Little Mischievous Red Riding Hood

Chapter 11 (Danger in the Forest)

GEORGETTE was attacked with hiccups and a runny nose as she stood at the door of their little cabin. She wiped her tears dry but it seemed her waterworks were acting up due to her early condition.

She counted the days and marked that it had been a month away and five days since her last visit and she hadn’t bled yet. She concluded that she missed her visit, two days after she lost her maidenhead to her lover, who unbeknownst to him, that she was expecting their first love child.

Georgette gave a last glance at the house, remembering the memories that she had in this humble hut. With a pang of guilt, she touched the door, bowed her head, and prayed.

“Please, take care of yourself, Grandma, you will always be in my mind, praying for your happiness, and will include you in my every prayer at night. I wish you that your ailings would be easy on you and hope for better days for you to recuperate. I ask you to always put on a thick blanket when you sleep and don’t forget to close the window above your head,” she sniffed, a round of her tears coming up again. “Please, keep in mind that I will love you, Grandma, always,” with that, she slowly moved away and turned her back, picking some of her belongings on the ground and carrying the basket that she filled with herds and fragrant flowers.

Hugging herself while walking and pulling the red riding hood above her head, she gazed back just to see if her grandma was watching her leave. She didn’t see her not even her greying hair so she turned her head and finally, decided to leave.

She reached the orchard and the gully, and she bade goodbye to her aging mare and to the two cattle they managed to save from last year's epidemic caused by an unknown disease, killing a large amount of their livestock.

She also checked the sheep’s pens and counted them. None of them were missing and fed them one last time before she left.

After putting too much dawdle, she gave her final glance to the backwoods, which became her home for sixteen years, it witnessed a lot of events in her life, her first fistfight with Wolfram, their teasing game until made someone tick, their blossoming years, and the days when she didn’t want to talk to him, the day of having her first monthly visit and the days that she confessed her feelings for him and he confessed his love for her too.

Now she was seeing them as far memories of her happy moments.

Drying her tears for the fourth time, she gazed back and said goodbye to her rustic life. She’s making a huge step now, and that is to find what her heart wants.

And she had no other place in mind to go but to Wolfram’s lair, at the East side outskirt of the Gaia forest, took refuge and hopefully, waited for her lover to come home.

******

It was dark when she reached the forest, puffing a sigh, she gazed at the sight ahead of her, she hadn’t even reached her destination halfway. She revived the heat on her hands by rubbing against each other and blew her breath. She regretted wearing a pair of mittens that her grandma made for her birthday, aside from her warm thick crocheted blanket.

She was already missing home, especially her bed. Heaving another sigh, she continued to trek, climbing up the top hill and rocky slope, she chose this route because it was the shortest way to reach Gaia, but also pretty dangerous because of the harmful surroundings and, it was the shortest way out to the darkened forest connecting the Nautilus shore to the eastern lake, where old folks said, lie the deepest pit underwater where creatures from other world dwell.

She also recalled her grandma telling her bedtime stories about the fairy nymphs and mermaids that lured men into their den and feasted on their flesh. That sent a shiver down her spine, knowing she was all by herself and she was taking the dangerous path heading to her destination.

She snuggled her riding hood and started to be wary, looking furtively as she was walking on the steep slope, and if she misstepped and slipped she would break her bones. The bed of rocks down below was spiky, sharp, and huge, no wonder no one dared to choose this path, just those intrepid and dumb, from the two, she was the last.

A las, she reached the peak and finally walked on the steady flat ground. She sighed in relief that she passed through that route haphazardly.

She set foot on the dale named Lungrasia, named after a deity of the forest and sister to Gaia, the Forest Goddess and Patron of the Hearth.

Quite thirsty, she stopped by the stream and took a sip of the water when she felt someone was watching her. She froze, sensing if it was a man or a wild animal. She wished it was the first one but her prayer failed her. The yellow eyes were glaring at her, glowing in the dark. It moved quietly before it showed in the open. It was a wild dog, with long, sharp teeth and claws.

She gulped in fear but tried not to show it and didn’t run. She knew better that wild animals are better at running. She had no fighting chance to outrun it. She slowly stood, waiting for its attack. She should have created a fire so it could be used to wade this kind of wild animal.

“Hello, nice doggie, doggie,” she tried to coo but it barked and kept on growling as it advanced its distance toward her.

She was slowly backing away, trying to look for a stick or anything to shoo the dog away. But to no avail, and when it was a few meters away, she heard a sharp noise coming from a gun. Two gunshots sent the dog whinning and running but didn’t make it a few more steps.

She recovered from shielding her head and crouching, checked her surroundings before she ran to look at the dog. Her heart was wretched seeing it gasping for air. Blood was spilling at the base of its neck and its torso.

“Poor you,” she uttered, with trickling tears, she touched the mane of the animal, looking at the misty yellow eyes before it stopped whining and gasping.

She clamped her mouth in shock. “I’ll pray for your safe departure,” she bowed her head and prayed for the dog’s soul.

