Virginia woke with a start. Wolf didn't blame her. He had put his hand over her mouth, after all. He put his finger to his lips for silence. She seemed to understand. Tony was struggling to pull the dog out of the camp as quietly as possible. Virginia sat up, coming very close to Wolf's face. He stood by his earlier statement of her beauty in the morning. The birds were singing but the sky was still dark, as the sun was only just beginning to rise. Wolf didn't feel very rested this morning. He hadn't gotten much sleep, and he was pretty sure he slept with one eye open. He felt twitchy and nervous, and tried to tread softly so he wouldn't wake the Gypsies.
Wolf moved to help Tony with the dog. They each grabbed one end, Wolf taking the tail, and Tony the head. He was trying to concentrate on not stepping on any leaves or sticks when Tony's head whipped around in Virginia's direction. Wolf turned to look. She had gone over to the magic birds, who were still chirping their pleas of freedom. He and Tony kept moving, trying to get the dog out of sight. It wasn't until Virginia started opening the cages that Wolf felt a rush of panic. If Virginia was caught she would surely be killed. They put the dog down at once and whispered urgently to her.
"Virginia! Stop! Come on!" She held up her finger, telling them to wait, and opened another cage. She had to duck out of the way to avoid the birds that darted out to freedom.
"What the hell is she doing," whispered Tony. Wolf didn't answer, only thinking of Virginia's safety. . . and his admiration for her bleeding heart. Virginia never turned her back to someone in need. Did she really need a hero. . . or did he?
"Virginia!" Wolf whispered to her. There was one cage left hanging on a cart, and she was struggling to reach the catch.
"Don't, don't!" whispered Tony. Virginia tentatively opened the cage. . . and lost her footing. A loud crash echoed through the camp and she ran to catch up with them.
"Uh-oh," said Tony, picking up the dog, cart and all. "Go!"
The Gypsy woman burst out of the cart, and seeing that all the magic birds had been released, started yelling orders to the men.
"After them! Quick!" Wolf could hear the men yelling and distant clangs of metal on metal as they armed themselves with their knives. They ran as hard and fast as they could while carrying a golden dog. Tony and Wolf ducked into a ditch concealed by bushes and waited for Virginia to come down the path. She came around the corner, apparently confused. Just a little closer, Wolf urged silently. She slowed to a stop right in front of them and Wolf was able to reach out and catch her ankle, dragging her down into their hiding place. She let out a startled cry and Wolf had to shush her again.
Wolf held his breath as the Gypsies came into view. They were so close. Garridan wasn't among them, thankfully. He could have sniffed out their trail. Wolf risked poking his head up to see what was happening. The Gypsies had given up and were running back toward the camp. Wolf frowned. Oh, this can't be good, he thought. They waited in silence until the Gypsies were out of sight, only then allowing themselves to breath out a sigh of relief. Tony angrily pushed a bush out of his way as he walked away from the hiding place
"I don't understand," Wolf muttered to Tony. "The old woman called off the hunt."
"Maybe we got lucky, okay," Tony said defensively to Wolf. "Let's just get moving. The sooner we get out of this forest, the better." Wolf nodded in agreement.
"Help me get Prince up on the path." Tony moved to pick up the heavy golden dog. Wolf was agitated enough as it is without the added weight of dead dog.
"Can't we just bury him," he blurted. "We can always come back sometime in the future."
"I'm not going to leave him, alright? I got him into this mess, and I'm going to get him out" Tony argued. Wolf huffed and growled softly, preoccupied. He examined the road through the bushes again to make sure it was safe enough to continue. He felt uneasy, but then. . . he always felt uneasy these days.
"I wish I knew why they gave up so easily," he muttered. "It's not like the Gypsies at all." He would know. He'd been hunted by them once, and it wasn't a pleasant memory. He had been hungry, and it was only one rabbit. . . at least, he thought it was only one. At the time, he couldn't remember much. Virginia had begun to help Tony with the dog, and Wolf followed them up onto the path. He kept looking behind him every few seconds to check and make sure they weren't being followed. Of course, he already knew because he couldn't smell anyone other than Virginia, Tony, and himself. He made a mental note to try and take a bath, more for Virginia's sake than his own.
"What are you staring at," Virginia asked. Wolf whipped his head forward to Tony, still dragging the dog and leaving deep tracks – which Wolf hated – and Virginia, who seemed embarrassed about something and wouldn't meet her father's eye. Wolf supposed she felt bad about messing up their escape.
