12
W ithout waiting another moment, Hannah ran off, past the balcony and over to the little gate, which—she sent a quick prayer to heaven—was unlocked. She pushed it open and darted out without once looking back at the castle and the enchanted prince.
Outside the massive castle wall was a narrow trail that she followed to get back to the small road the coach had taken to bring her there. She would simply follow the road back. Luckily, it was the height of summer and not too late in the evening. It would be another two or three hours before the sun went down, and by then, she would be out of the forest and no longer far from town—if not already home!
She gathered up her swinging skirt and started to jog. She wanted to leave the castle behind as quickly as possible. Tonight. She wanted to be home with her sweet peas. If there was one thing all this was good for, it was that she could feel once more how much she missed her children, how much she enjoyed sitting with them night after night, reading them stories, and caressing the youngest children’s heads when they were plagued by nightmares.
She heard clattering and clanking sounds. Was the bear wreaking havoc in the castle and destroying the entire interior and all the tableware? Doors were banging, and the bear was roaring and shouting. Was that her name? She didn’t care. She came to the large portal that led to the castle courtyard and ran past it. Was someone waiting in the shadows to pull her back into this strange situation? But no one was lurking behind the gate. Not a soul was in the castle square, and nobody came charging out of the large castle portal to hold her back—not even the bear.
She followed the small road, which hardly even merited the name since it was not tarred, cobbled, or paved in any way. It was nothing but trampled earth with some blades of grass and dandelions growing along the side. Hannah kept running. Her heart was pounding, and the stitches in her side were starting to bother her, but she refused to slow down until the path entered the forest and the castle was no longer in sight. She gritted her teeth, gathered her dress up higher, and hurried into the forest a short while later. Four more steps. Three, two, one. At last, she paused, turned around, and sighed with relief. The castle was no longer in view, and the bear prince hadn’t followed her. She held one hand to her side, pulled up her skirt with the other, and continued to run. She was panting loudly, but no one could hear it anyway. The few deer and rabbits that lived in the woods so close to the town had surely long since fled her approach.
She followed the bumpy little road and was glad the red slippers were so comfortable. If she had worn any of her own shoes, she was sure she would have long since been tormented by blisters. If only the poor girl had kept them on back then, they might have served her well for her flight into the forest.
Hannah’s pulse gradually calmed, and she marched bravely onward through the forest. How long would she need to cross it? The carriage ride had taken half an hour at most. And they hadn’t been going very fast with all the rocks and bumps along the way and the large roots extending far into the path.
Her mouth was dry, and her tongue was stuck to her hard palate. Something to drink would be great. But she was used to ignoring her own needs. How many times had she ducked into the children’s room on her way to the bathroom because of yet another emergency, only to remember hours later that her bladder needed relief? She was a mother, and a single mother at that. If anyone could ignore pain, it was her!
The hours passed, and still she was walking along the dusty path through the woods. The hem of her dress was covered with dirt and dust, and a few loose threads were dragging on the ground. And although her will was as strong as ever, her footsteps were slowing down. Behind her, the sun was already low in the sky. It would not be long before it vanished behind the highest treetops.
The light in the forest was changing. For just a moment, Hannah stopped and looked around. Trees and bushes, moss and lichens, beechnuts and acorns were scattered here and there, all bathed in the warm light of the sun’s last rays. Other than that, she saw nothing. The woods around the castle ruin were not especially deep—she knew that. Back when she had come with her children, she had driven to a nearby parking lot and walked to the ruin from there. And that was only because Leon and Emi had been far too small at the time for a long trek. She and Marco could have easily covered the distance from their home to the ruin on foot. But now, Hannah must have been underway for over two hours, and the forest still had not thinned out. She didn’t hear a single car or see the city lights that should have been twinkling in the twilight some time ago. How could that be?
She walked onward with a pounding heart. She couldn’t have gotten lost! There hadn’t been a single crossroads, and she was walking along the exact same road by which she had come. Her heart was pounding faster. Why hadn’t she left this godforsaken forest long ago? She needed to go home! To Marco, Emi, and Leon!
It was growing darker by the minute. The sun was slowly disappearing behind the tops of the trees, and the last remaining strip of pink along the horizon barely pierced the darkness through the leaves. She pulled her cell phone out of the red pouch for the twentieth time and turned it on. No signal. But the light from the screen reassured her a bit. It gave her the illusion that civilization might be close at hand.
A loud howl echoed in the distance. Was that... a wolf?
