a chance to rest. My aunt would be very upset if I overworked her horses." Johan grinned as the other horse sniffed and whinnied, tossing its head as if in agreement. He grinned at the horse and chided, "Plus they tend to run off from time to time." A thumb toward the wagon took everyone's attention away from him. "We have a lot of things to trade, if any here have the need."

One woman, Anna, stepped forward and spoke up. "We're all in need here."

"Some more than others." Johan evaluated the woman and nodded. "What do you need and what do you have to trade?"

"Most here have very little to trade."

Johan's eyes glimmered with mischief at the woman's not so hidden attributes. "Some more than others."

Kurt stepped forward. "That is my wife you're propositioning."

"Kurt," Anna pleaded with her husband, "Please don't cause trouble."

Now Maria stepped forward to intervene. "It wasn't meant that way." She patted Johan's arm. "My... husband isn't always careful with his words." She took a few steps toward the villagers. "I'm sure we can come to agreeable trades. We are quite anxious to rid our wagon of our wares and be on our way."

Kurt growled at Johan. "Choose your words with more care, friend."

Johan grinned widely noticing that it only seemed to further infuriate the man. "Of course, friend. Perhaps you would like to look over our wagon? As an apology I will make you a very good deal on whatever your family needs for the coming snow." He waited as the man looked through the stockpile they had brought with them. On advice of his wife, he set aside a small bag of dried beans, a larger sack of flour, and a medium wheel of cheese. Johan had noticed the woman's eyes light up at the selection of herbs and spices they had also brought, but the man had dismissed them as unimportant. Nodding, Johan got down to business. "Fine selections. What do you have to trade?"

Shoulders slumping in defeat, Kurt admitted, "Nothing."

Maria stepped forward. "You seem to be a large man. Are you a smith, or woodsman?"

"Smith." Kurt shook his head. "Why?"

"Our horses could stand new shoes." Maria smiled. "And we have several knives that need sharpening..."

"My... wife is correct." Johan shot an affectionate gaze at Maria. "New shoes for the horses and our knives sharpened seems like a decent trade to me." Johanna gestured to the small pile of staples. "We will hold these items until the horses are shod."

Kurt nodded, as if unable to believe the supplies were so easily gained. "Acceptable."

Johan held out his hand to shake on the deal. "Done then." He asked Kurt. "We have been walking for quite a ways now and do not wish to sleep in the wagon again. Is there an Inn here?"

"Yes." Kurt shook Johan's hand vigorously. "Yes, of course. This way." He gestured for them to bring the horse and cart. "My forge is two doors down. I'll take them and stable them when the work is done. The Inn is across the square."

"Of course." Johan placed his hand gently at the small of his wife's back and gestured for the girls to follow.

Kurt took the horses lead and they followed him, pulling the cart obediently into the smith's forge.

###

The tavern was a bit different than Johanna remembered and she hoped that meant that her machinations had succeeded. She glanced at the gathered people and knew Maria and the girls were also searching the faces for a particular person. That person was not here and when the man behind the bar greeted them, Johanna had even more hope that things had occurred just as she had meant them to.

"Hello." He took one last swipe at the bar with the rag in his hand. "Need food?" His practiced eye took in the health of the people and the family dynamic then added to his question, "Rooms?"

"Rooms if you have them." Johan pulled Maria closer and grinned wryly at the bartender/Innkeeper. "A night alone would be welcomed."

Licking his lips the man looked Maria up and down then glanced at the two girls with the couple. "I can imagine."

Maria bristled at the oogling as well as Johan's handling of her. "Anything warm and dry will be appreciated. The wagon becomes quite cold at night these days."

Taking the statement at face value the Innkeeper nodded. "Yes, this is not the time of year to be traveling."

"Will you consider a trade for the rooms?" Johan asked. "We have a large amount of produce and supplies for your tavern."

"Well now." The Innkeeper rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That is a possibility."

"The wagon is secure in the smith's stable." Johan questioned, "Will you allow us to stay on the promise of a trade in the morning?"

"Of course." He pointed to the stairs. "Upstairs, the last two rooms are yours. Game has been scarce lately but there is vegetable stew if you're hungry. I can have some sent up."

"Many thanks, sir." Maria smiled at Gretel's son. "You have a lovely Inn."

"My name is Gerold." He gestured to the building in general. "My mother owns this place. I merely run it for her." Pointing with his thumb to the door to the right of the bar, he grinned. "My sister, Greta, is the cook. She is who you'll be dealing with on the supplies, and the stew."

Johan nodded. "Very well." Very casually, Johan asked, "Where is your mother?"

The man's eyes softened. "A few weeks ago, just before the snows hit, a stranger came through. He was unkempt, didn't have a shilling on him and was raving with fever. Most of us wanted to turn him away for fear of whatever disease he had, but Mother gave him a room and cared for him until he was well." He chuckled and shook his head at his mother's dubious wisdom. "It turned out that he was a nobleman. He and his hunting party had been ambushed in their camp and he had been left for dead. Wounded, feverish, with no supplies or weapons, he'd found his way here. When he was again in his right mind, he courted Mother and just a few days ago they were married." He grinned at the looks on the newcomer's faces. "She lives in a Manor house now!"

Maria chuckled. "Good for her."

Gerold nodded once. "Yes. She has been through a lot in her life. She deserves to be happy for the rest of it."

"Why aren't you there with them?" Maria knew that both of Gretel's children loved her very much.

"Well," he began, "for one thing I'm a grown man." He shrugged. "The Count already has children of his own. We are perfectly content to stay here. This is our home."

"I see." Maria didn't have to fake the longing in her voice. "I will be happy to see my home again." She felt Johan's arm circle her waist and just stopped herself from pulling away.

"We will both be glad of that." Johan squeezed Maria a bit tighter before he released the hold and then gestured to the girls. "Perhaps we should settle into our rooms. The sooner we wake in the morning, the sooner our trading will be finished and we can be on our way."

