Daughter Of The Mountains

New friends

“You sure know how to pick the worst traps to get caught in, don’t you?” said the figure. Shyla could now see the face and detail of the body.

The figure was a girl, with a plait down to her waist. Her hair was curly, Shyla could tell by the tightly wound barrel curl that had escaped the plait and was now hanging loosely, following the outline of her dimpled cheek.

“There you are. You can have your foot back now.” she said, gesturing for Shyla to pull her foot back. “I think the trap is done with It.” she added with a giggle. Shyla pulled her foot out of the loop. “Thanks, I guess I didn’t see it in time to dodge it.”

The girl giggled again, “Anytime. So, you got a name tenderfoot?” she looked at Shyla in expectation. “I’m Shyla, how about you?” The girl smiled and said proudly, “I am Adalwolfa, but everyone just calls me Wolfie.” Shyla thought the name was beautiful, she had never heard that name before. “It’s a beautiful name, what does it mean?” she asked in wonder. Now Adalwolfa was looking sceptical, she looked at Shyla and answered with cautious pride, “It means ‘Noble Wolf’ in German.”

Shyla’s mind clicked back to the pendant she found, that exact phrase was engraved on the back of the wolfs head. The pendant probably belonged to her, and she was the visitor. She wanted to confront her right now, but thought better of it. She was alone here, no one to protect her if Adalwolfa turned on her. Her name meant wolf after all, and wolves are dangerous.

She chose to change the topic quickly. “Hey, do you know how to get out of here? I should get home; my parents will be worried sick by now.” Adalwolfa stood up straight and pointed to a patch of disturbed ferns. “That way, just follow me and I’ll get you home safe and sound.” Relieved to be going home she thanked her rescuer, “Thanks again, Adalwolfa.” Adalwolfa laughed at this comment. “You don’t need to call me by my full name tenderfoot, just call me Wolfie. It’s easier to remember and spell.”  Shyla didn’t like the name Wolfie, and asked if she could call her Ada instead. Adalwolfa agreed and Shyla called her Ada from then on.

On the way back home, Ada became very talkative. "I hope you don't mind me calling you tenderfoot. It suits you quite well. Also, might Iask why you were in the forest in the first place? It's not normal for girls like yourself to just wonder in to the woods. This isn't red riding hood, you know." She finished with a giggle.

Yeah, I'm just lost in the woods with a wolf. Nothing alike.

"Well, here we are. The end of the forest." Ada said to Shyla. She sounded sad when she said that, but Shyla didn't pursue it. She just wanted to get home. "Thanks Adalw- I mean Ada. I'll try not to get caught in any more traps, bye!" She waved goodbye to her new acquaintance and ran to the house and up the stairs to ger room as fast as she could.

Shyla’s head was swimming in an Olympic sized pool filled with questions. Why was she on my balcony? Was she spying on me? How did she know I was caught in that trap? Why was she in the forest in the first place? None of these questions had answers just yet, but she was going to find out.

She turned the pendant in her hand, and noticed it didn’t feel like it used to. She looked at it and gaped. The wolf was no longer howling, but looking straight at her, with big eyes and perked ears. It looked like a puppy that missed its owner, like it was begging her to return it to Adalwolfa. So Shyla decided on what she was going to do.

She would return it to its owner and get some answers, but first she needed to rest. It was already 8:05, and supper was ready and waiting. So she went down to eat.

"Hello sweetie, how was the walk? Were you watching the sunset?" Her father said sternly. Oh no... "Sorry, I got a bit lost." Shyla felt like a mouse surrounded by lions.  "Really? How did you get that?" Her father was pointing at her leg. It was sporting a nice ring of dried blood around her ankle. Oh shoot. How do I explain this? "Uh... I tripped?" Shyla offered in explanation. Her father sighed. "Just be more careful next time. Please." "I will, promise. So what's for supper?"

After eating, she washed and got her pyjamas on. Her bed was the only place she was going today, and she needed to think all this new information and questions over.

Drifting off to sleep, she was unaware of the presence of Adalwolfa watching the tired girls’ even breaths.

You have so many questions, some of which I cannot answer just yet, Adalwolfa thought, you want answers now, when I cannot answer. I hope you still return my pendant. I will be so pleased to get my pendant back, he is missing me, and I feel it. Sleep well, tenderfoot, you will need it for when all your questions are answered.

Adalwolfa walked to the balcony and hopped down onto the roof and slid down till the roof ended. She made a soft landing on the leaf covered ground, and retreated into the forest. That was her home, and that was where she would wait for Shyla’s arrival. She disappeared into the cool, dark forest, to prepare.

Authors note
This must be my best chapter yet I feel. I don't know how you feel reading it, but I felt like I was in the story there! I wrote a lot. Wow... Do you like long chapters or shorter? Let me know by commenting.

SHOUTOUT: To TimelessMemory for adding my book to ger reading list. Thanks bud', thats nice of you!

VOTE OF THANKS: To the inventor of smarties, you are amazing! I sat eating them while writimg this chapter so thank you to them

See you in the next chapter😁