“Don’t pray for someone who knows no God,”

A booming voice made her jump out of her skin, looking from behind her. A tall guy wearing a matching green riding hood and ochre inner clothing, with a broad and bulky build, stood far behind her with a long rifle that he put on a sling to his front.

“You thought I wouldn’t catch you, lass? Stop acting up and come with me, it’s getting late,” then turned his back.

She was stupefied for words but when he swung his back again and barked. “Why are you still sitting there, come on, leave that, we had plenty of catch today, let the others eat his carcass,”

“Excuse me, sir, but… Do I know you?” she finally found her tongue.

The man with the rifle frowned. It was dark but she could see his face illuminated by the moonlight. “Are you giving me a laugh, Red? Or you’re playing folly again? Drop the act, come on! I’m famished, let's eat our sup,”

She finally stood, walking near to the guy, trying to identify him but she really didn’t know him. “You probably mistaken, Sir, this is the first time that I met you,”

He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close to face his grumpy face. “Are you staying on this act? Red, because I’m telling you, this is no fun at all,”

Georgette grimaced, hurting from the tightness of his grasp. “Mister, I beg of you, you are hurting me,” she whined while freeing herself.

The man pulled her even closer and stared at her face. She also looked at him and then pushed him away from him. “Please, let me go, I’m not that person,”

“What are you saying, Red?” then he eyed her in a whole scan. “Where did you get that clothes? It’s not the one I bought you,”

“I am telling you, I’m not her, my name is Georgette, please let me go,” she cried out, feeling her hand getting bruised.

The man still didn’t heed her, dragged her harshly and pinned her down to the tree trunk, making her back hurt, then he started to kiss her neck. Aware that she was getting abused, she screamed and cried out for help, then clawed his face which brought him to his senses and gave her an equally stunned face.

She finally broke free from him and shielded her body, while crying and so confused. She took a step back when he tried to make an advanced step.

“Don’t go near me, sir, I beg of you,” she was in tears. “I’m with child, I have my own man, if you want something, you can have my basket, I have no valuable belongings in there,” she pointed to the basket on her far left. “but take it, just don’t…” she took another step and sniffled. “Just let me go,”

“I…I am sorry, I… I didn’t mean to scare you,” the man’s voice softened and started to take the rifle and slowly drop it on the ground then his knives.

When he was free with the weapon, he held his hands up saying he was posing no harm. “I just wanted to talk to you,”

*******

Georgette finally stopped crying but was still wary of the man’s intention. They were both sitting in front of a fire pit that he built a while ago. He was as puzzled as her about their awkward situation.

She always caught him staring at her which made her a little uneasy.

“So you’re saying, you are new to this place and this is the first time you’ve been here?”

She nodded while folding her arms, her clothes were not made for the forest climate.

“Here, uh, this place was a bit freezing at night, take my coat,” he said, peeling off his coat. Showing off his shoulder-length, dark brown hair.

She shook her head and her hand. “No, I am fine sir, thank you. But I appreciate it,” then put on a wane smile.

He would just take a closer look at her and it was taking long before he realized what he was doing. “Forgive me, lass,” clearing his throat. “Georgette, but, you really look like my lass, from your hair to your build and…” Then his eyes went down to his bottom, then met her eyes.

He averted his beryl eyes due to the embarrassment of getting caught looking at her buttocks.

It sent more awkwardness between them and took a long period of silence before he cleared his throat. “You said earlier that you are with child, how old are you, lass?” then he tossed another piece of wood to the fire.

She met his eyes and he turned away again, and felt hesitant to talk about her predicament but, it would ease her to talk to someone. “I am, I just turned sixteen, aye, this babe is made out of wedlock and, my grandmother threw me out when I told her today,”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, why did she throw you out? Is he a bastard that stood you up on your wedding?”

She took time to breathe before she spoke. “She didn’t like him for me, on the other hand, the father of this child,” turning her eyes downcast on her stomach while smoothing it with her hand. “He didn’t know I was expecting, he left a month ago, for a… his duties, umm, he’s just a lad, not reaching twenty,” due to her embarrassment and bold honesty, she lowered her head, waiting for his scalding remark.

When he didn’t speak, she gazed up at his face and saw his smile. “You little wild lass, just like mine,” before chuckling. “I bet he was pretty, a pretty boy and came from a family of wealth,”

She didn’t reply, calculating the things she should tell to a stranger and things to keep personal. “I don’t want to talk about it, I’m still hurt that my grandma threw me out, I’d never been away from home this long,”

He just drew a sigh, before starting to whistle, a long lovely tune that sounded familiar to her ears.

Then she smiled because she knew that song and started singing, he stopped but smiled before continuing to whistle. She sang her heartache and loneliness away, remembering her grandma and missing her lover. A teardrop fell on her cheek and stopped.

She faced him apologetically but he just smiled knowingly and gave her a handkerchief. She tittered a laugh, trying to sustain her facade but she broke down in the end. Just like in the song.

The farewell song of lovers, the Moon God and the Forest Goddess.