Chapter 1 - The Bear and the Wolf

Solomon Redgrave reminded his son to mind the sacks of oats they were bringing to Beltain. Thomas readjusted them as his sister played with the hem of her dress. She looked up at him and gave him raspberries. He shrugged it off and went back to minding the sacks. Muriel quietly watched her two children in the back of the wagon as her husband guided its horses.

"Mum, you think papa will let me play in this year's games?" Thomas asked with genuine hope.

"Oh now, Thomas," she started, "you're but eight. The games are tough."

"So's haulin' oats but papa says I'm old 'nuff for that."

Solomon turned slightly to face the wagon while still guiding the horses, "when you stop whining 'bout the oats, maybe you can play in the games."

Matilda looked up at her brother. He looked crushed and so she felt it was a perfect opportunity to do her part as little sister and she began silently mocking him. Thomas shifted in his seat and lay his head on the sacks. The wagon rocked and jolted making rest somewhat impossible. There was a sudden pinch in his leg and Thomas sat up, his sister still twisting at the bit of his flesh in her fingers.

He let out a holler and his mother turned as Matilda pulled her hand back. "What's the matter, Thomas?" Muriel asked.

He looked at his sister sternly then said, "a bug must've bit me."

"You mean this bug?" his mother asked before poking Matilda in the belly and tickling her.

Matilda let out a loud laugh and Thomas followed. He didn't hate his sister. To the contrary, he was a proud older brother. She had proven herself exceptionally smart and he knew that she wouldn't be a farmer like the rest of the family. He believed wonderful things would befall her. She was gifted musically as well and their father had been told that when she was old enough, she might be able to go to a nice school near the castle on the other side of the forest. Many people believed she would be a maiden to royalty, which was something of a blessing for her.

Their wagon drew up to where the festival was held annually. The clearing in the woods was large enough for a castle and there was already a bonfire and several smaller fires going with people cooking their goods and offering their wears. Thomas jumped from the back of the wagon and looked around before pulling down a sack of oats. His father had already told him of the people that were purchasing their oats that year. Some to be used at Beltain and some to be used in their taverns. For eight, Thomas was strong and had even bested some of his friends in fights. Fights which had gotten him doing his current duties.

"Matty, push that sack up to the edge," Thomas said to his sister.

"I'm not the oat hauler," she declared.

"Come on, Matty, just that one bag."

Matilda pushed the bag to the edge as Solomon and Muriel made their way over to one of the other wagons.

"Thanks, Matty," Thomas said.

Matilda hopped down from the wagon and ran over to where some other girls were playing. Her brother watched as she and the other girls danced and giggled. He made several trips to and from the wagon, delivering the oats.



About an hour had passed when Thomas' mother came over to him. "Have you seen your sister?" she asked.

Thomas sat up. He'd been resting from all the hard work. He looked over to where she had been playing and didn't see her. "I'll find her," he volunteered, "she's probably picking berries or something." He slid down from the wagon and walked over to the girls that his sister was playing with. They all stared into the woods. "Where's Matty?"

One little girl pointed into the woods and from within came a low growl. Thomas barely heard it over the sound of the music coming from the festival. He went to the edge of the woods and cocked his ear toward it and again, could hear a low growl as well as crying. Thomas sprang into a run and ran deep into the woods. If anything were to happen to her he would feel horrible. He worried less about what his parents would think about him as an older brother and more about the chance of losing his sister. Shortly he came to a slight drop and there, motionless, was his sister. She sobbed but didn't move. He jumped down next to her and told her it was okay then he heard another growl.

The bear was enormous and was baring its fangs. Her cubs were behind her drinking at a stream. Thomas couldn't tell if it was two or three but he knew that he had to get his sister out of there before the bear attacked. "Climb up the embankment, Matty!"

Matilda was frozen in fear, she didn't move. Thomas just thought about all the possibilities her life held and how he was destined to be another farmer. He picked up a stick in one hand and a rock in the other then moved between his sister and the bear keeping his back to his sister. "Matty, you have to climb up there and run."

From behind them came the voice of their mother, "Matilda! Where are you?" The sound of her mother's voice broke Matilda's paralysis and she turned and began climbing up the muddy wall using roots as hand holds.

Thomas stared up at the bear. He understood her need to protect her young and wondered if she understood he was doing the same. She looked past him at Matilda and began to growl again but Thomas wanted her attention on him and he chunked the rock at her snout. She had been ten feet away but she seemed to clear that in a single bound. Her paw caught him in the side of the head. She was too strong to defend against and Thomas flipped end over end, the left side of his face torn open and bleeding as he hit the soft earth.

Solomon appeared at the top of the mud wall and pulled his daughter up. He couldn't see where Thomas had landed. The bear continued its attack on the boy. Thomas turned and shoved the stick into the bears mouth as her paws smacked his little body. A rock hurled and hit her in the head and Solomon began making loud noises. He threw another stone and she recoiled toward the stream with her cubs. She let out a roar as her and her cubs fled. Thomas passed out.




When he awoke, he was in terrible pain. His face was bandaged as were his ribs. He could see out of his right eye that his mother sat next to his bed. "Is... Matty...," he started.

"She's fine," his mother said calmly as she leaned over him. "She's worried about you is all. How do you feel?"

"It hurts... a lot," Thomas didn't want to cry. He tried hard to be a big boy for his mom.

Muriel pulled the bandage aside and Thomas left eye opened. He had feared that he lost the use of it but it wasn't so, though it could barely open.

"The swelling is starting to go down," his mother reassured him.

He looked around the room. He was home.

"You've been asleep for a few days," she said.

The cottage had but one room and no one else was in it.

"You're dad took Matilda with him to get some more medicine for you," she said, "they should be back soon."

Thomas tried to sit up but he could feel his ribs grinding. His mother replaced the bandage. "Get some more rest," she said.




He fell asleep shortly. He dreamt of a red wolf. The wolf came and slept next to him and kept him warm. It licked his wounds and would circle him to ward off predators.




Thomas woke again to find his sister staring at him. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Matty, I'll be okay," Thomas said.

"They dared me to get a drink from the stream. I knew it was scary but they called me a chicken and then the bear was there but I didn't see her and then I wanted to pet the cubs...," Matilda was beginning to cry.

"You have to be more careful, Matty," Thomas scolded. "If I hadn't gone to find you..." He didn't want to think of the other outcome. Life without his sister would be just farm work and boring.

Solomon came over and pulled the bandages back. He rubbed a salve over all the wounds and let the air hit them. They burned. "What you did was stupid and crazy," his father said. "It was also brave and honorable." He kissed his son on the forehead. Solomon went back outside.

Matilda came over to the bedside and got real close to Thomas. She whispered, "they called you a little wolf."

"Who?" Thomas asked.

"Everyone."

Comics, "Alan Moore", "Captain America", "Robin Hood", "Ivanhoe", "Green Arrow", "Kevin Smith", "Tarzan",