Her heart beat faster. There were no wolves in this forest. There were no wolves in the whole region or in the whole damn country! She quickened her steps and pulled up her skirt, but she still couldn’t walk very fast in the dwindling light. She could barely make out the path anymore—all she could see were the silhouettes of the trees and shrubs. She could not stray from the little road! Whatever happened, she must not lose her way in this forest! Somehow, it had suddenly grown so vast that it was in fact possible to get lost...
Once again, a creature howled in the distance. It sounded a hell of a lot like a wolf. But how could she know what they really sounded like? All the howling wolves she had ever heard had been in the movies or radio plays or... for all she knew, maybe they sounded completely different in real life!
With the third howl, she heard two more creatures. They were answering. Weren’t there other animals that also responded like that? What about stray dogs? Yes, they had to be wild dogs! There must have been some of those. And they were far away!
“Ouch! Damn it!” She had run into a bush. She used her cell phone screen for light, but it did next to no good. The battery had gone down to less than twenty percent, and the light was growing dimmer and dimmer. The only thing she could still make out in the glimmer of the artificial light was the multitude of thorns on the undergrowth that were catching on her dress. If she didn’t want her phone to give up the ghost, she would have to turn it off. Or at least keep it in her bag. Sighing, she slid it into her little purse and took two steps back to get out of the bush, but the thorns would not let go. Once again, an animal howled. And it didn’t sound that far away. With one vigorous yank, she pulled her dress out of the bush, and the loud rattle pierced the silence of the night.
Hannah had to try really hard to see the little road. “Frieda, I’m going kill you when I get my hands on you!” Her fury gave her the strength to keep going.
Five creatures were howling now. Hannah stopped and looked around. Were the creatures nearby? Her heart was pounding, and she placed her hand on her chest to calm herself down. Panicking wouldn’t help right now! She had to use what light remained to finally leave the forest behind. She started jogging slowly at just the right pace to keep following the path.
She heard a rustling sound to her right, and something scurried through the underbrush. It had to be a mouse! Or a squirrel! They had those here as well. No need to panic! Hannah kept running, undeterred, but on hearing more rustling to her side, she turned her head to the right for a moment—and up on a rise at far too short a distance, she saw the glow of yellow eyes. At least three pairs of them.
Her heart sank. She gathered up her skirt and took off, running farther and farther down the small road as she searched between the trees for the lights of the city that would signal her salvation. But nowhere could she detect any light from humans. She could hear the creatures creeping closer, the leaves rustling beneath their paws, the snapping twigs...
What could she do? How could she defend herself? Running was her only chance! She hurried onward, as fast as she could in the dusky light. Again and again, she would hit a tree with her shoulder or brush against a shrub with her full skirt. But still she hurried onward, never stopping once. The creatures were following along to the side. Another glance, and Hannah knew there were more.
Oh, God in heaven, or Andrew in heaven, do something! Don’t let the kids become orphans! She wanted to run even faster, but it was just too dark.
Right at that moment, the wolves attacked. They jumped down from the rise and straight toward her. Hannah let out a scream as she rushed off the path and through the forest. She had to escape these creatures! She couldn’t let the wolves get her!
The next moment, more yellow eyes appeared before her, right in the direction where she was headed. The animals had her surrounded. Hannah stopped dead in her tracks and looked around frantically. At least seven creatures were coming toward her from every direction. There was no escape. She bent down and searched for a branch. Grabbing the first she could find, she swung it through the air and screamed as loudly as possible: “Get—get away from me! Get out!”
The wolves circled her, coming closer and closer. Not for an instant did they take their eyes off her. Hannah slowly turned around and looked each animal in the eye. She could not show any fear—no weakness! She had to get back home! She pulled herself up to her full height of nearly five feet seven inches. “Get away from me, damn critters, get! Get out!” she screamed.
The first wolf jumped. Hannah fended him off with a well-aimed blow, though it was more a matter of luck since she could barely make out the creatures’ contours. All that shone in the darkness were the wolves’ yellow eyes, as if they were the saving light in the night. Yowling, the animal fell to the ground. The rest of them growled and bared their teeth, and one of them took a bite out of her dress. The ripping sound of the fabric pierced the quiet of the night. Hannah screamed and whacked the animal’s head as hard as she could with the branch. But another wolf grabbed her dress from behind and jerked it wildly about.
“Help!” she screamed, though no one could hear. “HEEEEELP!”
