Little Red Wolf

Chapter One ~

Yes, I've started a new story.

Chapter One~

 

 

  The sun crept lower on the horizon, a flaming ball of yellow and orange that was now half hidden behind the mountains that bordered the tiny village. The dimming lighting was making Rebecca Holloway sigh in frustration. Her eyes were already tired from the long day she'd spent staring at the faded handwriting in her Grandmother's best recipe book.

 The recipe book held the tricks to making the best desserts. Pies, tarts, cakes, brownies, crumbles, the mere thought of the different delicious desserts left a longing, acidic taste in Rebecca's mouth. Rebecca was eager to rewrite the book so she could enter her favourite Saskatoon berry pie in the annual contest in a few weeks' time.

 "Rebecca? What are you doing out so late? And reading! You'll hurt your eyes." Rebecca's next door neighbour, Lara March, was coming up the hill huffing and puffing. Lara's round shape made her perfectly ideal for hugs, but not so much for the winning relay team.

 "I'm alright, Lara," Rebecca said, flipping the book closed. She slipped her finger into the page to mark her spot, and with her other hand dropped the fountain pen into the grass. She hissed under her breath and tried to covertly scan the ground for the pen.

 "Dear you should come in," Lara pressed, reaching the large, spotted grey boulder that Rebecca had chosen to work on. "Did you eat supper? I know your mama's gone all the time so she can care for your Grandmama." Lara was the mother of five children and a champion worrier. In all the time Rebecca had known her, she couldn't remember Lara ever not fussing over someone's child. Rebecca herself was the recipient of fussing on a regular basis.

 "I'm alright, thank you though," Rebecca said, finally locating her pen and shifting her foot over so she could scoop it up. With her gaze on the ground, she watched a tiny ant skitter past her fingers, before she managed to pluck the pen out of the long grass. Rebecca pulled a small bag from beside her and gingerly placed the book and the pen inside.

 "Are you sure?" Lara's round cheeks were pink and one of the strings on her apron was longer than the other and dangerously close to trailing on the ground. "I made stew with dumplings." Lara winked in an attempt to coax Rebecca off her rock and indoors. Along with her worrying, Lara was famous for her cooking. She made the most amazing food, although somehow her desserts always ended up falling short. Rebecca knew she wasn't any sort of competition for her Saskatoon berry pie.

 "No, I'm alright I swear," Rebecca denied the invitation again. Her words were firm, but her resolve was wavering. She hadn't eaten dinner, or lunch, and the thought of stew with flour dumplings was enticing. While stew wasn't her favourite, she tolerated it pleasantly enough on its own, but she devoured it when she had a dumpling to hide it underneath. Her mother had always taught Rebecca that if she didn't see what she was eating, she'd eat it without a complaint. And her mother had been proven right.

 Lara looked at her with her head tilted to the side.  Her wide eyes looked Rebecca up and down as if she was trying to find a sign that something was wrong.  She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the grumbling roar of Rebecca's empty stomach.

 Rebecca blushed crimson and dropped her gaze to stare at her feet. She knocked her knees together a couple of times for something to focus on before hearing Lara speak. "Alright dear," Lara said, placing her hands on her hips. "You're coming with me and I'm gonna feed you."

 "Thanks," Rebecca muttered. Lara turned away and Rebecca seized the opportunity to snatch up a particularly funny looking rock that had managed to catch her eye and slide it into the pocket of her shorts.