" Hello, Mummy!" " Hello, darling." " Any presents for me?" " A surprise." " What?" " You know." " No, I don't." "What?" " Where is she?" "Did she miss tea again?" " She said she had tummy ache." " So, she's sulking in her room?" " It's her age." " She's a pest." "So were you once." "Now, go and wake her." "Pest!" "Pest!" " I want you to have a word with her." " I have tried." "I've been upstairs to see her." "But she tells me that I don't understand." " Oh, that's ridiculous." " Well, she's right." "Go away!" "They want you downstairs." "You have to come out sometime." "You can't sulk in there for ever." "Open the door!" "Open it." "You've been at my lipstick, too, haven't you?" "Pest!" "What makes you so different, anyway?" "Buck teeth!" "Come on out, pest." "It's not because I want you, either." "It's because Mummy wants you." "Pest, pest, pest." "Pest, pest, pest." "Say goodbye to your sister, now, so you never forget her." "Stay with me, child." "Chew on this." "It'll keep your mind off things." ""Man, that is born of a woman, hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery." "He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower,:" "He fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay." "In the midst of life we are in death. "" "Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, in his great mercy, to take unto himself the soul of our dear sister here departed, we therefore commit her body to the ground;" "earth to earth, ashes to ashes dust to dust." "Your only sister, all alone in the wood, and nobody there to save her." "Poor little lamb." "Why couldn't she save herself?" "You don't know anything." "You're only a child." " Daddy!" " There, there, pet." "Shall I take her home with me tonight?" "Her mother's in no fit state to look after her." " If only you would." " Come, pet." " I want to stay with Mummy." " Mummy's not well." "Just for tonight." "Come, child." "Come with me." "It's a long way through the wood, but safe by daylight." "Safe, if you keep to the path..." "There's plenty more of these in the woods..." "if you know where to look." "Berries!" "Don't stray from the path, girl." "Did you not hear what I told you?" "Once you stray from the path, you're lost entirely." "The wild beasts know no mercy." "They wait for us in the wood, in the shadow, and once you put a foot wrong, they pounce." "There, there, girl." "Don't take on so." "It's something you have to learn." "Otherwise, you'll end up like your poor, dear sister." "Gran, can I have one?" "I don't see why not." "Eurghh!" "You've got a lot to learn, child." "Oh!" "Never stray from the path, never eat a windfall apple, and never trust a man whose eyebrows meet." "The best winter wool, pet, woven across the valley." "It was so good, so soft, I thought I'd knit a shawl for your sister." "But now... you know what I'll do?" " What, Gran?" " I'll make one for you." "A very special shawl, for a very special lady." "Soft as a kitten." "There's something I should tell you." "Yes?" " But maybe you're too young." " Tell me, Gran." " Too young to understand." " Oh, go on, Gran." "Tell me." "Maybe no child is ever too young." "A wolf may be more than he seems." "He may come in many disguises." "What's that?" "The wolf that ate your sister was hairy on the outside, but when she died, she went straight to heaven." "The worst kind of wolves are hairy on the inside, and when they bite you, they drag you with them to hell." "What do you mean, hairy on the inside?" "Like a furry coat?" "Hush, now, foolish child." "Listen." "Once upon a time, there was a woman in the village and she married a travelling man." "Mwah!" "They've all gone now." "It's a shame your people missed the wedding." "Maybe it is, and... maybe it isn't." "My little brother's idea of a joke!" "Oh!" "Why are you staring like that?" "Because I've never seen anything like you before." "Don't they have girls where you come from?" "None like you." "Come out of the shadows." "Let me see you, my love." "Are all travelling men as handsome as you?" "So, you think I'm handsome?" "The first thing I noticed about you was the way your eyebrows meet." "Doesn't it spoil me, then?" "Come to me, and I'll tell you." "Aaaarghh!" "My dear?" "I must just go out into the yard for a moment." "Why ever for?" "Call of nature." "So, she waited." "And she waited." "And she waited again." "Surely, he's been gone a long time?" "No, it can't