"Kurt are you sure you have everything?" Burt asked, rubbing a hand over the top of his head before scratching at the back of his neck.
"Yes dad don't worry. I have everything and I'll be back before nightfall." Kurt answered as he finished packing in some apple tarts and blueberry scones in his basket. Both recipes his grandmother made herself and recipes he knew by heart. Some recipes took a lot of time and effort to make them right but Kurt loved doing so greatly. Which is lucky for his father whom had the skill only to burn water. "You ask that every time before I go to aunt Mildred's. I'm seventeen, I'm not a child." he placed a hand towel over the food before walking over to the coat rack.
"I know kid. I just worry." Burt said as he watched Kurt put on his mother's red cloak. The red startling against his pale skin and grey shirt, black pants tucking into gray rabbit fur boots. Burt felt a small pang of sadness shoot through his heart as he remembered when his late wife first made that cloak. Kurt really did look so much like his mother.
Noticing the small change in his father's eyes Kurt gave him a hug, whispering in his ear. "I know dad, I'll be safe." He took his basket and laid it across his arm, giving Burt a smile before leaving the house.
Kurt gave a fond shake of his head as he started down the road. He planned on stopping the general store to pick up some fresh meat. Nodding hello to a few people Kurt turned into town square. Making his way through the street he watched out for giggling blonde twin sibling that ran past him, their brother running after them a few seconds later. Entering the general store Kurt located the owner fairly quickly.
"Getting that chicken for you aunt eh kid?" the owner asked, already knowing the answer as he got the meat from where he had it stored behind the counter. Burt having come by earlier to order and pay for it.
"Of course." Kurt said giving his thanks as he got handed the wrapped up chicken. He placed it carefully on inside the basket making sure the pastries inside were okay and not under the meat.
Quickly making his way through the town square again Kurt kept walking straight this time - the houses disappearing as he got to the path. Pulling his hood up, Kurt sighed before starting his half hour walk.
Humming quietly to himself Kurt watched out for the landmarks to show him where he was. Five minutes ( a rotten stump on the left side of the road. Ten minutes a huge dead broken tree on the right side of the road. Fifteen minutes he saw the path on the left side of the road that led to where the wood cutter's like his father worked.
Just passing the path to the river on the right side of the road something black caught Kurt's attention from where he tinkering with his basket. Pausing he looked up, taking a step back in shock. A small gasp tumbled out of his lips as he looked at the large black wolf not five feet from him. Terrified, Kurt couldn't make a sound as the wolf looked him up and down. Holding his breath Kurt noticed something more frightening than the wolf itself. Its eyes were red.
Kurt's heart started to beat faster and faster as he noticed the black wolf had started to move closer to him while he was staring at it. Unable to move out of fear Kurt stayed still as the wolf stopped an arms length away from him. His eyes widened in surprise as the wolf took a long sniff of him. Thinking it wanted the food, Kurt was about to drop the basket and run when he saw the wolf's eyes flash gold. Giving a long blink hoping he was seeing things, Kurt opened his eyes only to see a flash of black disappear into the woods.
Kurt waited for what seemed like hours but was only minutes before he snapped out of his shock. Giving one quick glance around he started to run the rest of the way to his aunt's house. Making a normally fifteen walk in eight minutes. He ran up the path to his aunt's house, waiting for a few minutes in front of the door to catch his breath again. Knocking three times Kurt waited for his aunt to undo the locks and open the heavy wooden door.
"Kurt that you honey?" Mildred called out, walking out from her living room and to the door. Much like her brother she always liked to be prepared.
"Yes aunt Mildred it's me." Kurt answered back, listening as she undid the locks. The door opening to her smiling face. "Hey aunt Mildred." He said, coming in and giving her a hug after she closed the door.
"It's nice to see you honey. Did you make me any of your delicious pastries?" Mildred took the basket handed to her and brought it into the living to lay on the wooden table. She took off the hand towel, taking the chicken out of the basket.
"Yes your favorites." Kurt replied taking off his deep red cloak and laying it on the back of a wooden chair. He went over to the basket taking a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese out of it.
