by Joan Holub
“I w-wonder wh-what that was?” Snow’s teeth were chattering.
“Sounded like a wolf,” said Cinda when Red and Snow caught up to her.
Immediately, Red thought of Wolfgang. Were the rumors about him being able to shape-shift true? If she had to choose, she’d much rather he was out here roaming the forest than a real, wild wolf! Of course, he wasn’t out here, though. Why would he be?
“I’m beginning to think we should’ve listened to Mr. Hump-Dumpty’s warnings about this forest,” said Rapunzel.
As her words died away, they heard another howl. The girls let out shrieks. They were so freaked out by now, they went running down the path.
“Ow!” A few seconds later, Red felt a sharp pebble in her ankle boot and had to stop.
“Wait up,” she called. After setting her basket on the ground, she slipped off her boot and shook the pebble out. When she put it back on again, she looked around for the other girls. But they’d gone way ahead. They must not have heard her asking them to wait.
Snap! The sound sent Red scurrying down the path again after her friends. But after a dozen steps, she realized she’d left her basket sitting on the ground. She dashed back to get it. However, when she arrived at the spot where she thought her basket should have been, it wasn’t there!
What if some forest creature had carried it off? Her heart pounded in her chest. She tried to calm down. More likely she’d simply gotten turned around somehow and this wasn’t the place she’d left it after all. Typical! Her sense of direction was no sense at all.
“A tisket, a tasket. I wish you’d come back, basket!” she called out in a panic.
Thump! It worked! The basket landed at her feet.
Red snatched it up joyfully and hugged it to her. “I should have thought of that to begin with,” she said as she slipped it onto her arm. “Instead of me trying to find you, from now on I’ll get you to find me.”
Standing in place, she turned in a complete circle, looking for her friends. She didn’t see them. She didn’t see the path, either. Everything looked the same on all sides of her. There were trees, vines, grass. But no path. Argh. She was lost!
“Hey! I’m lost! Come find me!” Red shouted as she wandered through the forest. But none of her friends answered back. Probably too far away to hear her.
She looked down at her basket. “I don’t suppose you could take me to my friends,” she asked it hopefully. “Or bring them to me?”
Her basket wiggled side to side on her arm, like someone shaking their head no. Then it went still again.
“Is it because I’m too big to fit inside you?” she asked it.
The basket jiggled up and down on her arm.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Red. “So I guess you can only transport things that are smallish?”
The basket jiggled up and down again.
It’s good to be learning more about how its powers work, thought Red. That knowledge might prove useful — if she ever got out of this grimmorrible forest again, that was!
She gazed up at the trees, hoping they might somehow give her a clue to her whereabouts. But they looked just like the trees everywhere else in the forest, except that here they seemed to grow even closer together. So close, in fact, that she couldn’t even see where the sun was in the sky to figure out what time it was. It felt like they were purposely trying to turn day to night. You’re imagining things, she scolded herself. Just like she’d imagined that someone was following her before.
Owooo! A piercing howl like the one they’d heard earlier prickled Red’s skin. Only this time, it sounded much closer. There was a flapping of wings in the nearby trees. Startled birds flew up in the air.
Terrified, Red gritted her teeth, trying not to give in to panic. As a rule, wolves tried to avoid people, she remembered hearing once. Too late, she also remembered hearing that if you were ever lost in the woods, you should hug a tree and then stay put till someone found you.
But maybe it wasn’t really too late to try the tree hugging thing. She looked around wildly for a suitable tree. One she could fit her arms around. After spotting a good prospect, she hooked the basket at her elbow and slid her arms around the tree.
There was a rustling sound. Then, to her surprise, the tree’s lower branches reached around her to hug her back! Well, this was Grimmlandia, after all. Enchantment came with the territory.
“Thanks,” she told the tree. “I really needed a hug right now.”
But then the hug began to get tighter. And tighter. “Stop it!” Red yelled, struggling. She slapped at the branches and managed to pull away, getting a scratch in the process.
