Chapter Six

The Wolf and the Woodsman

"Papa!" The little, dusty-blonde haired girl stumbled over her feet as she charged through the grass. Jakob sat up, concern in his eyes, until he saw the ecstatic grin on the girl's face. Two years had changed both father and daughter in many ways. Jakob had transformed well into the role of a parent, although with a definite soft spot for his green-eyed girl. Aurora had grown from an infant into a toddler, proving to be adventurous, friendly, and remarkably bright for her age.

"Papa!" the girl called again, and with a laugh she fell into his lap. Grinning, she perched herself on his outstretched legs and stared at him while she twirled a white flower between her fingers. With the forefinger of her other hand she beckoned him closer. Jakob leaned towards her, expecting some whispered gibberish meant to be a profound secret. Instead she lunged forward and placed a kiss on his nose and then scurried away from him, giggling as if she had achieved some great feat.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jakob asked with a laugh. Then his face grew more serious. "You dare to place a kiss upon the nose of such a horrible villain? No one kisses the wolf." Jakob climbed onto his hands and knees, making Aurora shriek playfully and back away further. "Tell me, little snack, who for is this precious flower? I should greatly like it for my own."

"No," Aurora cried, cradling the flower delicately in her chubby hands. "Ma."

"A flower for your mother?" Jakob's voice dropped an octave and took on a growling effect. "How sweet. You would make a lovely meal. And then your flower will be mine!"

"No," Aurora cried again and raced away through the grass. Jakob barrelled after her on all fours, growling and cursing her wicked speed. After a long bout of running, Aurora found herself at a dead end against one of the many straw-covered huts dotting the fields outside of town. Aurora spun around to face her opponent, searching desperately for a route of escape but finding none.

"I promise I will eat you quickly so it doesn't hurt," Jakob growled, moving closer to the cornered girl.

"No," Aurora said fearfully, although her eyes were lit playfully.

"And from the shadows stepped a courageous woodsman, shining axe clasped in his hand." The deep voice startled both Aurora and Jakob as its owner stepped up next to the latter. "'I will save you from this horrid beast,' the woodsman said to the young maiden. Then he hefted the axe," the newcomer lifted his hands above his head and suddenly brought them down till they connected with the exposed back of Jakob's neck, "and with a precise strike the wolf was slain and the young girl saved."

Trying to suppress a smile, Jakob fell over onto his side as Aurora rushed into the open arms of her saviour.

"Uncle Will," Aurora called happily, wrapping her short arms around Wilhelm's neck.

"Good to see you too, beautiful," Wilhelm replied with a hearty laugh. "What about you, wolf? No hug for your brother?"

"Why should I?" Jakob retorted. "After all you did just chop off my head and steal my meal and daughter."

"Don't hold a grudge," Wilhelm advised with a smirk. "This may become a common occurrence so you might as well get used to it." Jakob laughed as he rose to his feet and the brothers embraced.

"Welcome back," Jakob said, catching Aurora as she leapt from Wilhelm's arms into his. "How was the journey?"

"Boring and lonely," Wilhelm replied as the brother's started back towards town. Aurora rode on her father's back, still idly twirling the flower she'd picked as she listened. "Should have made you come with me so I'd have someone to talk too."

"That bad, huh?" Jakob chuckled. "Thought I annoyed you too much to travel with anymore." Wilhelm shrugged non-committally "Did you meet anyone interesting or hear any good stories while you were away?"

"Yes and yes," Wilhelm answered. "But you'll have to wait until we get back to your house before I tell any of them. I'm exhausted." Jakob sighed with anticipation but didn't argue. Wilhelm had been travelling for the last three weeks and Jakob knew he must be tired.

As they passed through the town many of its inhabitants greeted Wilhelm affectionately, confessing their joy at his return. Wilhelm took all the attention in stride but did not linger to talk very long, looking forward to a comfortable chair and decent meal. When they finally reached Jakob's house Angelika greeted Wilhelm briefly before ushering him inside and into a chair at the table, where a bowl of stew already awaited him.

"Oh you are too good to me," Wilhelm said as he eagerly spooned the warm food into his mouth.

"Don't I know it," Angelika smiled in response as she helped Aurora with her own bowl of stew. Wilhelm ate quickly and then settled back in his chair, grinning with contentment.

"So, what tales have you heard?" Jakob asked enthusiastically. He had been waiting impatiently since he had first seen his brother to hear these stories.

"Impatient little boy, aren't you?" Wilhelm asked with a grin, making Jakob scowl stubbornly. Aurora giggled into her soup. "Fine, I'll tell you, don't pout."

"I'm not pouting," Jakob countered, pride stung.

"Do you want to hear my stories or not?" Wilhelm asked and Jakob fell silent. "That's what I thought. Well most of my travels were boring, moving from town to town, enjoying scenery and mingling with the villagers. But in a much larger town farther north a powerful lord was holding a magnificent, three-night ball for his son. He invited every girl in town and many other nearby towns to attend, hoping that his son and heir might find a bride at this event."

