The Unhappy Heart (Book 1 of The Wolfheart Trilogy)

4. The Healer's Home

"Heartless creature, ain't she?"

"It's called wisdom, Hugo," retorted the old woman, sharply.

Hugo winked at Andrea. "Old Harriet likes to believe she's very wise." Andrea smiled, and he reached out to playfully ruffled her hair. "She is though, and she ought to be at the age she is."

"How old is she?" asked Andrea in a low voice, ignoring the fact it was quite an impolite question.

Hugo shrugged. "Who knows? I've lived with her for well over two decades and she hasn't changed a bit. She's odd and ancient, that's all I can say."

Quick as lightening, Harriet reached out and hit him sharply over the head with a wooden spoon. Andrea winced in sympathy before stifling a giggle. Harriet shook her head in mock disapproval before setting down three bowls of porridge.

"Now that you've finished with mocking a poor old woman, I propose we eat."

"I'm with you, old girl," agreed Hugo, cheerfully. 

Harriet looked around for her spoon, but it had mysteriously disappeared. Hugo, looking angelic, pulled out his chair and sat down. Harriet and Andrea followed his lead and they all began eating. After a while Hugo spoke up again. 

"So, Andrea, do you know what happened yesterday exactly?"

Harriet gave him a disapproving look, but he continued looking at Andrea in expectation. 

Andrea frowned thoughtfully and looked down at her hands. She could remember most of it now, but some of it still confused her. What had happened between falling in the pond and waking up in the bedroom the night before? There didn't seem to be any simple answer. Maybe she had nearly drowned but Francis had pulled her out. Perhaps at this very moment she was lying on a hospital bed in the real world, but was stuck here, in her mind, living a dream. A dream she had often wished for. She looked up at Hugo and shrugged.

"I don't remember a whole lot. Mainly falling into a pond and not being able to swim back to the surface." She could remember plainly the terror she had felt as she had vainly struggled to pull herself out. And how she had been dragged down by some unseen force. But like always, she couldn't find the words to express them. "The next thing I knew was waking up in the room last night when you came in."

Hugo nodded slowly. "Well, I can tell you a bit of what happened between then. Yesterday around noon, Harriet's bird friend flew in through the window screeching wildly. I thought there must be trouble in the woods, like a calf had strayed or something. So, I took my axe, called Ruffian, and followed it. I had only gone a couple of miles when I heard howling. Following the sound, I came to a clearing. And there beside a small pool, was a white wolf. It stopped howling when it saw me and disappeared into the trees. That was when I saw you lying on the ground." He paused and for a moment, he zoned out and stared off into the distance. It was as though he was back there again, as he replayed it in his mind. And with it were the thoughts of what ifs. What if he hadn't followed the bird? What if he had turned away at the sound of a wolf?

He shuddered, and the picture of the young girl curled up in the snow evaporated from his mind.

"You were unconscious and freezing cold," he told Andrea. "So, I carried you back here, knowing that if anyone could help you, it would be Harriet. Harriet was up for most of the night caring for you. Finally, the danger was passed, and she went to rest. It was very early this morning when I heard you talking and went in there to see if you were alright."

Andrea's mind was spinning with questions. "A wolf told you where to come?" she asked, with a hint of disbelief in her voice.

"Well, not only did it howl to guide me to you, but it was also lying over you, giving you its warmth. Without it, you would have surely died."