Chapter 2nd

'I must be brave', she told herself, and, pulling up her skirt just as to spare the rim of her dress of the muddy ground, she stepped deeper into the woods, until-

"Boo!! Where are you headed, pray tell!!"

The little foreign girl fell backwards as a man leapt from behind a tree, landing graciously on her path.

"Mister!! You almost scared me to death!!" She gasped, picking herself up "here I am expecting a wolf... and suddenly you... But who are you?!" She looked up suspiciously, remembering there was danger to be expected in the woods.

"Me? I'm no wolf, darling!" The man chuckled "I'm but a gentleman, you see?"

The man opened his arms, submitting himself to the little foreign girl's inspection: He had deep blue eyes, glossy jet-black hair that fell over his brow and curled up at the ends. His skin was very white, not much like the grey she pictured in a wolf, and he was definitely not ugly – she thought, feeling the heat mysteriously go up to her cheeks. He did not walk on fours either - instead, he was very tall and slender, with a broad chest squeezed inside a creamy cotton shirt and a burgundy waistcoat.

"You are, indeed, and I can see that..." she replied, her timid politeness appealing to her mistake. "But... do forgive me, sir: you speak in a funny way, and you smile like a wolf, and you lurk behind the trees here in these woods and pounce upon travelers like a wolf would..."

"Ah, my darling girl, you talk like you've seen a wolf before, when I'm sure it's not the case..." The wolf-man chuckled, taking a step forward.

"I've... I've..." speech was difficult when he approached her as he did, as if he was about to capture her in his long arms "...I've eaten wolf pie, I have!" She blurted out in a childish attempt at intimidation.

With this, the charming man let out a composed laugh.

"et aujourd'hui je vais manger une tarte aux petit filles" He talked secretly, so fast and in such a strange way that the girl could not understand a single word he said.

"Oh!" She gasped "What did you say just now? Could it be that you're a foreigner too, mister? I can't understand you at all..."

"I am, indeed!" He chuckled again "That's why you think I speak in a funny way. Like you, I'm a foreigner, my darling thing, and no wolf at that!". Very smart as well as handsome, the man was quick to use the new information he had just received, and so freely, from this silly little girl. "We are both strangers on this new land. Care to be friends?"

"Perhaps one day, but I must really..." And she looked back in a useless attempt to measure how far of a distance had already stretched between her and the village.

"Now come and tell me, what do you carry in this big basket of yours?" He inched closer, pulling up the cloth protecting the cookies.

"Only such things as wolves like to eat!" The girl yanked the basket away "No foreign man would prey on little girls carrying sweets, I've heard! What do you mean by prying like that?"

"I mean nothing by it, I assure you. Harmless curiosity is all..." He smiled, retrieving his pale fingers. "Sweets are my least favorite thing, dear: My palate is far too sophisticated, and only the mildest of delicacies can satisfy it!"

"Is that so?!" The girl investigated.

"It is so!" The man smiled, sitting back on a tree trunk, watching the girl with tranquil, friendly eyes.

"And what delicacies are those you're talking about?!" The girl, taking pride in being no fool, inquired further.

"Ah, such appetizers as come fleeting my way by accident every now and then!" The man chuckled mysteriously "But they're often far from sweet, dear. Specially when they catch wind of how I'm going to savor them. The last one I had was a rather bitter-sweet mixture, and it packed quite the punch too. But so delicious it was, that... Oh, would you look at that? It seems to have made me hungrier still!!"

The man chuckled like he had made some sort of joke, but the little foreign girl was too busy in her serious investigation to pay him any heed: Bitter-sweet sounded nothing like sweet, she thought. In fact, she had never heard of a bitter-sweet food, nor of one that once you eat it, it makes you hungrier, so it couldn't be anything in the sweet category. I am safe, if only for now – she thought, relieved that the man disliked sweets and liked only strange things she couldn't understand.

"In that case, forgive me, sir: I truly thought you were a wolf. You see, I have never seen one, and you truly do look at me like you're seriously hungry and want to eat me! If you're truly hungry, though, I can share a cookie with you, since you've assured me you are no wolf: they're probably not sweet, for my mother's cooking is disastrous!"

"I'll pass on the cookies, thank you so much for your offer, dear, and don't mind the way I look at you: You are such a pretty thing, you see, I'd like steal you away to my castle and gaze upon you all day long!"

The girl felt a sting of intimidation, and the man smiled confidently on, trustful he looked nothing like a wolf. How could he be one? She thought, conflicted between logic reason and the strange sensations he made her feel. She went through the descriptions Blanchette's mother gave her, just to be sure: This man was far from ugly. In fact, looking at him was strangely uncomfortable, for it made her want to stare some more. He spoke in such a gentle voice, and he moved so graciously too, nothing about him was brute. He smelled of a most intriguing perfume, an overpowering fragance and yet a gentle, smooth one... Perhaps the little foreign girl was being excessively suspicious!

"I'm sorry, my good sir, but wolf or not I can't follow you anywhere at the moment: I am looking for my friend!"

"And what does this friend of yours look like, pray tell?" He caressed his chin with his big, smooth hands. "Perhaps I have seen her pass by."

"She's about this size, and she has blonde hair, and she wears a cape just like my blue cape, except it's red!" The little foreign girl described, turning around to show off her beautiful blue cape.