She glared at the tree. “What is wrong with you, you dumb tree?”
Its branches gave a big shrug, as if to say, What do you expect? This is Neverwood Forest — haven’t you been warned?
“Humpf! So much for hugging trees!” said Red. As she was rubbing her sore hand she heard a twig crunch again. Snap!
She whirled around so fast that her basket almost flew off her arm. “Cinda?” she called out hopefully. “Snow? Rapunzel?”
“Who walks these forests? If you are a friend in need of the sustenance that I can provide, make yourself known and I will help you,” she called out when no one answered. It was a line from Red Robin Hood. It had just popped out of her mouth, and for some reason reciting it in a dramatic fashion helped calm her nerves.
To her surprise, she heard the sound of clapping. She looked at the hugging tree to see if it was clapping its branches. It wasn’t.
“Bravo,” a voice called out. “Well said, Vermillion.”
Stumbling back in surprise, Red accidentally dropped her basket. Up ahead in the forest, Wolfgang stepped into view. “You!” She rushed forward, so glad help had arrived that she didn’t even call him on using a red synonym instead of her name.
But then she remembered what she’d overheard him talking about with Ms. Wicked yesterday. Abruptly, she stopped a few feet from him, wondering what he was up to. “Uh, I mean, I was actually hoping you’d turn out to be my friends, but —”
“But I’ll do in a pinch?” He looked around. Seeing only her, he said, “Are you lost out here?”
Her cheeks grew warm with embarrassment. “Yes. I mean no. I mean — well, obviously!”
They walked back to where her basket sat. Wolfgang eyed it curiously as it jumped up from the ground and slung itself over her arm again. Red hugged it protectively.
“So where are your friends?” he asked.
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t exactly be lost, would I?” Back at school, she’d fudged the truth and told him she and her friends were going to pick flowers today. Had he guessed they’d come here? “I accidentally got separated from them while we were picking flowers,” she said quickly. “What are you doing here anyway? Did you follow us?” That would explain the snapping sounds she’d heard. But what about the howling?
“Maybe.” Wolfgang stopped at the hug-tree and leaned back against it. “Or maybe I just like forests.”
Her basket swung on her arm as she lifted it to point at the tree. “Better watch it. That tree is weird.”
He folded his arms over his chest, not looking worried in the least. “Yeah, I know. Everything in Neverwood has peculiarities of one kind or another.”
Red raised her brows. What did that mean? Suddenly, this forest seemed that much more scary.
“Are your flowers in there?” he asked, nodding to her basket.
“Um, no. We didn’t find any good ones,” she fibbed quickly.
Wolfgang’s eyebrows lifted. “Really? Maybe I can help. I know this part of the forest pretty well.”
“Thanks, but I really need to catch up with my friends,” said Red.
“Best thing to do is probably head back to the Academy. They’ll eventually go there.” He pushed off from the tree as if planning to lead her back to GA.
“No!” said Red. She didn’t want to miss out on finding treasure, if that w
as to happen today. “Actually, we were all thinking of looking for the cottage where Grandmother Enchantress lives,” she admitted. “Do you know where it is?”
A startled look crossed his face, but then he shrugged. “Sure. I know a shortcut. And there’s a garden with a ton of flowers on the way. Come on.” With that he took off. Not knowing what else to do, she followed.
After a dozen silent steps along the path, he spoke the lines that came after the ones she’d called out earlier. “It is I, Tiny John, an admirer of your kind deeds.” After a dramatic pause, he went on. “Nay, more than a mere admirer, fair Red Robin Hood. And if you would permit me to join you in your lofty endeavor, you will find me an able companion and a most loyal friend.” His voice was sooo magical. You couldn’t help but pay attention when he was acting out a character!
“Hello?” Wolfgang shot her a glance, slowing to walk beside her as the path widened. “That’s your cue to continue with the scene.”
She sighed. “I already told you. I’m not going to audition, so there’s no sense in practicing.”
