-1"Do any of you know where you are going?" Wendell demanded, irritable again.
"Yes." Cinnamon said shortly.
"Really?" Tony asked, raising one eyebrow, "When did you plan on telling the rest of us?"
"When I pick up a scent." Cinnamon replied, not letting Tony or Wendell's annoyance faze her.
"Do you smell anything yet?" Maive asked.
Cinnamon shook her head.
"Too many scents. My nose isn't strong enough to get past them to any of the others." Cinnamon said as a way of apology.
"If we can find some water, I can scry." Maive said.
"There's a brook nearby." Wendell supplied moodily, "I didn't mind being a dog compared to this. At least no one could step on me. This is horrible."
Tony sensed that Wendell was sinking into another depression like the one he had had in Kissingtown and beyond. He didn't want that to happen again.
"It's okay, Wendy. Don't worry. We'll get you back to your old self in no time." Tony said.
"Not if she's the one working the magic!" Wendell croaked angrily, "You keep her away from me, Anthony! We should go find a competent witch and get her to turn me back."
"I'm really sorry, Wendell. I am. It's just…making up spells on the spur of the moment has never been my strong point." Maive apologized.
"Nice of you to tell me now!" Wendell raged.
Cinnamon clamped her hands over her ears to block out her three companions. She bounded a ways ahead of them, sniffing away, looking for Wolf, Virginia, or the girl's scents. The girls would be the hardest to find. She had only smelled them briefly and the smells had been old.
"Some motley group we are." Wendell continued, depressed again, "One bumbling idiot, one incompetent witch, a half-wolf, and a king who's now a frog. We're all going to die."
"We are not going to die!" Tony said, "I'm never keen on dying. I don't plan to change my mind now."
"No, he's right." Maive cried, sinking into Wendell's depression as well, "We are going to die. And it's all my fault. If I could get a stupid spell right it might not be so bad. I'm a terrible witch. I don't even know why the Council sent me."
There were tears welling up in her eyes.
"No, no. Not you, too." Tony said, "Listen, both of you. Feeling sorry for yourselves won't get us anywhere."
"But…" Wendell and Maive both started.
"He's right. Now both of you shut up and let me concentrate." Cinnamon growled.
The force of her growl made everyone quiet. Cinnamon let herself smile for a moment, then went back to trying to find the right smells.
Ivy stopped at the bank of the river and looked over at Faolan. Did he have some kind of plan on how they were going to cross this? Or did they have to swim? He saw her looking at him and smiled in that way people do when they know something you don't.
"What?" Ivy asked, "How are we going across?"
"Just wait." Faolan said and ran off into the woods.
"What's he…Randal, what…?" Ivy looked to Randal for an explanation.
Randal shook his head, but his eyes were bright with excitement as he waited for whatever his brother had in mind. Apparently this was as much a surprise to him as it was to her. After about ten minutes had passed and he hadn't returned, Ivy started getting worried. Where was he?
Suddenly, Ivy heard a shout from out on the river. She turned and saw Faolan in a small row boat on the river. He waved at them, grinning, and steered the boat towards the shore.
"How on earth did you pull that off?" Ivy demanded.
Faolan shook his head.
"Doesn't matter. Come on, let's go." he said.
Ivy lifted Randal up and helped him into the boat first. Then she climbed in after him.
"I can take an oar if you want." she offered.
"No, no. I've got it." Faolan said, pushing them off with an oar and starting to row again.
The current pulled them down the river a little, but Faolan got them across. Ivy wished he had let her take an oar. For all that sometimes it might not seem like it, rowing a boat, especially against the current, was a lot of work. She knew that if she asked he would say no, but she could tell from the sweat he was working up that he was having a little trouble with it. She was glad when they hit the other shore.
"You really should have let me help." Ivy said, jumping out of the boat first and helping Randal and then, Faolan out.
"I got us here." he protested, wiping his sleeve across his forehead.
"Yeah, you did." Ivy said, looking around, "Where is here?"
"The 4th Kingdom."
"I know that! Where in the 4th Kingdom?" Ivy asked.
Faolan shrugged.