The bartender watched as the family made their way up the stairs. The man was confident in his movements but all three of the females seemed hesitant, especially the wife. He wondered if she was new to the mix. The girls were obviously the man's daughters, they didn't really look anything like the woman. But they did seem to look to her for guidance quite easily, so he wasn't sure. Shaking off that line of thought, Gerold got on with is work and went to tell Greta to make up four bowls of stew for their guests. The subject of their new arrival's family dynamic wasn't any of his business anyway.

###

They settled the girls in their room and stayed with them long enough to eat the small bowls of stew that Greta had brought them. Then Johan and Maria went to their own room for the night. Johan looked around the small space and nodded. "It hasn't changed too much since I was here."

"Mmmm..." Maria surveyed the room as well, her gaze landing on the small bed. "No reason it should. This seems nice enough." She crossed her arms in front of her, rubbing her biceps for warmth. "A bit chilly though."

"Easily remedied."

Maria watched as Johan quickly built a fire. She relaxed as the warmth began to seep into her bones. "I suppose we should get some sleep." She closed her eyes as Johan moved closer and threaded his hand through her formerly white hair.

"Is that what you really want?"

"I..." Maria sighed. "Is this what you want?" She indicated herself. "Dark hair, toned body, less wrinkles..."

"I too appear different than normal." Johan questioned softly, "You do not like the changes?"

" It's not..." Maria paused to gather her thoughts. "I am very much attracted to you, because I know that you are Johanna. But..."

"You object to this form."

"It has always been... painful." Maria admitted. "Even with Hans...who tried to be gentle." Her face darkened. "And then there was Stefan, who never tried to be gentle and never cared if it hurt. I think sometimes he liked it that way."

Johan gently wiped away a tear that was rolling down Maria's cheek. "He will never hurt you again."

There was a certainty in the tone of Johan's voice that caused Maria's heart to clench. "What did you do?" Dread began to build as Johan moved away to stare into the fire. "Johanna... what did you do?"

There was a very long silence until Johan spoke quietly, "I marked him."

"Marked?"

"When there is an event that causes large numbers of mortals to pass on, I often... assisted in the sorting." Johan sighed when Maria asked for clarification.

"Sorting?"

Nodding at that, Johan continued speaking, "Disease does not discriminate among ages. Children are taken, more often than not. In times of war there are also many children who are casualties. My Uncle does not care to deal with children." Johan smiled mirthlessly. "He tends to frighten them. So he taught me how to mark them, to ease their passage into the Fields of Light." A glance at Maria's falling face made Johan continue quickly. "He also taught me...other marks. For those not so innocent. Disease kills evil as well as innocent, war often includes both as well."

"Johan...na..." Maria swallowed hard, not sure she wanted an answer to her question but asked again, "What did you do?"

"I marked him for death and sent him to the depths of the underworld where he will suffer, in cold and hunger for the rest of eternity." Johanna closed her eyes, unwilling to see the disappointment in Maria's eyes. "With my mark upon him, he would not have made it through the last storm. I couldn't let him continue with his life, knowing how he had treated you and the girls."

Moving forward, Maria stroked Johan's back gently then laid her cheek against the muscular shoulder. "You were that angry at him?"

"Yes." Johanna sighed and turned to envelope Maria in her arms. Bending his knees allowed Johan to bury his face in the curve of Maria's neck. "Had I known the extent of his treatment of you, his punishment would have been far more severe. Niflheim is too good for him."

Threading her fingers through Johan's hair, Maria sighed as warm lips brushed against her neck. "Johanna..."

"Mmmm..." Johan felt Maria's pulse jump under his lips. "I have loved you from the first moment I saw you. I will never let anyone hurt you again."

Maria was at war with herself. Her body reacted pleasantly to the sensations Johanna's touch and words evoked in her, but her mind couldn't stop remembering the pain associated with this situation. "Johanna..."

"Shh... I know..." Johan looked into Maria's eyes. "There has been too much pain in your life." He traced Maria's face with manly hands. "I would use this form to take you with such gentleness so as to erase all the bad memories you have."

"I see so much of Johanna in you." Maria closed her eyes and leaned into the man's touch. "But it is that which I am attracted to, and she is the one, the only one, I want." Pulling away slightly, Maria gestured to herself. "I suppose this form is more to your liking." She knew her dark hair was a striking contrast to its former color.

"The disguises we wear are meant to deceive mortal eyes." Johan reached up to gently brush a lock of hair that consistently fell across Maria's right eye, no matter the color. "My eyes are not mortal." He again traced the fine lines on Maria's face. "I see only you as you have always appeared to me."

"Johan..." Her response was stopped by warm lips on her own. Maria melted into the kiss and pressed herself against Johanna's solid body. But this wasn't Johanna, this was Johan and that difference was made abundantly clear to Maria when she felt the bulge pressing into her groin. She pulled back unable to look past the disguise Johanna wore. "I can't."

"Shhh..." Johan assured the woman, "It's okay." Leading Maria to the bed, Johan smiled. "It has been a long day. We need to sleep." They settled into the barely padded bed and Johan whispered, "We will soon be home and in our own skins." Kissing the side of Maria's neck, Johan sighed. "I long to hear you screaming my name again." He felt Maria tense in his arms and mumbled assurance to the woman, "I will not take you against your will."

Maria relaxed. "Of course you wouldn't." She sighed as the tension of the day, and last few moments drained out of her. She floated in the calmness for a moment then whispered, "Good night, Johanna." She grinned at the response she received; a soft snore.

###

Johan examined the shoes on the horses and nodded to the smith. "You do good work."

Kurt pressed his lips together then licked them and spoke. "I noticed the pin on your wheel is loose." He took a deep breath and offered, "I could replace it for you, in exchange for some of those spices you have." He blushed slightly. "My wife was keen on them and... well.. our anniversary is coming up soon."

"You must love her a great deal." Johan's eyes twinkled as the man's blush deepened but it was the gruff response that made him grin.

"We have eight children."

