“Yes. That’s my name.”
“Okay, Beauty, I think I can help,” Red said. “I am going to kill the Beast you spoke about earlier. Maybe I can save your father.”
“You?” Her eyes analyzed Red head to toe. “Aren’t you a bit small?”
“I see it as an advantage.”
“Hilarious. Did Hunter put you up to this?”
“I don’t know who Hunter is. All I know is that thing killed my grandma, and I won’t stop until it’s dead.”
“Oh,” Beauty said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I just . . .” She broke down in tears.
Red reached out, but after thinking twice, pulled her hand back and rubbed her forehead.
“You’ve had a run-in with the Beast yourself,” Red said.
“Yes, he took my father. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead or what. I just want to get him back.” Beauty sniffled and wiped her eyes with her blue dress.
“Do you know where the Beast is?” Red asked.
Beauty nodded.
“His castle.”
“Castle?”
“He’s the Prince. He’s ruled over us for as long as I can remember. Just takes a sacrifice now and then instead of taxes.” Beauty sighed with an exasperated smile.
“Well, can you tell me how to get there?”
“If you promise to save my father.” Beauty stood up.
“If he’s alive, we’ll save him,” Red said.
“We?” Beauty asked.
Rather than answering her question, Red only told Beauty to bring a bowl to prepare for their journey. Beauty didn’t have a canteen or any other supplies, so they decided they would share Red’s.
Beauty ran inside her house. Red stood awkwardly, looking around. She noticed some movement behind the houses and realized it was one of those men stalking Beauty. Red tucked a hand into her cloak and rested it on a throwing knife.
“Will these work?” Beauty stood in the front door, holding a small bowl and utensils.
“Yes. Definitely.” Red took off her rucksack and stashed Beauty’s belongings before slinging it back onto her shoulder. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes,” Beauty said. “The castle is to the east.”
Together, they walked out of the village. Red didn’t notice any suspicious movements and figured the men had let them be.
Red and Beauty moved along a narrow path enclosed by thick walls of oak, pine, and beech trees. The midday sun filtered through the branches upon juniper, heath, and lavender where the beetles and spiders lived. The brush rustled as squirrels gathered nuts and birds hopped between branches. And Red much preferred the bright fragrances of poppies and tree sap over the waste in the dreadful town.
“I’m getting hungry,” Red said after hours of walking.
“Me too. What do we have to eat?”
“Rabbit.” Red tilted her head toward a rabbit that grazed on the ryegrass only a dozen paces away. She held her arm out and stopped Beauty from moving.
“Oh,” Beauty said.
“Shh,” Red hissed, her eyes locked on the small critter.
In one quick motion, Red withdrew a knife, flicked her wrist, and sent the blade flying at the creature. Beauty’s jaw dropped. As Red went to collect her kill, Beauty stayed motionless until Red was back by her side.
“How did you do that?” Beauty asked.
“Lots and lots of practice,” Red said.
They settled for dinner in a small grassy clearing with a rock jutting out of the middle. Red took off her rucksack and gathered sticks, dried leaves, and small twigs from the forest floor.
“I’ve read so many stories about women like you. I never dreamt I’d actually meet one of them,” Beauty said as she unpacked the pot and bowls.
“What do you mean?” Red piled the materials together. “Can you pass me the flint?”
“You’re a warrior.” Beauty pulled out the flint and handed it to Red.
“I don’t really know. I just always wanted to be a hunter.” Red started striking at the flint with a rock, watching the sparks fly onto the bundle of tinder, kindling, and sticks.
“Well, I’ve never seen somebody so skilled with knives. You killed a rabbit from twenty feet away!” Beauty said. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, chin in her palms.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always practiced. It’s instinct for me now.”
“Oh, I hope they write songs about you. People love a fighting woman.”
“Not in my experience,” Red said as the kindling crackled and popped, tendrils of smoke curling into the air.
“What do you mean?”
