"Mary, there's no time."
"I know. I'll get her out of here." Mary wrapped an arm around Red and pulled her away. Red looked too shaky to walk but with Mary's support she staggered away.
Granny watched them go, eyes full of regret. Her secret had cost Red dear. Red loved that boy. Granny had hoped that she could keep Red from doing anything foolish with him. Now Granny knew she was the fool.
Mayor Tomkin's new hunting party came out of the trees and into the bloody campsite.
All right you old fool, Granny bitterly thought to herself, Get yourself out of this one.
Granny wished she could have run with Red and Mary, but she was not as young as she used to be. Once she could outrun a stag, but those days were over. It was too late to run. Granny picked up one of the lanterns.
The hunting party was looking over the campsite, one brave hunter took one look at Peter's mangled corpse, turned away and got sick. Granny did not think any less of him.
"Widow Lucas." Tomkin hailed her. "What happened? What are you doing out here?"
"Foolish children wanted to hunt the Wolf by themselves." The lie came quickly to Granny. "I got wind of what they were doing and tried to put a stop to it. Unfortunately I was too late. That's Peter, he was slain trying to protect my granddaughter." That the boy died a hero might offer some comfort to Peter's father when he found out. "Her red cloak repelled the wolf, it ran away."
"Which way did it go?" Tomkin asked quickly.
Granny wordlessly pointed towards the river. The hunting party could spend hours searching up and downstream trying to find tracks. It would give Red and Mary plenty of time to get away.
The party eagerly ran in the direction Granny indicated, except for the man who had gotten sick. He hung back, rinsing his mouth out from a canteen and used a handful of clean snow to wipe his face.
"Where is Red?" The pale man asked.
"Away." Granny said, "I sent her away with the girl I have staying with us."
"She's a lucky girl to still be alive. Take care, Widow Lucas." The pale man hurried to catch up with the party.
Granny began following Red and Mary's trail.
Gods, it's me! Red felt sicker than she had ever felt in her life and she had a terrible taste in her mouth. She still felt disoriented and confused but one thing was clear, she was the Wolf, she had killed Peter, she had killed a lot of people.
She heard men, hunters. A new hunting party assembled to hunt the Wolf.
Mary was pulling her ahead through the woods, but Red grabbed a young tree and stopped short.
"I have to go back, they're looking for me!" Red gasped.
"No Red, we have to keep moving." Mary said, tugging on Red's arm.
"I killed-" Red started to say, but then her stomach heaved. Red doubled over and vomited into the underbrush. Red was vaguely aware of Mary pulling her hair back and grabbing Red's shoulder to keep her from falling over. It took Red a couple minutes to recover.
"C'mon Red, we have to go." Mary urged, tugging on Red's arm again but gentler this time.
Red shambled after Mary. After a while she thought that she should lead because Mary had no idea what direction she was going in. But Red did not care where they went so she let Mary drag her through the forest until she caught a familiar scent. The cottage. Red had felt like a rat in a trap there, but it was home.
"The cottage is this way." Red told Mary.
Mary looked almost relieved and let Red lead her through the woods to the clearing around the cottage. Out of habit Red stamped the snow from her boots before going into the kitchen.
Red slumped at the table. Red looked around the kitchen, the bars that went down over the fireplace, the heavy bar which went over the door but now was propped up against the wall. For years Red had suspected that Granny was trying to keep her inside as much as the Wolf out. She was right, Granny was trying to keep her in - trying to cage the Wolf that was her.
Anger suddenly flared in Red. "If red repels wolves why do I have to wear this cloak if I'm the wolf?" Red asked, her hand going up to slip off the cloak.
"NO!" Mary's outburst froze Red with her hand upon her cloak. "The cloak is what keeps you from turning into the Wolf."
Red stared at Mary for a moment, the reached up to pull her hood over her head and tied her cloak about her neck. In her head Red heard Granny's sharp voice Wear your hood! echoing Mary's explanation. "Why do you know all this, Mary? Why could Granny tell you all of this but never told me?"
"I don't know." Mary sighed. "She said it was a terrible burden... She used to be a Wolf too, but I guess it goes away with age. That Wolf she talked about at the meeting, she said it was your grandfather, that he Turned her. That it passed onto your mother and then onto you."