Johan slapped the man on the shoulder and laughed loudly. "Do the work and the spices are yours plus a little something else I think your wife may like." He gestured toward the Inn/Tavern. "Come see me when the task is finished." He barely heard Kurt's grunt of acceptance as he moved off toward the building in question. It was late enough in the morning that Greta should have a moment to do some dealing. Johan only glanced at the building Maria had pointed out to her. It was where Maria and the girls were, speaking to the women of the village during their quilting time. In addition to the large amount of food they were carrying in the wagon, there were several bolts of material to be traded away.

###

Johan smiled at the tavern co-owner. "You drive a hard bargain."

Greta chuckled. "I learned from the best."

"I will have the supplies delivered by the end of the day."

"I will have your family's evening meal sent up to your rooms at dusk." Greta questioned, "Are you sure you don't want any of the chicken? It was killed fresh this morning."

"No." Johan swallowed hard at the thought. "The vegetables along with a loaf of bread will be plenty."

Greta shrugged. "Your choice."

"I wouldn't refuse a few mugs of your ale though. I have heard it is the best around." Johan smiled at the tavern keeper and shifted a little closer. "It would be nice to have a barrel, or two, if you can spare them."

There was a twinkle in Greta's eyes as she also moved a bit closer to what she believed to be a very handsome man. "I think I could spare a bit of ale for you."

Johan grinned. "I'm sure my wife would gladly trade some of our kitchen utensils for a keg or two of your drink. Sometimes the cider I make is too hard for her taste."

"Sounds as though we can make a trade then, kitchen utensils I have but if you have any cider with you I would trade for that." Greta placed her hand on Johan's muscular upper arm. "Anything else you have that is too hard for her to handle is also negotiable."

Johan gently removed Greta's hand from its resting place. "You are a lovely woman and the offer is appreciated. My wife can handle everything except the cider quite well indeed."

"Mmmm... she's such a slip of a thing though. A stick really. Perhaps a woman with more curves would be to your liking?"

"My wife's curves are all I will ever want or need."

"Well that's nice to hear."

Johan whirled around to see Maria standing in the doorway, arms crossed in front of her. He produced a rakish smile. "Hello, Dear."

Maria grunted at the obviously comical greeting. "Caught another one I see." She ruthlessly played the part of disgruntled wife. "Must you do this at every stop we make?"

"We were just discussing a trade..." Johan's eyes twinkled at Maria. "Greta has expressed an interest in my cider."

Maria looked at Greta suspiciously. "Best that is all you show an interest in."

Greta sighed. "My other interests have been summarily dismissed." She shrugged. "He loves you."

Nodding at that, it was Maria's turn to sigh. "Yes. I know." She gave Johan a rueful look. "I have yet to understand why."

Crossing the room to meet Maria at the door, Johan brushed Maria's cheek with the back of his fingers. "I will spend the rest of our life together trying to explain it to you." Leaning down, Johan kissed the cheek he was not caressing and whispered, "I do love you."

Unable to stop herself, Maria wrapped her arms around Johan's waist. "I love you too." Gesturing over her shoulder, Maria issued her orders. "Get the girls, I left them with the quilting group, and fetch the jugs of cider we brought." Glancing Greta's way, Maria acknowledged, "I will be happy to be rid of them."

Johan laughed good-naturedly. "I can always make more."

Greta gestured to the now empty doorway. "He's a good man."

"Mmm..." Maria felt a sliver of revulsion skitter down her spine. People had made that exact same comment about Stefan, people who hadn't known him. "Yes, he is." The wish that Johanna was here renewed itself. "If we are going to deal, I will need to taste what you have to offer." Maria gestured to an opened cask. "Shall I pour or will you?"

Greta chuckled as she grabbed a mug. "I think I can manage."

###

Johan knocked politely on the door of the quilter's gathering space. The door was opened by a portly woman with a perpetual frown. "Hello. My wife said I would find our girls here."

Emma and Elisabeth immediately stood. "Papa!" They made their way to the door quickly. "Here we are."

Nodding, Johan gestured to them. "Come along. Your mother needs us to fetch some things from the cart."

"Yes, Papa."

They made it all the way to the solitude of the wagon, still stored in the smith's stable then they both burst out laughing. Johan grinned. He could hear the smith working on the wheel pin next door at the forge and softly spoke to the girls, amusement coloring her words, "You sounded quite convincing when you called me 'Papa'."

"I wish you were..." Emma shyly admitted, "I think you would be the best Papa in the world."

Johan smiled. "Thank you Emma." She handed each girl a small jug of cider then took two slightly larger ones for herself. "Maria has said that your real Papa, Hans, loved you very much." He asked them quietly, "Did he not take care of you properly?"

"He did." Elisabeth took a deep breath and shifted her burden. "He had to work very hard at it though and didn't always have time to spend with us." She looked at Johan, her eyes neatly pinning their new provider's. "You manage to spend time with us while you are providing for us. It is..." she didn't know the word and gave up trying instead just saying, "we like it."

"It is much easier at the cottage." Johan reminded them, "It provides all of what we need." Grinning she leaned down and kissed each girl on the forehead. "Perhaps you should call the cottage, Papa?"

They giggled and hefted the jugs they carried, following Johan quickly out of the stable. The sound of the smith working in the next building followed them back to the tavern. Then the raucous crowd, and musicians, drowned the sharp staccato of the smith's hammer. What the cacophony did not drown was the boom of thunder that occurred when one tipsy patron reached for Elisabeth.

Everyone stilled at the rafter rattling sound. Johan looked upward as though seeing through the ceiling and roof. "Sounds as though a storm is approaching." All eyes turned to look at the newcomer. Johan just smiled and gestured the girls to move along into the kitchen. "Best we mind our business and be on our way."

The crowd began to murmur as Johan and the girls moved toward the kitchen. By the time the heavy door had swung closed behind them the noise level was back to normal.

Maria indicated where to set the jugs and for Johan to open one of them. It was the one she knew had been opened before and told Greta so. "This jug is not full." Pouring a taste for the woman, Maria smiled as she handed over the drink. "If you find it acceptable I will trade all three and a half jugs for two of your smaller beer kegs."

