The dwarf scowled, his eyes dark as coal. “Drink deeply of the wine. Its effects are most beneficial.” He hopped across the stream, leaping nimbly from stone to stone, and disappeared in the tall grass. A wicked little laugh trailed behind him.
“He wasn’t at all pleasant,” said Goldie. “Do you suppose all dwarves are like that?”
“Granny says so,” I said, and walked quickly along the stream.
Goldie trotted to catch up with me. “Do you think we’ll make it to the well before nightfall?”
“We? You weren’t planning to come with me, were you?”
“Of course! You’ll need a companion for your journey. You don’t wish to be alone in The Woods. It’s so spooky!”
As a matter of fact, that is precisely what I wished. “That’s very kind of you, but—”
I stopped short and stared down at my feet. My path was gone. Goldie stood right next to me. No shock had steered her away. No wind had forced her off. I stomped my feet, trying to make my path reappear. It didn’t. I turned around and walked back until it appeared again beneath my feet, stretching in the direction of home but not in the direction I wanted to travel.
“What’s wrong?” Goldie asked. “Did you forget something?”
“No,” I said. I’d never been in The Woods without my path, not since that day with the bear. But what choice did I have? The well was in one direction, and Granny was in the other, alone, sick, dying. I heard her words echo inside me.
Don’t be afraid.
I wasn’t afraid. I wouldn’t be. I took a breath and stepped off my path.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Your Heart’s Desire
I walked as quickly as I could, with Goldie skipping boisterously beside me. Without my path, I felt exposed and vulnerable. My heart thrummed as fast as a rabbit’s. I felt skittish as a rabbit, too, jumping at every noise and movement in The Woods.
Goldie’s presence was like a swarm of mosquitoes. Every word she spoke, every little movement she made, was like an itchy bite, and her curls made me dizzy. They bounced more than grasshoppers. I wanted to take an ax and chop them all off. Or her head. That might be nice. But I bet even if I chopped off her head, she’d keep talking.
“Mummy named me Goldie so I would find lots of gold, of course, and for a while it really worked. It’s like I could smell the gold between the rocks, and Mummy and Daddy were so proud of me. Now there’s no gold in The Mountain anymore, but I can sense other things that are golden, too, like yellow flowers and honey, and so I’m not completely worthless, though some people think so.” She sighed. I imagined she was thinking of the boy she wanted to give a love potion to.
Daylight faded quickly, and the air grew chill. If I had my path, I would continue on in the dark, but without it I could be attacked by bears, mountain lions, and wolves.
“We’d better stop for the night,” I said. “It’s getting dark.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” said Goldie, looking around. “Where will we stay? Is there an inn nearby? Do you suppose they’ll have a supper? I’m quite hungry. And I wouldn’t mind a soft bed.”
“There’s not an inn or village for miles, Goldie. We’ll have to sleep in The Woods.”
“Sleep in The Woods! You can’t be serious!”
I shook my head. “You’re welcome to go back to the village. You can stay in any of the houses there. I’m sure no one will mind.”
Goldie tugged anxiously at her curls and glanced back the way we had come. I half expected her to turn around and march straight home, but she didn’t.
“Well, I suppose every quest has its risks,” she said, and went to work, humming as she scooped leaves for her bed. I sighed and gathered leaves and pine needles for my own bed.
It was a long, restless night. Goldie chattered endlessly, telling me all about her mummy and whatnot, and when she finally fell asleep, she snored like a bear in a cave. I tossed and turned, and just when I was on the brink of sleep, a wolf howled.
Come, he said. He was calling for his pack, but he never got an answer.
The next morning I awoke to the most horrid cheerfulness.
“Wake up, Red! It’s a glorious morning!”
It took me a moment to remember where I was and who was with me. I was in The Woods with Goldie, and I’d had the worst night’s sleep of my life.
“Leave me alone,” I grumbled, and pulled my cloak over my head.
