2: Retreat

Olivia ran as fast as she was able. Carrying Maribelle was difficult. She wasn't used to having such a large weight in her arms as she ran, but the 8-year-old clung to her frantically. Maribelle was shaking in Olivia's arms, her fear getting the best of her. Olivia knew how she felt. 

"Olivia, what was that? Who was that? Did you know him? Why did he let us go?" Maribelle asked. She had finally found her voice and she was as confused as Olivia was.

"I don't know, Belle, but I think it's best we not talk about it with anyone. Can you keep it a secret for me? Just you and me?" Olivia asked, glancing down at the little girl. Maribelle nodded her head, her eyes wide. "Just until I figure out what is going on."

"My foot really hurts, Livie," Maribelle said, resorting to the nickname she used for her big sister.

"I know, Belle, I'm going to get you home and we'll get the doctor to look at it. I'm sure it will heal soon. I'll take you there myself once the ceremony is over," Olivia said with a smile.

"Do you think Daddy is happy?" Maribelle asked Olivia, glancing up at her with timid eyes.

"I think Daddy is very happy today. Susan makes him happy and tomorrow she'll get all moved into our house and she will help me look after you," Olivia said with a grin. "We all know I need an extra set of eyes on you."

Maribelle giggled and then winced when she adjusted her foot against Olivia too quickly. 

"Does it hurt badly?" Olivia asked the little girl. She was starting to breathe heavily.

Maribelle nodded.

"I'll get there as fast as I can," Olivia said, speeding up. She was having difficulty carrying her sister and getting back to the manor. It was a two-mile walk from her father's house to the wall and she wasn't used to walking it with a load in her arms, but she kept on, acutely aware that her sister needed her to get there fast.

Maribelle was silent for a few minutes, then she looked up at Olivia and asked the question that she had been burning to ask. "Do you think they meant to hurt me?"

"The werewolves?" Olivia asked, postponing her answer as she thought through what she should say.

Maribelle nodded. "They were werewolves, weren't they?" she asked.

Olivia nodded. "Yes, they were werewolves. I don't think they meant to hurt you, no. I think they were trying to get to the water. You know that Great-great-granddaddy built that wall on our manor to keep the werewolves away. The city paid for it because they wanted the attacks to stop. It worked, we haven't had many large attacks in the last good while, but the werewolves resent us for putting the wall up. I think because the wall blocked their way to water, they were trying to get the water back. Even werewolves need water to survive," she said reasonably.

"They didn't seem scary," Maribelle said, glancing uncertainly at Olivia.

"No, they didn't seem scary at all," Olivia said, remembering her reaction to the werewolf that had helped her, Ben. She had been strangely attracted to him. His scent had overwhelmed her, she would have done anything he had said or asked. She was mesmerized by the sight of him. His dark hair and impressive muscles had paralyzed her for a moment when she had seen him. She had almost embarrassed herself by staring, but she caught herself and focused on her sister. She couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him. She shook her head and looked down at Maribelle. The little girl had been asking her another question.

"What was that, Belle?" Olivia asked.

"Did you know him? He seemed to know you," Maribelle asked.

"No, I've never seen him before. He did act like he knew me, but I don't know why," Olivia said.

Olivia was almost back to the manor, she could hear the chatter of the people at the house and she made a quick decision to detour through the side door, where their servants came and went. She could hear the bustle of trays and clatter of silverware on plates. The guests were still eating. She hadn't been missed, not that she cared. She was still reeling over what had happened.

"What are you doing in here?" a shrill voice rang out. Olivia glanced up and saw the face of their housekeeper, Ms. Bates. She was flushed from the day's activities. "Your father is going to be doing his speech soon, you need to get back out there!"

"Ms. Bates, you need to help me with Maribelle. Her foot is hurt," Olivia said softly, trying to be discreet. Ms. Bates was having none of it.

"What happened to her foot?" the older lady asked, glancing down at Maribelle and taking in the state of her clothes and her ankle. The foot was twisted at an odd angle and had swollen around her ankle. It looked broken, but Olivia couldn't be sure.

"She was hurt," Olivia said evasively.

"Well, I can see that. How did she get hurt? And how did she get covered in all of this dirt?" Ms. Bates was never one for discretion, but today Olivia had really hoped she would not make a huge fuss.

"A stone wall fell on top of her, she was trapped and I had to pull her free," Olivia said, flustered. She still was not giving Ms. Bates the full story.

