The Red Cape

“Hello.”

The girl was smiling brightly at the wolf, as if instead of a deadly predator, she was speaking to a friendly bunny rabbit. He looked around himself for a moment, confused.

“Yes, Mister Wolf, I’m talking to you. Hello, how are you doing today?”

She wore a red cloak, with a large baggy hood draped over her dark hair. The weather was turning, and it looked rather warm and comfortable. The inside was lined with some sort of fluffy material, but Wolf wasn't close enough to see what it was.

“Hel- hello,” he stuttered back. It was unusual indeed to converse with a stranger in the woods, especially a human. A human girl.

She smiled again, and took several steps towards Wolf. He froze on the spot, almost dropping the bundle of flowers he’d collected in his gangly claws.

The girl in red placed her basket onto the grass and began to gather some tulips herself. “What brings you into this part of the woods today, Sir?” Her smile was intoxicating, and Wolf couldn’t resist reciprocating it.

“I’m just, er, getting some nice flowers for, my- my friend,” he mumbled, unable to lie as swiftly as usual. A human had never approached him before; it was always the other way around. They were usually afraid of him, his appearance at the very minimum sent them running in the opposite direction.

Just last week he’d terrified three different people when going door-to-door selling his flower creations. Two of their houses collapsed! They were very unstable, though, so he didn't blame himself.

The girl grinned. “That’s awfully sweet of you. I’m going to get some for my Granny, she lives not far from here. I don’t know which flowers she likes, so I’ll just get a few different ones.” She tore up a handful of yellow flowers. Some petals started to fall from how tightly she was gripping them. Waving it in his direction, she asked, “Do you know what this is called?”

Wolf cleared his throat, and carefully placed his bouquet onto the ground. Gently stepping closer, he stared at the flower for several seconds.

“I believe that’s a marigold plant. It's a type of daisy flower."

The girl widened her eyes in shock. Wolf stepped back and looked down, pretending to admire the weeds growing around the flowers.

“Wow. That’s impressive,” called the girl. “Do you know lots about plants then?” She picked up the wicker basket, which rattled from within, and rushed over to him. “My Granny just loves flowers, but she’s recovering from an illness now.” She looked down and fiddled with the marigold stem. “Mother usually comes to see her, and brings her food, but she’s been so busy with work recently that there’s no time left in the day. I’ve been through these woods a few times in the last few weeks, but I haven’t seen these beautiful fields before.” She looked up at Wolf’s furry face. “Or you, for that matter. Do you live around here?”

Her eyes were a wondrous blue, the colour of the sky on a clear day. Wolf loved the sky, and would spend hours on his back watching the hours pass by. He could stare into those eyes all day.

“No, actually. I’ve come to see a friend. They live nearby, but I got distracted by the smell of these.” He pointed to the flowers he’d left on the floor. He hastily picked them up.

Red smiled at him again. “Well, since you know a lot about these flowers, and I know next to nothing, would you mind helping me make a bouquet for my Granny? I’m sure she’d love it.”

Wolf was taken back. “Re- really? Of course! There’s so many to choose from, and then we’d just have to arrange them, it won't take long.”

The pair spent the next few minutes picking random flowers from the field, light conversation passing between them.

“So, what does your mother do for work?” Wolf was intrigued by the girl, and desperate to learn more about her life. She seemed quite amazing.

Red stopped mid-pick, and froze for a moment. “Oh, well, she’s a butcher. Works with the hunters around our town to prepare the meat they bring back from their hunts. We’re a small place, so there’s not a lot of farmyard animals to eat. So we make do with whatever they’ve brought back.”

Wolf was momentarily impressed, before he remembered why he’d decided to go so far from home to begin with. His friend was missing, and he suspected hunters were behind it.

The town Red described sounded like the place he was headed to, to find him.

Wolf became wary of Red after that, but tried to keep the conversation flowing the same as it had before.

“I- I love your cloak. It’s such a vibrant colour, and it looks warm. Where did you get it?”

Red’s smile returned. “My Granny made it for me. Before her illness,” she added quickly.

Wolf raised his bushy eyebrows, but made no comment. He walked back to Red’s basket to deposit the flower’s he’d chosen. She followed closely behind.

“What’s it made from?”

Wolf lifted the basket up, and was surprised at how heavy it was.

“The outer layer is just sheep’s wool she dyed red. We always give her the hide and fur of the hunted animals; she makes wonderful clothes.”

Wolf was only half paying attention to her words. The rattling noise the basket made when he lifted it sounded nothing like food clanging together.

“Oh wow, that’s awesome. What did you say the inside is made from?”

Wolf opened the basket and felt his stomach drop. In the space that should have held loaves of bread and jam, an assortment of knives, arrows and a bundle of rope sat piled high. He dropped the basket.

“Wolf fur. It’s wonderfully insulating.”

Wolf spun around as fast as he could, only to see Red point an arrow straight at his chest.

“She also made it long enough to hide my bow. Isn’t she amazing?”

She let the arrow fly.

Red sauntered over to her basket, and picked out the rope.

“Don’t worry, Mister Wolf. I’m sure she’ll adore the flowers.”