“But it’s so sunshiny and pretty! And I picked you some flowers. Here, smell them.”
Goldie shoved something beneath my cloak, and my nose was accosted by a bunch of blossoms and their overwhelming perfume. “Get away—aaaahaaaaCHOO!”
“Oh, dear, I’m sorry. Let me help you.” Goldie reached down to pick me up. I tried to slip under her arm, but my hair got tangled in one of her buttons.
“Aaaargh!”
“Oh! I’m sorry! I got it.” Goldie yanked on my hair.
“Grrrrrr!”
“Hold still!”
“You hold still!” We wrestled and I growled until I finally ripped myself free, and we both tumbled back at the very moment an arrow hit the ground right between us.
Horst tore through the brush, his bow nocked with an arrow. “Ha! I got you, you wily…girls?”
Goldie and I sat frozen on the ground.
“Where’s the wolf?” Horst swatted at the trees and brush, surely frightening every creature within a mile.
“There’s no wolf,” I said. “Only us.”
“Shhhhh. I heard him growling just now.”
“That was Red,” said Goldie.
“Who’s Red?”
“Her.” Goldie pointed at me.
“That’s a girl. Not a wolf.”
“She’s a very growly girl.”
Horst huffed in frustration. “Well, what are you doing all the way out here growling like a wolf?”
“We’re on a quest!” said Goldie.
“A quest?” Horst asked. “What kind of quest?”
“To save Red’s granny!”
“The witch? What’s wrong with her?”
“She’s dying, so we’re going to find—”
“Ingredients,” I cut Goldie off. “We’re gathering ingredients. For medicine.” I sent Goldie a sharp look. I didn’t think it wise to make our true quest widely known.
Horst nodded, a look of pity in his eyes. “Death is a terrible thing. Terrible.”
“It’s only a cold,” I said.
“Well, a cold can kill an old person,” he said gruffly. “And even if they do get better, everyone dies eventually, don’t they?”
I flinched, feeling the sting of his words.
“Excuse me,” said Horst. “That was rude, wasn’t it? Don’t pay any attention to old Horst. I’ll tell you what. You help me, I’ll help you.”
“How?” I asked.
“Old Horst knows a thing or two about staying alive. I’ve survived more than colds.” He laughed a wheezy laugh. He wasn’t exactly the picture of health, and I doubted he knew as much as Granny or dwarves about staying alive, no matter his age, but I thought it would be impolite to say so.
“What do you want from me?”
“You seen a wolf in these parts? Big black beast?”
“Sometimes,” I said.
“I’ve been tracking him for months, but he’s slippery as a ghost, always evading me. If you help me catch the wolf, I might be able to help your granny with that cold of hers. Horst knows a thing or two, yes?”
Horst hobbled over and plucked his arrow from the ground. As he bent down, I noticed a pouch dangling around his neck. It was a leather pouch about the size of my fist. I wondered what was inside it. Gold? Gems? Teeth?
Horst straightened up, bones creaking in a dozen different places. “If you see the wolf, just—”
Something rustled in the bushes. Horst lifted his bow. A gopher darted out and skittered away. Horst shot and missed. He grumbled and hobbled over to retrieve his arrow again.
Poor Horst. He c
ouldn’t possibly last much longer.
“We’d better get going,” I said. “Lots of ingredients to gather.”
“Don’t forget,” said Horst, “if you see that wolf, you call for Horst!”
I nodded. “Come on, Goldie.” I was anxious to be on our way.
“Goodbye, Mr. Huntsman!” Goldie waved.
As we drew farther away, I glanced over my shoulder. Horst was watching us through the trees.
We walked along the river for most of the morning. The river was straight for as far as I could see, and I was beginning to doubt the dwarf’s directions. Had he misled me somehow? Tricked me? We walked for three miles, perhaps four. The terrain became rougher, and the trees grew thicker along the river, making it difficult to travel with any sort of speed. My legs grew sore and my energy waned quickly.