"A stone wall fell!?" Ms. Bates said loudly, practically shouting in surprise. The servers around them glanced uneasily their way as they heard what Ms. Bates was saying. Their murmurs followed them out into the garden and the reception beyond.

"Yes, shh, please, Ms. Bates. I don't want to ruin Daddy's wedding. I just need to get Maribelle to the doctor, so he can look over her ankle and tell us if it's broken or not," Olivia said, her eyes wide.

"My land child, yes, of course, let's get the doctor," Ms. Bates was moved into action at the word doctor. She grabbed the arm of a passing maid. "Mind you go get Dr. Northern. He is out at table 9, tell him Maribelle has been injured, it is not serious but we need his assistance in Maribelle's room upstairs. Then, lead him up to us, please."

The maid nodded and went to do Ms. B**e's bidding.

"Lord have mercy but I can't remember that girl's name," Ms. Bates said under her breath as she took Maribelle out of Olivia's arms and held her close against her chest.

"Oh, thank you," Olivia said in relief as Ms. Bates bustled out of the room, Maribelle in her arms. Olivia followed closely behind. Olivia's arms were tired from carrying Maribelle so far. She was grateful for the help.

"Don't think I don't know you're keeping something from me," Ms. Bates said in her bossy voice as she climbed the stairs lithely as if Maribelle was as light as a feather duster.

"Please, Ms. Bates. I will tell you later, I promise," Olivia said as she hurried after the housekeeper and followed her into Maribelle's room.

"Alright, I'll let it go for now," Ms. Bates said, setting Maribelle down on the bed and helping her out of her gown and into a pair of pajamas, lying her back on the bed gingerly.

"How do you feel, Belle?" Olivia asked, glancing down at Maribelle.

"My ankle really hurts, Livie," Maribelle said, tears filling her eyes as she finally let herself feel relief that she was back home and safe.

"I know, Belle. The doctor is coming," Olivia said softly, sitting on the side of the bed and taking Maribelle's hand.

A few moments later, Dr. Northern walked into the room. He had followed the pretty maid up from the party. He had, for a moment, suspected the maid wanted to get him alone for other reasons, but upon seeing Maribelle lying on the bed in pain, he quickly switched into an adept professional.

"Let me see your ankle, Maribelle. How did you hurt it?" the doctor asked as he sat next to Maribelle and lifted her gown off her ankle, folding it up to her knee. He held the ankle in his hands and started to prod gently with his fingers. Maribelle screamed in pain.

"There was an explosion, doctor, on the western wall. The wall fell down and I suspect Maribelle was too close to the wall and a rock fell on her ankle. She was trapped, but I found her and lifted the rock off her foot and we came straight back here," Olivia said softly. Ms. Bates had gasped in horror at the news.

"An explosion?! My word, child, you were keeping some BIG news from me down below. I can't believe you didn't say that straight away," Ms. Bates said as she rose in a flurry, ready to rush out of the room.

"Ms. Bates! Wait!" Olivia called out, catching her arm in her hand. "You need to calm down. There was no one at that section of the wall today. No one was hurt, except Belle. We do not need to spread panic among the guests. If you go downstairs right now screaming about an explosion, that is exactly what will happen. The guests will panic, some might even rush to the wall, and we might have casualties today. As of right now, there are none," Olivia said reasonably, holding tight to Ms. Bates arm, lest she tried to run and scream like a chicken with her head cut off regardless of what Olivia said.

Dr. Northern took in Olivia's words and nodded wisely. "Olivia is right, Ms. Bates. You should not tell anyone of the attack just yet. I need you here with me, regardless. I will need to wash Maribelle's foot so I can determine the extent of the injuries."

"Of course, doctor," Ms. Bates said, subdued. She may not have been ready to listen to Olivia, but she was always courteous to the good doctor.

Ms. Bates and the doctor moved Maribelle gingerly to the bathtub and the doctor walked around the screen to give them privacy. He sat next to Olivia.

"Tell me exactly what happened," the doctor said to Olivia. Dr. Northern was in his middle forties, his hair was peppered with gray, and his demeanor was kind and gentle. He had lost his wife several years prior and now he focused on helping those in his community as a tribute to her memory. 

"I noticed Maribelle had left the party about an hour and a half ago. She was mad that Daddy was getting married. She has been difficult all week," Olivia said, starting the tale.

