Luck O’ the Irish Celebration – Tales as Old as Time by Heather Long

Thanks to Didi for having me here at Guilty Pleasures this week as we are on the fast track to St. Patrick’s Day. We’re chatting about superstitions and lucky charms this week and what better to talk about than fairy tales. Fairy tales are our cultural repository for superstitions, beliefs, morality and public safety. Once upon a time, these folk tales were PSAs, warning children and innocents alike of the dangers in the forest, the dangers in trusting strangers, the dangers on relying on the quick fix and so much more.

It’s somehow appropriate then that one such fairy tale made its way into Brave Are the Lonely. The many different variants on the tale all include the lust of the Big Bad Wolf hunting Red Riding Hood. He consumes her grandmother and takes her place so that he can lure her in. In some tales, the lumberjack slices the wolf open – freeing both the grandmother and Little Red. In other tales, he is unsuccessful in catch Red and the lumberjack frees her grandmother.

The enchantment of Little Red Riding Hood’s tale folded beautifully into the story of Cody, the werewolf and Mariska, the gypsy princess. Like all the storytellers before me, I took some liberties with the tale. You can learn a little bit more about my take on the tale of the Red below.

Excerpt from Brave Are the Lonely
“And so, in memory of our Cassian and to honor our guests, we will toast the Red tonight. Like Cassian, the Red faced the enemies of the Travelers, meeting the threat and drawing it away. She gave time to her people and so we always remember the Red, for without the Red, we would not be here to share our fire, our food and our families.” The man’s voice dropped an octave, the storyteller weaving his tale.


“Once, in the woods of the old country, the Travelers made their way through the Dark Wood from Daminsk to Schwae. The snow fell early that year, freezing crops before they could be harvested, driving away the game to huddle against the misery of the cutting winds. But Daminsk closed their gates to the Travelers, the road to Schwae the only option. The Dark Woods promised danger, but lurking beneath the unwelcoming Daminsk gates promised death.


“The Travelers battened down their wagons and sent their horses to follow the road, each wagon carrying the torch, a caravan of heat and light to ward away the darkness. But the wolves, starved and bold, were not dissuaded. They haunted the path of Travelers, stealing away the littlest of littles at every opportunity. The Travelers ventured deeper until only the black of night surrounded their torches.”


Heinrig paused as though allowing his audience to absorb the words. Worry frayed the edge of Cody’s concentration. The threat of a hungry wolf pack was no small matter. Most of his wild brethren avoided humans. He’d stalked a pack for nearly a week, only to have them slip away before he could venture amongst them.


Wolves were predators. But so were humans. The winter must have been harsh, indeed, for the wolves to continue to follow the Travelers.


“Two nights into the journey the Travelers feared they would never see light again, for even when the sun rose the gray half light revealed their stalkers pacing them through the forest. Children huddled inside the wagons, the men kept their weapons at ready and even the women gathered up stones for slinging. On the third night the wolves attacked. They carried away two men and four women, leaving only the bloodiest of remains for the families to mourn. So it was that Red stepped up to declare they must pay a toll to the wolves, they wanted their fill of blood and bone, so it was blood and bone they should be offered.


“Though her mother begged her and her father forbid it, Red was convinced. Red dressed herself, wearing only a thin chemise and the red hood of marriage. She carried her single torch into the darkened wood, blazing off into the darkness.


“The families gathered closer together, the warmth of the flame little comfort in the bleak night. The wolves came, the sound of them crunching leaves under their feet, the harsh whuffs of their breath thundered in the stillness of the night, but Red did not slow her step, nor did she look back. “


Cody was on the edge of his seat, hands clasped together. He didn’t bother to disguise his stare. How the hell could they have let a girl go out to face a wolf pack? He wasn’t sure whether to be disgusted with the cowardice of her people or filled with admiration for her bold choice.


A hand covered his and he jolted. Mariska knelt next to him on the ground, her expression almost kind. Her slender fingers relaxed the hard knot of tension locking his fingers together. To Cody’s surprise, it wasn’t Heinrig who continued the story, but the dark haired kitten kneeling at his feet.


“The Red went into the forest,” Mariska’s accent added a huskier note to her voice. “She carried neither blade nor stone, only her torch to light her way. The wind blew her thin chemise against her body, wrapping her legs in the length of its skirt and her red cloak flared behind her, offering no respite from the cold. She did not allow her teeth to chatter and marked her steps carefully lest she stumbled.


“Around her the wolves closed in, the heat of their bodies glowing like small torches in the darkness. She looked not to her people behind or to the wolves around, but to the path in front of her. Only when the great wolf appeared in front of her did she pause. The wolf’s great size terrified her, but she looked not away from the blazing glow of his eyes. With great care, she held her torch aloft and knelt amongst the crackling leaves, her cloak spilling about her like a puddle of blood.


‘To you, oh great wolf,’ she murmured. ‘I offer blood and bone. To you great wolf, I ask for the passage of the Travelers through these empty woods. Take me, great wolf and let my people go.’ The Red then took her torch and upended it into the dirt, the wet snow and mud extinguishing its flame and plunging her into the icy blackness of certain death.”

Brave are the Lonely is available at All Romance eBooks, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

About Heather:
Heather Long lives in Texas with her family and their menagerie of animals. As a child, Heather skipped picture books and enjoyed the Harlequin romance novels by Penny Jordan and Nora Roberts that her grandmother read to her. Heather believes that laughter is as important to life as breathing and that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are very real. In the meanwhile, she is hard at work on her next novel.

You can find Heather at:
Her website: http://www.heatherlong.net  
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/HVLong 
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/HeatherLongAuthor

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