"I've actually never been to the 4th Kingdom before. Randal and I snuck across the 2nd Kingdom border into the 3rd Kingdom. It's almost impossible to get across the 2nd and 4th border, thanks to Queen Riding Hood." Faolan explained, "She's got all the bridges swamped with guards and more guards posted all along that portion of the river. We never would have made it that way."
"Why are there so many guards?" Ivy asked.
"She doesn't want us leaving." Faolan said, shrugging, "Maybe it's just another excuse to shoot wolves. I don't know. I only know what I saw."
"Why do you want into the 4th Kingdom, then. Is it worth all that?" Ivy shook her head in confusion.
"King Wendell put out a royal pardon of wolves in the 4th Kingdom. So far, it's the only kingdom where we can't be shot on sight. I don't want Randal in a place like that." Faolan said, glancing at his brother.
"What about your parents? Where are they?" Ivy asked.
Faolan busied himself with the boat although there was nothing to be done about it. He coughed and didn't look up when he replied.
"They were killed. The Queen's soldiers and a group of men from one of the villages found them too close to the village and killed them." he said.
Ivy heard a whimper from Randal at that. She looked back at the little boy and saw that there were tears welling up in his eyes. He saw her looking at him and quickly turned away, wiping his eyes. Ivy looked back at Faolan. He had seen his brother, too, and looked even sadder because of it.
"I…I'm sorry." Ivy stumbled.
She had never been good at things like this. But she knew she had to do something.
"Uh…" she couldn't think of a single thing to say and silently cursed herself, "I'm really sorry."
"It's alright. It's past." Faolan said.
Randal looked at him with wide eyes. He looked surprised. And hurt. He turned and ran away from them.
"Randal! Randal, come back here! I've got to go get him." Faolan said quickly to Ivy and ran off after his brother.
Ivy started running after them, but stopped. She should probably leave them to themselves.
"Randal, what is the matter with you?" she heard Faolan's voice.
Ivy pulled some leaves out of the way and saw that Faolan had caught Randal. She started to leave, but stayed.
"You don't even care anymore!" Randal cried accusingly, "You're too busy with…"
"Randal! You know that's not true!" Faolan interrupted, "I care a lot. Do you think that I don't miss mom and dad, is that it? Well, you're wrong. I miss them terribly."
"You do not." Randal said and Ivy could hear him sobbing.
She felt a pang of guilt for causing this.
"I do, Randal. I do. But I can't bring them back. Nothing can. We have to move on." Faolan insisted.
"I want mom!" Randal cried.
"Me, too, Randal. Me, too." Faolan agreed quietly.
Ivy decided now would be as good a time as ever to make her presence known. She made a show of stumbling through the bushes and looking surprised to find them there.
Randal was crying and Faolan was holding him. Ivy regretted her decision of intruding. Too late now.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
She knelt next to Randal and patted him on the head.
"It's okay, Randal. Shhh. Don't cry." she added.
Randal shoved Faolan away and latched onto Ivy. Ivy's eyes widened in surprise and she looked at Faolan over Randal's head. Faolan looked hurt, now. He glanced at Randal, then backed up a pace.
"Hey, hey. It's okay, Randal, it's okay." Ivy said quietly.
Randal sniffed, then began whimpering.
"Randal. I'm sorry. It must be very hard. But you know what? I'll bet that your mommy and daddy are in a special place right now." Ivy said, trying anything to comfort the little boy.
"Really?" he asked, looking up at her.
"Um hum. And wherever they are, they're watching over you and your brother. And when they see you cry, it makes them sad, too. They don't want you to be sad, Randal. They're in a good place now. Don't cry for them, Randal. They would want you to get on with your life. They wouldn't want you to be sad all the time." Ivy said, just blurting out everything that came to mind.
Randal sniffed and wiped furiously at his tears. He looked at his brother, then at Ivy. Then, he ran off.
"Randal!" Ivy called, rising to go after him.
"Leave him." Faolan said quietly, "You helped. I could tell. He just wants to be alone."
Ivy looked at Faolan. He was staring off at nothing.