“I’m hungry,” Goldie said at almost the exact moment I thought it. With Horst’s surprise appearance, I had forgotten all about breakfast. “I wish I would have thought to bring some food on this journey. It’s always a good idea.”
“The Woods are full of food,” I said. “We can find some berries.” I searched through the trees and shrubs until I found a wild raspberry bush. Goldie and I ate right off the bush until our hands were stained with the juice.
“Now I’m thirsty,” said Goldie.
“The Woods have water, too.” We went to the riverbank and slurped the cold water from our hands.
“Let’s rest a moment,” I said. I unlaced my shoes, peeled off my stockings, and dipped my feet in the water. I gasped at the shock of its icy coldness, but it felt good on my sore feet. I waded in a little farther, hiking up my skirt. The current tugged at my legs, but the surface was smooth as glass, so I could glimpse my own reflection staring back. My hair was a tangled mess and my face was smudged with dirt. I looked wild, like some creature of the trees. I saw another face, too, one quite different from my own. I whirled around to see who stood behind me, but no one was there except Goldie.
“What is it?” she asked, noticing my alarm.
I looked back. The face was still there. It was that of a woman, ethereally beautiful, with pale blue eyes and hair like gossamer. Her skin was ghostly white, and her ears were pointed.
This was no reflection. It was a water sprite.
I stumbled back, splashing wildly, and scrambled onto the bank.
“What’s wrong?” asked Goldie.
“There’s a sprite,” I warned.
“Sprites!” said Goldie. “Where?” She leaned over the water, but I tugged her back.
“Don’t go near it!”
The sprite rose from the water like a ghost from its grave. She floated forward, her sparkling fins swirling around her like a silken gown.
“Come,” said the sprite. “I will give you your heart’s desire.” Her voice was rich, a dark liquid, sweet as molasses spreading on my tongue.
Granny had told me about water sprites. They were known for luring people in with false promises and bewitching words, but the moment you touched them, they would drag you beneath the water and feed on all your wishes, sucking out your very soul.
The sprite stretched forth a hand, slender and webbed between the fingers. She looked so delicate, so harmless. Her beauty was captivating.
“What do you wish?” she said. “I can give you all that you desire and more.” She reached her hand toward me. I stepped closer. All that I wished. Could she save Granny? Our fingers were almost touching. The sprite smiled, showing mossy teeth.
I pulled my hand back. No. She could not save Granny, nor me. I knew better.
But Goldie did not. She was at the river’s edge now with another sprite.
The sprite spoke to her and Goldie reached out her hand.
“Goldie, no!” I grabbed her by her curls and yanked her back so we both fell on the muddy bank. More sprites rose out of the water, reaching for us with webbed hands.
“Take my hand!”
“Don’t be afraid!”
“We’ll give you all that you wish!”
“Go away!” I shouted, tugging Goldie farther away from the river and into the trees.
“Ouch!” she cried. “What are you doing? She said she would give me anything I want!”
“It’s a lie.”
“But—”
“Don’t ever go near the sprites,” I scolded. “If you touch them, they’ll drag you to the bottom of the river.”
“How do you know?” Goldie asked.
“Because my granny said so.”
“How does your granny know? Because she’s The Witch of The Woods?”
I ignored her question. “Let’s just keep walking. We’re wasting daylight.”
But Goldie was persistent. She was like a pecking hen. “I’ll bet your granny knows a lot about magic, doesn’t she?”
“A fair amount,” I said.
“And I’ll bet she taught you, right? Can you do lots of spells and make potions and things?”
“No,” I said, and walked a little faster. “I don’t do magic.”
“Why not? If I knew how to do magic, I’d use it all the time!”
“You think that until you make a mess of it. Magic can cause all kinds of problems.”
“You told me that before. Give me a real example. Not just something you made up. Something that really happened.”
I sighed and rubbed my temples. I felt a sudden headache. “I nearly killed Granny once,” I said. “A long time ago, I was performing a spell and I made a tree fall down on Granny and she almost died.”
