Tales of the Big Bad Wolf: The Red Riding Hood Arc (A Fairy Tale)

Chapter Thirteen: The Mysterious Estate

CHAPTER 13: THE MYSTERIOUS ESTATE 

How the evening passed for all of our intrepid heroes and heroines, one can only speculate.  There likely was little sleep for Count Wolfram, watching the world from his tower while his loyal kinsman roamed the woods somewhere west and north of Winchester.  Certainly much was on the mind of the young huntsman Edmund, wounded and puzzling over mysteries.  Perhaps he lay in bed resting or contemplating the odd behaviors of several individuals in town while studying the books he had ferreted away from the Guild Hall.  Or perhaps he was thinking of Elanore, the girl others would have him court and wed. 

Elanore passed an uncomfortable evening, trying hard to find a way to start a letter to the mother whose red cloak she wore, a woman who she now realized she did not know all that well.  Restlessly she slept, her dreams filled with jeering voices and whispers of the townspeople all talking of her and Edmund. The dark shadowy things were not forgotten either; the creatures danced at the edges of her visions, merging at times with the unkind faces of strangers who called her names before chasing her around.  

She awoke the next morning with a sense of dread.  Even though Elanore was well aware that what she had seen was simply a nightmare, she felt a lingering sense of unease about facing Edmund.  This morning she would pass his home alone.

Her grandmother was not feeling strong enough to venture outside and face the elements; she asked Elanore to go to the Count's estate without her.  In doing so, she did not realize the folly of such a request.  After all, her grandmother thought only as a mayor, wishing to deal with matters in an expedient fashion.  Had she witnessed the exchange that had happened between Elanore and the Count outside her home a few days earlier, she might have withdrawn that permission.

Elanore left home on horseback with a basket prepared with herbs and other medicinal items.  She looked the part of a traveler healer, visiting households in the area and administering remedies for winter ailments.  Along the way, she performed her duties, dropping off various items at the inn and at the Ormond home.  She did not press to see Edmund, who she was informed was resting.  She did not want to unwittingly give the town’s watchful residents any more fodder for conversation.

She passed quickly passed out of the town, noticing that the road she had walked upon more than a week ago had been transformed.  Wind and new snow had reshaped the environment, re-sculpting the trees and ground into strange shapes and figures.  

As she cantered along on her horse, she listened to the sound of the aching and creaking of the shifting masses of snow that had made this land even more extraordinary in the past few days.  She contemplated the continued reshaping of this place and how the novelty of the people and the experiences here contrasted sharply with the beautiful monotony of the climate at home.   Elanore’s fingers clenched the reins.  She would write of it somehow, once she figured out how to also address the matter of the guildmaster.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a wind blowing suddenly westwards.  She braced herself against it, wondering if it were not chastising her for letting her mind wander.  Turning her thoughts back to the summons she had received, she kept her eyes trained to the road and finding the gated opening to Count Wolfram’s property. 

The gate was open this time.  Elanore pushed her horse down the path that she had discovered earlier, not pausing until she and her horse drew up before the court of statues.

Her horse neighed quietly, perhaps unnerved by the realistic likenesses of lions.  It was unlikely that the horse understood what the creatures represented, but they were many and lifelike enough to make any simple creature nervous.  Whatever the horse did think, it refused to move.    Elanore dismounted, taking the bit in hand in order to lead the poor thing down the center path that led to the entrance of the home.