Scarlet Moon (Once Upon a Time) by Debbie Viguié Read Free Book Online

cabin, and Giselle was standing outside with open arms. Peter went to her after a moment of hesitation and was folded into her embrace. Ruth stood and smiled weakly, fighting back tears.
I wish Stephen were here for this reunion.
    At last they all bustled inside. Candles were lit all around the room, reflecting eerily in the glass jars. The effect was that of a thousand flickering lights bathing the room in light one moment and plunging it into near darkness the next. Ruth would have found it fascinating if she were not so uneasy fromthe trip through the woods and her earlier conversation with Peter.
    They all sat in silence for several minutes. Peter stared around the room, taking everything in as Ruth and Giselle stared at him. Then he stood and prowled around the room, touching this and that.
    “I would like to learn what you know,” he said at last, picking up ajar of mugwort and examining it.
    Giselle glanced at Ruth, a hint of alarm in her eyes. “Why?”
    “As a child my parents forbade me to see you. They said you were a witch. They were wrong, and I regret all the time we lost and all the things you might have taught me,” He set the jar down and turned back to them, “I’ve lost everything,” he said simply. “But being here, I’m beginning to understand that my greatest loss was the years I missed knowing you.”
    With tears in her eyes Giselle rose to embrace him, “My darling child, you shall know me, and if it is within my power we shall work together to heal your wounds.”
    Ruth averted her eyes to give them a moment of privacy. As she did so she prayed that Giselle might really hold the key to Peter’s recovery.
    They ended up not leaving until the dawn. As they hurried home along the path, Ruth imagined that the trees were shaking their branches at her in anger.

    Customers kept Ruth and her father busy for the next several days repairing axes used for wood chopping, making hooks made to hang meat in storage, and taking care of other things that needed to be done before the onslaught of winter. It was a week before she could return to her grandmother’s, though she knew Peter had gone several times.
    When she entered the forest it seemed peaceful to her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had actually felt at home in the woods, welcomed almost. It was a strange sensation, unnerving in itself.
    She hadn’t gone very far when she heard a voice behind her. “A lady shouldn’t walk alone in the woods.”
    “Who says I’m a lady?” Ruth asked, pulling her dagger from her belt before turning.
    “I have,” William said, smiling at her.
    She returned her dagger to its resting place and relaxed her fighting posture, “Oh, it’s you again,” she said dryly, unable to stop herself.
    “Yes,” he answered, striding forward.
    She dropped her eyes quickly and hastened to curtsy, her father’s warning fresh in her mind.
    “A little formal,” he commented.
    “I’m sorry, milord, you surprised me. I was just hurrying to my grandmother’s. If you would excuse me …” She turned on her heel and started to walk off, her heart in her throat.
    “I won’t,” he said, his voice growing stern.
    She stopped but didn’t turn to face him.
“A dangerousmaw,” that is what they called him. “Don’t chase strangers in the woods” Grandmother said. What about dangerous strangers? Surely I should avoid them above all!
she thought.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked, moving to stand in front of her.
    “Nothing, milord,” she lied, not daring to look at him.
    “You know I don’t wish to be so formal with you, but if you insist on being so, then I must insist that you tell me the truth. Indeed, I command that you do.”
    She lifted her head at that, not knowing how to respond.
    His eyes bored into her and she grew uncomfortable under his stare.
    “Something is different. What is it?”
    “I was overly familiar the other day, and I apologize.”
    “Don’t, it was refreshing.” He gazed at