be!" "Wolves, indeed!" "He upped and ran - that's all." "It was in his blood." "Yeah." "Wasn't he a travelling man?" "Anything?" "Not a hair nor a hide of him." "Not a footprint." "And what's that, might I ask?" "I told you I heard the wolves last night." "They came and took him when he was making water, when a man is at his most defenceless!" "The murderers!" "The murderers!" "But she was a young thing." "And cheerful of temperament." "And she found another husband, not too shy to piss in a pot." "And then they lived happily ever after?" "Indeed, they did not." "But at first, time passed happily enough." "What a mess!" "Oh, don't start!" "Shut up!" "Here..." "Time passed, and she gave him children." "And that was a bad time for wolves, those years." "Oh, yes." "Not a sheep or a cow was safe." "But for herself, all went right as a trivet... until one winter's night." "My God..." "I'm starving." " Do you want something to eat?" " Didn't you hear me the first time?" "Where did these three spring from?" "Out of my belly." "Your children, but not my children." "Whore!" "Adulteress!" "You hoped I'd never come back!" " I thought the wolves had taken you!" " Better wolf than whore." "If I were a wolf once more, I'd teach this whore a lesson!" "No!" "No!" "He looks just the same as the day I married him." "I'd never let a man strike me." "They're nice as pie until they've had their way with you." "But once the bloom is gone, oh, the beast comes out." "When the wolves, though, the real wolves... when the real wolves mate, do the dogs beat the bitches afterwards?" "Animals." "All wild animals." "Well, that's enough wool for tonight." "Bedtime." "What about a kiss for Granny?" "Don't I deserve a kiss... for my story?" "The best of all girls!" "...learn how to sew, how to take care of things, how to press things." "There isn't anything in the house that you won't be able to do." "Learn how to be useful." "Useful." "I'm sure you'll find it will almost certainly turn out to be a toadstool, and make you deathly ill." "Of course, you won't stay a young girl much longer." "Your mummy and daddy will need all the help they can get." "You must grow wise and learn all you can, now that your sister has gone." "Wolfie, wolfie, you can't catch me" "I've got a wife and a family..." " Wolfie, wolfie..." " Caught!" " Caught who, you snotty-nosed ragamuffin?" " Caught Rosaleen." "Oh, nobody catches my little princess." "Come along, child." "Run, quickly, over here!" "There's too much food now there's just the three of us." "Don't grieve." "Least said, soonest mended." "Rosaleen!" " Shall we play now?" " Play what?" "A game." "I know a good game." "Close your eyes." "Now, come to me." "Closer." "Closer." "Come on." "Come closer." "There." "Now what?" "Can't catch me!" " Mummy..." " Yes, pet?" " Does he hurt you?" " Does who hurt me?" "Does Daddy hurt you, when he..." "No, not at all." " It sounds like..." " Like what?" "Like the beasts Granny talked about." "You pay too much attention to your granny." "She knows a lot, but she doesn't know everything." "And if there's a beast in men, it meets its match in women, too." "Do you understand me?" "Get up and fetch me some water." " Rosaleen..." " Yes?" "I've got you a little present." "What kind of present?" "I thought maybe you'd take a walk with me in the woods." "On Sunday after the service." "Just a little walk, Rosaleen." "Why should I?" "I thought maybe you'd want to." " I'll have to ask." " But tell your mother I'll be with you." "And we won't stray from the path." "They're the best of all roses, fit for the grave of a princess." "They came off my best rose tree." "Why can't Mummy grow roses like that?" "Well, it's a question of a green thumb." "She lacks that." "No hand at pastry, either." " Good morning, Father." " Good morning." "They say the priests' bastards often turn into wolves as they grow older." "What do you mean?" "If the child is born on Christmas Day, feet first, he'll be the one." "If he's born feet first, and his eyebrows meet in the middle." "Oh, yes." "Very bad." "One day, he'll meet the Devil in the wood." "Now, use it wisely." "Waste not, want not." "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Aaaarghh!" "That's a horrid story." "I didn't like it at all." "It's not a story, child." "It's the God's own truth." "So, if you should spy on a naked man in the wood, run as if the Devil himself were after you." "The Devil's one thing, but