CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Wendell was getting ready to leave. He put the little pouch in front of him on the desk and just stared at it.

"What are you thinking about?" Tony asked as he entered the room.

"I wonder what Red wants from me." Wendell asked, still staring at the pouch.

"I guess you'll never find out, unless you go there."

"And I was about to leave Anthony." Wendell said and got up. "I shall be back this evening, after the dinner. Or maybe tomorrow morning."

"OK. Just be careful."

Wendell gave Tony a friendly smile. "I will. If you hear about Virginia and Wolf, let me know. You can use the mirrors."

"I don't think we'll hear from them. But I will inform you."

Wendell opened the pouch and took out a little amount of the red dust. "Red Riding Hood, here I come." He mumbled before throwing the dust in the air. As soon as the dust fell on him, he disappeared.

"Wow! That was quite a show." Tony said and went to his workshop.

Wolf and Virginia were having their usual breakfast. Raw rabbits. Virginia had learned to eat raw meat and she was starting to like it. Wolf was more than happy to see his mate accepting his way of living.

"What are we going to do today?" Virginia asked as she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.

"I was thinking about going back." Wolf said between bites.

"Really?" Virginia's smile went ear-to-ear.

"Yeah. I mean… what's the use of hiding anyway? Tony and Wendell are frightened by now, and I guess that will teach them a lesson not to interfere in our life again."

"Wolf, you're the best!" Virginia threw herself on him, and he almost choked. "Oops, sorry." She said.

"It's better to be choked by you and no one else." Wolf smiled to her.

"So when do we leave?"

"How about right now?"

"OK."

They both collected their items and Virginia saw a little mirror and picked it up.

"I guess I'll need this when I get there. My hair is in a huge mess. I can't show up at the palace looking like this." She said and put the mirror in her pocket.

"You look great honey." Wolf kissed her lips and they went out of the tree house. They walked back to the palace.

"We'll be there by midnight, I guess." Wolf said.

"I hope so. But can we stop sometimes to get a rest? I don't think that I'll be able to walk all the way back without a stop."

"Me neither. We will stop near the river."

"Sounds good."

They kept walking through the forest, thanking Snow White that the Huntsman didn't exist anymore.

Tom brought his little communicating mirror with him to the hospital again. He was hoping to hear some news about Wolf and Virginia.

"Good morning honey." He said as he entered Mary's room.

"Morning!" Mary said with a full mouth. "Care for some breakfast?"

"No thanks." Tom smiled. "I just had my breakfast at home."

Home. How odd it felt to Mary. She couldn't remember how her home looked like. She missed it so much. Tom noticed that she looked concerned and sad.

"Did I say something wrong?" Tom asked and sat next to her. "OK, I will have a bite of that sandwich."

"It's not that Tom." Mary said and gave him a sandwich. "I want to go home. That's all. I'm tired of all of this."

"I know honey. But you still need to recover. Besides, if you go home now, you will still have to come here twice a day to exercise for a week. Isn't it better to stay here rather than coming and going?"

Mary thought about it. There was no way that she was going to sit in a car to come to the hospital and then go back home. She'd rather walk all that distance, but never sit in a car.

"And did you know that you are leaving next week?" Tom asked.

"Leaving? Where?"
"I mean, you'll be checked out."

"Really?" she turned to him so sharply that she almost dropped her tea cup. "Whoops!"

"You'll be home soon." Tom said with a loving smile. "But now, I want to try to contact Wolf and Virginia again."

"Good idea." Mary took a last sip of her tea and pushed the button next to her bed to call the nurse. After a few minutes a nurse came in.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine." Mary said. "I just finished breakfast."

"Alright Miss." The nurse said and took the breakfast tray out with her.

"OK, let's do it." Mary said.

Tom held the mirror in front of them both and spoke: "Mirror, show us Wolf and Virginia."

The mirror started to crack and it seemed looking for them everywhere. After a while it showed black surface.

"What's that?" Mary asked. "Could they be…"

"No, no. They're alive. I'm sure. Maybe they are in a dark place?"

"Or maybe they have a mirror and it's hidden somewhere. Tom, call them."

"OK. Umm… Wolf? Virginia? Can you hear me?"

Virginia thought she heard someone call her. She looked around, but couldn't see anyone.

"Wolf, I think I'm tired. I'm starting to hear voices."

"OK love. Let's sit on that rock, over there." Wolf pointed to a rock on the right side of the road.

"Wolf? Virginia?" the voice came again.

"Did you hear that?" Virginia said.

"Hear what?"

"A voice. Calling our names."

"Wolf! Can you hear me?" the voice was heard again.

"Cripes! I hear it! It sounds just like Tom's voice!"

"Oh my God! Wolf! The mirror!" Virginia took the mirror out of her pocket and a wide smile crossed her face as she saw Tom and Mary.

"Tom! Mary! I'm so happy to see you!" Virginia said happily.

"Virginia, how are you? Where have you been?" Tom asked.

"Your dad has been worried about you two." Mary said.

"Well, it's a long story. I'll tell you everything when we get back."

"Hey Tom! How's everything going out there?" Wolf asked.

"Everything is fine Wolf. Mary will be home after a week."

"Wow! That's great! I can't wait to see you guys." Virginia said.

"Should I tell your dad that you're coming back?" Tom asked.

"No, no. Don't do that. He mustn't know. We want it to be a surprise." Virginia said.

"OK. When will you be here?"

"We're not sure yet. We'll see how is everything going at the palace, and after that we'll be back." Wolf said.

"OK, see you then. Take care you two." Tom said.

"Don't forget to bring me some nice cookies from there!" Mary hopped in.

"Cookies?" Wolf raise an eyebrow. "Alright." He said.

"See ya!" was the last thing Virginia said as the mirror went black and then it was back to normal.

"How sweet of them to search for us." Virginia said.

"Yeah. I knew we could trust Tom. He's a good friend." Wolf stood up. "Are you feeling better now? Can we continue?"

"Yeah. Let's go." They continued their way to the Palace of White.