Witch, Wolf, Woods

CHAPTER 24: A WALK BY THE RIVER

"What do you say we take the rest of the day off and go walk by the river?" asked Katja one afternoon a few weeks later.

Spring was in full bloom, and even though the windows were thrown open in her workroom, the warm April day was too inviting to stay indoors.

"That sounds wonderful!" agreed Wolf.

Katja put away her things, then she and Wolf made their way across the sun-warmed courtyard and out the open door set squarely in the tall stone wall surrounding the castle. Wolf darted forward, running with his nose along the ground, then stopped, sniffing the air before trotting back to her, eagerly smelling every flower or weed they passed.

At one point, a large black and yellow butterfly fluttered over his head, and he and Katja both stopped to watch it. When it landed on his nose, Katja laughed at how he went cross-eyed in his efforts to look at it. The creature eventually took to the air again and continued on its way, but Katja didn't miss how Wolf gazed wistfully after it, his eyes following it until it disappeared.

While the surrounding land didn't have the same stark beauty as in winter, even Katja could appreciate the lush greenery and evidence of life bursting from every corner.

Wild grapes grew along the outer castle wall, creating their own improvised trellises with the aid of stone and plaster. The grass leading down to the river was thick and green, and pot-bellied bees and gossamer-winged dragonflies darted past.

Along the riverbanks, cattails and reeds swayed in the current, and birds called out to one another, occasionally diving into the water and reappearing with a minnow in their beak. A blue heron paused its hunting, curving its sinuous neck as it eyed Katja and Wolf suspiciously, eventually deciding stillness was preferable to searching for new hunting grounds.

A breeze filled the air with the scent of honeysuckle, tinged with the smell of the evergreens marking the edge of the Black Forest on the other side of the river.

Katja and Wolf walked slowly along the river's edge, Wolf occasionally sticking his nose into an interesting looking hole or cocking his ears at some distant sound. Katja tipped her face towards the sun, then, looking around to make sure they were alone, she spoke to Wolf, keeping her voice low.

"Was your home inside the forest very different from this?" she asked.

Wolf sniffed a clump of clover before replying.

"It wasn't so open," he said. "The trees were much closer together. I didn't grow up near a river, but I learned to swim in a nearby pond. There was more stone and moss and everything seemed...more intense, somehow.

"The colors were brighter, but the darkness was also thicker. The stars were incredible, but it was often difficult to see the moon through the trees, so we'd go to an overlook above a valley and lay under the full moon during the warmer months."

Wolf's childhood was everything Katja wished hers had been, full of happy memories with loved ones and never wondering if you were going to be left out, certain you would always be included, satisfied with your place in your community. Her eyes lingered on the water lapping against the stone-strewn bank.

"I wonder how different the Schwarzwald was when you lived there compared to what it is now," she mused. "It's hard to imagine witches and Nichts living together in peace."

"I went into the necklace while witches were being driven from the forest," nodded Wolf. "I have to say, though, I'm not surprised the Waldkonig ultimately drove everyone from his domain. He's not the type to take anyone disagreeing with him lightly. Given what I've heard about him, of course," he added.