A dark, smelling, cold fog crawled through the Elfin gardens searching. That mess of bitter fog prowled, up turning houses and drown their circle of laughter! Then where the older Troll children live on top of the bridge, a humongous uproar was hear...
Again, Ivan threw the blue yarn which stretched across the snow and through the trees. We walked on to the middle of the day. Into a deeper, thicker, taller forest of Fir and Juniper trees, we walked then entered to a cleared ground full of apple, pear trees, berry vines, current bushes, and a large garden of flowers and vegetables. Goats chickens, ducks, geese, and birds of all color flew around and squawked. In the center, a hutch rested on three chicken legs.
With his horse reigns in hand, Ivan walked towards the three-legged chicken coop. The three legs scratched the dirt: the hutch turned backward to him.
Ivan shouted, "Troll Caunte and I, Prince Ivan, travel too far this insults."
The hutch on the three chicken legs turned facing us. "I'm the cottage of Second Aunt, the Ole Crone of the Herbs and Options."
"Let us in! We came to talk to Aunt Baba Yaga about Princess Vasalisa, the Frog Princess, my wife." He jumped on the porch and stepped into the doorway. I followed, just in case, there was danger awaiting inside.
At a table, which held pots of growing plants, sat the second Aunt, a woman of two thousand years. She had a full round face, a pleasant smile, and a rounded body; she ate vegetable stew from a large bowl.
Not looking up, Vasilisa's second Aunt asked, "Prince, why are you here?"
"Auntie, I search for my wife. the frog."
We stood in one room filled with tied bunches of dried oat, rye, and millet hung from the ceiling rafters. Stacked everywhere were baskets bulging with dried herbs. In clay pots nestled dried flowers. The aroma of the grasses, herbs, and flowers thicken the air in a kindly welcome.
"You are slow, young man, so late, Old boneless, the Immortal came for her, yesterday."
Ivan slouched and almost cried. His disappointment showed.
Two bowls sat on a table with steaming hot vegetable stew. The iron cooking pot hung inside the fireplace. The fragrance encouraged my hunger. There was one small path from the door to the table.
The Aunt served the stew then cut a large piece of oat bread and spice cake for each of us. "Here enjoy my vegetable stew, don't forget the sweet cakes."
Ivan quietly ate at the table with the Aunt watched him. I sat on the floor covered with dried plants almost like a mulch.
"Did you like the cake Vasilisa gave to your father, the mighty Tzar?"
"The finest cake my Father had ever seen. That's when my Father decided to announce at the Banquet Ball I would be the next Tsar with the Frog Princess as my wife!"
"Did you like the cake?"
"Yes, the cake was light and just sweet enough. Thank-you!"
"The thank-you is to your wife, Princess Vasalisa; she baked the cake. I thought you burnt her frog skin and did not taste the cake."
"My Father made me sample the finery after the frog vanished. I told him I would find the maiden, my wife."
"Ivan you must love your wife, not your status and not for your position. Love Vasilisa for who she is, a wise and talented."
"Please, I am most distress about my guilty and regret my greed, possessed by selfishness. Aunt, how can I find Vasilisa, the frog, my wife?"
"I respect your admission of greed. When you arrive at my oldest Sister's in the South, demand to be inside as you did here. My Sister paints the eggs for the Equinox and hangs them on a tree, which stands on her table. We do this every year for the Spring celebration, the time of equal day and night, tomorrow. Find the black and white painted egg. Throw one-half of the shell in front of you, and the other shell behind you. Be direct, look at my Sister! She will be furious, also will know you mean what you say and what you want. Be determined. She will tell you where Vasalisa is. As we talked, Vasilisa visits my oldest sister, the Ole Crone of the Spells."
"Thank you, Aunt, for your kindness." Ivan dashed out the door.
I offered, "Thank you, wise Aunt, for your find soup, oat bread, and spice cake and your generous information for Ivan."
The Aunt yelled after us, "Prince Ivan, throw your ball of blue yarn to the South, SOUTH."
Ivan galloped his horse through the forest. I ran after them until the mare tired. Ivan dismounted to walk.
———###——
"Ivan, I am here to help and protect. You were hardheaded too full of guilt and anguish. You proved yourself worthy. Let it rest."
We stood by a pond in which swam a large Salmon.
"A large PIKE!" Ivan drew his bow ready for the kill.
"Why, Ivan? You are not hungry. Leave the fish, maybe the enchantment most likely is. I see a Salmon and you a Pike."
Ivan lowered the bow and went to break it. Again I grabbed the lad. "Ivan, this is not revenge, this is a spell on your performance. You failed once, not twice. Please not twice."
For the longest time, Ivan would not talk or look at me then asked, "Where did you come from and why now?"
"From the OakGrove gardens, I fell into the InBetween because of a sherrie, the Frog Princess, Vasalisa. A bitter, foul fog chased me, Ole Boneless, the Immortal, Death. I accompany a Prince, called Ivan, while he threw and wraps a ball of twine now blue yarn over and over, to find his wife, an enchanted frog."
Ivan studied me then gave me a hearty hug. "I am to find the enhanced ugly green frog if I don't . . . I'm done."
Ivan looked straight at me and laughed then I laughed.
He threw the blue yarn, and I wrapped the yarn into the ball. We walked on until evening. His white mare followed behind, and never tire or cold. We entered a strange, desolate land with twisted Cedar trees and dwarfed Juniper bushes.
A Red Knight on a red stallion galloped past Ivan, who readied his bow. I stood guarding. The red sun fell from the sky behind the hills. A Black Knight on a black stallion galloped past Ivan. Again, Ivan drew his bow. I readied for an attack. Night stopped in the twisted trees.
I wondered out loud, "Enchantment?"
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