"Did you go to the ball?" Jakob asked even though he knew the answer already.

"Of course, do you think I would miss something like this? Hundreds of women, all single and many very beautiful." Wilhelm drifted into pleasant memories momentarily, an almost lecherous grin on his face, before continuing. "Well at this ball the young lord danced with nearly every girl, choosing none of them as his bride. Then suddenly this beautiful girl came in. Like the North Star she was, absolutely breath-taking. Immediately the young lord approached her and they danced the rest of the night, until nearly midnight when she excused herself and left. The same thing transpired the second and third night.

"Well by now the young lord had gotten it in his head that he was going to marry this girl. He chased after her but the only sign of her he found was one of her slippers lying on the ground outside the mansion doors. The young girl has vanished without a trace and no matter how the lord searched he could not locate her."

"Remarkable," Jakob commented, nodding thoughtfully. "Didn't the boy get her name, or even know what town she lived in?"

"No," Wilhelm laughed scornfully. "He was so entranced by her beauty that trivialities such as names apparently didn't seem important. They searched the estate of every wealthy family in the neighbouring towns but they had had no luck by the time I left."

"Sounds like this young lord was a rather senseless one if you ask me," Angelika scoffed.

"Aye, that is a fact that I won't contradict," Wilhelm chortled.

"What brought you back so soon?" Jakob asked suddenly. "We weren't expecting you for at least another week. Did you get that lonely?"

"Well, yes," Wilhelm admitted, "but that's not why I returned." He sighed heavily and leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. "You know why I left of course," he said, not wanting to repeat such things in front of his young niece.

"Of course," Jakob answered. Nearly every night since his 'swooning spell,' as he called it, two years ago, Wilhelm had been plagued by horrible nightmares. Finally he had decided that his proximity to the forest might have had something to do with it and left to travel and see if the dreams lessened.

"Well my theory was unbelievably wrong," Wilhelm announced. "It seemed the farther I went the worse it got. It finally got so bad I gave up and began my journey back."

"Strange," Jakob muttered. "I expected them to lessen."

"So did I," Wilhelm agreed heartily. "Proved us both wrong though, didn't it? That's okay though, I think I prefer it this way. These–" Wilhelm paused with a sidelong glance at Aurora, thinking of a better word to use, "problems are keeping me closer to my family. I would miss my beautiful niece if I had to leave here forever."

Aurora looked at him with horrified eyes. "You leavin' f'rever?"

Wilhelm laughed and leaned over to take her hand. "No, I'm not leaving. I don't plan on leaving here again any time soon, if ever. I promise," he added when Aurora still seemed uncertain.

"Good," Aurora said with a nod and then promptly returned her attention to her near empty stew bowl.

"So Will, what was – " Jakob started but he never got any further.

"Papa, tell ma 'bout the wolf," Aurora shouted.

"The wolf?" Angelika asked, shooting a curious glance at her husband. In response, Jakob winked. "Oh, I must hear this story."

Aurora giggled and clambered into Wilhelm's lap. Getting herself comfortable, she snuggled back against her uncle's chest.

Jakob cleared his throat. "Well our sweet little Aurora here was picking flowers for you when suddenly she stumbled across a wolf."

"It was a big wolf," Aurora added eagerly.

"Enormous," Jakob agreed. "Well Aurora tried to be kind and she planted a kiss on the nose of the wolf, but he didn't like that. Deciding that her sweet disposition must make her tastier, the wolf charged after her. Aurora fled and the wolf pursued, running along behind her while–"

"Uncle Will," Aurora said suddenly, forgetting about the story. She turned in her uncle's lap with a confused scowl on her face, and gently placed a hand on his chest. "You don' have a heart."

Jakob and Angelika exchanged nervous glances. Neither of them even knew how it explain it to themselves, let alone to a small child.

"Ah, you've figured out my secret," Wilhelm said with a great amount of bravado. "But now you mustn't tell another soul. It is a dangerous secret but I trust you. Can you keep it?" Eagerly, Aurora nodded. "Alright, well I do have a heart but it doesn't beat like yours. It's frozen still."

"Are you dead?" Aurora asked suspiciously.

"Do I look dead to you?" Wilhelm asked in response, arching an eyebrow. "No, I'm under a spell. This magic makes me completely invincible."

"What's that?" Aurora asked curiously as Jakob laughed aloud at his brother's invention.

"It means I can't die," Wilhelm explained. Aurora gasped, both hands covering her mouth. "Now remember, you can't tell anyone."

"Not tell anyone," Aurora promised.

Wilhelm nodded his head in approval. "Good, now let's let your papa finish his story. I want to hear all about that brave and handsome woodsman. I like that fellow."