First Frost (19 page)

“Nothing, I’m sorry. Whatever frightened the horses is long gone,” he replied.

“Somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better.” Ming nibbled on her lower lip. Her eyes darted nervously from side to side as though waiting for something to jump out from the bushes.

Bianca could tell that Ming was ready to have a nervous breakdown.

“It’s okay. Calm down.” Bianca hugged Ming and tried to get her to relax.

“Well…why don’t we sleep in shifts? I can stay up with Dad and then Terrance and Prince Ferdinand can take the next shift and so on and so forth. At least until we’re all ready to travel again. What do you think?” Bianca suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” Ming replied with a sniff. She wiped away the tears that pooled on the corners of her eyes.

Terrance parted his lips, ready to protest Bianca’s decision, but she quickly raised her hand and silenced him with a look.

“Don’t say anything. You get some sleep. You know how to ride a horse, I don’t. You know how to wield a sword…I don’t. Can you do either of those things without sleep?”

Terrance narrowed his eyes. She could tell he wanted to argue with her, but instead he nodded. “Very well. I shall bid you a good night,” he said softly.

“Good night.”

“And please do not hesitate to wake me should something frighten you,” he said.

“I won’t,” she promised.

Terrance rubbed his chin and shook his head.

He’s probably trying to decide how stubborn I am.

She noticed he had a five o’clock shadow. She wondered how old he was and whether or not he spent the day thinking of her as much as she thought of him.

Terrance walked away and went to sleep. Whatever he wanted to say to her died on his lips.

Bianca grabbed a blanket and sat close to the crackling fire. David lay down behind her, and she rested her back against his great big, furry belly. She stared into the open flames, wondering what would happen next. Hours passed by and the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of crickets, the hooting of the owls, and the wood creaking and burning before her.

Bianca wondered if she stared into the flames long enough if she would see something. A premonition, her mother’s face, or perhaps something completely unexpected. She mused with the idea of being able to catch fire. She giggled at the thought, yet something deep inside of her told her to try. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She stuck her hand into the fire and closed her fist over the open fire. When Bianca retrieved her hand, she half expected to see it at least a little pink, but her hand was as pale as ever. She uncurled her fingers and to her amazement there was a tiny little flame on the palm of her hand. The flame was the size of her pinky finger. It danced and flickered its orange light from side to side as though trying to shimmy its way back into the fire.

“Whoa,” she gasped.

Bianca threw the tiny spark back into the open flames and tried to make sense of what just happened. She wished her mother had been there to see and give her advice on what else she should expect. Would her magical powers continue to grow? If so, into what? Would she become a witch? What if she didn’t want to go down that path? What would happen to her then? So many questions, never any answers.

She finally broke her silence when she said, “Dad?”

David grunted.

She still couldn’t believe he was alive and close by. Even though he was a bear, it was still comforting to her that he was there with her.

“Daddy, I’m scared,” she whispered. Her eyes blurred with the sting and promise of tears that would soon follow.

David let out a soft moan and licked Bianca’s cheek. She curled up beside her father and burst into tears. Without realizing, she cried herself into a dark and dreamless slumber.

Bianca sat up and gasped. She had fallen asleep when she was supposed to keep watch over everyone.

“Don’t worry. All is well.” Terrance gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“How long was I out?” she asked as she rubbed the kink out of her shoulder.

“Several hours. Your father woke me and Prince Ferdinand. We resumed watch over our little camp,” he explained.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“No worries,” he said with a playful wink.

Bianca smiled, but no matter what Terrance said she still felt like she let everyone down.

They were on the third day of their journey, and Bianca could’ve sworn she heard something in the distance. Terrance stopped to listen, too. It sounded as though an earthquake had grown legs and was running toward them. David gnawed on a smoked piece of venison; he dropped it and stood absolutely still. He too was bothered by the sound he heard.

Prince Ferdinand glanced at Terrance. “Did you hear that?”

“I’m starting to think that all bad things start with that question,” Ming said.

Bianca’s stomach dropped. She was certain that the ground would split open and swallow them whole. David growled. At least Bianca knew she wasn’t losing her mind. The horses reared back and threw their passengers off their backs. They all fell clumsily to the ground and watched as the horses kicked up the dust and dirt off the earth as they vanished into the thick forest.

“Crap,” Bianca muttered.

“I’m getting kinda tired of being terrified,” Ming said.

Terrance tensed. “We need to run and hide…now.” The urgency and fear in his voice didn’t escape Bianca.

“Who’s after us?” Bianca asked.

“He’s not so much of a
who
…he’s more of a
what
.”