Greta sipped the cider and widened her eyes at the taste. "Agreed!" Looking at Johan, she lifted the drink slightly. "I could use this all the time. How much do you make?"

"Not much and not often." Johan smiled. "It takes the right ingredients and the proper amount of time..."

"Of course, of course..." Greta waved off the explanation. "I'm glad to have the chance to acquire some."

"We'll be glad to acquire a few more bowls of your delicious vegetable stew." Johan grinned at the cook. "It has been a long morning."

"Of course." Greta quickly ladled out four bowls and set them on a tray.

Elisabeth jumped forward before Johan could pick up the tray. "I can carry it, Papa, if you can find us a table."

Maria watched as Johan nodded and led the way out of the kitchen into the main room of the tavern. Holding back for a moment, Maria shook hands with Greta. "The rest of the supplies will be delivered this evening. Kurt is repairing the wheel on the cart. As soon as he's finished we can transport the goods here."

"Of course." Greta smiled. "You'll be spending another night with us anyway."

"Yes. There are still several goods in our cart to be traded." Maria sighed. "We'll get a good start early in the morning. I'm anxious to get home before the big snow sets in."

"I understand that." Greta wasn't exactly looking forward to the long cold days ahead, less in number than they had already endured but the stretch from now until Spring often seemed interminable. "At least you have Johan to keep you company." Greta laughed and sighed. "My brother is nice enough, but obviously can't be all I need him to be, if you get my meaning. For that I have scant choices from the patrons we get in the tavern. We've already lost one woodsman this year, not that he was a prize."

Maria was about to respond to that when a loud peal of thunder shook the building. Without another word, she walked out of the kitchen to see Johan pinning a fairly large young man to the wall with only one hand wrapped around his neck. The boy's face was turning from red to purple. "Johan! What happened?"

Johan's eyes never wavered from the man against the wall. "He made an... inappropriate suggestion to Elisabeth."

"Did he?" Maria's eyes hardened. "She's a child..."

"It was a mistake." The boy's voice squeaked past Johan's hand. "A joke."

"It was not funny." Johan growled and thunder rumbled outside as he squeezed the neck in his hand tighter.

"Johan..." Maria soothed, "It was not funny, but no harm was done." She put her hands on what seemed to be a large muscular forearm. "He's just a child himself... Let him go."

Johan growled again. "You would not be saying that had you heard the comment."

Cutting her most soothing tone with a bit of iron, Maria assured Johan, "Had he touched her I would kill him myself."

Relaxing his grip, Johan allowed the boy to drop to the floor. "He did not touch her. Nor will he... ever."

"No..." The boy doubled over trying to catch his breath. "No sir..."

Johan jerked his head toward the door. "On your way."

He watched as the boy bolted toward the door then turned to Elisabeth. "You alright?"

Nodding, Elisabeth licked her lips and answered softly, "Yes... Papa."

Grunting at that Johan gestured for them all to sit at the table. "Let's eat then."

###

Elisabeth and Emma had both silently watched both Johan and their mother eat quietly. The rest of the tavern eventually returned to it's normal sound level, but the four of them barely said anything during the meal. When they had finished, Maria gathered up the bowls and gestured for the girls to join her in returning the dishes to the kitchen.

Johanna stayed at the table to casually take a drink. She knew she needed to start the trades for the rest of the goods in the wagon, but watched over the edge of her mug as the women walked toward the kitchen. As Maria and the girls stepped through the door leading to the kitchen, Johan put his mug down on the table then reached up to catch a large fist moving toward the side of his head. He followed the arm attached to the fist in his hand to see a very surprised man. Johanna's disguise was a good one, Johan was a fairly large man, but the attacker towered over Johan by a good foot. Still, Johan wasn't worried about the size and smiled. "You must be the father." Releasing the man's hand, he sat back, put his feet up and picked up his mug of ale. "I see now where your son gets his manners."

"You nearly killed him!"

"Had he made good on his comment, I would have." Johan set his mug down and stood. "Should we take this outside?"

The large man laughed. "I would pound you to a soft mush!"

"Maybe." Johan grinned. "Maybe not."

"Definitely not!" Maria returned to the main room and ignored the new arrival completely as she approached Johan. She shook her finger at her supposed husband. "I'll not have you fighting again." Maria embellished on her lie. "You nearly killed that man three weeks ago. We're going to finish our trades and be on our way." She got directly in Johan's face. "Do you hear me?"

"Yes, my dear. I hear you." Johan looked over Maria's shoulder. "The question is, does he?"

Maria also turned and spoke to the large man. "Do you?" She took a step forward. "I won't tolerate this going any further. Do you understand?"

"Yes." The irate father huffed and looked at Johan. "Not worth the effort to pound you anyway."

Johan just grinned and picked up his mug, sipping it casually as his attacker stomped out the door.

Maria ran her fingers through her hair. She would be so very glad when they were home. She gestured to the girls. "C'mon girls. Let's go up to our rooms." She gave Johan a significant glare. "Should I return to keep you out of trouble?"

"No." Johan grinned. "I'm just going to finish my drink, then I'll go check on the wagon repairs."

Maria humphed but turned and ushered the girls upstairs without another word.

Johan drained the mug quickly and pressed a coin in the server girl's hand as she passed the table. "My family will require baths this evening."

The girl's eyes widened when she saw the gold glinting in her hand. "Yes sir."

Nodding, Johan stood and walked out the door. The disgruntled man may have said it was too much trouble to pound Johan, but wrecking carts and supplies was a fairly easy task. Johan wanted to make sure everything remained as it should.

As it turned out Johan's fears were unfounded. Kurt was just finishing the wheel repairs when Johan entered the smith's shop. He examined the work closely. "Very nice. Quality work."

"Thank you."

Johan nodded. "Well worth the price I think." He reached into the wagon and pulled out the packet of spices he'd promised the man in exchange for the wheel repair. Handing them over he turned and rummaged through a different section of the wagon. "Ah, here we are."

Kurt saw a cloth in the palm of Johan's hand, it was folded in a way to obviously protect something. "What is it?"