"But did I help enough?" she asked, looking right at him.
Faolan looked at her and saw she meant him. He smiled shakily.
"I'm okay. Randal took it really hard, though. He's still not over what happened."
"I wouldn't be either." Ivy said, looking off in the direction Randal had gone.
A moment later, a small howl broke the quiet. Ivy knew that it was Randal. Ivy had never heard anything so sad and mournful. It brought tears to her eyes. And Ivy wasn't one to cry easily.
"I want to help him, but I don't know what to do." Faolan said quietly.
"It was my fault. I never should have brought it up." Ivy shook her head.
"No. It's my fault. You couldn't have known. I should be able to handle this better. Randal probably hates me right now."
Ivy wished fervently that she was better at this sort of thing. She wanted so much to make both of them feel better.
"He doesn't hate you. He just feels a little betrayed. You grieve on the inside and to him it seems like you're not. He doesn't understand." Ivy said.
She understood. That was the only way she knew how to grieve. She had never been the kind to openly cry. She had been the kind to cry when she was alone and she was sure no one would hear her. Or not cry at all.
"Let's stay here for a while." Ivy suggested.
Evil witch or no evil witch, she wasn't going to leave Faolan and Randal like this. And neither of them was ready to go on yet. Evil would just have to wait.
"You two! Oh, stop clowning around!" Breena demanded, flitting around.
"Clowns?" Danielle asked, "I hate clowns!"
The Good Guy and Bad Guy Handbook demonstration had led to many over-dramatized examples of the different situations by both Wolf and Danielle. Danielle was happy with her success at getting both their minds off of their problems. And since they were still moving while they "clowned around", they really weren't losing any time. Not much anyway. Danielle had accepted the role of Bad Guy and proceeded with pretending she had a gun (in actuality her hand in gun shape) and pretended she was taking Breena hostage.
"What are you doing?" Breena demanded.
"Quiet, fairy. One move, Wolfie boy, and the fairy gets it!" Danielle said in her best gangster impression.
"Gets what?" Wolf asked, confused.
Danielle stopped.
"You don't know about guns?" she asked.
Wolf shook his head.
"Lucky you." Danielle said dryly, "I won't be the one to spread the news. Just forget it."
"You two are both the most immature, hyper, slightly psychotic people I have ever met!" Breena declared.
"Thank you." Wolf and Danielle said at the same time.
"Oooohhh." Breena said, exasperated.
They walked for the next few moments in silence. Danielle finally got bored with silence and started talking again.
"You know, it's really not fair." she said.
"What's not?" Wolf asked.
"All the good guys are taken. They're all either married, gay,…or have a tail!" Danielle said with a grin.
"Thanks. Maybe." Wolf said, but the comment had reminded him of Virginia and he began to worry again.
He frowned and started sniffing again.
"Smell anything?" Danielle asked.
Wolf shook his head.
"Not yet. Huff-puff, I will. If there were an actual trail to follow…" he shook his head again and scratched at his temple.
"You did it again." Danielle said.
"What?"
"You did that thing again. That scratchy thing." Danielle said, pointing.
Wolf jerked his hand down and pretended it had never happened.
"I'm hungry. You hungry?" Danielle asked, rubbing her stomach, "Breena, you hungry?"
"I already ate, thank you." Breena said stiffly, landing on Danielle's shoulder again.
"Wolf?"
"Virginia says I'm always hungry." Wolf replied.
"Are you?"
"For food? Not always."
"Ooooookay." Danielle said, realizing she had approached a subject she didn't really want to, "So. About food. You got any ideas on where to get some?"
Wolf stopped suddenly and held up out his arm to stop Danielle. Danielle opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but Wolf gestured for her to be quiet. He sniffed again, then cocked his head to one side.
"Hello." Wolf said, "You can show yourselves now."
There was a rustling from all around them and Danielle spun in a circle, looking to see who it was. They were surrounded in any case. Breena had to leave Danielle's shoulder or she would fall off.
"Hello." a male voice replied.
Wolves emerged from the bushes and shadows on all sides. Danielle backed up a step, but realized it wouldn't help anything.