His hair ruffled a little, as if in annoyance. “You shouldn’t give up just because of one bad experience,” he counseled her. “You probably just need more practice. I’m up for helping, I mean, if you want.”
“Thanks,” she said, “but knowing my lines isn’t the problem.” She darted a sideways glance at him as they walked. “It’s the stage fright. You said you get it, too. So how do you deal with it? Cinda suggested I picture the audience in their underwear, but …”
Grinning, Wolfgang flipped his brown hair out of his eyes. “That’s crazy. Why would that work?”
Red laughed. “It doesn’t! It only made me giggle to imagine Principal Ruh …” She stopped, her cheeks heating again. “Never mind. So what does work then?”
“Flowers,” he announced.
“What?” she asked blankly.
He gestured at their surroundings.
Red glanced around and saw they were both standing knee-deep in a sea of colorful flowers! She’d been so interested in what he was saying that she hadn’t noticed they’d reached a beautiful meadow full of daisies, cornflowers, and other blossoms she couldn’t even name. The flowers didn’t grow together as single bouquets like in the Bouquet Garden, but as separate, distinct plants.
Wolfgang bent and picked a handful of large, white daisies and vibrant blue cornflowers. “Open wide,” he said, looking at her basket.
“Oh,” she said, pulling up both sides of the hinged lid. She didn’t really have time to waste picking flowers. Still, it was kind of sweet of him to pick them for her, and she did want to talk about acting for a few more minutes. Gazing up at him, she decided she really hoped she was wrong about him being part of E.V.I.L.
“So what does work?” she repeated. “To get rid of stage fright, I mean.”
“Being prepared is number one. And you said you already know your lines. But beyond that there are other things you can try. Like taking a deep, calming breath before you begin your lines.” He paused then, chuckling. “I remember once before a performance, I even wrote down all the things I was afraid might go wrong. And it helped!”
“You mean like that you might faint?” asked Red. She was following him around, holding her basket as he continued to pick and fill it with fragrant flowers.
“Right,” he said. “Or get tongue-tied. Or that you’ll start drooling or sneezing. Stuff like that.”
“Hey, don’t give me any ideas. I can think up enough things to worry about on my own,” she said, and they both laughed.
“Sometimes just getting your fears down on paper seems to help stop them from happening. You sort of realize how silly they are.” He stared into the distance as if thinking. “And I try to get inside my character’s head until I’m almost part of him, instead of myself. Pretty soon, I’m ignoring the audience. It’s like they aren’t even there.”
Red considered that for a minute. If she was going to audition again, which she wasn’t, his ideas might be worth trying. Remembering that she was on a mission, she said, “So, I guess we’d better head for the cottage!”
Wolfgang nodded easily. “Sure. Follow me.” Snatching her basket from her arms, he headed off, moving fast.
“Hey. Wait up!” she yelled after him. “Give me back my basket!”
For a moment Wolfgang hesitated up ahead on the path. He glanced over his shoulder at her and his gray eyes glinted in the dim light of the forest.
“Sorry,” he said softly. “I can’t.” She thought she glimpsed an apologetic look on his face before he turned away.
Then suddenly he began to shape-shift. Red watched in shock as his ears grew large and pointy. His jacket changed to thick gray fur, and his hands and feet turned into paws. He sprouted a long gray tail. Dropping to all fours, he let out a piercing howl. With his jaws clamped around the basket handles, he bounded away!
Red stared after Wolfgang, stunned. So he really could shape-shift! Which meant that it probably had been him howling before, scaring them all half to death for fun. Now it made sense why he hung out here — because wolves liked forests, right?
As the shock of seeing him shape-shift wore off, Red began to get mad! She took off down the path after him. When they were talking before, she’d thought they were becoming friends. She had even decided she might have misunderstood the conversation between Wolfgang and Ms. Wicked yesterday. But now he’d deserted her. And stolen her basket!