a priest making babies is another." "I don't think our priest would have it in him." "Well, you can't trust anyone, least of all a priest." "He's not called Father for nothing." "And don't bother to whisper." "He's deaf as a post." "There." "Isn't that lovely?" "All we need is a nice border and fringe." "See how soft it feels." "Soft as snow." " Red as a berry." " Red as blood." "Does the old fool want to brain me?" "What's he up to in the tree, the old monkey?" "Father, Father, are you climbing up to heaven and chopping the rungs of the ladder after you?" "Watch what you're doing." "Can you hear me?" "Don't make so much clamour in the garden of God's house, you irreverent woman." "I heard you." " Watch your silly game!" " Someone's got to do it." "Someone's got to cut away the old wood." "Even evergreens need pruning." "Daddy, leave her be." "He only asked me to walk with him." "What's wrong with that?" " All the same, I don't know..." " Oh, what's the harm in it?" "He's our neighbour." "She's known him since she was a baby." "She still is a baby." " So was our Alice once." " Oh, she'll be gone soon." "She's so pretty." "What is it they say?" ""It's not losing a daughter; it's gaining a son."" "Stop teasing me." "He only asked me to walk with him." "Well, one thing leads to another." "Isaiah, Chapter 11, Verses 6 to 8." ""The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and fatling together, and a little child shall lead them." "And the cow and the bear shall feed." "Their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw, like the ox." "And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den." "They shall not hurt, nor destroy, in all my holy mountain;" "for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."" "I do think she's pretty." "Yes." "That's my boy!" "Don't stray from the path." " When do you have to be back, Rosaleen?" " Soon." "Why are you so crabby today?" "I thought you wanted to come." "And what if I did?" "Well, you should..." "What should I?" "You know." "I don't know." "Look." "It's pretty, but not as pretty as you." " Wasn't that nice?" " No." "What's wrong, Rosaleen?" "Don't you like me?" "Oh, no, I like you." "I like you well enough." "Well, why won't you kiss me?" " You're afraid, aren't you?" " I'm not afraid." "Well?" "That wasn't very good." "Give me another." "You'll have to catch me first." "Rosaleen?" "Rosaleen?" "Rosaleen?" "Rosaleen?" "Rosaleen?" "Where are you?" "Oh, Jesus!" "Wolf!" "Wolf!" "Wolf!" "Wolf!" "Wolf!" "Wolf!" "Where's my daughter?" "What have you done?" " She ran away from me!" " Where's my daughter?" "Where's Rosaleen?" " Get your hands off him!" " Don't you hit my boy!" " You pig!" "Your son left my only daughter to the mercy of the wolves!" "A daughter's one thing; a heifer's another." "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "I'll cool you off!" "My darling, where have you been?" "You're in such a state." "Look, Mummy." "Take care, won't you?" "And take this." "No." "This is all these beasts understand." "Kill them before they kill you." "That's the way." "Keep close." "Keep close." "There was once a village so plagued with the beasts, that they drew one up in the bucket of the well." "Hush your antique gossip, unless you want the wolves to hear it." "We're nearly there." "You're such a big girl now, aren't you?" "Come on." "Hold still." "There you are, big girl." "Be careful with those boys or they'll take you in the woods again." "What boys?" "Clowns are what the village boys are." "Your granny spoils you." "She makes you think you're something special." "That red shawl!" "You think wolves are big now?" "You should have seen 'em when I were a lad." "Monsters, they was." "That's the truth." "Veritable monsters." "Big as a man." "Bigger." "When will Daddy have done with the killing?" "When the beast is dead, and not until the beast is dead." "We won't live quiet until then." "Be winter soon." "A hard winter." "A hard winter brings out the wolf." "Thank God we're safe indoors." "We must hide in the trees!" "Settle that duck, boy." "Quickly." "Douse the lights!" "Into the trees." "Come on." "Quickly." "Quickly, boy." "Quickly." "Over here." "Over here." "Come on!" "Come on!" "Granny says wolves might not always be what they seem." "How can a wolf be worse than it already is?" "Not worse, but different." "Maybe it isn't the wolf's fault, Mummy." "Maybe..." "Maybe what?" "Maybe, once upon a