She swung the branch at the wild animals, which were acting more and more aggressive. Then, as one of the wolves snapped at her leg and another prepared to pounce, a large figure swept in, grabbed the creature by the neck, and threw it against a tree. Looking next to her, Hannah spotted a brown bear. One after the other, he seized each wolf and flung it to the side. His roar was so loud that Hannah’s arms were suddenly covered with goosebumps.
One of the wolves tried to grab her foot. She stepped back and swung the branch at the creature as the bear hurled two more wolves into the dark. The animals yowled and growled while circling Hannah and the bear as if they belonged together. Was this the prince? Hannah glanced at him briefly, but she could hardly make anything out in the darkness. It had to be the prince. Had he come to rescue her?
The bear let out a loud roar and, rising to his full height, he stomped toward the wolves, who stuck their tails between their legs and ran.
Hannah watched the fleeing creatures in disbelief and peered to either side. Was there not a single wolf left? Or could one be lurking behind a tree?
“What are you doing in the forest at night?” the bear roared.
At least, now there was no doubt that this was the transformed prince.
“I’m trying to go home!” All of a sudden, Hannah started to shake uncontrollably, and her teeth were chattering loudly as it began to sink in that she had just had a brush with death.
“So you’re trekking through this dangerous forest at night? Are you mad?”
“Absolutely not! I should have cleared the forest long before sundown.”
The bear looked at her. In the tiny bit of starlight that still shone through the treetops, she could see his massive figure looming over her at one and a half times her size. “There’s no escaping this forest,” he said.
Hannah shifted from one foot to the other. “That can’t be! I came here by coach from my city less than five hours ago, so I just need to follow the same road to get back home.”
“Hasn’t it dawned on you yet? This forest is cursed. Otherwise, the wolves would have never attacked you. Everything here is cursed—just like me!”
“Cursed? An entire forest? That’s nonsense. That’s impossible. I don’t know what game you’re playing here, but I don’t believe a word that you or Frieda say.”
“Frieda?” The bear pricked up his ears. “Who is Frieda? Did she send you here?”
“Frieda is my old neighbor. And yes, she’s the one who got me into this whole mess. It seems she’s not the little gray mouse she pretends to be. She’s supposedly an enchantress—and your godmother!” Hannah laughed bitterly.
“Friederike the Enchantress? Thank God!” The bear grabbed Hannah by the arms. “When did you speak with her? How did you speak with her?”
“Through the fountain in the castle garden.”
“We need to go back immediately. I must speak with her!”
“I’m not going back. I’m a mother. My children are waiting at home. Let go of me! I...”
The bear moved away his paws and looked at her. Although she barely recognized his eyes, his gaze gave her goosebumps. “You can’t go back. Trust me, I’ve searched the forest up and down for a way out. All night long, for decades. There is none. Now come. There are far more dangerous things in this forest than a pack of wolves.”
“I’m not going! I... no!”
“I understand your concern for your children, but you have no choice. You won’t find a way back home. And in the morning, you’ll be dead.”
Hannah crossed her arms. There was no way any of this could be true. Or had Frieda been telling the truth after all? Was she, in fact, in another time from which there was no escape?
Hannah took a deep breath. She didn’t really want to be all by herself in the forest after dark. “Fine, I’ll go with you, but with the first ray of sunlight, I’m continuing my search until I find my way home!”
The bear tromped off, and she struggled to keep pace with him.
“How did you find me, anyway?” she asked. “Were you looking for prey yourself?”
He growled. “No, your scream could be heard throughout the entire forest.”
Indignant, Hannah sucked in her breath. Who wouldn’t have screamed when faced with a pack of wolves?
The bear heaved a sigh. “Otherwise, the woods are completely silent. No sound at all. Every night has been the same. For a many, many years now. You’ve broken through what is usual—your presence has turned things upside down. It’s like a play you’ve seen a hundred times, and suddenly another actor appears onstage and immediately jumps out at you. Every sound, every movement they make, you notice right away. The moment I saw you at the ball, I knew something was different.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’ve been living through that night for a long, long time. No matter where I fall asleep at night, I wake up in my chamber as a human being at the same time every morning. Whether I dance at the ball or roam the forest by day, every day at the same time, my father dies and I turn into a bear. I’ve been struck by the curse that was once pronounced on my father.”
“A time loop of sorts? But that’s impossible!”
The bear stopped, turned toward Hannah, and held out his paws. “I suppose this is impossible as well?”
