Scarlet Moon (Once Upon a Time) (6 page)

The stallion made a chuffing noise that sounded like laughter. “Thanks,” William said sarcastically. “At
least I always know where you stand.” He pushed away from the fence, giving the horse one final pat. “Both of us should get some sleep if we can.”

He walked slowly back inside the castle, his heart weary. The girl was better off without his interfering in her life. He was the kind of trouble she didn’t need. Knowing that didn’t make him feel any better, though, and didn’t make it any easier for him to ignore the feeling that she was someone he could really care for.

A
cold wind whipped through the shop and blew a shower of sparks about. Ruth could taste winter in the air, hard and clean. It was coming, though not yet arrived. The sun shone for fewer hours a day, and its heat did not warm as thoroughly as it had a few weeks before.

Much had changed in Ruth’s life even as one season gave way to another. Sometimes it felt like her whole world was coming to an end. She turned her head slightly and stared at Peter from under lowered lashes. He had asked to come to the shop to help her out, but so far he had mostly sat, staring off into space.
Where does he go when he’s like that?
she wondered» She wanted so badly to question him about everything he had seen and done in the years he had been gone. Every time she tried to ask he just shrugged and smiled weakly at her.
Why wont he talk about it? He hasn’t even told me about the battle where Stephen was killed.

Peter’s body had begun to heal with rest and food, but his spirit still seemed wounded» Worse, there was no remedy she knew for that ailment.

She put down her hammer for a moment and plunged the strip of hot steel that would be a sword into cold water. It hissed and steamed as it cooled.

“I would like to go see Grandmother,” Peter said, speaking suddenly.

Ruth jumped, surprised by the sound of his voice. “Then go. I know she is eager to see you. You’d been home three weeks and I know she is growing anxious.”

“I know; I just wasn’t ready before. Would you go with me?” he asked.

Of course,’ she replied, wondering why.
Perhaps he is not sure he remembers the way, or perhaps he does not wish to walk through the woods alone.

“We can go this evening if you like.”

“That would be good.”

He fell back into silence, and she returned to her work, trying to shrug off her concern for him.

It was nearly time for the midday meal before he spoke again, “How is she?”

“Who?” Ruth asked, again startled and momentarily confused.

“Grandmother.”

“She’s well, I think you’ll be surprised. She doesn’t look any older than when you left.”

Peter nodded. “I guess that’s witchcraft for you.”

Ruth bristled, “She’s not a
witch!
Peter, how can you believe such a thing?”

“Isn’t it true?” he asked, looking genuinely perplexed.

“It is not. She has never had anything to do with
witchcraft. It is only superstition and fear that made people misunderstand her.”

“My folks included,” Peter said, “They didn’t let me see her much.’

I’m sorry, Peter,” Ruth said, softening. She had forgotten how narrow-minded his parents had been.

Peter stood up and walked over closer. He leaned up against a table beside her. “So, what is she?”

“She’s … just a person who is … interested in … studying,” Ruth said, finding herself at a loss for the words to explain.

“Studying what?”

“Everything—plants, animals, the stars in the sky. She’s even done some wonderful work with medicine and studying the human body.”

“Really?” Peter asked, his voice reflecting heightened curiosity.

“Oh yes, she makes wonderful salves for burns, cuts, all manner of things.”

“So, she can make people better?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then she also knows what makes them sick.”

“Yes,” Ruth answered, not entirely sure where Peter was going with his questioning.

“I would like to learn that,” he said quietly, almost to himself.

“She would love to teach you,” Ruth said, laying a hand on his arm. “She has taught me so much and yet there is so much left to learn.”

“Really?” he asked, his eyes probing hers.

“Yes.”

“Does she teach anyone else?”

Ruth hesitated for only a moment, her thoughts on Mary and James, before she answered. “No.”

He smiled wanly. “Since I have come back I have found that I am in need of something on which to focus my thoughts, my energies.”

Ruth smiled. “We will go tonight and you can speak with her about all of it. Now, I have to finish this by the end of the day or Father will be speaking to
me
about something.”

Peter laughed, though the sound was empty and hollow to her ears. They shared some cheese and bread Ruth had brought from home, and then she returned to work.

Peter fell back into silence for the rest of the day. Ruth glanced at him from time to time, wishing she could reach him. At last the day was over. They went home to say hello to Ruths father and to eat a quick meal.

Then they set out into the woods, heading for their grandmother’s house. Ruth carried a lantern with them to ward off the gathering shadows. It would be fully dark when they returned, and they would be sorely in want of some light.

She shivered. The woods at night was not something to be taken lightly, and her thoughts raced ahead of her, mapping out every footstep of their
way. She walked several steps ahead of Peter, inexplicably not wanting to be too close to him.