Johan held out her hand and dramatically unfolded the fabric to reveal a necklace. It was fairly simple, just a braided string with one larger pendant and four smaller beads on each side of it. The pendant was a good sized piece of amber that had been polished and smoothed into an oval, the other eight smaller beads were also amber. "I traded a fellow for it, years ago. Been looking for the right person to have it."

"Why do you not give it to your own wife?" Kurt looked at the necklace and shook his head. "It is too valuable for the work I've done."

"Maria does not want it. She believes it's under a spell."

Kurt took a step backward. "Witchcraft?"

Johan nodded and leaned forward to whisper a lie, keeping his tone amused. "She believes each bead represents a child. Both times she has worn it she has become pregnant." Johan grinned. "Since you already have eight, I think it's safe enough for you to have it."

"Oh." Kurt now stepped closer. Silly notions of a woman then, not witchcraft at all. Still the item was too valuable. It felt like charity. "It's just too much. The repairs were not that involved."

Before Johan could respond to that there was a loud crashing noise outside, from the direction of the stables. He slid the necklace into his pocket as he and Kurt both raced out of the forge to investigate.

Both doors to the stalls that the horses had been kept in were barely hanging on their hinges. The horses were gone. A groaning pulled Johan's attention away from the damage. The huge man who had started the trouble in the bar was sprawled on the ground, a large curved knife a short distance away from his outstretched hand. Johan was not amused, especially when the man spoke.

"They nearly killed me!"

"After you tried to kill them!" Johan spat. "Taking your rage out on an animal is contemptible."

With a growl, the man on the ground picked up his knife and stood quickly, lunging at Johan. Dodging the attack, Johan was amazed as Kurt rushed forward. The smith deflected the knife, the sharp blade slicing his arm in the process. Yelling, Kurt brought his good arm around and hit his attacker on the jaw, dropping him to the ground where he didn't move again.

Shaking the hand that he'd hit the man with, Kurt sighed. "Wilhelm has always been short tempered."

"I thank you for your help." Johan looked at Kurt's bleeding arm. "Your arm is badly cut. Is there a doctor here?"

Kurt shook his head and hissed as he tried to stop the bleeding. "Not really. Sometimes traveling physicians come through. They use a room in the back of the tavern. The village mothers usually take care of small things."

Johan took a clean strip of cloth from the wagon and wrapped it around Kurt's wound. The blood promptly seeped through the material. "This is no small thing. It will need tied together if it is to heal properly."

"Can you do that?"

"No." Johan licked her lips and pressed them together to hold in the truth of her healing abilities, even as she embellished her partner's. Stories of the medical treatment a woodsman's wife needed to know had come up several times during the long conversations by the fire. "Maria can." He turned his attention to the man on the floor. "We should probably let her take a look at him too." Another trip to the wagon produced a large amount of fabric. He rolled Wilhelm onto the cloth and began to drag him toward the tavern.

###

A crowd gathered when Johan and injured Kurt along with the unconscious Wilhelm arrived at the tavern.

Maria examined Kurt's arm passively. "What happened?"

"Wilhelm went after the horses." Johan explained. "Kurt stopped him."

"Mmmm..." Maria nodded then spoke to Elisabeth. "I need my pack from the room, Dearling."

Kurt chuckled. "I knew a woman once who called her daughters that." He winced when Maria prodded a particularly sensitive spot.

"Sorry." Maria glanced at Johan, "Everyone in my family calls their children Dearling." She didn't let him respond and looked at Greta. "I need some warm water, boiled would be good, but then cooled."

Greta nodded and left quickly to fill the request.

"Are you going to check on him?" Kurt looked at Wilhelm. "Shouldn't he have woken up by now?"

"He'll be fine." Maria eyed the unconscious man, the large lump forming under his hair, and the steady rise and fall of his chest. "He has a hard head." She accepted the kit from Elisabeth and sorted through the threads and needles. "His head will hurt when he wakes, probably no more than a night of heavy drinking would bring on." She sighed and relented. "He should probably put some ice where you hit him and where he hit his head when he fell."

Johan nodded and went into the kitchen to find Greta, and the ice storage house. Both she and Greta returned quickly with the water for Kurt's arm and ice for Wilhelm's head.

Kurt hissed when Maria poured the water over his arm, washing away the blood. He was surprised to see the white bone peeking through the gash. He could still move all his fingers though and Maria told him he was lucky. She also warned him, "This is going to hurt." She handed him a piece of cloth. "Bite this if you need to."

Nodding, Kurt looped the twisted cloth in his mouth and clenched his teeth hard when Maria's needle bit into his skin. As much as it hurt he watched, seemingly mesmerized, as the thread closed his wound.

"You won't be able to use this arm for a while." Maria rinsed off her needle and put it away. "If you pull out the thread before your arm is healed it will do more damage than good. You could lose the use of it forever." She wrapped a clean cloth around the wound. "Keep it clean and change the wrap at least once a day."

Kurt grunted. "Hmpf... well.. I suppose it's about time for my oldest son to learn the trade."

"I will repair the doors in the stable." Johan grinned. "It's most likely the horses would have caused that damage no matter what Whilhem's intentions were."

"Where are the horses?" Maria was now worried. Without the horses they would have quite a walk home, in the cold.

"They will be back by morning." Johan made a gesture of dismissal toward the tavern door. "You know they're always running off. Night is their favorite time to run free." The smile on Johan's face assured Maria. "They'll be back by morning."

Nodding, Maria glanced at Kurt's arm then took the rest of the water Greta had brought and tossed it into Wilhelm's face. The man spluttered as he woke, then groaned and held his head. There was no sympathy from Maria. She pushed his shoulder with her toe. "Get up, go home, put some ice on your head."

Gerold chuckled as he watched Wilhelm stagger out the door. "By Spring, he'll have changed the story to make himself the hero, probably saving the horses from some danger or another...or saving the village from wild horses..." The innkeeper shook his head but shrugged. "We'll all just grin and laugh at the story, because we know what really happened. It will be a long time before anyone around here trusts him again."