"I'm surprised you didn't smell us earlier." the owner of the voice said.
It was a person (or at least, he looked mostly human). He paced slightly, almost circling them. Danielle didn't like this one bit. She had read about wolves before. Seen a nature movie or two. It didn't help to ease her mind.
"I did." Wolf said, "I didn't know you were tracking us."
"All the noise you were making, it wasn't hard." he replied and Danielle winced.
That had been her fault. Danielle followed the man with her eyes as he circled them. That's when she noticed that he had a tail swinging back and forth behind him. Danielle's eyes widened and she pointed at the man. She opened her mouth to say something, but Wolf clamped a hand over it.
"Your human friend isn't familiar with this land, is she?" the man said and he grinned.
That was not a good grin, Danielle thought frantically. That was a…a…predatory grin!
"She's not important." Wolf said quickly.
At any other time, Danielle might have been insulted, but right now she was inclined to agree. She nodded vigorously.
"Hmmm. A half-wolf, a human, and a fairy. That's not everyday. What's to be done?" the man mused out loud.
Danielle pulled Wolf's hand away from her mouth.
"You could let us go." she suggested.
The man barked a laugh. Danielle didn't like the way this seemed to be going. She could hear some of the wolves behind her growling.
"Oh, no. I think we should share our hospitality first." he said and Danielle tried not to wonder what would be second, "Didn't you speak of being hungry?"
"Maybe." Wolf allowed.
"I'm hungry, too." he said and glanced at Danielle, "Come. Follow me."
He turned and started walking back into the forest. Wolf glanced around, then followed. Danielle saw that they didn't have much of a choice. The wolves were still behind them, almost herding them onward.
"What do we do?" Danielle asked Wolf in a whisper.
"Yes! This is bad. Very bad. I hope you have a plan." Breena agreed.
"Both of you stay quiet. Do nothing unless I tell you. Stay close." Wolf replied quickly, glancing back at the wolves behind them.
"But…" Danielle began.
"Shhh." Wolf cut her off, "Don't say a word."
"But couldn't Breena get us out of here?" Danielle insisted stubbornly.
"Oh!" Breena cried, "Yes, yes…"
"No!" Wolf whispered urgently, "Your magic won't take us far. They'll only think we're running. That's the worse thing we could do. Now, quiet."
Danielle nodded. What she wouldn't give for a weapon. If this were a story, she would have a dagger in her boot and maybe a bow and arrows. Or a sword. Something at least.
The wolves took them farther and farther into the woods. The shadows were getting longer and deeper as the woods got thicker. It was only sometime in the afternoon, but the darkness of the forest made it seem later. Danielle was usually all up for excitement. Maybe a good fight scene. But not like this. They didn't stand a chance. Even when the good guys on T.V. had horrible odds, they still had weapons at least. They had a slim chance as opposed to her no chance in heck. It wasn't fair! How come she had to be the one who got stuck in this?
If Ivy's sitting somewhere eating that stupid jerky of hers, I'm going to kill her, Danielle thought angrily.
The trees finally broke a little, but it was still dark. They entered a clearing. On one side there was a cave. Wolves lounged around the clearing. When they saw their group enter the area, they all come to attention. There were a few half-wolves around, but not as many as there were full-wolves. Danielle gulped.
There was a large fire blazing heartily in the middle of the clearing. Danielle, Wolf, and Breena were deposited next to it. Danielle's eyes darted back and forth as she tried to keep an eye on everyone. She wondered what happened now.
"Sit." the man from before said, gesturing.
He, himself, took a seat and waited for them to. Wolf glanced around suspiciously before slowly sitting down. He grabbed Danielle's hand and pulled her down next to him. Danielle dropped down on her butt. Breena hovered close to her.
"My name is Dolphus." the half-wolf introduced himself.
"Wolf." Wolf said shortly.
Dolphus raised both eyebrows. He looked around at his companions.
"Wolf? The half-wolf that killed the Huntsman? That got Wendell to give us a royal pardon?" he asked.
Wolf nodded. Dolphus jumped to his feet.
