Samantha R. Cichella - A New Successor

Virginia lay in bed next to Wolf. He had just fallen asleep five minutes before and she wanted to wait a while longer before leaving.

Just like the dwarf king said, their room was not the most elegant place they had stayed in. The floor was a dirty stone as was the walls. The bed was only about a foot or two off the ground and wasn’t very large. In fact, if Wolf were to stretch his legs out, his feet would hang over the bed.

In the room next to them was Wendell, and the room next to him was Evelyn. When they had first arrived in their rooms, a dwarf had shown up with some food for everyone. He had to make a second trip however when he saw how much Wolf was eating. After they had eaten, they had all gone to bed, except for Virginia, who had been waiting for Wolf to fall asleep. She had had a hard time keeping herself awake, but she was determined to go and talk to Snow White.

Virginia looked at Wolf again and found that he was still fast asleep. As quietly as she could, she got out of bed and put her clothes back on. She froze by the door when Wolf started to move around. When he was still again, she grabbed her pack that had her supplies in it and silently slipped out the door.

Wolf woke up not too long after. He went to put his arm around Virginia but was surprised to find nothing. He opened his eyes and saw that the bed was empty. He quickly sat up and looked around the room but she wasn’t there. Her clothes and her pack were gone too. Wolf jumped up and threw on his clothes.

Once he was dressed, he left the room and went over to Wendell’s door. He knocked a few times until he finally heard movement.

“Who’s there?” Wendell’s voice was groggy and a second later he opened up the door. When he saw who it was he looked irritated. “Wolf, what do you want? I was sleeping.”

“Huff Puff, have you seen Virginia? I woke up and she wasn’t there. Her pack was gone too,” Wolf whined and Wendell woke up fully.

“Hold on a second. Let me get some clothes on and we’ll go find her.” Wendell closed the door and opened it back up a few minutes later fully dressed. “Now you’re sure she just didn’t go to the bathroom?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I could tell by her scent that she had been gone for a while. Besides, why would she take her pack with her?”

“Well, then can’t you follow her scent to see where she went?”

Wolf looked at Wendell in shock. He had been so worried that he had forgotten to use his nose. “Cripes! Let’s go!” Wolf went back to his and Virginia’s room. It only took him a second to find her scent. Once he had it, he took off, Wendell following him.

Virginia had gotten to the spot where her father had fallen and broken his back. Now she was tying her rope to a nearby pole. She had taken a torch from the hallway above and after double checking she had plenty of matches she grabbed the rope and slowly made her way down what she thought was the right tunnel. More than a couple times she ran into a dead end and had to follow the rope back and take another path.

After what seemed like hours, she finally reached an opening she recognized. Sure enough, it led to a large snowy cave. Unlike her dream, Virginia could feel the cold and kept the torch close to her for warmth. She walked up to the snowy grave, reading the inscription that was there. She had already know what it would say, but she read it anyway. She looked down onto the grave, expecting to see Snow White’s body lying there peacefully but was surprised to see it empty. She looked up and found Snow White standing a little way off smiling.

“Hello Virginia.”

Virginia smiled and went down to her.

“Thank you.” Wendell breathed. He didn’t know how Wolf did it. There were still quite a few dwarves walking about and they all greeted them as they went by. Wendell didn’t have time to stop and chat or else Wolf would probably leave him behind. He just said a quick hello and goodbye to each of them before hurrying off again. They passed the library and came to a tunnel. Wendell froze. He had the strangest feeling that he had been here before. He couldn’t remember much about his last visit here as a dog, only small bits and pieces of it. Wolf had kept going and after a minute realized Wendell wasn’t with him. He turned around and found him standing there looking around.

“What is it?”

“Well, unless I’m mistaken, we were here before. The last time I was here as a dog, Antony fell down that hole there. Yes, that’s right, he fell down there and Virginia and I went to go and find a way out.” Wolf went back over to him as Wendell tried to recall what would have been down here for Virginia to come back. “Oh! My grandmother! I remember something about my grandmother.” That’s when Wolf realized where Virginia was going. Virginia had told him about her meeting with Snow White for the first time when they had been here before. Somehow, Virginia remembered the way. At least he hoped she remembered the way. People could get lost here with all of these tunnels. He knew he would if he didn’t have his nose.