"No, I was not difficult!" a small voice yelled out from behind the screen where she was sitting in a tub of warm water.

"Hush, Belle, let me talk to the doctor," Olivia reprimanded. She continued, "I figured she went to the western wall. She was talking about it earlier this morning. I don't know how she knew, but she seemed to know that there would be werewolves there today."

"I heard it in the market!" Maribelle yelled from behind the barrier. "Ow!" 

"Be still, child, let me wash your foot," Ms. Bates said calmly from behind the screen where she was bathing the little girl.

"I heard it in the market and I wanted to see for myself," Maribelle continued.

"Ok, well, she did go to see for herself. When I noticed she was gone, I went in that direction. I figured she would be near the wall. We usually open the wall walkway to the public on weekends, but because today was Daddy's wedding, it was closed. So, there were no people around. I was about a quarter-mile from the wall when I heard the first explosion. Then there was a second, a third, then a fourth, all evenly spaced. The wall had completely crumbled. I raced ahead and heard Maribelle calling out. She was trapped underneath one of those arch walkways next to the wall. The arch saved her, really, but there were stones keeping her from breaking free," Olivia continued.

"I worked to get her free then carried her back here," Olivia finished lamely. She didn't want to tell Ms. Bates about the werewolves she had seen.

"You lifted the stones all by yourself?" Dr. Northern asked, looking intently at Olivia.

Olivia looked at the doctor, she couldn't lie to him. She didn't want to. She trusted him. She shook her head no but replied, "Yes."

"I see," Dr. Northern nodded, understanding.

"Ms. Bates?" The doctor called out to the housekeeper. She was just finishing with Maribelle's bath. 

"Yes, Dr. Northern?" Ms. Bates called out, peeking around the screen.

"I'm going to need some linen wraps and a bowl of boiled water. Could you get that for me? Also, grab a poultice to wrap around it for the evening," the doctor gave Ms. Bates instructions and she took off in a flurry, going to do his bidding.

"Tell me the rest of the story, Olivia," Dr. Northern said, settling back in his chair and watching her.

"There was a wolf there. He was watching me try to free Belle. He saw that I couldn't lift the rock. Her foot was stuck under a rock about the size of the stool there, but it was heavy. Too heavy for me to lift. Her dress was stuck under another rock, the size of the desk, maybe? It was even heavier, I was hoping to tear it off her to get her out, but I couldn't move either of them. He came up to me, his hands up as if in surrender and he said he wanted to help me. He looked harmless enough so I said ok. He lifted the rocks and let me get Belle out from under them, then he let me go. He said he was in charge of the wolves and they wouldn't hurt me if he told them not to," Olivia said, relieved to be telling someone the truth.

"And what did they want? Did they say anything about the explosion?" Dr. Northern asked, his brows furrowed.

"No, but they were digging a trench to connect to the stream. By now, it's probably done, they were really fast. Their trench went back through the woods. I couldn't see where it ended. I imagine they intend to divert water from the river to their city," Olivia said.

Dr. Northen looked at her with sharp eyes, he nodded, "You're probably right." He considered her again before he continued. "What made you believe that he wasn't going to hurt you?"

"I don't know. He walked close to me and I could smell him. I can't describe it, it was like walking into the kitchen when mom was cooking, but the scent was spicy and delicious. My mouth was literally watering. I thought it was because I was hungry, but the scent left once I left him. I was under his spell, I would have done anything he asked at that moment. I believed every word he said, it was like I didn't have a choice. But, he stayed true to his word. I was safe, he didn't hurt us, and we made our way home," Olivia said.

The doctor looked at Olivia with surprise, his face registering a quick moment of shock before he recovered and schooled his expression. He finally nodded and gestured toward Maribelle.

"Could you help your sister get dressed and back into bed? I'll return in a moment," he stood and walked out of the room.

Olivia went around the barrier and helped Maribelle stand, dry off, and put her pajamas back on. She scooped her sister up in her arms and laid her on the bed, leaving her injured foot propped on a pillow. Maribelle cried out in pain a few times, and Olivia tried to be gentle, but the ankle was swelling impossibly fast.

Olivia sat next to Maribelle and held her hand, whispering soft words of comfort.

With a start, Olivia and Maribelle both turned in unison toward the door, a loud voice was booming down the hall.

"WHERE ARE THEY?"