Nodding at that, Johan was relieved that the village would not be too upset. Winter months were long and it was not good for anyone to have hard feelings while trying to survive the harsh cold. Spring could be just as bad, with little time to work in order to ready the crops for growing it was not the time to be at odds with each other. "I still have things to trade, then we should try and rest before we leave in the morning. We have a long journey ahead of us."

"Of course." Gerold was sure that traveling between snows would not suit him at all, much less with children to protect. "We will do our best to get you on your way quickly."

###

The next morning Maria and the girls stood back, next to the cart while Johan said their goodbyes to the village.

"Many thanks." Johan offered his hand to Gerold. "You have a nice village here. I may just add it to our route. We will try to swing back through at the end of Spring."

"If you have wares and deals as you did this time, you will be more than welcome!" Gerold shook the hand in his gratefully. "By then we will all be looking to replenish our stocks."

"We will see you then." Gesturing for Maria and the girls to climb up on the cart, now nearly empty, Johan positioned himself in the driver's seat and nodded to some of the other villagers they had done business with. He clicked his tongue against his teeth and started the horses moving. Johanna did not relax, or resume her normal appearance, until the buildings of the town had no longer been in sight for quite some time. She pulled the horses to a halt and undid all the buckles holding them to the cart.

Maria and the girls were watching with obvious fascination when Johanna bowed deeply to the animals, and the creatures bowed back. Then Johanna stepped aside allowing the horses to gallop off, disappearing quickly into the morning mist.

"Where are they going?"

Johanna grinned. "They're going home, Mausi. My aunt will be glad of their return I'm sure."

Maria wearily climbed down from her seat and was glad that the girls didn't need help jumping to the ground. "Now what do we do, without the horses to pull the wagon?"

Laughing, Johanna licked her lips and asked lightly, "What wagon?"

All three women turned to see that the wagon they had been traveling on just a few moments ago was now gone. Maria was speechless but Johanna merely threw her arm around Maria's slim shoulders and winked at the girls. "We walk from here. Not much further now."

Elizabeth looked over at her sister who was once again her mirror image and bounced slightly in place with excitement. "I can't wait to be home!"

"Me either!" Emma grabbed Elizabeth's hand and they began to make their way through the thick brush, unerringly toward the Candy Cottage.

Johanna's hand dropped to Maria's waist and tightened slightly. She looked into Maria's eyes and whispered, "Me either."

Maria could barely hold herself in check. It had only been a few days, but she had missed Johanna. The feeling of the woman's lean body pressing against hers was overwhelming. Shifting, Maria wrapped her arms around Johanna's shoulders and buried her face in the hair cascading past the demi-goddess' neck. Her mumbled reply was barely audible, but Johanna understood the echo of hers and Emma's words.

When it seemed that Maria was unwilling to walk, Johanna merely scooped the thin woman up and carried her the rest of the way to the cottage.

###

Upon entering the familiar dwelling, Johanna took Maria directly to their bedroom and deposited her on their bed. "Rest now. The girls and I will take care of the mid-day meal."

"Oh, but..." Maria did not want Johanna to leave, but knew there were things to do. "I can help."

"You need to rest." Johanna chided. "You are still much too thin. I will bring you some soup when it is finished."

"You don't like the way I look..."

"I think you are beautiful." Johanna chuckled. "I love you, no matter what you look like. I only wish for you to be healthy. Your energy drains very quickly, a small amount of fat will not hurt you and will give you stores of energy for when you need them." There was a glint in Johanna's dark eyes that conveyed exactly when Maria was going to need her energy supplemented.

"I suppose a nap wouldn't hurt." Maria sighed and admitted, quietly, "I wish you could stay with me."

"When the soup is on to simmer, I will return." Johanna smiled and stroked her fingertips across Maria's cheek and brushed back a lock of the woman's white hair. "Rest. I will return soon."

Nodding, Maria smiled and closed her eyes.

###

As Johanna had predicted the next snowfall began the day after they returned from the village, exactly one week after they had began their journey. By the next day they were well and truly snowed in. The little cottage would have been almost completely buried had it not been for the enchantment surrounding it.

Emma and Elisabeth were thrilled with their change in circumstance. They both remembered the long dreary days of cold and hunger they had experienced during the last Winter. This was so different. The year 'round warm backyard garden allowed them plenty of food and gave them things to do to alleviate their boredom. During the weeks they had been isolated in the cottage the girls had decided amongst themselves that they must be the luckiest children in the entire world.

Maria had also decided she was the luckiest person in the world. The thought passed through her mind many times a day, but especially in the early morning. Waking in Johanna's arms after a night of being thoroughly loved and loving Johanna in return always brought the thought to the front of her mind. On this morning, however, now that the snows were melted and Spring was truly upon them, her thoughts of luck were answered with a chuckle.

"No doubt you are the luckiest person alive..."

Maria gasped at the intruder in their bedroom. The woman was wearing a diaphanous gown similar to the one she had seen Johanna wearing when she had gone to visit her Goddess mother. Her hair was dark like Johanna's and braided in an intricate design with various flowers and herbs woven into the pattern. Just as her sleep addled brain realized who this must be, Johanna's arms tightened around her and Johanna's rumbling voice confirmed her conclusion.

"Mother. What are you doing here?"

"I had expected to hear from you regarding my offer."

The Goddess took in Johanna's glare and the mortal's confusion. "Oh my..." She tsked at her daughter. "You haven't told her, have you?"

Now Maria found her voice. "Told me what?" She turned confused eyes to the woman holding her. "Johanna?" She watched as Johanna's eyes closed in what seemed to be defeat. When they opened again, they were hard and directed at the Goddess standing at the foot of their bed.

"Mother... leave." Johanna kept one arm tightly around Maria, but held up the other to stop her Mother's protest. "I need some time to present your offer to Maria and she will need time to think about it."

Drawing herself up to her full height, the Goddess nodded once at her daughter, sparing only a brief glance at the mortal in Johanna's arms. "Do not dawdle." Then in a cloud of whirling mist, she was gone.