“She went to Snow White’s tomb.” Wolf and Wendell carefully made their way down the hole. When they reached the bottom, Wolf was the first to spot the rope tied to a pole. Wolf smiled in relief. Virginia was smart. That was why she had taken her pack. So she would have her supplies with her, like the rope so she could find her way back.

“Shouldn’t we go back for a torch or something?” Wendell asked as he looked down the dark tunnel. Wolf shook his head though.

“No, we don’t have enough time. Besides, I can still see pretty well.”

“Yes well, that’s all fine and dandy for you. What about me?”

“Hold on to either me or the rope.”

“The rope I think.” Wendell bent down and picked up the rope. Wolf grinned and did the same. Wolf led the way, following the rope and Virginia’s scent.

Virginia sat next to Snow White. They had been talking for a little while. Mainly about Evelyn and Wendell, then they had moved onto talk about Wolf’s past. Now Virginia was telling her about Gustav. Of course Snow White already knew all of this, but she let Virginia talk.

“I feel bad for Wendell though. If it isn’t one thing happening in his kingdom, it’s another. He actually thought that we wouldn’t help him out.” Virginia shook her head and Snow White smiled.

“You have to understand Virginia. Wendell hasn’t always had close friends that he could talk to or rely on. His parents were killed when he was younger and all he ever had were his advisors and councilors. He didn’t have an ordinary childhood like everybody else. He was a prince and was required to do business first and hardly ever had time to himself. That was why he would go hunting. It was something he enjoyed and something he didn’t need anybody else around for. So when you said that you would all stay and help him, it was quite a surprise and a relief to him.”

Virginia nodded. For the first time she felt that she understood Wendell and all he had gone through.

“Speaking of which, I think you should have left a note or something before coming here,” Snow White said and Virginia looked at her in confusion.

Just then, they heard a noise outside of the cave and Virginia jumped up, afraid someone had followed her, like a dwarf or something. Instead, Wolf walked into the cave followed closely by Wendell. Virginia let out a sigh of relief and then turned back to Snow White. She had half expected her to disappear again, but she was still sitting there smiling.

“Virginia!” Wolf ran over to her and wrapped her in his arms, relieved that she was all right. “Virginia, don’t do that. You had me scared to death.”

“I’m sorry Wolf.”

Wendell walked over to them. “Yes, we were both worried. You took off in the middle of the night and took your pack with you. We didn’t know where you went.” Virginia’s face filled with guilt. That’s when Wolf and Wendell noticed Snow White. Wolf froze and stood there gaping. Wendell, meanwhile, went up to her. “Grandmother?”

“Hello Wendell.” She stood up and put her arms out. Wendell went up and hugged her. “How have you been Wendell?”

Wolf still stood there with Virginia in his arms gaping. He didn’t know why he was acting like that, after all he had known that Snow White was often in contact with Virginia, he never doubted her. But actually seeing her in person or ghost-fairy godmother was completely different.

“Hello Wolf.” Wolf still couldn’t say anything. Snow White was the greatest of the Five Great Women and it was a very great honor to meet her. He went to bow but Snow White stopped him. “Please, I’m not a queen anymore.” Wolf straightened back out and looked very nervous. “It’s good to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot of impressive things about you. It was a very brave thing, what you did, not a lot of people would have done the same thing. I was telling Virginia just the other day that it’s very rare to find a person who, if given the chance, will do the right thing. That is something all three of you have in common, you all have done the right thing when you were given the chance.”

Wendell looked at her confused. “But what have I done? I haven’t done anything compared to Wolf and Virginia.” Snow White looked at him disappointed that he didn’t know, but also amused.

“Wendell, you underestimate yourself. For one thing, you corrected an injustice that has been going on for ages.” Wendell looked at her even more confused so she continued. “You pardoned the wolves Wendell. You’ve done something no other monarch has ever had the heart to do. Because of your pardon, many lives have been saved.” Snow White smiled as realization dawned on Wendell.

