Once upon a time, there was a Godly valley with mountains that could touch the sky and trees that cast long shadows. The people who live in the small mountain town are hardworking and happy, so long as they never stray into the forest where the wolves lurk in the darkness. Adults brave the trees in groups to hunt the vicious pack as they have for decades, the conflict is deep with no sign of victory for either side. But wolves are not the only threat, nor the village's only secret - and the link connecting them is a simple cloak of Red ...
Every night, from the highest peak of the uninhabited mountains, a single Wolf howls to the good folk of the valley – as a warning, as a message, and as a reminder of what they did:
"Beware, beware, the Path where the Witch once stood. Beware, beware, of the Wolf in the Wood."
The beaten road welcomed the roll of the carriage wheels into the valley where a forest edged town resided, and the two horses trotted along smartly. The moonless night made it hard to see but the road was clear for the carriage and it was making good time.
Inside, a young girl, a year above marrying age and buried in a book was riding. As the carriage rounded a corner into the valley itself she closed the leather bound volume and rubbed her hands. She watched her pale fingers regain blood and sighed as feeling returned to them, her wrists ached from keeping her book still over the bumpy roads and her eyes were sore from rereading a line too often but she was so glad that she had finished.
"Miss Aerith, do you need a blanket?" the third passenger, a maid, spoke up.
Before the girl could answer the second passenger, her Father, a man with square glasses and a full brown moustache the colour of cocoa like his full head of hair, reached out to touch her numb knee, "Darling, are you cold?"
Aerith pressed her hand to his leather bound one and smiled "No, dear Father, I'm well. I was just determined to finish this book, so determined I didn't realise that my fingers had fallen asleep," she lowered her head in a small blush as her companions chuckled at her.
Her Father took the book from her grip with a kind expression, he peered over his lenses and smiled "Marvellous Plants and their Properties, an interesting read I hope?"
The maid travelling with them burst out into new laughter as the girl reached for its return to her possession. "For certain, Sir. She barely lifted her head all journey!"
Aerith brushed her brown hair behind her ear with a smile "I was comparing the findings to those that Mother taught me," she explained.
Her Father nodded gently and handed it back with a raised eyebrow "And how does it compare?"
Aerith lit up and launched into a speech over the details of the book, commenting on the author's oversight of nettles and the misuse of brewing techniques that would decrease the effectiveness. "But his mention of honey as a seal for abrasions is interesting, I'd love to test it myself."
Elmyra, the maid, shook her head "Ah, how she lights up when she speaks of what she knows, but it's hardly proper for a lady, Sir-"
The Man raised a hand to her and kept smiling at his daughter "Aerith is a lady and I believe her to be completely capable of making her own choices." He returned her joyful look with an even brighter one "Ah, you have so much of your Mother in you, Darling. I could never tell her what to do either." He nodded at the book in the seat beside her "If filling your head with words and learning makes you happy then I won't tell you to stop. Do you think you will write on your thoughts?"
Aerith hesitated, glancing at her maid who looked out of the window with a blank but frustrated expression, before nodding "I will make notes."
"I will look forwards to reading them," her Father patted her knee once again and sat back to wait out the rest of the ride.
Aerith held the book in her lap again and rubbed the smooth leather binding again. It was a journal of medicine but she knew most of its content better than the book did thanks to her recently departed Mother. She looked at Elmyra who was still looking snubbed and felt her enjoyment from discussing the book grey; her companion disapproved of her habit of learning, and of her Father's encouragement of it. Her questions over Aerith's upbringing had been frequent in the old house and had only increased since the death of her Mother, Aerith had dearly hoped that she would stop now there was a whole new place to distract her but it seemed her elder was intent on standing her ground as her Father was his. For now, she was grateful to the both of them for having both her happiness and future in their hearts, but knew that sooner or later one of them would win and, to be honest, she was unsure which outcome would be more pleasing to her.
The driver above tapped the window and called in when her Father cracked it open, "The town is in sight, Sir and Madams!"
"Good work, man! Steady as we go."
Aerith stepped out of the carriage and winced as her legs unbent for the first time in hours. She clung to Elmyra's arm as she walked and the older woman held her back. After a few unsteady paces, they were soon strolling arm in arm towards their new residence.
Aerith smiled at her companion "I can't wait for bed."
Elmyra nodded "Indeed!" she brushed a strand of her hair back into her bun and gave a reluctant compliment "Smart of your Father to send the furniture ahead."
The girl nodded and looked up in the dark to try and admire the house. It was two storeys and made of wood, with wide but low windows and came right to the cobbled street. Aerith imagined that if she reached out of the lower windows she could tap each citizen if they passed by and they her. The door to the house was like that of a stable with each half of the door independent of the other, the house had a small stretch of land between it and the next buildings which were similar in make and size and Aerith noticed that the soil contained only the toughest of wild grasses. The house looked deeper into the valley and when Aerith looked she saw the mountains against the starry sky and no sign of a moon.