Johanna sighed and sat up on the edge of the bed. She avoided looking at Maria, but spoke softly. "I suppose we need to talk."

"I'm thinking we should have done that quite some time ago." Maria sat up but leaned back on the bed's headboard. They sat in silence for a moment before Maria asked, "What offer?" She jumped when Johanna propelled herself off the bed and began pacing the room.

Nearly growling through clenched teeth, Johanna began to explain. "When she summoned me those months ago..." Her voice dripped with sarcasm, "My ever so generous Mother offered to..." Johanna shook her head and stopped pacing, sitting on the side of the bed nearest Maria. She held Maria's hand and finished the sentence, "...make you immortal."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Johanna's forehead wrinkled in concern when Maria's had slid from her. "Maria?"

"You didn't tell me, because?" Maria nodded to herself and wrapped her arms around her middle to contain the hurt. "Because you don't want me forever, just until I outlive my welcome."

Johanna shook her head and tried to make eye contact with Maria. "Not true." When she finally did connect with Maria's watery blue eyes she repeated, "Not true at all. I would love nothing more than to be with you forever."

"Then why?" Maria asked. "Why not tell me?"

Moving carefully, Johanna shifted to wrap her arms around Maria. "Immortality is not what people think." Her voice was nearly a whisper now. "I was cursed with it so long ago, I would never wish it upon anyone."

"Cursed?"

"To live so long, to see everything you know fall into disrepair and turn to dust, to watch forests grow, wither and die, to watch mountains form and be worn down to hills... to watch the people you love grow old and die."

"The people you love?"

Now Johanna avoided Maria's searching eyes. "Mother's...offer only extends to you. The girls...well..."

Maria whispered in realization, "I would have to bury my children..."

Johanna swallowed hard at the thought but expanded it, "and their children, and their children's children's children... on and on..."

Maria tried to wrap her mind around the concept, "They would grow old and I would..."

"...remain exactly as you are now." Johanna gently brushed the lock of white hair that often fell across Maria's forehead. "As difficult as it would be for you, it would not be easy for them either."

Snuggling into the embrace, Maria was overwhelmed by the decision she had to make. "How long do I have to decide?"

"Mother is usually distracted in the Spring and Summer, so I would think she won't be adamant for a response until at least Autumn." Johanna spoke, with no rancor in her voice at all. "When my sister returns to her husband's realm, Mother will again become aware of my existence."

Maria immediately forgot her own dilemma and focused on Johanna. "That isn't fair." She knew from her own experience with two children. "One child should not be put above the other..."

"She doesn't... not really." Johanna shrugged. "I know she loves me, she just shows it in different ways."

"But not when your...sister is, um, home?"

"Surely you've heard the story..." Johanna summed up the old tale. "Mother was furious when my sister became involved with her paramour. They argued for a long time until finally a compromise was set. For half the year my sister would live with her husband and the other half would be spent with Mother. Seph decided to stay home during the warmer months, because she hates the cold, but also because Mother is always in a much better mood then. During Winter Mother's moods turn toward the depressed."

"Seph?" Maria thought about every short conversation she'd had with Johanna regarding her relatives and realized something. "Why do you never use names for your family?" She elaborated, "You say 'Mother', or 'my sister', or 'my Aunt', 'my Uncle'... This is the first time I've heard you use a name."

"Most of them have so many names, I never know what to call them." Johanna took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Currently, for the last few thousand years, the name my sister has preferred is Persephone. I call her Seph."

Now the idea of Johanna's family was pushed out of Maria's head by another tangent thought, "few thousand years?" She shook her head, "How..."

Johanna stopped the question with a kiss. When she pulled away, she sighed. "I am older than you can possibly imagine and my Mother... well, my Mother has just always been."

Overwhelmed by all the new information, and knowing she had time to make the decision facing her, Maria spoke as she wriggled out of Johanna's embrace. "We need to start the day."

Johanna nodded as she watched Maria exit the room and whispered softly, "Of course."

###

The next few days passed with Maria being very quiet and all of them simply going through the motions of their normal days. Johanna could tell that the girls were confused, but that they knew their mother was upset about something. The tension grew thicker as time went on, until one day Maria broke the silence of their evening meal.

"I need to talk to the girls."

Johanna looked up at her tablemate and blinked, "You want me to leave?"

"If you might find something to do in the garden, for a while..."

Nodding at that, Johanna rose from her seat. "Of course."

Elisabeth watched Johanna exit the cottage then turned her attention to Maria. When Maria began speaking Elisabeth's eyes grew wider mirroring her sister's expression perfectly. No wonder their mother had been so distracted lately.

###

Despite the looming decision Maria needed to make, it was a lovely time for them. Spring activities that turned to Summer adventures kept them all busy gathering the various things the garden produced as well as their regular forays into the forest proper. Because there were four of them, the work went very quickly and they had a good deal of quality time to spend together. Maria relished the ability to spend time with the girls and also the opportunities to be alone with Johanna. Evenings in front of the fire and long nights enjoying each other. Maria would never have imagined enjoying such intimate contact, much less initiating it. It was also nice because Johanna's wish for her to add a bit of fat had come true. The hours of working in the garden along with regular meals had caused Maria to become more muscular than she had ever been with a thin layer of fat to rely on for energy when she needed it. She knew she looked and felt better now than she had even in her younger days.

One evening as the drying leaves swirled in the wind around outside the window, the girls and Johanna were playing a game as Maria sat at the spinning wheel. She automatically spun the wool they had processed from the various sheep that had been showing up for the last week or so. As she went about her task, she watched the girls interacting with Johanna and realized something. Something that she hadn't thought about before.

When they settled into bed for the night, Maria snuggled closely into Johanna's embrace and spoke softly. "I have decided." She looked up into Johanna's eyes, registering the concern there, and nodded. "I will accept the offer."

"Are you sure?" Johanna started with the original argument. "The girls..."

"I know!" Maria clamped her mouth closed and glanced out the door toward the girls' room. Lowering her voice she repeated, "I know." She exhaled slowly. "It will break my heart when the day comes that we will have to bury them."

