Ruby: A Retelling of Red-Ridinghood (Thistle Grove Tales Book Book 3) by Summer Donnelly

Author:Summer Donnelly [Donnelly, Summer]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Ruby
Publisher: All Chaos Press
Published: 2020-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6 – A Battle

Ruby

The scene before her played out like the third act of her worst nightmare. Wolfe had the witch pressed to the ground, his teeth only bearing down slightly to cause submission but not death.

“Now we’ll see who wins,” the crone shouted. Ruby blinked as recognition hit her. That wasn’t some old witch. The long-haired woman Wolfe was fighting was her Grandmother!

The witch’s face morphed, lost focus, and then became the one Ruby recognized as her grandmother. But then the glamour was gone, leaving a bitter hag in its place.

Smoke continued to billow out of Grandmother’s she-shed. Movement caught her attention, and she focused on it. There was a little boy by the woods miming something, but she couldn’t make out what he was trying to say at this distance.

“You think you’ll have her after you kill me?” Mathilda cried out, her voice rising in shrill power. “You think you can go to her with my blood dripping from your disgusting muzzle, and she’ll still have you?”

Another spell shot from her hands, and the wolf whimpered in pain. The two combatants broke up and began circling again. A wind took Mathilda’s hair, lifting it away from her face in a free-form tangle while saliva and blood mixed on Wolfe’s fur.

“Look at her, bzou! She’ll never love you now!” Her laughter rose, becoming a cackle, and a dam Ruby hadn’t even known lived inside of her came crashing down.

In striking relief, Ruby saw her parents cradling her. Loving her. Warning her away, not from the darkened woods around their home but from the brightly colored witch’s cottage in the clearing.

The memory of her fifth birthday came with glowing candles while her parents and family sang songs to her. She had sneaked out afterward, drawn inexorably to the candy-bright cottage.

“Would you like some chocolates?” the old crone had whispered once she saw Ruby playing in the yard.

Ruby had shaken her head. Despite determinedly not listening to her parents regarding playing in the witch’s house, she knew she shouldn’t take candy from witches.

As though from a distance, Ruby heard the battle raging around her. The grunts and cries as different blows caught and were parried. A child cried in the distance as memories assaulted Ruby with the power of a blow to the mid-section.

Ruby cried out when she saw the image of herself as a little girl reach for the apple the old woman offered. Because, apples, right? There was nothing wrong with accepting fruit from a stranger, was there?

Only it hadn’t been just any apple. Adult Ruby could see what her younger counterpart hadn’t. Ruby had become paralyzed and had been taken into the candy-covered hut. Once inside, Ruby had been thrown into a cage. It was all part of the witch’s wicked plan to destroy the Fables by killing their children.

Another cry came from inside the hut. Ruby’s eyes focused as every puzzle piece in her life fell into place—the witch, the war, the memory lapses, the avoidance of apples, and her grandmother’s warning to keep away from the sheriff.

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