From the Desk of Queen Renarde: Hello all, it's me again. I like talking to you. Anyway, as you can see, this chapter is much longer than the last two, but don't let that discourage you. It's a good and important chapter and you meet a new character, so read it and have fun. If you like it, please review. Lu ya'll to pieces!
Chapter 4: Hidden in the Trees
The next morning Wolf was in the stable getting the horse saddled up for the journey to the 8th kingdom. After an intense discussion, he and Virginia decided that if they could help, they should. Wendell provided them with a horse so that Virginia wouldn't have to walk the whole way. It was about 10:30 when the King came to the stables to see them off. At not seeing Virginia there, he asked Wolf where she was.
"She's catching up on things with Tony," said Wolf as he put some rope into one of the saddle bags. "How is that Bouncy-thing going anyway?"
"Not so good," Wendell sighed. "The 9th kingdom is refusing to loan us miners to help find and pump the petroleum we'd need to even get started."
"Oh…yeah, that's not good…" Wolf tried to act like he knew what Wendell was talking about, but the truth was he didn't have a clue. Wendell shook his head at him and said, "Never mind."
"Gladly."
The men heard a door shut and soon Virginia came into sight. As she walked down the stairs, Wolf was entranced by her chin length hair, bouncing with her every step. He was still looking at it when she was standing right in front of him. "Wolf," she said. "You're staring at my hair again."
"Cripes, was I?" he said, snapping out of the trance. "Sorry, Virginia. I promise I'll try to stop that." He shrugged and smiled sweetly. So how's Tony doing?"
"Oh, Dad's fine, but business isn't," said Virginia. "The Dwarves—"
"Yeah, Wendy told me," he said, jerking a thumb at the King.
"Don't call me that."
"Oh, I didn't see you there," said Virginia when she heard Wendell speak. She continued talking before he had a chance to respond. "Well, I guess we should get going. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back, right?"
"Alright, then," said Wendell, opting not to pursue how Virginia could possibly have missed him. "I've gotten a healthy young mare for you and Wolf's spent the morning saddling her up. Your best chance is to go northwest towards the sea, then move up into the South Arctic Village."
"South Arctic Village?" asked Virginia. "Isn't that an oxymoron?"
"No," Wendell replied. "Not really. There's another Arctic Village further north and more inland."
"Oh."
"Yes. Anyway, you gather information there and, if you feel you need to, try and go towards the Ice Palace and talk to the people in the villages nearby. Then return here when you're done."
"What if we run into trouble?" asked Wolf.
"Well, you shouldn't," said Wendell. "But since trouble does seen to follow you, the best route would be to head east towards the 7th kingdom. It's only accessible for a few minutes at dawn and dusk, so time it right."
"What if that doesn't work?" Wolf pressed.
"Well, then…Virginia's smart, she'll think of something." When Wendell saw the look she gave him, he quickly had them mount the horse. "Now it'll take you two days to get to South Arctic Village, and you are not to ride very fast or you'll risk drawing unwanted attention. Do you understand?"
"Got it," said Wolf, perched behind Virginia in the saddle. "Northwest, South Arctic Village, not too fast. Hiya!" As the horse set off at a gallop out of the stable, Wolf cried out, "Bye Wendy!"
"Don't!…Oh, never mind." The King waved to them as they left, then walked back into his castle.
They rode for a long time across the northwestern plains of the 4th kingdom. The plains were wide and stretched for many miles, but there a few scattered creeks and groves of trees, some of the latter were large enough to pass for very small forests. After they had been traveling for almost five hours, they decided to give the horse a rest.
"How about we go over there between those trees?" Virginia suggested, indicating one of the larger groves.
"Sounds good. Come on, Pony." Wolf steered the horse to the trees, then he jumped down and tied off the reigns. Just as he was about to help Virginia get down, he caught it. The scent of an unfamiliar animal was blowing through the trees. "Oh, Virginia, do you smell that?"
"No."
"Oh, right, of course you don't. But it smells…,"he sniffed the air. "Oh, but it can't be… it smells like… but it isn't, it's…it's… Oh, I gotta go, gotta find it!" And he took off into the trees before Virginia could stop him.
He kept running, jumping over logs and ducking low branches, stopping only to get a whiff of the drifting odor. He ducked behind trees, fell a couple of times, but wouldn't be deterred. He was getting closer and closer, whatever he was smelling was just around the corner. The scent was getting stronger, it was right there! He crouched and put his hands up in front of him, ready for a fight, only to find a girl mimicking his stance.
She had a fierce scowl on her face, but she soon recognized him and her expression softened. She stood up straight and started to smooth out her appearance. She was young, about 18, with curly red hair that hung just above her shoulders. Her outfit consisted of a blue mid-calf skirt, a white off-the-shoulder shirt under a brown lace-up top, and a pair of brown ankle boots.. Around her neck was a simple, star-shaped pendant and atop her head was nice, but plain, hat.
"Sorry about that," she said. "I heard you coming and you never know what dangerous beast might be rustling through the grass like that."
Wolf could do nothing but eye her suspiciously. It was if his keen senses were betraying him, for this girl looked human enough, but she certainly didn't smell like it. When he finally managed to speak, he asked, "Who…and what are you?"
"Oh, excuse me," she said politely, placing a hand over her chest. "I should introduce myself. Please, call me Rena." With just the right amount of grandeur, she removed her hat and bowed to him.