You’re being silly
, she chided herself.
He’s your cousin. There is nothing to fear from him.

From overhead she heard the flapping of wings. She glanced up and saw a huge owl silhouetted briefly against the sky. It then landed on a nearby branch and stared at them with great, unblinking eyes.

“Who, who?” the owl called.

She was reminded yet again of the young man she had seen in the woods and how she had called the same question out after him with as little answer as she was giving to the owl.

“Ruth,” she whispered. At least she could answer the owl. Maybe one day he would help answer
her
question.

They walked quickly and soon arrived. The door was open when they reached the cabin, and Giselle was standing outside with open arms. Peter went to her after a moment of hesitation and was folded into her embrace. Ruth stood and smiled weakly, fighting back tears.
I wish Stephen were here for this reunion.

At last they all bustled inside. Candles were lit all around the room, reflecting eerily in the glass jars. The effect was that of a thousand flickering lights bathing the room in light one moment and plunging it into near darkness the next. Ruth would have found it fascinating if she were not so uneasy from
the trip through the woods and her earlier conversation with Peter.

They all sat in silence for several minutes. Peter stared around the room, taking everything in as Ruth and Giselle stared at him. Then he stood and prowled around the room, touching this and that.

“I would like to learn what you know,” he said at last, picking up ajar of mugwort and examining it.

Giselle glanced at Ruth, a hint of alarm in her eyes. “Why?”

“As a child my parents forbade me to see you. They said you were a witch. They were wrong, and I regret all the time we lost and all the things you might have taught me,” He set the jar down and turned back to them, “I’ve lost everything,” he said simply. “But being here, I’m beginning to understand that my greatest loss was the years I missed knowing you.”

With tears in her eyes Giselle rose to embrace him, “My darling child, you shall know me, and if it is within my power we shall work together to heal your wounds.”

Ruth averted her eyes to give them a moment of privacy. As she did so she prayed that Giselle might really hold the key to Peter’s recovery.

They ended up not leaving until the dawn. As they hurried home along the path, Ruth imagined that the trees were shaking their branches at her in anger.

Customers kept Ruth and her father busy for the next several days repairing axes used for wood chopping, making hooks made to hang meat in storage, and taking care of other things that needed to be done before the onslaught of winter. It was a week before she could return to her grandmother’s, though she knew Peter had gone several times.

When she entered the forest it seemed peaceful to her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had actually felt at home in the woods, welcomed almost. It was a strange sensation, unnerving in itself.

She hadn’t gone very far when she heard a voice behind her. “A lady shouldn’t walk alone in the woods.”

“Who says I’m a lady?” Ruth asked, pulling her dagger from her belt before turning.

“I have,” William said, smiling at her.

She returned her dagger to its resting place and relaxed her fighting posture, “Oh, it’s you again,” she said dryly, unable to stop herself.

“Yes,” he answered, striding forward.

She dropped her eyes quickly and hastened to curtsy, her father’s warning fresh in her mind.

“A little formal,” he commented.

“I’m sorry, milord, you surprised me. I was just hurrying to my grandmother’s. If you would excuse me …” She turned on her heel and started to walk off, her heart in her throat.

“I won’t,” he said, his voice growing stern.

She stopped but didn’t turn to face him.
“A dangerous
maw,” that is what they called him. “Don’t chase strangers in the woods” Grandmother said. What about dangerous strangers? Surely I should avoid them above all!
she thought.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, moving to stand in front of her.

“Nothing, milord,” she lied, not daring to look at him.

“You know I don’t wish to be so formal with you, but if you insist on being so, then I must insist that you tell me the truth. Indeed, I command that you do.”

She lifted her head at that, not knowing how to respond.

His eyes bored into her and she grew uncomfortable under his stare.

“Something is different. What is it?”

“I was overly familiar the other day, and I apologize.”

“Don’t, it was refreshing.” He gazed at her more closely, and his eyes narrowed. “Did someone tell you not to speak with me? Your father, perhaps?”

She averted her eyes. “Where is your horse?” she asked.

“I’m afraid I’m alone today.”

“The woods are a dangerous place,” she warned. He was so close she could feel his breath.

“Not for me,” he said in a low growl.

The sound made her shiver. “They told me you are dangerous.”

A strange look crossed his face and for a moment he looked in pain. “Whoever told you that was telling the truth.”

“And I am a girl alone in the woods. If it is the truth, I would do well to heed their warnings.”

He reached out quickly and grasped her forearm. She blanched as she felt his fingers pressing into her muscles. “If you are the same girl I met the other day, then you have little to fear from men in the woods and even less to fear from me”

“And why is that?” she asked, unsure of his meaning.