Remembering that she’d called her basket back to her earlier, she tried it again. “A tisket, a tasket. Come back to me, basket!” No luck. The basket didn’t appear. Wait! She hadn’t asked properly. She’d only filled in five of the six blanks. She tried again, her voice breathless from running. “A tisket, a tasket. Come back to me, dear basket,” she called out. Still, nothing happened. Weird.
She could see Wolfgang running ahead, a gray speck in the distance. Maybe his teeth were hanging on to its handle too tightly for it to escape?
Now that he possessed it, was it possible the basket had become his magical charm? She didn’t think magical charms could change who they belonged to, but she wasn’t absolutely sure.
Owooo! She’d lost sight of him in the distance up ahead. Was he howling to help her follow him? Or maybe he couldn’t help howling when he was in wolf form. Regardless, she headed in the direction of the sound. At least she hoped it was the right direction.
Luckily, because of recent rains and a slightly muddy path, Wolfgang’s wolf paws had left tracks. She followed them, fearing she might be stuck in the forest forever if she lost him. He didn’t seem to care that she might starve to death in this grimmideous forest before anyone could find her. Thanks a lot, Wolfgang!
This whole thing didn’t make sense. He’d told her to guard her basket back in Scrying class. But that was before he’d talked to Ms. Wicked. Did she have some hold over him? Was that why he’d taken it? Or maybe that had been his plan all along. Had his kindness merely been a trick? Was he a member of E.V.I.L. after all?
A lump of anger formed in Red’s throat. This wasn’t fair! No, it isn’t, said a little voice inside her head. So what are you going to do about it?
“I’m not going to let him get away with it, that’s what!” Red replied out loud.
The tracks led straight to a small stone cottage at the heart of the wood. Perfect! Red bounced on her toes with glee when she saw it. This must be the cottage of Grandmother Enchantress! She was disappointed to see no sign of her friends. Maybe they were inside. Maybe Wolfgang was, too. Determined to confront him and to get back her basket, Red knocked on the door.
“Come in!” called a low, croaky voice.
The room Red entered was bright and cheery. Shelves of books lined the walls, plants in pots hung here and there, and a colorful hooked rug lay on the floor. But there was no Wolfgang.
An ancient woman was sitting in an old oak rocking chair that was creaking back and forth. Her hair was rather short and gray under her
kerchief, and she wore knitted gloves and spectacles. She was wrapped in a colorful patchwork quilt up to her chin.
“Are you Grandmother Enchantress?” Red asked.
The woman nodded.
Thrilled to meet such a legend, Red curtsied. “I’m Red Riding Hood.”
“Don’t come too close,” the enchantress warned in a low, growly voice. “I’ve got a cold.”
“Oh! I’m sorry,” said Red. Then she added politely, “Can I make you a cup of hot tea? Or bake you some cookies?”
“No, dearie, just have a seat so we can chat, will you?”
Gingerly, Red sat on the cozy flowered couch across from the enchantress. For being so old and sick, she was a surprisingly energetic rocker. Red hoped the ancient woman’s chair wouldn’t tip over backward.
“I wonder if you could help me,” Red began. “I’m looking for a boy named Wolfgang and some friends of mi —”
“Ah, Wolfgang. Such a nice boy,” interrupted the enchantress. “Don’t you think so?”
Red frowned. “Well, I did,” she said. “Until he stole something of mine.”
Grandmother Enchantress lifted a dark eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound like the Wolfgang I know. Perhaps he only borrowed your basket.”
“Huh? How did you know it was a basket? I didn’t tell you.” Red sat forward eagerly. “Did he come here before me?” she asked, her eyes searching the cottage.
Grandmother Enchantress’s chair paused a few beats before resuming its rocking. “He did,” she said, “but he’s long gone now. I wouldn’t waste any more time trying to find him if I were you. Better just go on back to the Academy.”
Back to the Academy? How did she know that was where Red had come from? And it almost sounded like the enchantress was trying to get rid of her!
“Actually,” said Red, “I’m not that great with directions. Is it okay if I wait here for my friends? I got separated from them, you see. We were trying to find your cottage because —” She paused, unsure whether or not she should say anything more.