"My mother... she told me a Wolf killed her. So when the hunters killed the Wolf... Gods." Red closed her eyes. She wondered what else her grandmother had lied to her about, or when Granny had ever told her the truth. "She has lied to me all my life."
Red heard the crunch of boots in snow. "Someone is coming-" Red half rose from the table, then she caught the scent and relaxed. How long had she been identifying people by scent without realizing it. "It's Granny."
Granny closed the door and tried to put the bar in place by herself, it was too heavy but Mary moved in to help her with it. With the door secure Granny spoke.
"They're searching the whole forest for the wolf, but they don't know it's you. They won't figure out what really happened." At least Granny hoped so. As Granny talked she got a bottle of brandy from the cupboard and three tumblers. She poured them each a drink and left the bottle at the table. Granny looked at Red, the girl was slumped at the table looking heartbroken. Granny felt sick with guilt, it was all her fault. "Red, I'm sorry." Sorry felt inadequate. "What happened was my fault, not yours. I should have told you long ago instead of trying to keep it from you."
Red never drank much or often, but she picked up her tumbler and drank it down in three gulps. Her eyes watered but Granny knew it was not from the burn of alcohol. "You should've told me, Granny."
Granny refilled Red's tumbler. "I should have told you back when you first started to change. I was a fool."
"You were worse than a fool, Granny!" Red drank the second brandy nearly as fast as the first one. "You should have told me back when it was just sheep and cattle! Why didn't you tell me after I killed the hunting party? You let me kill Peter! Why did you hate him so much to let me kill him? I loved him! We were-" Red choked on a sob.
"I didn't hate the boy, and I never wanted you to kill him. I just didn't want you making any mistakes you'll regret." Granny hated herself. "I had hoped fear of the wolf would have kept you inside."
"You were the one making a mistake!" Red pitched her empty glass into the fireplace where it shattered. As the fire sputtered Red stomped off to her bedroom and slammed the door behind herself.
Granny heard Red throw herself on her bed and she sound of her sobbing. Red was right. Granny had made a mistake and it was Red who would have to suffer the most for it. Red had every right to be angry. Granny turned to Mary, who had been hiding in a corner as if she were trying to become invisible during the confrontation. "She won't be wanting to see me, but I fear she might try something desperate."
Mary nodded quietly and slipped into Red's room.
Red felt as if her life was no longer worth living and may have done something desperate if not for Mary. Though Red had not known Mary for long and that her name was fake, Mary proved to be a true friend, like the sister Red never had. Mary spoke comfortingly and stayed beside Red until Red finally fell asleep around dawn.
It was around noon when raised voices woke Red. Red felt something on her shoulder. By turning her head slightly Red saw that Mary had fallen asleep next to her, her cheek resting on Red's shoulder. Red remembered what happened to Peter and grief washed over her again. Tears filled her eyes, she turned from Mary, gently extricating her shoulder from under Mary's head. She heard the raised voices again, they sounded like they were coming from the yard.
"The girl is devastated with grief, she is not seeing anyone right now." That was Granny's voice.
"Widow Lucas, I know more happened at the camp than you said and your granddaughter was there so she knows exactly what happened." Red recognized the voice of the mayor.
Red slipped out of bed and crept to the window. She could smell others besides the mayor and Granny, the hunters from last night! Red opened her shutters enough so she could see the yard, where Granny stood with her crossbow in her arms before the village mayor and a group of red-eyed hunters.
"Red knows nothing more than I told you. She was in the camp when the wolf attacked, Peter defended her so she could get away, she was lucky to escape with her life." Granny said. "I won't have you upsetting the girl further by making her talk about it with you."
"There were chains." The mayor said sharply. "The boys remains were in chains. What the hell was he doing chained up?"
"He wasn't chained up." Granny lied. "He was trying to use the chains as weapons when he defended Red from the wolf, his body must have been tangled in them after the wolf killed him."
"A likely story." The mayor snorted without humor. "Then how do you explain how the only wolf tracks we found were in the camp- we scoured the area but found no wolf prints coming or going into the camp."
