Chapter 22 - The Fork
Herr Lied took a seat under the windowsill to enjoy the cool night air, gesturing for Jacob to join him before placing the cloth laden with cured sausage and dark bread between them. "Do help yourself," the magician offered, taking a piece of bread. Jake hesitated, before taking a thick slice of bread. Taking a small bite from the corner, the younger Grimm was pleasantly surprised by the faint taste of caraway.
"Thank you, Mein Herr," Jacob replied, eager to quell the dull hunger pangs in his stomach. Although initially hesitant to eat the offered food, the younger Grimm had quickly reasoned that Lied could have dispatched of him quite easily without feeding him poisoned pumpernickel.
"Please," the silver-haired man retorted with a flick of his hand, "Do drop the formalities Jacob, call me Gram." Lied glanced over at Jake furtively, seeming to struggle with an internal debate before continuing, "Could you tell me what it's like, the university where you study?"
Taken aback at the question, Jacob's eyebrows raised in surprise, uncertain of Gram's motives. Seeing no harm in answering his question honestly, and rather curious about the turn in conversation, the younger Grimm replied, "I would gladly tell you everything about my experience at the university," he said smiling in reminiscence.
For the second day in a row, Wilhelm Grimm groggily awoke to the sound of bird calls; however, it was no cheerful dawn chorus that woke him from his uneasy sleep, rather a jarring and oddly demanding cacophony that surrounded his canvas tent. 'Bloody birds,' Will thought to himself, grimacing as his ears began to ache from the obnoxiously loud screeches. Slowly opening his eyes, Will noticed that the sun was fully illuminating the tent. Cursing to himself as he realized he'd overslept, Wilhelm turned to rouse the sleeping man beside him.
"Schwarz," Will hissed, "It's well after daybreak." Receiving a groan in return, the older Grimm began pulling on his boots.
"Why are the birds so loud?" Prinz mumbled, stretching languidly with a yawn.
"I would love an answer to that as well," Wilhelm retorted, his irritation growing with every squawk and shriek.
"Enough, already! We're awake, damnit!" Will shouted angrily, sticking his head out of the tent. When his outburst was met with sudden stark silence in response, Wilhelm felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise.
"God, I hate this place," Will muttered under his breath before continuing, "Let's pack up and get on the road." Receiving an emphatic nod of agreement, the two set to work packing the gear and tearing down the tent.
Dappled sunlight peeped through the thick forest canopy, illuminating the old road with beams of warm afternoon sun. Wilhelm closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the warmth on his face in an attempt to derive what little enjoyment he could from his current situation. The old forest, with its massive trunks and gnarled branches put him on edge. The older Grimm did not appreciate how the unworked ground rose and fell as it pleased, forming mounds and craters scattered throughout the forest floor and preventing him from maintaining a clear line of sight on either side. The morning's discomforting silence had slowly faded into a gentle background noise of soft nattering and chirps. At more than one point, Will had been absolutely certain that something had been dropping seeds on him, becoming convinced when he felt the weight of an acorn tap him on the top of the head before falling to the road.
"I think you may have upset the locals," Schwarz quipped, leaning forward in the saddle whisper in his ear.
Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Wilhelm did his best to ignore the nobleman's banter and looked up into the high, arching branches above them. A small congregation of bluebirds stared back at him with such intensity that it unnerved the older Grimm. Looking back towards the road as it wound around an outcrop of large stones, Will rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation as he noticed the road diverge into two identical forks.
Turning back in the saddle to Schwarz, Wilhelm asked him in a near whisper whether he knew which way they had to go. "Are you trying to keep secrets from the birds?" Schwarz teased back, his own whisper betraying the fact that he shared similar concerns. "I don't blame you," he continued solemnly, "I've travelled through this forest enough times now to know that there is no fork in the road."
Feeling a cold shiver run between his shoulder blades, Wilhelm reined in Kastanie at the junction of the road. His mare huffed nervously, swinging her head from one direction to the other. "Well girl, which way do you think we should take?" Will asked his mare quietly. Receiving a patronizing snort from Kastanie in reply Wilhelm grit his teeth in response, thoroughly aggravated with the outlandish situation.
'A lot of good these two are,' Wilhelm thought to himself, 'Jake would know what to do.' While this train of thought aggravated Will further, he took pause to think about what his brother would do in this situation.
Grimacing, the older Grimm realized exactly what Jacob would do, "Schwarz, we need to find a toad."
Author's Note: Thank you for reading. This is the updated version of Chapter 22, uploaded on 02/2023.