Inside the house was still mostly wood with the occasional area of stone for floors. The downstairs was a cosy kitchen and a room that would undoubtedly become a pantry and another that would inevitably become her Father's study. Downstairs there was a small bathing room with a tin tub and a tiny stove and a slightly larger room with a table and chairs by a large open hearth. There was a staircase tucked behind a door, which at first Aerith had mistaken for a cupboard.
Up the creaking steps and the narrow climb was the second floor and bedrooms. There was a large room fit for the Master of the house, a moderately sized room suitable for a servant which held Elmyra's belongings, and a much smaller one lined with familiar furniture. Aerith gravitated towards her items instinctively.
Her room fit a bed, a desk covered in candlewax and a row of bookshelves in comfortably, but little else. She put her travelling cloak of brown on the back of the door and rubbed her arms, the house was cold. It was also empty of life despite the familiar items and her two most beloved people moving about downstairs, Aerith decided that this place had been empty for a long time, she hoped that the feeling would leave soon.
She walked to a window that looked out of the back away from the street and saw in the dim starlight an open pasture then the walls of the mountain slopes. The beginning of the trees grew a few hundred yards, barely saplings compared to the swathes that covered the mountains in the distance on her left. The stars didn't reveal much else, but she could see enough to tell that there was no earth attached to the house to replace the garden she had left behind.
She sat on her bed and unlaced her boots with a wave of disappointment rushing through her. She wondered if the Earth behind the house was fit for cultivating, but before she could think harder about it, Elmyra appeared at her door.
She carried a lit candle that made her glow gold and orange. With a smile, the maid looked about her room, "I'm afraid the entire house isn't as grand as we're used to, pantry included. I'll be shopping most every day to keep the thing stocked."
Aerith smiled too "I don't mind, it's less to clean, and we're still together."
Elmyra's eyes softened and she stepped closer to the young girl to fondly tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "God Bless your goodness, girl. I'm thankful your Father chose me out of the servants to keep on, I could never leave you. Come, time to sleep." She set the candle down and fished a hairbrush out of a basket of items placed at the foot of the bed.
The girl turned her back to the maid and waited for her blunt-nailed hands to comb her hair. She recalled her Mother brushing her hair seconds before the older and yet newer hands began to do her former Mother's task.
Aerith folded her hands in her lap and let Elmyra count to one hundred brushes.
"Elmyra? Do you think life will be good here?"
Her maid squeezed her shoulder "God willing, my girl."
Aerith sent her a half smile "You know that I don't know your God that well, Elmyra. Is there any other way you can answer?"
Elmyra's lips were white as she pressed them together, her rosary earned yet another brush from her wrinkling fingers. Aerith looked at the simple jewellery, black ebony and nothing more, and remembered the first time she had asked about it. Needless to say, the intensely loyal Catholic Elmyra was horrified that a child had grown up not knowing the one true Lord.
Aerith hoped that she would be spared another lecture on the ways of worshipping false idols and the demonic nature of her Father's science. Since her Mother's passing Elmyra had been given more chances to speak as such and Aerith was dearly missing her Mother's tales of her ancient Gods and Goddesses.
Luckily it seemed Elmyra was too tired to talk on the uncomfortable subject as she just sighed and patted her shoulder again. "Small town folk, as I recall, can either be welcoming or hostile to outsiders. What's best is to greet them as we wish to be greeted and show that we are willing to find harmony in their community, and not discord."
Aerith nodded and leaned forwards so Elmyra could unlace her bodice. "Praise be," she whispered her prayer.
"Amen," the older woman added.
Aerith was soon in bed with just a bit of bread and butter for supper and a cup of lukewarm water in her hands, no point in starting a fire so she had patiently warmed it over her little candle.
At the knock on her door she called, "Come in."
Her Father peeked around the corner, hat off and glasses in his pocket "Ready for bed, Darling?"
Aerith smiled "Yes Papa."
His eyes crinkled and twinkled merrily "I was beginning to think you were too old to call me that," he sat beside her on her bed and held her hands. His hands an odd mixture of smooth and rough from working with his experiments and writing his notes, chemicals roughened or smoothed his palms and yet his fingertips were rough with working hard with the pen.
The scientist's daughter sent him her radiant smile, "Only when we're alone, Papa, because then we can be our true selves."
He chuckled "Aerith, you are so much like Ifalna, it's uncanny," he ran a hand through her hair and his friendly face grew guilty and concerned. "My girl, I hope you will be happy here, I'm so sorry that my choices have uprooted us."
Aerith gasped and shook her head at once "No, Papa. I understand, it couldn't be helped at all. I know that your experiments lost their sponsors and lost you a lot of money, but it was his mistake, your work was so successful it gave us this lovely house when we feared poverty. I'm happy that we can continue as we had before and with Elmyra too." She looked at her window "The mountains look so beautiful, even in the dark, and I can't wait to see the wildlife in the trees, and Elmyra's so excited to be near a town market … even if she tries to complain about it," she giggled.
