Chapter 15

Aurora is that you?"

She promptly closed the cellar door and scurried around to the veranda where her mother stood anxiously with a cloak covering her shoulders.

"Yes, mother I'm home." She said rubbing her arm up and down to put some warmth into her body.

"Where the bloody hell were you?" Ella placed her hand over her chest with a frightened look on her face. " I was so worried about you."

Aurora thought of a lie to feed Ella but she couldn't think of one that made much sense. Telling Ella about the incident with Mr.Roger would cause a huge problem. So she decided to be honest but not completely.

" I arrived at work super late this morning and I decided I wanted to work overtime." She said leaving out the part in which she was forced to work overtime. Ella engulfed her in a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm just glad you are alright. Don't scare me like that ever again." Her voice wobbled as she spoke. "You are soaking wet. Let's get you cleaned up before you catch a cold."

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She warmed herself by the fireside rubbing some heat into her cold body while Ella towel-dried her raven hair.

Her thoughts drift to the injured animal which she stumbled upon in the woods. She wanted to tell her mother about it but she didn't know what her reaction would be like. Would she be frightened, furious, or guilty?

"Drink the tea before it gets cold," Ella said as she gathered a huge clump of hair in her grasp and dried it. Her hands involuntarily stopped moving when she noticed a cut on her forehead.

"What's the matter?" Aurora furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed Ella's shocked state.

"How did you get this cut?" She asked.

"Is it that bad?" she asked because she had almost forgotten she bumped her head earlier in the woods. And Ella was beginning to freak her out. The fact that she was unconscious for an unknown amount of time must have meant she hit her head badly.

She pursed her lips. "It's not too deep but I assure you it will leave a scar."

Aurora didn't care about the scar it would leave. She brushed her fingers against it and winced as pain coursed through her head. Ella rushed into the washroom and came back minutes later with a damp towel and a small glass jar with a green jelly-like fluid. She wiped away the dried blood from the wound and applied some ointment from the jar.

"All cleaned up. Eat your bread and get some rest." Ella got up from the floor and returned the towel and ointment to the washroom.

Aurora picked small crumbs of the bread and chewed on them. It was now or never. She had to tell her mother about the animal she found in the forest. If she didn't, Ella would eventually find out about it. The lady had her ways of making her feel guilty.

"Mom." She called out to her.

"Yes, darling." She said and sat behind her on the floor and started bombing her raven hair.

"Is it common for wolves to live in this part of the country?" She inquired.

"It's harder for wolves to survive in this village Aurora. It is very uncommon for any animals to live in this village as a matter a fact."

"Why is that?" She wondered why animals were unable to survive in their village. Was it the weather condition? It could be cold when it came to winter. But some animals could withstand cold conditions. What was the wolf doing in the forest? Her mother's story wasn't adding up. Nothing was making any sense to Aurora. Why was the wolf injured? Did a hunter attack him? How did he end up in the woods?

"The forest creatures slaughtered all the animals. For us to get meat, we have to go outer port which is very dangerous. Only trained hunters are allowed to hunt for meat and the meat is very expensive." She finished braiding her hair and stood up.

Aurora thought back to when her grandmother returned home with her father from their adventures. They normally brought back meat. She now remembered more vividly that she has never seen any animal in the woods.

"So dad normally went outermost to get meat?" The word dad leaving her mouth felt poisonous.

Her mother's expression changed. She dodged the question and asked. "Why did you ask?"

"I was curious." She said. She wasn't lying and neither was she being honest with Ella. She fiddled with the lace at the front of her dress and contemplated whether she should even bother to mention the wolf. Her mother would probably think it wasn't a wolf because of its massive size. She read stories with wolves and she has never heard of a massive wolf half her size.

That night she pretended to be asleep unto she was sure her mother and sister were asleep. She tip-toed across the squeaky floor towards the front door. She put on her cloak and covered her head. She twisted the doorknob and a gush of wind greeted her on the veranda. She peered over at her mothers sleeping form before she closed the door behind her.

She stride into the drizzling rain and went over to the cellar. She could bear the animals small whimpers as she got closer that we're carried far away by the wind. She opened the cellar door and climbed down the ladder.

The cellar was dimly lit with candles and consisted of mostly boxes of junk that her father brought back from his adventures. Ella always complained about them so her father had the cellar built. Aurora always wondered where her father found all the stuff he brought back home but she never asked.

She was brought back to the surface by the howl of the animal. She walked over to the injured animal that was sprawled out over blanket across the floor. It licked its injured paw and whimpered.

The wolf looked up at Aurora and tried to get up but it quickly fell back onto the blanket.

It's beautiful coat was covered in dirt and blood. Aurora could smell it from across the room. She didn't know how to tend to injured creatures neither did she know how to approach them. And the size of the animal terrified here. She has never seen an animal as huge as the one laying in front of her. It was almost half her Height. She wondered where she summoned the strength to get it in the cellar.

She approached the animal with caution and retrieved a piece of bread from under her cloak.

"I know you like meat but I can only afford bread." She sat on the floor in front of the injured animal. It sniffed the bread and used the bridge of his nose to push it back towards Aurora. It resumed to licking its paws and whimpering.

A small smile formed on Aurora's lips as she took notice of how intelligent the animal was. She wanted to see how far its intelligence went. She stretched her hand out.

"Let me see."

She was fascinated to see that the animal placed its injured paw in her hand. She started into the eyes of the animal. She was mesmerized by their beauty. They had a color of rust. They felt warm and inviting. It's eyes were like magnets they drew her in. They felt almost human.

She laughed mentally and pushed the thought at the back of her mind and shifted her gaze to the injured paw. She inspected it carefully and removed a splinter that was between it's paws. The animal pulled back it's paw and resumed to lick away the blood that oozed out.

"What in the world are you'd doing doing!"

Aurora's turned around and was greeted by her mother. The wolf immediately went from calm to vicious. It charged at Ella causing her to fall backward.