“Now, I need to talk to you three about your quest.” Snow White motioned for them all to sit down and they did so. “About the three men chasing you…they are bounty hunters sent by Jessica to kill Tony and you, Wolf. Jessica knows that you are unstoppable together and is trying to eliminate you. The reason she has the bounty hunters after just Tony and Wolf is because she wants to toy with you other two. She wants the honors of killing you herself. She is young, but she is a lot smarter than Christine was. She knows not to underestimate any of you. You need to take great care with these bounty hunters. They are not quite as powerful as the Huntsman was individually, but together they are quite strong. They are already on your trail. I suggest that you leave first thing tomorrow morning. Go and get Anthony and warn Sophia. Tell her I asked her to come and stay in the mountain for a few days. She’ll be safer here until they have followed your trail away from here.” They all three nodded. But Virginia had a question.

“But what do we do when we get there? How are we supposed to defeat Jessica?”

“I cannot tell you that. Only that you will know when the time comes.”

“But…” Wendell started but Snow White stopped him.

“That is all I can tell you. Now, you had best go and get some sleep. You have a long journey ahead still. Virginia, why don’t you start heading back? I need to discuss something with Wolf and my grandson real quick.” Virginia looked confused but shrugged and headed back out of the cave. She picked up the rope and slowly made her way back.

“There was something I wanted to talk to you two about. Virginia will be the only one to face Jessica and it will be very hard on her. There will be a difficult decision that she will have to make and she will need to rely on family to back her up.” Wolf and Wendell nodded. “I would tell Tony but he is not here. But I have no doubt that you will all stick together. Now go, and good luck.” Wolf walked out and Wendell stayed behind a second longer to give his grandmother one last hug.

Wendell and Wolf soon caught up to Virginia who had gone slow, waiting for them to catch up. She shot them a curious glance but didn’t bother asking what it was they had talked about. If Snow White had sent her away, then it was obvious she was not to know. Shrugging, she kept following the rope, with Wolf right behind her and Wendell behind him.

They walked in silence for awhile longer. Wendell was contemplating whether or not to talk to Wolf about Evelyn. Now was as good a time as any, but he hadn’t really wanted to talk about it in front of Virginia, although it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference.

“Wolf?”

“Yeah, Wendy.” Wendell grimaced at the nickname but let it slide for the time being. He normally would have mentioned something but he really didn’t want to lose his train of thought, so he focused on his question.

“Well, I sort of need your advice on something.”

“What is it Wendell?” Wolf asked, wondering what it was that the king of the Fourth Kingdom could possibly be asking his advice for.

“It’s about Evelyn.”

Wolf grinned. Of course Wendell couldn’t see the grin though, since Virginia was carrying the torch and she was in front of the both of them. Wolf didn’t say anything for fear that he would say something wrong and discourage Wendell from continuing. So he merely nodded his head knowing that Wendell could see that, with the little light coming from the torch. Wendell saw his nod and figured that meant continue, so he did.

“Well, this is sort of hard for me, I’m kind of new at this kind of thing, and I’m very confused,” Wendell blabbered on, clearly he was nervous, uncertain, and didn’t have a clue as to how to say what he needed to. So Wolf decided to help him out.

“Let me guess. You really like her, but you don’t know what to do or what to say to her because this is the first time you’ve ever felt the way you do. Am I right?”

Wendell stared at the shadowy form of Wolf with his mouth hanging open. It took him a minute before he could form any kind of words, due to his surprise. “How did you…That’s exactly what my problem is! But how did you know?”

“Wendell, it doesn’t take a genius to see the looks you give her and the way you act around her. We’ve all noticed it and have been wondering when you were going to do anything.” Virginia said smiling. Wendell’s cheeks burned bright red. He hadn’t realized he had been so obvious about it.

“Did…Does Evelyn…Did she notice my attitude too?” Wendell asked really nervously. Virginia felt sorry for him. At the same time, she found the whole thing quite amusing. Wolf had been so open about his love for her. Wendell was taking a whole different approach. He was unsure of himself and unsure of what he was feeling. She would have said something comforting to him but Wolf spoke first.

“Huff Puff! I’m sure she did, but she was so busy acting the same way,” Wolf said. Virginia flashed him a disapproving glare. Wolf shouldn’t be getting involved other than just giving a little bit of advice. Wendell blushed even more.

“So, you think she likes me too?” he asked hopefully.

“Of course she does. That’s why you should do something.” Wolf said.

“Like what? I’m so nervous though.”