"Then..."

"Shhhh..." Maria kissed Johanna, making sure she would remain quiet. "Did you hear what I said?"

Johanna held Maria a little tighter. "You said it would break your heart..."

"Yes," Maria agreed, "but you missed the other thing." She reached up to trail her fingertips along Johanna's cheek. "I said 'we'." She pressed her finger against Johanna's lips and continued, "I was watching you tonight. You love them."

"Like they were my own."

"I know." Maria nodded and spoke, as if she hadn't been interrupted. "If I remain mortal, it is most likely that I will die before the girls do." A small sad smile tugged at the corners of her mouth when Johanna's embrace tightened slightly. "I know, if that were to happen, you would continue to watch out for them, and when they pass on it will break your heart as surely as it would break mine." She watched Johanna's head nodding in agreement and continued, "and you would watch their children, and their children's children.. and on and on..."

"I would." The words were tinged with promise. "I will watch your bloodline, forever."

Maria shook her head to deny that future. "I won't let you do that." She looked up into Johanna's teary eyes and repeated, "I won't let you do that," then added, "alone." It was a tenuous future anyway, but Maria knew, "If the girls do find someone to spend their lives with, to have children with, then 'we' will watch them and their decedents, together."

###

Epilogue:

Johanna made sure all the counters and shelves were cleared for the night then called to Maria in the backroom. "Are you ready?" She turned the sign on the door from Open to Closed.

"Yes, one minute just let me get the camera."

Chuckling at that, Johanna's tolerant smile went unseen. Since photographic technology had advanced enough for cameras to be small enough to carry, Maria had been taking pictures of everything when they took their evening walks. It was rather amazing to see the changes in their surroundings through the lens of the camera. Of course they had remained the same as always, but as the landscape changed so had the cottage they called home. It had adapted as civilization grew around them. It had gotten larger and smaller as needed and now in addition to the rooms they had enjoyed for the entire time they had been together, there was a room equal to the size of their main room that served as a storefront, a bakery. The garden was now slightly smaller than it was at the beginning of their relationship, but they did not need as much these days anyway. Still the garden and the cottage provided everything they needed, when they needed it. The structure also no longer appeared as the Candy Cottage, although it now had a sign above the door proclaiming it as such. They had both taken great amusement in naming their business "The Candy Cottage".

A small shiver ran up Johanna's back. She murmured past her grin, "Nibble, nibble like a mouse..." Raising her voice she informed Maria, "We are about to have guests." As she reached up to turn the lock on the door, two children ran up to the glass. Their startling blue eyes peered past their deep red hair and turned from excited to disappointed when they saw the Closed sign on the door. With a wry grin and amused narrowed eyes, instead of locking the door, Johanna opened it. "May I help you?"

"We found a Mark on the sidewalk!" The little girl opened her hand to show Johanna the coin. "We wanted some gingerbread..."

"I see."

"What were you saying..." Maria entered the bakery, straightening the pleats on her dress with her free hand, juggling the camera and her small clutch purse with the other. She stopped short when she saw the children. "Who's this?"

Johanna's amused tone floated back to Maria even though her eyes never left the children. "Hansel and Gretel here would like some gingerbread."

The children let out loud giggles and the girl spoke through her smile, "We aren't Hansel and Gretel! That's just a tale from an old storybook! I'm Elisabeth Marie... and he's Johan."

Johanna's eyes twinkled. "Of course you are." She turned to Maria. "Do we have any gingerbread left for these poor starving waifs?"

Maria laughed along with the children, who now understood they were being teased. "Oh, I think maybe I can find something..." She reached under the counter and produced a large tray from the previously clear shelf, it was covered with a heavy glass dome. She lifted the dome to reveal two rather large squares of gingerbread. Maria thought they looked suspiciously like the roof of the cottage, when it was still literally the Candy Cottage. "... looks like just the thing." She grinned as she handed each child their piece. They began to nibble their snacks and Maria leaned down to whisper to them. "Come back any time. There will always be goodies for you here."

Johan shook his head. His cheeks were stuffed with gingerbread, but he spoke solemnly, "We don't always have a mark to spare."

Despite the statement, Elisabeth Marie handed over the coin they had found.

Their clothes were good quality, neat and clean and the children didn't look malnourished. It made her happy to know that they were well taken care of but Johanna's heart went out to the two young children. Knowing that these were 'their' children, part of Maria's bloodline, made it important for them to know that they were welcome here any time.

"Mark or not," Johanna winked at the children, "there are always extras for a couple of chipmunks like you." She gestured them back to the door. "Off you go then, I'm sure your parents are wondering where you are."

Maria stopped them from leaving for a moment. "May I take your picture? I like getting pictures of happy customers."

The children nodded and stood together, one hand on each others shoulder, the other hand holding their gingerbread square. They looked at the camera and smiled. Blinking away the flash, they took Johanna's hint of holding the door open for them and exited, waving as they walked down the street toward their home.

Johanna and Maria also exited the store, locking the door behind them. They watched the children making their way home and Johanna grunted a little. "It always surprises me when they name one of them Johan."

"Not me." Maria smiled at her eternal mate. "It often surprises me when they don't."

Rolling her eyes at that, Johanna guided Maria down the street in the opposite direction that the children had gone.

They had walked for a while before Maria decided to take a photograph. The item in her hand hindered the process. "Oh!" Maria handed the coin she had been given over to Johanna. "Here..."

Taking the coin, Johanna examined it. It wasn't actually a coin. It was an extension of the cottage itself. That meant the same enchantment that had hidden the cottage from adults and attracted children for all those years worked similarly on the small disk. Any of 'their' children could find it because the cottage considered them family and would draw 'them' home no matter their circumstances, but more importantly any hungry or hurting child could see it as well. Johanna rested it on the side of her index finger for a moment before flipping it with her thumb to end up in a random place on the sidewalk. There it stayed, waiting for the next child to find it and make their way to The Candy Cottage and the two nice women who were waiting with gingerbread and smiles.

End.