time..." "Are you going to tell me a story?" "Maybe I am." "Go on, then." "Once upon a time..." "there was a woman in the valley." "Mmm?" "And the son of the big house did her a terrible wrong." "Ohh." "So, she came to his wedding, to put wrong to right." "My dear, she was a beautiful lady." "No-one would have suspected a thing." "This is the happiest day of my life." "Shall we, my dear?" "Ladies and gentlemen... a toast." "To the bride and groom." "To the bride and groom." " To the bride and groom." " Come on, lad." "Kiss the girl!" " Go on, my dear." " Come on." " 'Twould be a pleasure!" "Come, my dear." "A taste of what's to come." "What?" "Er... sorry." "Nothing, my dear." "Well done, sir." "Very good." "Your every happiness, my dear." "So, I wasn't good enough for you?" "I was once." "Once upon a time." "Don't you remember?" "Well, don't you?" "The wolves in the forest are more decent." "What's going on?" "Where did you hear a story like that?" "Not a story, but God's honest truth." "Granny told me." "And after that, the woman made the wolves come to sing to her and the baby at night." "Made them come and serenade her." "But what pleasure would there be in that - listening to a lot of wolves?" "Don't we have to do it all the time?" "The pleasure would come..." "from knowing the power that she had." "Dad, it's a wolf!" "Got you, you hound of hell!" "Praise be to God!" "When I cut it off the carcass for a trophy, it was a forepaw." "The forepaw of the biggest wolf I ever saw." "The wolf that killed our Alice?" "Aye, maybe." "When I cut it with a knife, it was a forepaw - I swear!" "A grizzzzled, giant wolf." "And then, before my very eyes..." "Whose is it, Daddy?" "Is it someone you knew?" "What do I know whose hand it is?" "All I know is what I see." "Get it out." "Was it a wolf or a man you killed?" "When I killed it, it was a wolf." "It turned into a man." "Seeing is believing." "Is it?" "What about touching?" "Get it out!" "Whatever it is... now it's dead meat." "Do we bury it or burn it, Daddy?" "You're besotted with that old lady - her and her old wives' tales." "Maybe you shouldn't go." "Daddy killed the great wolf." "I'll be safe in the forest now." "Mind you don't stray, and take something to protect yourself." "How about a knife?" "You're not afraid of anything, are you?" "You're a fearless child" " I'll say that." "I suppose your granny will ask you to stay the night." "You always were her favourite." "Of course I'll stay the night, if she asks me." "It would be rude not to." "She is my grandmother." "And she may not have a kind word for you, but she's always been good to me." "She's all alone out there, Mummy." "Maybe you're right and maybe you're not." "Give her that from me." "And don't stray, now, Rosaleen." "I trust you." "You won't be lucky twice." "I promise." "Rosaleen!" " Where are you going?" " Off to see my granny." "It's a long way through the woods." "Let me come." "You'll be safe with me." "Go into the woods with you?" "After what happened last time?" "Let me come." "I'll protect you." "No." "I've got this to protect me." "Miss." "Where did you spring from?" "Did I scare you?" "I am sorry." "At least you've got your clothes on." "Huntsman, are you?" "Lost your horse?" "Lost my horse and lost my companions, young lady." "And lost your way, too." "I do believe I just found it." "I say, do you think you could spare me a drink out of that?" "Well, I would, but it's for my granny." "I know the very place, up the way, for a picnic." "I have the most remarkable object in my pocket." "That means I'll never lose my way in the wood." "In your pocket, you say?" "This object goes everywhere with me." "Whenever, that is, I wear my trousers." "Go on." "Bite it." "Don't you know how strong that is?" "A man in our village keeps a still." "He has the reddest nose you ever saw." "He tells lies, too." "Like you." "I don't believe there is such a thing." "Seeing is believing." "The little needle always points north, no matter where I go, so I always know exactly where I am." "I don't believe it, even though I see it." "It was this compass that brought me safe through the wood." "But you lost your way in the wood." "But..." "I found you." " Are you sorry?" " No." "I'm not sorry." "They're clowns, the village boys." " Well, then..." " But you should never leave the path." "I've only just got onto the path." "I was perfectly safe before." "Aren't you afraid of the