First Revelation

Both Grayson and I stared at Grandma Agnes for the longest time after she made that statement--wolves have everything to do with everything. What was that supposed to mean? It took me so long to formulate that question, or any other, that my mother appeared at the foot of the stairs. We couldn’t see her, not yet, but we could hear her footsteps. When she ducked into the kitchen, my eyes went to her face.

She looked… suspicious. “What’s going on in here?” she asked, not angry, just curious. 

Neither of us girls answered. Grandma shrugged and got up from the table. “Not much. I’m getting ready to ice my men. You wanna help?”

“No, thanks, Mama.” My mother usually called Grandma that, Mama, even though she wasn’t her mom. She was my deceased father’s mom. My other grandparents lived in a nice, normal suburban home in Minnesota. It was too bad that we couldn’t have gone to live with them, if we had to go and live with anyone.

But then, my grandmother’s words came back to me. So… this did have to do with the wolves I’d seen in the back yard the day before we’d picked up and moved. But why? And what did Grandma mean that wolves had everything to do with everything? I was seventeen years old now, and no one had ever mentioned a wolf to me in my entire life. They were as little a concern as… unicorns or dragons. In fact, they had so little to do with me and my life, up until a few days ago, I couldn’t remember ever even saying the word wolf, at least not in my home. Maybe at the zoo that time, when we’d seen them in their cages. But… wolves didn’t seem to have anything to do with anything, let alone everything to do with everything.

I hadn’t intended to say any of that aloud, though. It seemed like I shouldn’t, not in front of my mom. My plan was to wait and ask Grandma later, when Mom was out of the room. I had a feeling she’d divulge more information that way.

The choice wasn’t mine, though. “What do you mean wolves have everything to do with everything?” Grayson asked as my mom poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot my grandma had made earlier and headed toward the table. She stopped mid-stride, her eyes bulging as she took in my sister and then turned to where Grandma stood icing her gingerbread men near the stove.

Grandma didn’t turn around, only let out a loud sigh. “Questions, questions,” she murmured. “Nothing to be answered.”

“What did you tell them?” Mom wanted to know, facing Grandma who still wouldn’t look at her.

“She didn’t tell us anything.” Grayson’s exasperation was back. “No one will tell us anything.”

Now, Grandma turned. “All in good time, my dear.”

“No, not in good time!” Grayson pounded her fist on the table, shaking it. “I want to know why we had to come here, why we had to leave California, all of our friends, our lives, and what the hell it has to do with wolves!”

“Language!” my mother scolded.

Grayson narrowed her eyes as she pushed her chair back from the table with a screech. In response to my mother’s request for her to watch her mouth, Grayson let out a stream of obscenities like nothing I’d ever heard before. I wasn’t aware one could use the F word to modify the F word, but my sister had. Then, she ran around the table, past my mother, whose jaw was practically scraping the floor, and headed up the stairs, her footsteps so heavy, they shook the wall and ceiling.

Grandma Agnes cleared her throat and turned around to face us, a gingerbread man in her hand. “That went well.” She bit off the man’s leg, closed her eyes and added, “Mmm mmm mmm.”

My mom gasped and walked out of the kitchen, toward the living room. I decided she wanted to have her coffee elsewhere.

Grandma’s rich chuckle was barely audible, but I could see the glee on her face. I knew she thought of my mother as her own child. She had known her long enough for that to practically be the case. It was clear my grandma was a little ornery, and seeing my mom set off by her daughter was amusing to her. Grabbing another gingerbread man from the platter where she’d set them after draping them with sticky white frosting, she came over to the table and set the chap down in front of me, without even using a plate.

I didn’t care if she didn’t care. “Thanks,” I said, snapping off his left arm and popping it into my mouth. It was delicious, of course, like always. The perfect blend of spices hit my tastebuds, and I could see why Grandma would close her eyes to relish the moment.

She finished eating hers and then dusted off her hands, taking a drink from her cup. I wasn’t that hungry, but the cookie was so good, I managed to eat most of it before I had had enough and leaned back in my chair. Now was as good a time as any to ask, “Grandma, will you tell me what you meant?”

She sighed again, but this time, she was shaking her head no. “I’m afraid I can’t, sweetie. It’s not that simple. This forest holds many secrets, and she will reveal them to you one at a time, in season.”

“She?” I asked, thinking she might mean me mother.

“Yes, the forest. She is just as much alive and conscious as any other living, breathing creature.”

I had to raise an eyebrow at that. My grandma can be a little… kooky sometimes. That was probably the craziest thing I’d ever heard her say, up until that point, anyway. “The forest is a woman?”

She shrugged and nodded. “What else would she be? It’s Mother Nature, after all, isn’t it?”

“Does she have a name?” I asked, going along with it, an amused expression on my face.

My grandmother sounded like she’d really lost her mind. “Have you seen her?”

“No, you can’t see her. But you can feel her. You’ll see, dear. Soon enough. Besides, it isn’t the forest you should be concerned with anyway, darling.”

“Right.” I tried not to sound too sarcastic as I added, “It’s the wolves.”

“At the moment, it’s actually not the wolves. It’s you.”

“Me?” A smirk took over my face despite my best efforts. “What do you mean, Grandma?” Did she mean that I should be concerned about myself because I’d left the only home I’d ever known to move out into the middle of nowhere?

“You’re seventeen now. I have a gift for you. I will not give it to you until your mother is ready for you to have it. In the meantime, you need to get to know yourself, Harlow. The forest can help you with that, but you mustn’t travel too far from this home. Stay within sight of my house whenever you are out there, at least for now. Don’t be pulled away by the enchantment that is always just out of reach. Once you begin to feel your way through who you truly are, then you will know it is safe to move away, where the house is just out of view. Little by little, you will find yourself further from home, but it must be small steps, guided steps, baby steps if you will. Until you know yourself, you cannot know the forest, and when you do not know the forest, therein lies the danger. There are those nearby who would help you so that you, in turn, may help them, but you may never know when the danger might strike, and above else, you must keep yourself safe.” A sad expression took over her face as she added, “You are not indestructible.”

I took all of that in with a thousand questions looming in my mind. It seemed as if she’d gone off of her rocker completely, lost her mind, but it was clear by my grandmother’s eyes that she meant what she was saying, that she believed it. For some reason, that made a flicker of belief take shape inside of me as well. What it was about her words that made me start to think there was a possibility that the forest truly was alive, that there was both magic and danger beyond these walls, out amongst the trees, I cannot say, but something changed inside of me then. 

“Do you think… I could go outside… now?” I asked, half afraid of the dangers she’d mentioned but more curious about the enchantment she’d also spoken of.

Grandma nodded. “Yes, of course you can. But remember what I said. You must keep the house within view. My house. The red one. There are other houses out there, Harlow. Some hidden by the trees others hidden by other means. Be careful.”

I nodded, and as if in a trance, I pushed my chair back from the table and walked toward the back door, wondering what I might find in the woods of Whisper Hollow.