“Everywhere I go, men have to show me they are tougher.” The wood caught fire. “I don’t go to towns much anymore, was never one for hunting guilds. I just keep to myself because men are always wretches with me around.”
“Well, I love it,” Beauty said. “Maybe I’ll write your song.”
“You’d write about me?” Red leaned back, surprised. She never felt her life was special enough to be accounted for. Would she even want the attention garnered by such a thing?
“Absolutely. A female warrior who slays the Beast and rescues a young woman’s captive father! That’s a story worth telling, don’t you think?” Beauty poured water into the pot and set it over the fire to boil.
“I suppose. I just want to avenge my grandma.” Red stared down at the ground again. An image of the Beast towering over her grandma flashed through her mind.
“Maybe I can write about you, and you can teach me some things.”
“Teach you? About what?” Red decapitated and skinned the rabbit. Then she sliced it into short strips of meat and plopped it into the pot for cooking.
“You can teach me how to fight.” Beauty walked over to Red. “I don’t know if I’d be any good at it, but I’ve always been a quick learner. Had to learn to sew all by myself since my father isn’t any good at those sorts of things.”
She grasped Red’s empty hand and pointed to the small sheath strapped to Red’s wrist.
“Can you show me how to use one of those?”
Red’s heart thundered in her chest. She pulled out a dagger and turned the handle to Beauty, who gripped it tight as Red let her take its full weight.
“You want to loosen your grip a bit. And adjust your thumb. Here.” Red helped Beauty position her hand correctly, touching her smooth skin. “Does that feel more comfortable?”
“A little.” Beauty breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, you can take it back before I accidentally stab one of us.” Her arm was shaking.
“Good idea,” Red said, nervous herself. She took the dagger from Beauty and slipped it into its sheath. “That was step one. You’ll get better in no time.”
“Thanks, that was terrifying.” Beauty laughed and hugged Red. Not knowing what to do with her arms, Red let them hang by her sides, blushing as Beauty squeezed tightly.
“Maybe tonight I’ll show you how to thrust. That’s step two.”
“I’d like that.” Beauty released Red and clasped her hands into her lap.
Once the rabbit was finished cooking, they ate in silence, listening to crickets chirping in the distance, broken by the occasional croak of a frog.
“I think we should rest here for the night,” Red said.
“Okay,” Beauty said. “We should get to the castle late tomorrow.”
“You can use the pillow and blanket. I don’t really need them.” Red handed them to Beauty.
“Nonsense. I think they’re big enough to share.”
“You’re right.” Red swallowed her spit. “They’re probably big enough.”
Beauty laid the pillow at the foot of the rock and rested her head on the downy cushion. She held the blanket up so Red could slide under, and Red did so. They lay with their backs to each other and fell asleep.
Through the night, fairies danced on their bodies, and by the morning, their arms were wrapped around each other as they slept face to f
ace.
Red left the campfire to hunt for breakfast while Beauty collected berries. She kept thinking about how she awoke in the tender embrace of Beauty’s body, staring into her peaceful face, admiring Beauty’s glowing skin and luscious eyelashes. She wondered if Beauty had the same images running through her mind—if Beauty also looked at Red and admired her body, her face, her personality. Was that even possible with a girl like Red?
Then, drowning her thoughts, came the drumbeat of horse hooves.
Red ran back to the campfire, but Beauty was still gone. The hooves were beating closer, so Red bolted across the clearing into the woods. She hid behind a bush and watched.
Three horses galloped into the clearing. The first man she recognized from the town. He still wore his wolf-skin jacket. With him were two shorter men, one skinny, one fat, both faces she’d seen in the crowd.
“All right. I think we found her,” said the man with the wolf jacket. He leapt off his horse and walked up to the campfire.
“What if she already left?” the fat man said.
“Their stuff is still here,” the wolf man said as he inspected the area.
The other two men dismounted. The skinnier one peered into the trees, his gaze nearing Red, then glossing over her and continuing along.
A tree branch snapped on the other side of the clearing.