wolves?" "Why should I be frightened of the wolves?" "You must know the worst wolves are hairy on the inside." "Old wives' tales!" "Peasant superstition." "What?" "A bright, young girl - pretty, intelligent girl like you - believing in werewolves!" "But my granny said that..." "For believing in old wives' tales you deserve to be punished!" "I'll show you I'm not afraid of the wolves, Rosaleen." "I'll make a bet with you." "I'll bet you anything you like that I get to your granny's house before you do." "How?" "Because I'll use my compass to help me across the country, while you trudge along the dreary path." "Bet me your compass." "Bet you your heart's desire." "And if I lose?" "You can give me a kiss." "Here." "Take my hat as a token of goodwill." "Wear it until we meet again." " Who is it?" "Only your granddaughter." "Lift up the latch and walk in." "God save us!" "Get thee back to hell from whence you came!" "I don't come from hell." "I came from the forest." " What did you do with Rosaleen?" " Nothing she didn't want." "Aaaarghh!" "Who's there?" " Only your granddaughter." " Lift up the latch and walk in." "So, you got here before me." "Just as you said you would." "I did." "Where's my granny?" "Gone out to the woodpile to fetch more logs." "A real gentleman would never let an old lady go out on a night like this." "She won't be long." "She's not there." "Is that all you left of her?" "Your kind can't stomach hair, can you?" "Even if the worst wolves are hairy on the inside." " What do you know about my kind?" " My granny told me plenty!" "Are you very much afraid?" "It wouldn't do me much good to be afraid, would it?" " What big eyes you have!" " All the better to see you with." "They say seeing is believing, but I'd never swear to it." "You must be wet through." "Won't you take off your shawl?" "Uh-uh." " What shall I do with it?" " Into the fire." "You won't need it again." "Your kind can't stomach clothes, either." "Who's come to sing us carols, then?" "Only my companions, darling." "I love the company of wolves." "Look out of the window, and you'll see them." "Poor creatures." "It's freezzing cold out there." "No wonder they howl so." " What?" "Are you sorry for them?" " Yes, and for you, too." "You're a bold, fearless girl, aren't you?" "And now you must give me back my gun, my dear." "Are you our kind or their kind?" "Not one nor the other." "Both." "Then where do you live?" "In our world or theirs?" "I come and go between them." "My home is nowhere." "Are you only a man when you dress like one?" "Like Granny said?" "My, what big arms you have!" "All the better to hug you with." "Well..." "Perhaps." "You did win your bet, didn't you?" "You're a gentleman." "You're a fine gentleman." "They say the Prince of Darkness is a gentleman, and, as it turns out, they're right." "A fine gentleman." "Gentlemen always keep their promises." "Do ladies keep their promises, too?" "What do you mean?" "Indeed, I won my bet, so now... you owe me..." "I remember." "A kiss." "Will you be honourable and pay me?" "Or... will you not?" "Jesus!" "What big teeth you have!" "All the better to eat you with." "Aaaarghh!" "Aaaarghh!" "I'm sorry." "I never knew a wolf could cry." "Leaving you, are they?" "You'll be all alone." "I'll tell you a story of a wounded wolf." "Once upon a time, when the village was asleep a she-wolf came from the world below to the world above." "She meant no harm to anyone." "But someone meant harm to her." "So, she ran, and she ran and she ran again." "Who's there?" "Who's there?" "This is holy ground." "Can you speak, my child?" "Are you God's work or the Devil's?" "Oh, what do I care whose work you are?" "You poor, speechless creature." "It will heal in time." "And the wound did heal, for she wasjust a girl, after all, who had strayed from the path in the forest," "and remembered what she'd found there." "So, back through the forest... she ran and ran to the well and the village... from whence she came." "She crept inside... to the world below." "And that's all I'll tell you because that's all I know." "Rosaleen!" "Rosaleen!" "Rosaleen!" "No!" "Don't shoot!" "Don't shoot!" "Rosaleen!" ""Little girls, this seems to say, never stop upon your way." "Never trust a stranger friend." "No-one knows how it will end." "As you're pretty, so be wise." "Wolves may lurk in every guise." "Now, as then, 'tis simple truth." "Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth. ""