"Your hair," Tony said curiously. "It's. . . different."
"Oh, yeah, that's because I went to the beautician last night." Wolf had always liked Virginia's hair.
"No, it's not that. It's. . . well. . . it's grown."
"What? It hasn't grown," said Virginia, raising her hands to feel her ponytail. Wolf had been distracted with checking the woods for predators until this point. Now he was all ears. His eyes darted to Virginia's shoulders where her brown tresses usually rested. . . only it wasn't shoulder-length anymore. He gasped.
"So it has," he exclaimed. He raised his hand to touch it, but she went to a water puddle to check her reflection. Wolf avoided the pool, remember the last time he looked at a reflective surface, but he crouched around the edges, hopefully out of the Queen's line of sight.
"Oh, my God, it is longer," she said as she released her hair from its ribbon. "That's so weird." A sense of dread washed over Wolf.
"What's happening," she asked Wolf. He grabbed a lock of hair as he realized something and gasped.
"The Gypsies. Of course. They had some of your hair. The Gypsies have cursed you!" He was having trouble keeping his voice level, and even he could detect the note of panic as he stood to his feet. Tony was immediately more involved in the conversation.
"Cursed me? What do you mean, cursed me? What am I supposed to do," she whined, moving her hair. It was almost as if she wanted to run from it. Wolf didn't have an answer, standing before her opening and closing his mouth soundlessly.
"Uh. . . braid it?" Tony offered. Virginia gulped in fear.
Several hours and many tangles later, Virginia's hair was nearing at least fifteen feet, and the rain wasn't helping. Night had fallen and they were drenched to the bone. Wolf didn't know what else to do except keep moving and hopefully find shelter.
"Ow!" Virginia yelled. "Stop it! You're jerking it!" Wolf tried to adjust his hands so he wouldn't hurt her anymore.
"Sorry. I can't help it. You have a lot of split ends," he said defensively. Virginia groaned.
"How long is it now," said Tony. Wolf growled to himself.
"Don't ask," was his reply.
"Hang on. Where are we going," Tony asked. Wolf was surprised that Tony hadn't left the dog behind ages ago, but he was still faithfully pulling along the heavy cart, making tracks for anyone to find. Wolf's consolation was that the Huntsman was looking for a group that had a dog, and there were no dog tracks, only wheels. Wolf ignored him and kept walking, keeping a brisk pace with Virginia. He was hoping she would see his presence as a comfort until yet another branch snagged at her scalp.
"Ow!" she cried loudly. Tony helped untangle the hair from the branch. Wolf hadn't tried to do it because he was pretty sure she still didn't trust him. Every time he got close to her she would avoid his touch somehow. He scratched his temple, feeling helpless.
"This is crazy! We have to stop somewhere," she yelled over the wind.
"Where are we going to find shelter in the middle of a forest," Wolf yelled back as lightning lit up the sky. . . and a nearby cottage.
"Look," cried Wolf, laughing. Tony helped Virginia carry her hair into the small cottage and brought the dog in last. There was old writing on the walls. Things like "Trolls Rule" and "No Mercy." Trolls had been here, but a very long time ago. Wolf could barely smell them.
"Anyone home," Virginia called. Wolf looked around the tiny house. A layer of dust covered everything, and there were spider webs on the walls. Wolf found a lamp nearby and lit it.
"It's okay," Wolf reassured her. "No one's been here for a long time." Tony went upstairs.
"Hey, come look at this," he called. They followed his voice to a bedroom, where seven small beds were lined up all in a row. Wolf couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking," Tony asked them excitedly.
"This is Snow White's cottage," Wolf said, voicing his thoughts. "Goodness gracious me, this is the Seven Dwarves' house. It's been lost for a very long time."
"The beds are so tiny," Virginia commented, smiling. He was immediately glad they found this place. This was the first time all day Virginia had smiled.
"This is a great piece of our history. It's a pity that Prince is a stiff. This is his Grandma's cottage. Cripes." The magnitude of the situation was making him feel giddy. Virginia shivered and sniffed.
They all went downstairs and against Wolf's wishes she built a fire, drying her hair over the flames.
"We really shouldn't have a fire if somebody's following us," he told her, though he said it kindly, not wanting to take it away from her.
"I don't care. I'm not going to bed with wet hair," she said.
"You know, here's a question I never thought I'd ask," said Tony from a chair by the hearth. "What happened to Snow White after she married the Prince?" Virginia leaned forward to hear the story. Wolf stopped poking the fire to answer.