With that gesture, he knew immediately what this girl, Rena, was, and his face lit up with amazement. "Cripes! Are you really a—"
"Yes, sir, I am," She said putting her hat back on. "And usually I'm proud of it, too."
"Huff puff, I didn't know there were any of you left!"
"Well, we're not exactly thriving," Rena said with a sigh. "The way people kill us off for petty crimes and trophies, it wouldn't surprise me if there were less than fifteen of us in all the 9 Kingdoms."
"That's terrible," said Wolf. "So is this where you live?"
"No, currently I live in a town near King Wendell's castle," she told him. "I'm here because I've been following you and your wife for three or four hours."
"Following us!" Wolf exclaimed, taken by surprise. "Why are you following us? Are you one of the Ice Queen's spies? Wait, if you were, you wouldn't have told me you were following us. Or would you?"
"Amazing. If you could keep a secret any better I'd think your lips were sewn shut," said Rena with obvious sarcasm. "But, lucky for you, I'm not a spy. I was sent by King Wendell to accompany you on your journey."
"You were?" he asked, relatively unphased by her sarcastic comment. "Why would he send you and not tell us?"
"It was a last minute decision," she explained. "And he wasn't sure how you'd feel initially about having someone along whom you didn't know. So he sent me to follow you for a while, make sure you avoided people's attention, then show up and join you."
"I see," said Wolf as he tried to think of a way to prove she wasn't lying. "And if Wendell sent you, you must know what our mission is."
"To travel to the 8th kingdom and investigate the Ice Queen's plan to control the 4th kingdom if not them all," said Rena matter-of-factly. "I'm really telling the truth here Wolf."
Wolf shrugged. If nothing else, this girl knew as much about the situation as he did, maybe more. "Alright, I trust you. Welcome aboard, Rena," Wolf said, extending his hand.
"Thanks," she replied as she shook his hand. Rena had expected her encounter with Wolf to go well, owing to his likely fascination of her and what aspects they shared in common. But Virginia worried her. After all, Wolf's wife was known not to always be as trusting as he was. On their way back to where Virginia and the horse were resting, Rena spoke up with a request.
"Wolf," she said, "this may sound strange, but I would rather you not tell Virginia what I am."
"That most certainly does sound strange, Rena," said Wolf. "Why wouldn't you want her to know what a wonderful creature you are?"
"I'm afraid she'll think she's a magnet for 'wonderful creatures' like us, and that's not the kind of first impression I want to make. Besides," she paused a moment to move a low branch out of her way, "She'll probably find out on her own in less than a day."
"If you say so, I guess," said Wolf as they continued to trek their way through the trees. "Has anyone ever told you that you are a mysterious and confusing person?"
She smiled. "Several times. I take it as a compliment, though, so thank you."
When they approached the clearing, Wolf entered first, prepared for the tongue-lashing that might ensue. Virginia immediately stood up when she saw him and marched over. "What on earth were you thinking? Running off like that just because you smelled something! Well I hope you found it, 'cause believe me—"
"Calm down, please, please," Wolf said, cutting her off mid-rampage. "I'm sorry, Virginia, I couldn't help it. But I did find where the smell was coming from, look," he pointed to Rena, who was standing several feet behind him so that Virginia hadn't noticed her. "Wendell sent her to help us and she was following us for hours."
"Virginia looked tentatively at this girl Wolf had found in the trees. She didn't look like she was hiding anything, but Virginia worried that Wolf was perhaps too trusting. "You say Wendell sent you?"
"That's right," said Rena. "He didn't tell you before because he wanted you to feel he had complete confidence in you. And of course he still does, but he though it would be a good idea to have me along as well."
"Okay," Virginia replied, to her that sounded like a believable thing Wendell would do. "So, what's your name?"
The girl smiled. "Rena, call me Rena."
"Rena. Is that it or do you have a last name?"
"Rena sighed and said, "Yes, I have a last name, but as a symbolic gesture I choose not to use it. My full name is Rena Wilde. My ancestors were hunters, more specifically game hunters. They killed hundreds of animals just for trophies like heads and pelts. I am disgraced to be their descendant, so I've rejected their family name. Back home I'm the leader of a large and active animal rights group."
"Interesting," said Virginia with genuine feelings about Rena's story. "If you don't mind me asking another question, why did Wendell send you with us?"
"Because I ha several skills hat could prove useful in this endeavor," answered Rena. "I have stealth, diplomacy, and a stiff right hook. But most importantly, I grew up in the area you're heading to. When I was young, my parents and I moved a lot, all over the TriKingdom."
"What's the TriKingdom?" Virginia asked and Wolf answered her.
"That's what the place where the 2nd, 4th, and 8th Kingdoms meet is called," he said.
"Alright," said Virginia. "You've pretty much convinced me you're telling the truth. One last thing, Wolf," He shifted his gaze from Rena to Virginia. "Do you trust her?"
"Yes," he said. "Definitely."
"Good, then I trust her, too," Just then they heard a crash and Virginia looked behind her. The bucket of oats for the horse had fallen over, so she ran off to fix the situation. When she was gone, Wolf turned to Rena and in hushed tones said, "It's true that I trust you, but that doesn't mean I'll believe everything you say. I hope those weren't very big lies you just told."
For a second Rena looked at him with surprise, but then she gave him a sly smile and replied, "No, they were just little ones."