Each man’s head turned in unison. A moment of silence followed, Red’s own heartbeat the only sound she could hear.
“Let’s get her.” The wolf man ran into the trees, with his two companions trailing behind.
Red bolted after them. She scanned the ground as she ran, plotting her footsteps to avoid leaves and sticks, but she couldn’t keep up. The men were much quicker as they crashed through the trees.
“Hello, Beauty,” the wolf man said.
“Hunter?” Beauty said. They were a short distance ahead of Red. “What are you doing here?”
Red followed the voices until she neared, then slowed down to avoid detection as she listened to the unfolding situation. Hunter stood in front of Beauty, his hands on his hips, grin stretched wide. His two friends flanked Beauty on either side.
“I just came to check up on you. Where’s your friend?”
“What friend?” Beauty asked.
“We saw you leave town with a little girl in a red hood.” Hunter looked around the trees, but Red ducked behind a juniper bush before he could spot her.
“Oh, her? I was just showing her the game trails my father had shown me before. She’s long gone now.”
“The game trails? So you know you’re close to viper territory here. Correct?”
“Of course, I know.”
Hunter scoffed.
“Gonna get yourself bit. Shouldn’t be out here all by yourself.” His eyes looked her up and down.
“As you can see, I’m just fine. You can leave now.”
Hunter laughed.
“Oh, you are not,” he said. “If I was a bear, or . . . the Beast, you would be dead already.”
“That’s right,” the fat man said. “I’ve seen it happen to George. Remember him? Got mauled by the Beast.”
“I remember that. Torn to shreds,” the skinny man said.
“Stop it, you two.” Hunter glared at each of them before stepping forward. “Of course, that won’t happen to Beauty. I apologize if they’re scaring you. Let’s get you back to town.”
“No. I’m fine, Hunter. Really.” Beauty stepped back but bumped into the fat man.
All along, Red had been moving closer, now within ten feet. Her fingers were on her daggers, ready to pull them and charge.
“I would feel better knowing you weren’t out here all alone. As they say, ‘the woods ain’t a good place for a pretty gal.’” Hunter squeezed Beauty’s shoulders and leaned his face close to hers. “I’ll protect you, love.”
“Get off of me!” Beauty pushed at Hunter’s chest with no effect.
“You shouldn’t refuse help like that,” the fat man said.
“No. She shouldn’t,” Hunter said, his hands now wrapping behind Beauty’s back.
“You disgust me,” Beauty said, and she spat in Hunter’s face.
Hunter released her and stood back, mouth agape. He wiped the spit with the sleeve of his wolf-skin jacket and flung it to the ground. As he did so, Beauty turned to run, but the other men grabbed her. Red balanced on the balls of her feet and unsheathed her daggers.
“Now, now. Bad manners, Beauty. I thought you were a lady, not an animal.”
“Help!” Beauty screamed.
Hunter grabbed Beauty by the neck and pulled her to his body.
Red lunged out of the woods and, sliding between the two accomplices, flashed her knives to each side with arms outstretched. Using her forward momentum, she sliced both men through their guts. The fat man’s intestines spooled into the dirt. As the skinny man wrapped his arms around his gaping wound, blood oozed between them and dripped to the ground. Both men looked at each other, their eyes glazed in wonderment and shock. They collapsed.
“Red!” Beauty screamed.
Hunter’s eyes jumped wildly from the bodies to Red to Beauty to the trees.
“Let her go,” Red said. She pointed a dagger at Hunter’s face.
Hunter pushed Beauty forward, her body slamming against Red’s. They both fell between the two dead men. As Red got up, Hunter was running back through the trees to the campfire and his horse. Red held her hand out to Beauty, who took it and rose to her feet.
“Are you okay?” Red asked.
“I—Yes. I’m so thankful you came.” Tears welled up in her eyes.
Red hugged her, letting Beauty’s tears run through her hair.
“I think it’s time to teach you how to use a dagger,” Red said.
“Yes.” Beauty chuckled through her tears. “Probably, it’s time.”