"She became a great queen," he told them. "One of the five women who changed history."
"Five women?" Virginia's eyes were shining with interest.
"Snow White, Cinderella, Queen Riding Hood, Gretel the Great, and the Lady Rapunzel. They formed the first five kingdoms. There was peace throughout all the lands. . . but they're all dead now," he said sadly. "Some say Cinderella's still alive, but no one's seen her in public in nearly forty years. She would be nearly two hundred years old." He chuckled at the thought. Virginia was frowning and had a distant look on her face. Wolf sighed. "The days of Happy Ever After are gone." He was aware of a note of bitterness in his voice. "These are dark times," he said to Virginia. Tony was yawning, his head drooping over the chair. He tried to argue when Virginia suggested he take the beds upstairs, and eventually her stubbornness won out. She had claimed the spot closest to the fire and made herself comfortable. They could hear Tony's snores coming from upstairs.
"What did you say to that boy in the Gypsy camp," Virginia blurted. Wolf chuckled, chewing on a stalk of wheat.
"Nothing much. Just wolf stuff," he said with a smile. She gave a quiet chuckle.
"What's wolf stuff?"
"Oh, I didn't need to say anything to him. I was just with him. He had never seen another wolf, and he was scared. It's a lonely path in life to be different, as you know." Virginia shifted, leaning on her elbow and made a nervous sound.
"Where's your mom?" he asked. He was curious to see how much she knew about the Queen.
"I have no idea. She walked out on us when I was seven." Wolf made a noise that wasn't quite a growl. His heart filled with pity for the little girl without a mother.
"Sad to be left when you're so little," he told her.
"I very rarely think about her, to be honest with you. She's never really been a part of my life."
"What happened?" Wolf asked, thinking that his self-help books had come in handy after all.
"Oh," Virginia sighed, "she just left home. Wouldn't you, if you were married to my Dad?" Wolf nodded and chuckled. "They were just totally different people. You've met my Grandmother, right? My mother was like that. It was a complete mismatch. They never should've gotten married to begin with. Anyway. . . it was a long time ago." For a moment Virginia looked like a little girl, wearing a mask to hide her pain. But she was just beginning to open up to him, and he didn't want to let her put the mask on again just yet.
"Where is she now?" He alone knew the answer to that.
"I haven't a clue, and I couldn't care less, really," she said.
"Don't you. . . wonder. . . what she's like?" Virginia sighed in exasperation.
"She could've gotten back in touch with me, but she didn't. And that's fine. I mean, you know. . . if she doesn't care anything about me, I'm not going to waste my energy thinking about her." So that's how she protects herself. She shuts out all the bad stuff and locks it away somewhere.
"Oh," he said simply.
"'Oh' what?" she demanded. Wolf didn't want to argue.
"'Oh.' Just 'oh.' 'Oh!' As in an encouraging, noncommital noise." He decided to add, "'Try not to comment as you listen,' as my very good self-help books tell me." He was a little embarrassed and was afraid of what she would say when she sneezed. His hand flew to her face of its own accord. She caught his gaze and her eyes flitted away, but he didn't remove his hand, stroking her cheek softly. He let his hand fall.
"You must do something magnificent with your life," he told her.
"Oh, yeah? Why?" she asked, rolling her eyes.
"Because your hurt is very great." Virginia blinked.
"They just split up! God. Doesn't that ever happen where you come from?"
"Of course not," he said. "We either live happily ever after, or we get killed by horrible curses." That was the truth of it. He looked at Virginia and she dropped her gaze uncomfortably again. He wanted to hold her and tell her everything was okay, but he knew it would be a lie, and he could never lie to Virginia. She was too precious to him. He considered her for a moment and blurted,
"You don't trust nobody." Virginia squirmed
"I don't trust you, no," she said. Wolf felt his chest tighten.
"Well," he said, feeling that she had put on the mask again, "you may not get hurt, but. . . huff-puff. . . you won't get loved, either." Virginia was looking at him strangely, but he turned his back and tried to make himself comfortable for sleep. She sighed and did the same. He lay awake for a while after her breathing became heavy and even. What she said about not trusting him had made him feel worthless. What had he been doing this whole time? Saving her and her father. Why didn't she trust him? Is it the Grandmother thing? She'd said as much, once. That was one time and I didn't even hurt her. He let the arguments go round in his head until he succumbed to a dreamless sleep.