Granny had altered the black dress, but it still did not fit Red very well. Red did not remember her but apparently Red's mother had been heavier set- that is when she was human and not a wolf being killed by a hunting party. Now that Red understood what her cloak really did she felt naked and exposed without her red cloak. But red is not a color to wear to a funeral.
Simple stone and wooden grave markers poked out of the snow. A crowd of villagers stood huddled under dark cloaks in a corner of the cemetery. Even before Red had entered the gate she could smell the churned up earth and blood.
Many of the villagers gave Red suspicious looks that she tried to ignore but moved aside enough for her, Granny and Mary to approach the freshly dug grave. The frozen earth had been hard to dig through, picks and shovels leaned against the pile of snow that had been cleared from the grave site. The grave was shallow, and shorter than it should have been. Red looked at the coffin and suddenly felt like she was going to be ill.
Peter was not being buried in a coffin, it was a small pine box scarcely half the size of a proper coffin for a grown man. But Peter was in that little box, Red could smell him... and his blood. Red reached for Granny and felt her grandmother's arms wrap around her. Red could not look anymore, she bowed her head and closed her eyes until she heard the mayor's voice.
"This is a tragedy that I did all in my power to prevent. As mayor I regret this boy's death, and take little comfort in knowing that we are closer to catching the wolf - and the one responsible. Next month there will be no wolfstime."
Red felt a chill creep up her spine. She looked up and through her tear-blurred eyes saw that the mayor was looking directly at her. She felt Mary squeeze her arm.
"We are not going to wait for the next full moon for the wolf to come to us killing our cattle and people - we are going to get the wolf before it can strike!" The mayor shouted. "We are going to find the beast NOW and kill it."
"She did it! The witch!" This from the blacksmith, Peter's father. The blacksmith was the biggest man in the village, stood head and shoulders above the rest, his arms and chest were thick with muscle. It was terrible to see him weeping, a giant with red eyes and shining tear trails running down his swarthy face and throat. "My boy loved her, but she called that wolf down and it killed him!"
The blacksmith's hand settled on the box's lid, his hand so large and the box so small his hand nearly covered the entire lid. "Look what you done to him!"
The blacksmith tore the lid off the box. There were sounds of gasps and retching.
Red tore herself from Granny's arms. She tried to speak but all she could get out a whisper. "I'm sorry."
Red tried to back away but the blacksmith, mad with grief, reached over and grabbed Red by the arms and lifted her from the ground.
"Look what you done to him!" The blacksmith repeated.
"Hey! Somebody stop him!" Someone shouted.
Red's survival instincts kicked in and she squirmed to get loose. Granny was pounding on the blacksmith but she may as well have been a fly, the blacksmith elbowed her aside, then threw Red down on the snow. Red's breath was knocked from her lungs. The blacksmith grabbed a shovel and pressed the blade against Red's throat.
"Call up your wolf now witch! Now that it's daylight and we're ready for it! Call it or I'll kill you!" The blacksmith screamed.
Red could not breath, she felt the shovel's gritty blade cutting into her neck. She was pressed flat against the snow trying to get away.
Whap! Granny took up the pickaxe and struck the blacksmith on the side of the head. He stumbled dazedly back, dropping the shovel. Other mourners moved in to grab his arms. Red put a hand over her throat, she could not feel any blood but it hurt. Mary helped Red back to her feet.
"Are you all right?" Mary whispered to Red.
Red nodded numbly.
Granny still wielded the pickaxe and looked like she might hit the mayor now, she was moving towards him looking furious. "Tomkin, you damned fool!"
"Granny!" Red croaked.
"You turned the boy's funeral into a circus." Granny told the mayor, then turned back to Red and Mary. "I'm sorry, Red." Granny apologized again and dropped the pickaxe.
Red let Mary and Granny lead her away from the cemetery.
The shovel only left a scratch and bruise on Red's throat. After Granny applied a strong-smelling poultice her voice was back to normal within an hour, not that she felt like doing much talking.
"This will be the mayor's last term." Granny said. "He wanted to get people stirred up, and he stirred up the grieving father when the poor man was upset enough already. The village will be through with him after that."
Red did not blame Peter's father for trying to kill her, she did not think it any less than what she deserved. However she did not want to get killed in front of Granny, and was beginning to think she did not want to die after all.
After dinner, which Red barely touched, she went to bed and lay awake. She could not sleep. She missed Peter and it hurt so much. She could no longer even cry. The house grew quiet as Mary and Granny fell asleep. Red got an idea. She got out of bed and dressed quietly. She picked up her boots and tiptoed to her window. She opened the shutters slowly, but the hinges creaked so loud Red froze, certain she had just woke the house. But after a few moments she heard nothing. Red sat on her windowsill and pulled on her boots, then hopped out the window and into the snow. The waning moon and white snow offered plenty of light to see by. Out of habit Red pushed the shutters closed.
The hinges shrieked even louder when they were shut. Red flinched and gathered herself to run. She heard footsteps run to her window and the shutters burst open.
"Red!" A whispered hiss, it was Mary. "Red, what are you doing?"
"I never got to say goodbye."
"Well if you run away in the night of course you don't get a chance to say goodbye!" Mary exclaimed.
"Sh!" Red hushed. "You'll wake Granny. I'm not running away... I meant Peter."
A pause, then "Oh... You might run into someone there, Peter's father..."
"I don't care... I need to say goodbye."
"Then let me come with you." Mary said.
"Fine... get dressed fast." Red said and waited.
Mary did get get dressed fast, however she was not as cautious as Red about waiting to put on her boots and Red heard her clunking through from the kitchen and through her room. Red could only hope Granny had gone deaf. Mary climbed out the window and reached to close the shutters but Red stopped her.
"They make too much noise." Red told her.