“
What
is he?” Ming asked.

“Wolf,” he said.

“A wolf?” Bianca asked.

Terrance nodded.

“As in the
Big Bad Wolf
?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Crap,” Bianca and Ming said in unison.

Bianca’s mind went a million miles per second as she tried to think of a plan. That was when she remembered the brick in her backpack.

“Hang on.” Bianca opened her backpack and found the red brick sitting at the bottom.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t we running?” Ming shrieked.

“Saving our butts, that’s what I’m doing,” Bianca said.

“I swear to God, Bianca, the horses have more sense than we do,” Ming muttered.

“Shut up and do as I say,” Bianca ordered.

“Not by the hair on my chiny, chin, chin.” Bianca placed the red brick on the ground and took a step back after chanting the spell.

The brick trembled and quickly multiplied itself over and over again. It looked as though a small army of invisible hands was building a house at rapid speed. This continued until everyone was standing in front of a large brick house. Bianca opened the door and corralled everyone inside the impenetrable walls of the famous home that belonged to the third little pig. She locked the door behind her and let out a sigh of relief.

Hopefully we’ll be safe from whatever is after us.

“Wow,” Ming said as she looked around and took everything in. “B?”

“Yeah?”

“How is a brick house going to stop that giant wolf from squishing us to death?”

“This house is indestructible.”

“Ooooh…cool,” Ming said.

Then the house trembled as though bombs were falling from the sky. Ming screamed and ran to the furthest corner of the house. She covered her head with her hands and muttered several incoherent words. Ferdinand ran to her and held her tight. Ming accepted this bit of comfort and clung to him as though her life depended on it.

Bianca walked to the window. She wasn’t sure what to look for, but it was better than rocking herself back and forth in a fetal position while sucking on her thumb. She saw nothing but pine trees and dried up leaves scattered on the ground. She assumed that the wolf Terrance spoke of was currently on the roof wreaking havoc (or at least trying to) on the little brick house. She screamed when a huge yellow-green eye covered her view.

“Let me in,” the wolf growled, his voice sounding like rocks falling down a mountain.

“No!” Bianca screamed.

“I’ll let you have a swift end. Better for me to end your life than the witch,” he snarled.

“I said no!” she shouted.

“You can’t stay in there forever…even the pigs had to come out at some point,” the wolf said and then chuckled.

“Let me speak to him,” Terrance whispered to Bianca.

“Why? What can you do?” Bianca frowned.

Terrance rested his hands on his hips and looked up at the ceiling. He ran his calloused fingers through his dark brown hair and finally said, “I’m his grandson.”

“Grandson?” Bianca echoed. “How is that even possible?”

“I can’t explain now, but trust me, anything is possible here in Everafter.”

“Are you sure he won’t eat you or worse? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“You’re very sweet to worry about me.” He gave her the saddest of smiles. “But trust me. I’ll be quite all right.”

Bianca shook her head. This was wrong. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of her. Angry tears of frustration escaped her eyes. She quickly wiped them away. She never liked it when people saw her crying.

“How do you know? How do you know everything is going to be okay?” she asked.

“I don’t. I’ve never even met him before. But he’ll know my scent. I can only hope that it will be enough to keep him from tearing me apart.”

“Terrance…I…” A lump formed in her throat. She couldn’t even finish what she wanted to say.

“Trust me,” Terrance whispered, and then he gently kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

Bianca could still feel the warmth of his kiss upon her skin. It burned with the promise of more to come.

Bianca snatched his hand before he touched the silver doorknob.

“There has to be another way,” she said.

He smiled and asked her to trust him once more. Terrance took a deep breath and stepped outside. He closed the door behind him. Once Bianca heard the soft click of the door lock, tears came forth once more.

“What is he doing?” Ming snapped out of her nervous breakdown and joined Bianca by the only window in the entire house.

“He’s going to talk to him,” Bianca replied.

“Is he crazy? Did you try to talk him out of it?”

“Of course I tried. Do you think I want him to be out there talking to a giant wolf? Now be quiet. I want to hear what’s going on outside.” She gently pushed Ming aside and opened the window a crack.

The Big Bad Wolf was every bit as scary as Bianca had always imagined. He was completely black, darker than a midnight on a starless, moonless night. His gums were dark pink and his teeth were amazingly white. His eyes were bright yellow-green that held an indescribable flame. Where it came from, Bianca would never know.

Chapter Sixteen

The wolf’s moist black nose flared up as he took in Terrance’s scent. The young man braced himself and stood completely still.

I’d do the same if this was my first time meeting the infamous Big Bad Wolf,
Bianca thought.