Before I knew it the girl let the others free from their cages and it was just the two of us. "Mister... uh- thank you...." the young wolf said as she slowly got closer to me.
By know I was on my knees, blood dripping from my hands. But not of my own, of the traders next to me. Faces now all a jumbo mess or mush.
The young wolf gent poked me. "Mister?" She said, all I did was turn my head to her.
***
Rose
I and Elizabeth ran quickly to the direction where Art ran off. My feet almost giving up on me and soon they did as I tried and fell face first.
As Elizabeth came to help Art slowly emerge out the wood while holding the hand of a young girl, the girl was about average height for her face, a bit skinny, wolf ears on top of her head, muddy and a bit bloody stain on her clothes.
"Art? Is everything alright?" Elizabeth asked. I noticed something tho. Art and the girl both were dripping in water. "Yeah, we did fell near the river but I used a warmth spell on her" Art said in a soft and reassuring tone.
Letting out a sigh of relief, me and Elizabeth walked up to the two. "You had us worried...".
Art's mouth twitched almost a smile, almost human.
"Sorry," he said, and the word felt like it came from somewhere very far away.
By the time we'd patched the girl's arm and wiped most of the grime off her face, we were all standing awkwardly near the edge of the village. The sky was starting to bruise with sunset, and the wind had that soft, sleepy hush that always made me think of bedtime stories.
Elizabeth kept fussing with the bandage on the girl's arm, muttering under her breath about splints and herbs and better cloth. Art just stood there, letting the little wolf cling to his side like he was an old oak tree she'd found shelter under.
I hugged my notebook to my chest. There was so much I wanted to write down what I'd seen, what I'd felt, what Art had done but there were bigger things to settle first.
"So… where's she going to stay?" I asked, my voice quieter than I meant it to be.
Elizabeth shot me a look like I'd said something obvious but necessary. "She can't stay in the woods, obviously. And the village…" She trailed off, her expression souring. "They'd turn her away. Or worse."
The wolf girl shrank into Art's side a little more, her wolf ears flattening against her tangled hair. I saw her shoulders tense, ready to bolt if we said the wrong thing.
I glanced at Art. He hadn't said much since… everything. He still looked pale. Haunted. But his eyes were softer now, steadier, when they landed on her.
"She'll stay with me," he said, voice low but sure.
I stared at him. "At your house? Really?"
Elizabeth let out a quiet laugh through her nose. "Guess she's your responsibility now."
I couldn't help it, I grinned. "What are you going to do? Make her your daughter or something?"
Art gave me a flat look. The wolf girl just blinked up at me with those wide, gold eyes. She didn't even know what I meant. Maybe that was for the best.
"Alright then," I said, raising my hands in surrender. "It's settled. She'll stay with you."
The walk through the village felt longer than usual, like the air was holding its breath around us. The girl stayed glued to Art's side, her good hand clutched in his, her tail flicking out nervously behind her. I kept catching myself glancing at him, half-expecting him to shatter like thin glass under the weight of everything he'd done.
But he didn't.
When we reached his small house at the edge of the village, the wolf girl tugged closer to him like a shy shadow. He knocked once, then pushed the door open and before he could say anything, a tiny hurricane came barreling out.
"Brother!"
Ash. His sister. She was so small, wrapped in a sweater two sizes too big, dark green hair falling in tangled waves around her shoulders. Her eyes caught the last of the sunset and glowed gold like a candle flame just like Art's, but brighter, less tired.
Ash's nose scrunched as she looked at the wolf girl, then at Art's wet clothes. "You're late. And you smell like the river."
Art ruffled her hair with a hand that still had a faint red stain under his nails. "Ash, this is… She's staying with us now."
The wolf girl peeked out from behind his arm, her ears twitching like they couldn't decide whether to stand up or flop down.
Ash's eyes widened. Then, without missing a beat, she grabbed the girl's hand like they'd been friends forever. "Good. You look hungry. Come on."
She tugged the wolf girl inside before any of us could say a word.
And just like that, the house felt bigger somehow. Warmer.
---
Art
Soon it was just me on my bed, the place quiet, the room dark, and only the moon lit it. Then arms wrapped around me "oh honey, won't you kindly let me in?" It was her.