“Just tell her how you feel!” Wolf said this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Tell her you love her.”

“Oh, but I don’t know for sure if it’s love. Plus, what would I say? I can’t just go right up and say I like her!”

“First of all Wendy, what do you mean you don’t know if it’s love? How do you feel each time you look at Evelyn?”

“Well…” Wendell thought a moment. “I get all tingly inside. Just by looking at her or hearing her voice. Earlier, in the tunnel, when we were all holding hands, I could hardly contain myself from wrapping her in my embrace. Her skin was so soft and I had trouble focussing on anything else but her. I got all sweaty and everything,” Wendell said a little embarrassed. He couldn’t believe he was discussing all this.

Virginia remembered how his hand had been all sweaty while the tunnel had been sort of cold.

“See? That’s how I feel about Virginia. You are in love with her Wendell, but you don’t have to go that far that fast. You can start out slow if you want. Second of all, sure you can just tell her your feelings. I did and I got the creamy girl of my dreams!” Wolf said and he put one of his hands on Virginia’s shoulder. Virginia took one of her hands off the rope and put it on top of Wolf’s.

“Unless I’m quite mistaken, that didn’t exactly work right away,” Wendell said.

“Yeah, well, it was different. Virginia had to warm up to me first. Evelyn already likes you,” Wolf said a little hurt. Virginia noticed the tone and stopped and turned around.

“Actually, if you want to know the truth, since the first time I saw you I had thought that you were handsome. The more time I spent with you I grew more attracted to you, but I didn’t completely trust you and I tried to deny the fact that you actually loved me. I didn’t really believe it possible at first.”

Wolf smiled. Virginia really had liked him from the start. Who could blame her? He was a dashingly handsome guy.

Wendell watched them with a bit of surprise on his face. So maybe it had worked with Wolf. He supposed that he could try it, but he was just so nervous and he wasn’t as outgoing with his feelings as Wolf was. What would he say? After another minute, Wolf turned back to Wendell and Wendell asked. “But, even if I were to just tell her my feelings, what would I say? When would be a good time? I can’t just say it out of the blue.”

“Well, you’ll have to figure out the time for yourself. Whenever you think is the right moment. As for what you say, you just tell her that you like her a lot and tell her exactly how you feel.” Wolf said and just then they got to the end of the tunnel and they were back at the small room where Tony had fallen. They all carefully climbed back up the hole, Wolf gingerly helping Virginia to make sure that she didn’t fall. Then Wolf climbed up and helped Wendell get up as well. They made their way back to where their rooms were. It took a while longer than it did before, but that was because they were walking a lot slower now. As they finally reached to doors to their rooms, Wendell stopped and turned to Wolf.

“Thank you Wolf. For the advice.”

Wolf smiled and said, “Anytime Wendell.” Wendell smiled to and disappeared into his room and Virginia and Wolf went into theirs.

Jessica stood in front of her mirrors, asking it to contact her bounty hunters. A minute later, Blake’s face, the leader of the three, appeared.

“Well?” Jessica asked impatiently. “Have you found them yet?”

“Not exactly. But we have picked up their trail. We reached Little Lamb Village and the villagers told us that they left for the castle a while ago. We rode ahead and tracked them to a sign with roads leading to different directions. It seems that they decided not to return to the castle, because their trail led off to the opposite direction, to Dragon Mountain.” Blake said. In the background Jessica could see the other two bounty hunters Daniel and Joseph examining a small clearing. She frowned. Why would Wendell be going there? It couldn’t be good.

“Find them and hurry. Remember what I said. Kill the oaf and the wolf, but keep Wendell and the girl alive. It is just the four of them still, right?”

Blake nodded. “There are traveling by horses and there are only four of them. Don’t worry my lady, we should have them within a few days at the most.”

“Good.” Jessica waved her hand and the image disappeared. She walked over to her armchair and sat down, thinking about what could possibly be at Dragon Mountain.

Wendell woke up the next morning to a knock at the door. He wearily got up and put his clothes on. When he opened the door he was surprised to find Evelyn. She smiled shyly.

“Good Morning. It’s already past nine o’clock and the dwarf king wanted me to wake you up for breakfast.”

“Past nine o’clock? Wow, okay, I’ll be right out. Are Wolf and Virginia up yet?” Wendell asked and then yawned.

