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

Chapter Three: I is for Interlude

CHAPTER THREE

I is for interlude

As she came out of dimly lit home, Elanore raised her hand to her eyes to shield them. The light that danced off the snow was blinding.

"Where is that man," Hastings muttered. "Told him to meet us right here and not to move from this spot."

While he flitted here and there, she rested against the wooden doorframe that she had so admired earlier. She studied it one last time before she tried hard to catch up to Hastings, who had spotted the coach down the path. Very quickly he disappeared out of sight, leaving only a trail of footprints to follow.

Where the manservant was surprisingly quick and energetic, she was slow and hopeless walking in the snow. She trudged past the stone lion, her skirts dragging behind her on the top of the snow. A flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to stop. For a moment, she held her breath and stared at the lion.

'Had it blinked?'

She rubbed her eyes and frowned, thinking that perhaps the light reflecting off the snow had created a mirage of sorts. The sound of an irate Hastings cursing up a storm interrupted her study of the lion and she turned her full attention back to him as he ran about in erratic circles chasing after a vehicle driven by a yawning coachman.

Upon spotting her, the coachman drew his vehicle to a complete stop. Hastings, caught by surprise, ran past the vehicle before he circled back to join them. 

"Morning to you both," the coachman said cheerily. "Didn't see you there, Hastings."

"As if you can't hear me either!" Hastings raged comedically. "Driving all about like a drunk good-for-nothing!"

"Not drunk this morning," the coachman flashed a grin before graciously leaping from his seat. He tipped his hat at the young woman, revealing a crown of reddish-blond hair and twinkling green eyes. "My name's Giles."

She bowed politely. "Elanore Redley." She waited for Hastings to step inside before Giles handed her in to the coach with a wink and a whisper. "Don't worry, miss, about my driving. I was just making sure Hastings gets his morning exercise.

"I heard that!" The butler crossed his arms and put his nose up in the air. The young guest opened her mouth to say something conciliatory, but thought the better of it. And so they rode in silence as the carriage made its way around a path back to the main highway. 

A stranger to winter, Elanore was entranced by the peacefulness of the scenery about her. She lifted the shade that lined the window in order to look at the snow, softly clinging to the trees. As the carriage finally pulled up to the gate to the road, she pressed her face against the window in order to look at the entryway to the estate. She was surprised to see that her tracks from the previous night were nearly wiped away by the wind and snow. Whispers from her mouth fell in appreciation. "Snow is a mysterious and powerful thing."

The elder man's brow wrinkled with concern. "Are you all right, Miss?"

The window shade dropped as Elanore primly reseated herself. She flushed at being caught doing something foolish by the older man and quickly apologized for her behavior. "I meant only to say that the snow is quite pretty. I had never seen it until this journey. It was always something I had heard described to me by family." Her eyes brightened.  "It's far better than I could have ever imagined."

"Ah," Hastings coughed politely. He did not appear to share her enthusiasm for the weather. "We see it all the time, I'm afraid. This year, more than most years. It is more an ordinary nuisance than a pleasantry."