“Oh,” said Goldie, and I thought that was the end of it, but then she said, “Maybe you just need some practice. Mummy said I fell down a lot when I was learning to walk. I got cuts and bruises, and I even knocked out my front teeth when I tripped over a bucket and smacked my mouth on the fireplace.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I kept walking, even though I sometimes got hurt. I kept trying until I got better and stopped getting hurt.”
“But that’s different,” I said. “Walking is the simplest thing in the world.”
“It’s simple now, but it wasn’t always. Some mistakes need to be made. Sometimes we have to fall down before we can stand up.”
She said this all with an air of great wisdom that had the effect of annoying me greatly. “If you had almost killed someone by walking, would you still get up?”
Goldie folded her arms and gave me a disapproving look, as though she were my mother. “If magic is so dangerous, why are you trying to find magic now to save your granny?”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“It’s not my magic. I’m searching for magic that someone else made that will make Granny better.”
“So not all magic is bad?”
“No, but that doesn’t—”
“So why are you telling me I shouldn’t look for a love potion? It’s no different than what you’re doing. You’re just afraid, same as me.”
“I am not afraid,” I said, and I felt my temper rising. The heat inside me was bubbling up, ready to boil over. “And I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” I walked a little faster.
“I was only trying to help,” said Goldie, running to catch up.
“Stick to walking. You’ve had more practice.” I walked even faster.
“You’re rude!” Goldie shouted.
“And you’re nosy.”
“You’re bossy.”
I couldn’t take this one more second. I spun around and roared in Goldie’s face, “Yes, I am bossy! Now stop following me!”
Goldie winced as though she’d been stung. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I’m going on my own from here. You should go home before it gets dark.”
“But…I can help you. Don’t you want help? I’ve always been very helpful, even Mummy says so.”
I gritted my teeth and balled my hands into fists. If I opened them, I was certain streams of f
ire would shoot out of my palms. “The only way you could possibly help is by going away.”
Goldie sniffed. Then tears spilled down her cheeks and she took off at a run. I could hear her wailing for a good long minute before it finally faded.
CHAPTER NINE
Wolf in The Woods
Good riddance! Goldie was gone, and at last I was alone. Just the way I preferred it. Finally I could hear myself think.
A cricket hopped across my feet, chirping loudly.
Harsh! Harsh! Harsh!
“Well, how else was I supposed to get rid of her?” I retorted. “She was driving me nuts!”
Harsh! Harsh! Harsh!
“Oh, go away. Now you’re driving me nuts.” The cricket hopped away, still chirping his chastisements.
Why should I feel guilty for dismissing Goldie? I hadn’t invited her in the first place, and she had been slowing me down. It was already afternoon.
I ran for a bit to make up ground, enjoying the cool breeze and the sounds of birds and squirrels.
Rude! a squirrel squeaked at another for pulling her tail.
Bossy! chirped a bird to his mate as she ordered him about.
“Oh, be quiet!” I barked.
The sun sank behind the mountains as I walked on, casting the river and trees in shadow. I instantly started to shiver. That’s when I realized I didn’t have my cloak. I must have left it by the campsite. I couldn’t very well go back and get it.
It got darker and colder. The thought of Goldie made me shiver again. I hoped she would get home all right, but what if she didn’t? What if she ran into a wolf or bear or mountain lion?
The moon rose, revealing the river turned inky black and shadowy trees swaying in the breeze. I wrapped my arms tight around myself. It was considerably colder than last night. I needed warmth. I needed a fire.
I gathered some sticks, dry leaves, and pine boughs. I piled them all up and then struck two stones together, trying to make a spark, but none came. I hit the stones against each other again and again until I got so frustrated I hurled them. A few mice squeaked and skittered away. They thought the stones were owls coming to eat them. I could eat the mice. I was hungry enough.
And so cold. If I couldn’t make a fire, I might freeze to death. I certainly wouldn’t be able to sleep.