“No, not yet. They’re still fast asleep. I’ve been up for a few hours so I went down and was talking to the dwarf king. He gave me a short tour of the mines. Do you want me to go and wake them up right now?”

Wendell silently thought about it. They had all had a tiring last week or so and they had been up late as well. Besides, they would need their strength for later. “No, best to just let them sleep. I’ll go down and have a dwarf bring up their breakfast for as soon as they get up. We really should be getting a move on but they will need their strength.” Evelyn nodded and together they walked to the small dining hall. When they were done eating, about a half an hour later, Wendell called over one of the dwarves that had been serving their food. “Excuse me, but could I ask you a favor? Could you have two breakfast plates prepared and sent up to the Lady Virginia and Lord Wolf’s room? If they aren’t awake yet, can you wake them up please? Thank you. Oh, and you might want to take an extra plate of bacon.” Wendell smiled and the dwarf hurried away. Wendell turned back to Evelyn. “I’d rather them sleep in, but we really do have to get going soon.” Wendell said and Evelyn nodded.

Wolf woke up first. He wanted to go back to sleep, but then he remembered the conversation with Snow White and knew that they had to get going. He rolled over and saw that Virginia was still fast asleep. He smiled and then as quietly as he could, he got up out of bed and got dressed, leaving his tail out to give it some space before having to tuck it away. He was putting his shoes on when there was a slight knock at the door. Still trying not to wake up Virginia, he walked silently over towards the door. Even before he reached it, he could smell food and bacon. Wolf’s mouth started watering as he pictured the bacon. Bacon had the most wonderful scent. In fact, it was second on his list of favorite scents; Virginia being the first of course.

Wolf opened the door to find a dwarf with a tray carrying breakfast.

“Morning Sir, King Wendell sent breakfast up for you and the Lady Virginia. He wanted me to make sure that you both were awake.”

Wolf nodded and grabbed the tray from the dwarf. “Tell Wendell we’ll be down in a little bit.” Wolf shut the door and took the tray over to the small table near their bed. Wolf had planned on refraining himself from eating until Virginia was up, but couldn’t help sneaking a small piece of bacon from the plate.

He walked back over to the bed and lay down next to Virginia. The movement on the bed seemed to wake her because she started moving around. Wolf leaned over her and kissed her lightly on the forehead. She opened her eyes and smiled.

“Good morning my succulent lamb chop.”

“Morning.” She stretched her arms out and then let them rest around Wolf. She pulled him down and they kissed passionately. When they finished, Wolf sighed contently. He plopped himself down next to her. Virginia saw his tail wagging and started petting it. Wolf moaned as she stroked it again and again. It almost gave him goosebumps when she did but it felt sooo good! They kissed again and Wolf sat up.

“Virginia, sweetheart, we have to get up. Wendell is already awake and sent us breakfast.” Wolf reached over to the table and brought the plate of bacon back. He took a piece and gently fed it to Virginia. She smiled and took a bite and then took another piece and fed it to him. After they had fed each other breakfast Virginia got up and got dressed. They gathered their things together and headed to find Wendell and Evelyn.

They found them talking in the dinning hall still talking. When they saw Wolf and Virginia walk in they stood up.

“All ready?” Wendell asked and Wolf and Virginia nodded. Just then the dwarf king walked in. They thanked him for all of his help and soon they were on their way to the exit blocked by the boulder. The dwarf king had told them how to open it from the inside; put their hand on the center of the boulder. So by the time they had gotten outside, it was already about ten thirty in the morning.

Wendell and Wolf led the way back to the main road. Once they reached it, they walked down it a little way until they came to the trail leading to Sophia’s cottage. Just as they were about to start down it, Wolf froze. He started sniffing the air and had his head cocked at an odd angle trying to pick out a certain scent. Wendell and the girls stopped.

“Wolf, what is it?” Wendell asked.

Wolf was silent for another moment and then he looked back at them with a panicked expression.

“I just picked up three scents heading this way fast. I’m pretty sure it’s those bounty hunters. They’re riding horses and moving quickly. Cripes! We have to hurry, they’ll be here soon.” The other’s faces paled and they all took off as fast as they could to Sophia’s cottage to get Tony.