"The wind and your own feet obscured the tracks." Granny said. "Your poor tracking skills probably saved your life last night, I told you to leave that wolf alone."
"You are too eager to tell us not to hunt the wolf and you seem to know an awful lot about wolves. The other night the hunting party was practically killed in your backyard but none of your chickens are ever taken." The mayor lowered his voice but Red could still hear him. "There is something else going on here, some dark magic. It's the only thing that can explain the wolf appearing like it did in the camp last night. Your granddaughter summoned it."
Some of the hunters behind the mayor looked awkward at his last statement, but several of them looked determined.
"I've never heard anything so ridiculous!" Granny said. "Now get off my property before I put an arrow through one of you."
Granny aimed her crossbow directly at the mayor's belly, her finger on the trigger. Red put her hands over her mouth. Granny was outnumbered and could not possibly fire off more than one bolt before being overcome.
"Tomkin, you've been up most of the past two nights." One hunter mumbled. "Maybe you're wrong. Let's go... Wolfstime is over for now... Let's just go home."
Tomkin glanced back at his men, none of them looked like he wanted to take a crossbow bolt in order to defy Granny. He turned back to Granny and glared at her.
"Fine, we'll go. But don't think you or Red is getting away with anything."
Red breathed a sigh of relief as the Mayor and his party left. Granny continued to hold her crossbow trained on the mayor's back until he disappeared in a curve on the trail to town.
Red met Granny in the kitchen.
"Granny, I should go turn myself in, tell them what happened." Red said.
Granny's face turned gray, she grabbed Red by the shoulder. "No." Granny said firmly. "No. Don't you know what they'd do to you?"
Red started to cry. "Kill me? Gods, I wish they would."
Granny vehemently shook her head, shook Red a little. "They're so mad right now they will probably torture you to death, burn you alive. Girl, you don't deserve that."
Red tried to reply but all she could do was sob. She did not think any torture could hurt as bad as she was feeling already over Peter.
"This is all my fault." Granny released Red's shoulders to envelop her in a hug. Her voice became thick with regret. "No one would have gotten hurt if I told you when you first changed. This never should have happened to you. I'm so sorry, Red."
Sometime later Mary woke up. A couple eggs were fried up for lunch but Red had no appetite. She only picked at her eggs.
Granny sewed two sheets together then stuffed them with dry straw. It was put on the floor next to the kitchen fireplace. A pillow, and a couple blankets were added to make it into a bed.
"It's not the best, but it's better than sleeping with the chickens." Granny told Mary.
After the dishes were washed, dried and put away Granny announced that she was going into the village to see how everyone was reacting to the mayor's new suspicions about the wolf.
After Granny left Mary locked up the cottage according to Granny's instructions. Red curled up in her bed under her cloak and tried not to think about Peter.
"I think I hear Granny." Mary said as she poked her head in Red's door.
Red did not want to get up but she did. She went to the door and caught the scent of Granny. She lifted the bar and opened the door. Granny came inside looking grim.
"How is it?" Mary asked after the door was closed and barred again.
"About half the people I saw thought the mayor was being a fool grasping at straws." Granny hung up her cloak. "The rest, even they are divided. A lot of them thought there was something magical about the wolf even before the mayor last night. But not all of them think you are behind it, Red."
"But some do." Red said quietly. "And they're right."
"They're wrong. You never hurt anyone on purpose, you could not help it because you didn't know. But it's never happening again because you know better now and will wear your cloak." Granny said.
Red thought the world would be a safer place without her. She looked down at her hands.
"Is there anything else?" Mary asked.
Granny hesitated, then said. "They are burying him tomorrow."
Red looked up.
"I can't force you to not go, but I wish you wouldn't." Granny said.
"I have to go!" Red said. "Peter..." It hurt to say his name now. "I loved him."
"I know." Granny said. "The people in town never had any love for the boy, but now that he's dead the damned fools are going to use his death to rally together another hunt for the wolf. The mayor already suspects you had something to do with what had happened. It's not going to be a funeral, it will be a parody of one with a bunch of damned fools grabbing spears."
"I am going." Red insisted.
Granny sighed. "You don't own anything black, but your mother had a black dress that you might fit. Wolfstime is over so you won't need to wear your red cloak tomorrow."