"Ah, how delightful, a matching pair! But do turn around once more and let me see it again..." The man smiled, swirling his finger in the air prompting the girl to move according to its speed "And your friend wears a cape just like this one, you say? And she is blonde, you say, while you have brown locks falling about your ears, and those lovely black eyes? You two must look like the loveliest things together! Do find her soon enough, dear, and bring her to me as well: That I might have both of you painted and hung on my halls back at home, to make them all the more beautiful when the sun strikes the east towers!"

Imaginative as the little foreign girl was, she quickly pictured the image the man described, and grew curious:

"Towers, sir? What kind of home do you have, that you have towers facing east?" She approached to ask, as he feigned to clean the mud from his shiny boots.

"I live in a far off land, dear – A land of castles and princesses!" He smiled, pleased at her sudden interest.

"And is it so beautiful there?!"

"So beautiful you and your friend would fit in just right: It's home to many cute critters and many flowers alike! And our pastries are so good, you'd relinquish those cookies at once in exchange for one of them!"

"But there you are again..." the little foreign girl blushed with anger "...talking of my sweets like a wolf who's interested in them! I must go at once, sir, for I feel more and more unease by the hour!"

"Ah, no, stay!!" The handsome man pleaded dramatically, arresting the little foreign girl by the fleeting wrist "I am no wolf, I promise you. Here, come and look into my eyes, see if I look like any sort of wolf to you..."

And the little foreign girl let him pull her before him. Standing right between his knees, she could watch him closely: He looked like no wolf she had ever seen, though she had never seen one. He was not hairy, but a few beard stubbles grew around his chin, and some strands of curly black hair escaped through the unbuttoned shirt opening up around his chest area. The hairs on his arms did brush upon her skin when he reached out to caress her naked arms, but they were exceptionally soft, in a way that no wolf hair could be, though she had never touched one. Still, why did she feel so in danger? Being this close to his pink lips felt like standing at the threshold of some sort of perdition. Her stomach swirled mysteriously with an anxiety she could not discern between fear or excitement as his large hands enveloped her waist and seemed to reel her in closer.

"I am convinced, sir, I am, but it will not do: I still have to go and find my friend, for if you're not the threat I initially took you for, I'm afraid she might be in trouble with said wolf!"

"Tell me where this friend of yours went, dear, and I might help you by pointing the right way!" He offered, teasing her with a small caress of his finger to her trembling chin.

"She went to her grandma's Cabin in the woods just beyond those trees, and that's where I'm going! Only..." she motioned to go, but stopped, her eyes weighting with preoccupation.

"Only what, my sweet, little darling thing?" He sung.

"...Only I forgot to ask what I must do to fend off a wolf, in case I find one..."

"Well, then you're in great luck, for I know just how to do it, dear!" The man smiled presumptuously, his fingers now adventuring into her hair, playing at the back of her neck.

"You do?!!"

"Oh yes, I do..." He caressed her face, his blue eyes moving from one spot to the other, taking her in "...And I shall teach you, as long as you promise to come with me to my castle with your friend once you're done, so that I can decorate my lonely halls with your radiant faces!" He smiled tranquilly, he pushed her hair back, he sniffed her neck.

"I promise!!' The little foreign girl held her hands together, making the man's eyes gleam with excitement. "That is... I promise to go once, then you can have us painted, and then we come back. Is that good enough, sir?"

"Oh, coming once is more than good enough for me." His smile stretched, pleased "Well, my dear! For now on, then, I am your professor, and you must call me so! Do now: I want to hear you say it!"

"P-professor..." the little foreign girl said, confusedly but still very excited at the idea of being able to bring wolves in for breakfast like her best friend Blanchette did.

"Very good! Now, it is a tricky thing, to fend off a wolf: you must first cease being attractive to him!" he raised a finger to illustrate his point.

"And how do I do that?! By not bringing in sweets to the forest?"

"That is one way to do things, dear. But if you must transport sweets, you must learn to elude them differently. First of all, you must cease to be such an innocent little thing... No wolf will prey on you then, for only the innocent can be gobbled up by a wolf!"

"And how do I lose my innocence, Professor?!" The little foreign girl paced eagerly forward, placing her hands on his knees and asking eagerly.

The Professor turned red, and had to look away to enjoy a thought, before turning back ahead:

"It is a rather delicate process, dear, but trust your dear Professor to carry you through it, do! And when you're done, you will easily fend off wolves!"

"Does that mean my best friend Blanchette has already lost her innocence?" The girl inquired pensively. "She did fend off a few wolves in her lifetime, according to her mom."

"Ah, I can assure she has, my dear..." The Professor smiled cunningly.

"Well, alright then, I want you to take my innocence, Professor!"

His hands which played about her body couldn't help but squeeze then, excited at the ease of the deed.

"Oh, my dear... I shall relish taking it..." The Professor agreed with a noble bow, and then covered his mouth with his palm while his body shook lightly and his cheeks grew red.

"Can you do so right here? And now?!" The foreign girl insisted eagerly.

"I'd love to dear, I would..." The Professor excused, getting himself up and seizing her by the hand. "but, you see, we might want to walk farther into the woods: It wouldn't be a good idea if the wolf found us before the process is done and interrupted us, would it? I don't know what I would do then! It would be very frustrating, I tell you..."

"ohhhh!" The girl complied, marveling at his intelligence "You're right!"

"Of course I am, darling: I am your Professor! Now come, follow me..." He tugged.