"Cripes! Did you hear that everyone? Huff-puff, Wolf the hero has joined us tonight!" he called.
There was murmuring from all around the clearing. Dolphus quickly bounded over to Wolf and pulled him to his feet. He shook his hand vigorously.
"Sorry about all that. Didn't know who you were. It would be an honor for you to share our fire, Wolf." he said quickly.
Wolf glanced around the clearing. There were no more growls from any of the wolves. A few apologetic whines from the ones that had brought them in. Wolf looked back at Dolphus and nodded.
"Alright." he agreed slowly.
Dolphus smiled. He quickly walked over and began speaking with a group of other wolves. Danielle tugged on Wolf's sleeve to get his attention.
"Are you sure it's safe?" she asked, remembering the way Dolphus had said he was hungry.
Wolf nodded, sitting down again.
"Yes. Wolves never cross another wolf if they owe him a debt. Apparently they think that I'm a hero. They won't do anything. I'm pretty sure we would have been alright anyway. Wolfies only pretend to do naughty things." Wolf said, repeating the line he had told Virginia some time ago.
"Sure." Danielle said, not really buying that, "Just don't let any of them…eat me."
"Oh! Don't worry. Huff-puff, you are perfectly safe! I give you my wolf word." Wolf said immediately.
That comment made him remember what he had said to Queen Riding Hood. She had meant her threat. There had to be some way of getting out of that. He should never have said what he had. Truth was, he hadn't really thought about anything he had said before hand. His only thought had been that he had to get free and find Virginia. Wolf growled to himself as he thought. After a few frustrated moments of not coming up with anything, he dismissed it with a small wave of his hand. He would think of something.
Dolphus bounded back over, smiling. Danielle had to admit that he did seem like a very different wolf now. But that couldn't make her forget how he had acted before he knew who Wolf was.
"A hunting party is going out. They'll bring back some fresh food for us. I suppose your human friend can cook hers." Dolphus said, frowning a little at the mention of cooking food, "I never understood what humans see in cooked meat."
Wolf was about to reply, but changed his mind. He looked over at Danielle and made a quick decision.
"It's actually pretty good." Wolf said quickly, "I think I'll cook mine, too."
Dolphus looked very surprised at that, but shrugged.
"Whatever you like." he said. He brightened a little, "There's some people who'd really like to meet you. Would you…?"
Dolphus gestured towards the cave. Wolf rose, wondering who would want to meet him and couldn't come out to see him. Maybe someone who was hurt? Danielle coughed. She didn't want to be left here all alone. The wolves liked Wolf, alright, but that didn't necessarily apply to her. Wolf gave her a hand and helped her up. Dolphus raised one eyebrow, but didn't comment as Danielle followed them. Dolphus led them into the cave. He whined softly, announcing their arrival to whoever was in there. It was kind of dark and it took Danielle a moment for her eyes to adjust. They walked a few strides back into the cave until Dolphus stopped them.
"Fiona?" he asked.
"Yes?" a female voice replied.
"Wolf is here."
"Fiona?" Wolf asked in surprise.
He had a startling suspicion. A girl half-wolf ran out from the depths of the cave and enveloped Wolf in a huge hug. Wolf's eyes were wide and he pushed her back so he could look at her.
"Fiona?" he asked in disbelief.
She nodded and there were tears in her eyes.
"Yes. It's me, Wolf." she said.
This time it was Wolf who initiated the hug.
"I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed.
"I practically was! I don't really know what happened. All I know is that the next thing I remember was waking up in the woods with burns all over me. I thought you were dead! Until just recently when I heard what you've done! You're a hero, Wolf!" Fiona cried.
Danielle looked at the two of them in confusion. She looked over and saw Dolphus was backing off. She did, too. Whoever this lady was, she and Wolf had a history of some kind. Wolf saw her backing up and held out a hand.
"No, no. Danielle, meet my sister." Wolf said, smiling.
"Hi." Danielle said, shaking hands with Fiona.
"Hello." she said, smiling so happily that Danielle was sure that her mouth would hurt later.