“You’re okay,” Red said.
“Thank you.” Beauty kissed Red on the forehead. Red blushed.
“Let’s head back,” Red said.
As they walked, Red unstrapped her wrist armor and handed it to Beauty.
“You strap it on like this, and you can cover it with your dress sleeves so nobody even notices it’s there.” Red strapped the armor onto Beauty’s wrist, buckled it in, and pulled Beauty’s sleeve down to show her how it was done.
“Okay, now this is how you pull the dagger from the sheath with the same hand. It’s a bit tricky on these, but if you get the hang of it, you can draw it out quickly without notice.” Red demonstrated by reaching for the handle with her middle finger and drawing it out until she could grip it with her thumb. Then she reached with her fingers to the end of the handle and slid it further.
“This is the part where you need to be careful or you’ll cut yourself.” Pinching her thumb and middle finger around the base of the handle, she flicked her wrist backward and the entire dagger glided out from the sheath. Then she pushed down with her thumb, and the dagger rotated around her fingers, the handle falling into her palm.
“That looks incredibly difficult,” Beauty said, her eyes staring blankly at Red’s hand.
“You’ve just got to practice. It’s easy once you get the hang of it. Now you try.”
Beauty attempted to mimic the motion, but when she needed to flick the knife handle into her palm, she only dropped it.
“Close,” Red said. “Just keep practicing and you’ll get it.”
As they walked to their campsite, Beauty practiced unsheathing her wrist dagger over and over. To Red’s surprise, she never cut herself, although she never completed it successfully. When they reached the clearing, the two dead men’s horses remained, and Hunter was nowhere to be found. The fat man’s horse still had plenty of bread and berries among its effects. Red and Beauty sat and ate their breakfast in silence.
“Do you know how to ride?” Beauty asked.
“No,” Red said. “I’ve never been around horses.”
“Do you think I could teach you s
omeday, like you taught me to use the dagger? We might need a little more time though.” Beauty ran her hand up and down the brown nose of one of the horses. It whinnied beneath her touch. “For now, you can just hop on with me.”
“Hop on with you?” Red didn’t know two people could ride the same horse.
“Of course, just get behind and wrap your arms around me. We can both fit on this saddle.” Beauty walked around and pulled herself up on the horse. She smiled down at Red.
“Trust me,” Beauty said.
“Okay,” Red said. “But first . . .”
Red took the water and put out the campfire, then collected her gear. She triple-checked all her weapons, feeling a bit naked without one of her wrist daggers. At some point, she realized she was delaying the inevitable. She wasn’t sure if she was more scared of the horse or of being so close to Beauty, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Red took a drink from the canteen and let the water flow down her throat.
“Ready?” Beauty asked.
“Yes. I’m ready.” Red approached Beauty, who held out her hand again. Red grabbed on and took care to slip her foot into the stirrup. She hopped and lifted her leg over the horse, her cape swirling in a circle. She nearly launched herself too far, grabbing Beauty to stop herself from falling over the other side.
Beauty laughed, which calmed Red’s nerves. Red righted herself and found her arms already wrapped around Beauty’s waist.
“You all right back there?” Beauty asked.
“Yes. Fine,” Red said.
Beauty shouted, “Yah!” and dug in her heels. The horse kicked forward, and Red squeezed tighter, pressing her head into Beauty’s back.
The forest opened into a wide plain with a dark looming castle scratching the sky with haphazard spires. It seemed as if it was designed to intimidate all those who beheld it. At every corner, its architecture featured sharp spikes that could impale anyone who displeased its occupants. It was built of dark stone and black iron, nearly impenetrable to the eye.
As they galloped toward the castle, an overgrown garden of red and white roses split by a winding path replaced the ryegrass. Red found the cloying scent overbearing as they passed through the countless blossoms. She was lost in their beauty until they stopped at the gates. All the windows were pitch black, neither torches nor candles seeming to blaze inside, as if the castle had been long abandoned. They both dismounted the horse.
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