Nodding with brighter spirits her Father smiled "What did I do to deserve you?" he squeezed her hands once more and tucked her into bed "Goodnight, Darling. Sleep well and be ready to have all those discoveries tomorrow, I'll look forwards to hearing about them."
Aerith hummed and obediently closed her eyes "Sweet dreams Papa."
"Sweet dreams, Darling."
Swathed in blankets, it was neither the cold nor the new surroundings that woke her later that night. In her dreams, she heard the sound from outside and unconsciously followed it to the waking world. She sat up and pulled her blankets up to her chin to ward off the chill in the new house, a place that disorientated her briefly with its unfamiliarity, and listened to what had captured her attention from her vibrant dreams.
A long, longing cry from far away swept through the valley and into Aerith's bedroom. It was pitched high and low at the same time with a quality like a moan or a wail. It sounded like an animal but it wasn't one Aerith had ever heard before.
Curious about this late night call, she stepped out of bed and drew her travelling cloak around her shoulders for a little warmth. She stepped out into the hall and tiptoed down to a window facing into the valley. She cracked it open and the call came clearer.
She listened.
The night almost seemed to colour the cry, the dark only added to the mystery and she felt a gasp of wonder leave her lips as shivers danced up her arms. The sound was haunting and mysterious and she was utterly captivated. The call was solitary and far-reaching, Aerith wondered where it came from.
A door creaked open behind her and she gasped.
Elmyra stepped out "Miss Aerith!" she whispered, the Master bedroom right beside them. "What are you doing out of bed?"
Aerith pointed outside "I heard something out there, can't you?"
Elmyra listened and soon the sound came again, just as clear and longingly long as before. Her eyes widened slightly "Wolves!"
The girl by the window tilted her head "Wolves?"
Elmyra huffed and stepped closer "Wild dogs, without breed and living without man. They're said to be vicious and hunt in packs, and they howl at the moon when it shines, that's what you hear, girl." Together they looked outside and listened to the next few howls.
Aerith leaned forwards and breathed the cold, fresh mountain air "Where do you think it's coming from?"
"From the mountains, where humans aren't, or maybe the forest, who knows. But it's far away, so we should be safe." The maid crossed herself "God protect us."
Aerith hummed without comment "There's no moon tonight, and there's only one wolves."
"Just Wolf, Miss Aerith, when you're talking about more than one you'll call them wolves, but alone they're named wolf." After Aerith nodded and acknowledged the difference she repeated her observation. Elmyra shook her head and pulled her shawl around her shoulders tighter "Who knows. Maybe this one can't sleep, or maybe he's hungry. Animals are not created the same as man, their ways are different."
Aerith shook her head "That can't be right, they eat, sleep and love their young like we do, right? There has to be a reason," she paused with her eyes closed as a new howl echoed through the starry night "It's beautiful …"
Elmyra smiled "It is … perhaps this wolf is singing. What do you think?"
After a moment to consider Aerith answered in a whisper "I … I think he's calling for someone."
Elmyra nodded and closed the window at the end of the wolf's chorus "Maybe, God only knows. Back to bed, Miss Aerith. You need to rest after your journey, I expect your help settling your Father into his new surroundings," she stepped towards her own room with a little laugh.
Aerith smothered her own laughter as she thought of her bright eyed and bright spirited Father getting accustomed to the new house, like a duck first learning to swim and overcompensating for the lack of familiarity.
Elmyra's door clicked shut and she was once again alone with the sound of the mountain wolf.
Playfully, she howled back under her breath and giggled at the thought of the wolf replying. I wonder … it almost seems like the wolf is calling 'who.' Whoooo whooo! She covered her laughter again when it blocked the music of the night. She looked at Elmyra's door and sighed, one more minute, she promised and tilted her head to catch the full music of the next howl.
It began after a long pause. The howl profound and mysterious and reaching every nook and cranny of the valley with the haunting song.
"Beautiful …" Aerith breathed. She listened with her heart pounding and her breath held tight for fear of missing the song in the moonless night. The sound dropped low and took up again, sounding like a wail and occasionally breaking into open baying like that of a lonely dog.
At the thought she released her held breath with her eyes opening wide. Oh …
She pressed her hand to the windowpane again as the sound rolled down from the mountains. As the awe began to ebb like the fading of Summer she felt unavoidably sombre, and as the echoes at last faded into the night she sighed.
"Miss Aerith?"
Aerith didn't look back at the woman who had returned to see her to bed, she pressed her cheek to the window and wished she could reach the animal who was baying loud, low and hauntingly in the mountains.
"Do you hear it, Elmyra?" she said, at last, watching the night as if hypnotised, her fingertips stroking the glass as if petting and a single drop of water hit the sill. "It was crying."
"Miss?"
"The wolf was crying."
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