"Oh, sis! It's been so long! You have to meet Virginia! Oh, guess what?" Wolf said, then continued before Fiona could reply, "I'm going to have a little cub!"
"Oh, Wolf that's so wonderful!" Fiona said, hugging him again, "I've got a surprise for you, too. Wait here."
Fiona turned and hurried back into the cave. She returned a moment later with a baby in her arms.
"I was going to name him after you, but I remembered how much you hated your name when you were little." she said with a grin.
"Who? When?" Wolf asked.
"Who's the father? You met him already." Fiona said.
"Dolphus?" Wolf asked.
Fiona nodded.
"He found me not long after the whole…incident. Little baby is almost a month old now." she tickled the baby's stomach as she said that last, "You want to hold him?"
Wolf nodded. Fiona handed him the baby and Wolf held him very carefully.
"Hi, little guy. Huff-puff, he looks just like you, sis." Wolf said, looking up at her.
The baby grabbed Wolf's hand and made a tiny little growl/gurgle and wagged his little bushy tail. Wolf smiled.
"I think you should name him Warren." he said.
Fiona thought that over, then nodded and smiled.
"Warren it is. I always hoped that you would help me name my baby. I've never been good with names. I just never thought it would actually happen!"
Danielle had to smile. She was happy for Wolf. Finding a long, lost sister and finding out he was an uncle must be unbelievable for him. This was just like a story after all.
Virginia stopped, perplexed. She had reached the sign at the entrance of the Swamp. She did not want to go through the Swamp, but the other way would take twice as long. Plus, she was pretty sure she couldn't get through the Swamp alone. She had almost died last time and would have if not for Wolf.
"I guess we don't have much of a choice, baby. We'd better take the long way." she said out loud.
Virginia angled along the other path. She had never been this way before, but it led to Wendell's castle so it shouldn't matter.
"Almost home, baby. Just a few more days." Virginia assured herself as well as the baby.
Although, a few more days seemed like such a long time.
Maive knelt at the edge of the brook and scooped up some water with a wooden bowl that Cinnamon lent her. She sat on the grassy bank and set the bowl in her lap. She concentrated, doing the mental preparation that they had taught her in her training.
A picture appeared in the bowl of Virginia. She was walking along a path. Tony peered over Maive's shoulder at the picture.
"Is it me or was she not that…ahem…big last time I saw her?" he asked.
"She's carrying a wolf cub. They grow faster than human babies. Or so my mother told me." Cinnamon supplied.
"Where is she?" Tony asked.
"I know that area! She's headed this way!" Wendell piped up.
"What? You mean she's in the 4th Kingdom?" Tony demanded.
"Yes. Or at least, she will be soon if she's not already. That's a path to my castle." Wendell said.
"Okay, we've found Virginia. What about Wolf and the girls?" Cinnamon asked.
Maive nodded and waved a hand over the bowl. A few seconds later a picture of Wolf appeared. He was sitting by a fire and Danielle was sitting next to him along with another lady. The lady held a baby in her arms. There were wolves all around the edge of the picture. There was also a fairy sitting on Danielle's shoulder.
"Where's that?" Tony asked.
No one answered so Maive concentrated harder, trying to figure out where Wolf and Danielle were.
"The Disenchanted Forest." she said finally.
"So they're in the 4th Kingdom, too!" Tony said, happy for that.
"The other girl, Ivy. Where's she?" Wendell asked.
Maive waved her hand over the bowl again. When the picture reformed, they saw Ivy sitting on the ground next to a young guy. He looked pretty upset. It looked like she was trying to console him.
Tony, Cinnamon, and Wendell looked at Maive. She held up a hand, telling them to wait.
"Also the 4th Kingdom. By the River." she reported.
Tony sighed.
"So at least we're all in the same kingdom." he said.
"Yes, but my kingdom is pretty large, Anthony. We need to all be together." Wendell said.
"So what do we do?" Maive asked, pouring the water back into the brook.
Everyone was silent.
"We need a plan." Maive said.
"You got one?" Tony demanded.
"No." Maive admitted.
"See." Wendell said with a ribbit, "We're all going to die."