"Apple tarts and blueberry scones. Thanks kid." Mildred walked over to her kitchen placing the chicken on the counter, before she started to unwrap it. Kurt followed her in laying his stuff on the counter. He checked up on the vegetable soup boiling in the fireplace, moving out of his aunt's way when she went to put pieces of the chicken into the soup. "Come tell me about your day." Mildred requested walking back into the living room taking a seat in one of the chair. Kurt followed after he took a seat in the chair that held his cloak.
"Not a whole lot happened today. Just dad worrying like normal, going to the general store, almost got ran over by the Evans' kids." Kurt ticked off each thing with his fingers, almost tempted to say what he saw on the path but doing so would only make what he saw real, and he wasn't sure it was.
"Sounds about right." Mildred said with a laugh, she took an apple tart out of the basket. Biting into it she leaned back in her chair. "Mmmm these are really good kid." She took another bite of the tart and gestured to the basket with her head.
"Thanks." Kurt shook his head fondly before reaching into the basket himself to take out a blueberry scone. He took a small bite of it, not really wanting to ruin his supper. For as much as he made sweets he didn't eat a lot of them himself. He liked to stay healthy, even if it meant not eating lovely pastries.
"Well I'll go check on the soup it should be done soon." Mildred finished off the rest of her tart before getting up and walking into the kitchen. She got out her ladle a stirred the soup around for a bit. Grabbing a bowl off the counter she filled it with soup before filling another one with soup. She cut off a couple slices of bread and a bit off the chunk of cheese to put on it, laying them on top of the soup. Mildred brought in both bowls handing one to Kurt before taking her seat again.
They ate in silence both enjoying the meal and the company. Soon they were finished and Kurt handed his bowl to his aunt who took them back into the kitchen. "I should be going now before it get's too late." Kurt said taking out the rest of the pastries out of his basket and placed them onto the table. He placed the dish towel into the basket then took his cloak off the back of the chair.
"Yeah you should don't want you old man to have a heart attack or something."Mildred said coming back into the living room to give her nephew a hug after he put his cloak back on. "Hurry on and be careful." She told him, as she walked him out onto her front porch.
"I will. I'll see you later aunt Mildred." Kurt gave her another brief hug before getting a good grip on his basket. He hurried down the stairs, glancing up at his aunt who gave him a small wave before going back into her house. Kurt hurried down the small path that led to his aunt's before getting onto the main path. He knew if he hurried back like he did before he would be able to walk home with one of the wood cutter's his father works with. They were always armed since they sometimes worked late. With that in mind Kurt went from walking into a jog. Even if it wasn't a full moon a lot of people didn't like to be out in the forest when it was dark out. The rumors of what happens on those nights and his father's constant worry on those made the fear of the forest in the dark a fear for a lot of people, including Kurt, had.
Kurt slowed down as he made it to the branch off that lead to where the wood cutters worked. He could already hear voices getting louder as they came up the path. Kurt kept walking and soon enough there were a few people walking behind him. He recognized their voices as being friends of his dad so he knew he could walk in peace the rest of the way back to the village.
Soon Kurt was walking down the road to his house, noticing other young people hurrying to back to their homes, not wanting to get caught out in the dark. Outside his house he could see candlelight coming from the open window. Smiling he made his way inside greeted by the sight of his dad sharpening his axe. "Hey dad." Kurt said laying his basket down before taking his cloak off. "How was your day?" He asked making his way over to the ladder to his room.
"Can't complain. Some chickens went missing. Not sure what took 'em." Burt explained looking up at his son climbing the ladder before going back to his axe. "How was Mildred?" he asked stopping for a second to hear his answer.
"She's doing good." Kurt answered changing into his night clothing, a blue pajamas set. He sat down at the edge of his floor letting his feet dangle over the edge as he watched his father.
"That's good." Burt said getting up to put away his axe, he came back into the living and looked up at his son. He noticed that Kurt seemed lost in thought, a small frown on his face. "Everything alright son? Did something happen?" Burt asked eyebrows drawing together as he frowned, Kurt didn't look hurt when he came in.
"Oh everything's fine dad. I'm just tired. It's been a long day." Kurt answered moving away from the ledge. He moved back over to his bed, pulling the quilts back to get under them.
"Okay then. Night Kurt." Burt called up going over to the windows closing them, before going over to the door and locking it.
"Night dad." Kurt called back down, turning over on his side. Closing his eyes, Kurt fell asleep, picturing only oddly caring golden eyes.