“No.” Her anger disappeared. The prince most likely had no control over this disaster.
“When I get my hands on Frieda...” Hannah mumbled more to herself as the two of them trudged through the forest. They had come to the little road and were following it through the woods and back to the castle.
“How is it that you’re unaware of all this? I thought my godmother had explained it all to you. Where are you from?”
“Frieda conjured me here—through time, she said. I’m from the future!” How dumb did that sound?
“From the future?”
“Yes. I received an invitation to the ball—which Frieda obviously arranged. Then she stuck me in this dress, gave me these shoes to wear, and conjured up a coach to take me to your castle. And somewhere in all of that, she muttered a spell, and I traveled through time.”
“What did she tell you about how to break the curse? What powers do you have? Why did she send you specifically?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have any magic powers, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She laughed halfheartedly, only to pause in amazement the very next moment. Before her lay the valley that led to the castle. Up in the heavens, the stars were shining, and together with the moon, they lit the path she’d taken to flee just hours before. “How can this be? We haven’t even walked ten minutes!”
“The forest is enchanted—I explained that to you.”
And in that moment, she believed it—she had found herself in an enchanted forest in another time or dimension. And there was no way back to her children through this strange, enchanted forest.
A breeze wafted against her calves, and she looked down. The skirt of her dress had been torn to shreds and only covered her scratched-up legs as far as her knees. The bear stared but then did the proper thing and immediately looked away. The thought flashed through Hannah’s mind that in his time, women only ever wore long skirts. How surreal was that?
“Now come... please,” the bear growled. “I would like to speak with my godmother myself. She must have had some reason for sending you here. I haven’t seen her since the curse first took effect!”
Hannah was listening intently. “Was your father also transformed?”
“No, I meant since the evening I first had that experience—the first time my father died and I was transformed. The curse should have actually struck my father. He was the one who offended the girl at that time. And yet I’ve been the one who has had to witness his anguished demise day in and day out.”
To have to experience the death of a loved one repeatedly—what a horrible thought. “I’m so sorry. It’s enough to witness the death of someone you love just once.”
The bear seemed to detect something in her voice, for he was silent and for a moment he looked at her in a way that gave his expression a human appearance. But that quickly disappeared. “I don’t even know how many times I’ve witnessed it. But I’ve made the most of the time. I’ve spent many years wandering off every morning, each time heading in a different direction and trekking through the entire forest. I searched for solutions, for clues, for Mirabelle or my godmother. But I found nothing. And no matter how far I roamed the forest, it never came to an end.”
The prince had left even though he knew his father was dying? How could that be? When someone you love is dying, you stay by their side. That was only natural—she knew that from her own experience. How long had it taken her to leave her husband’s hospital bed back then, even though he had long since died? If the nurses and, ultimately, the doctor hadn’t forced her to leave the room, she would have stayed even longer. Leaving the dead meant accepting their death and moving on. At least, that was how Hannah had felt at the time. As soon as she had ceased to weep by Andrew’s side, she had turned off all the tears inside her and joined her children, who were waiting for her outside with a kindly nurse. She had begun her life as a single mother... to return to her husband’s side never more.
Then again, how awful to see your own father die multiple times—and to be turned into a brown bear every night! She would likely have done the same in his place. She, too, would have roamed the forest in search of answers.
“How did the other guests react when they realized you were stuck in a time loop? And what did your father say?” Hannah asked.
“I was the only one who remembered.”
Hannah looked up in amazement. He’d had to go through all this by himself? “What happened the night you were first transformed?”
“That night, my godmother, Friederike the Enchantress, came flying in while I was being transformed.”
A fleeting smile crossed Hannah’s lips. Her old neighbor could fly?
“She stood before me and cast a spell to delay the curse. She said she didn’t have the power to break it, but she would find someone and send them to me. To give her more time to do that, she cast a time loop spell for the day of my transformation. She explained that I would relive that day again and again for a hundred years. I would have to spend the night as a bear, but in the morning I would wake up once more as a human being. And the last time, on the last day of the hundred years, she would send someone to my side who had the power to break the curse and save me.”
“Why did she conjure a time loop? She could have searched for someone to break the curse while you were a bear.”
“Did you not hear what I said? She promised that when the final time arrived, she would send me someone who had the power to break the curse! That someone is you!”
“Me?” Hannah asked, putting her hand to her chest. “But I have no magical powers. I don’t know how to brew a potion or read the stars or do any of those magical things. I have zero interest in magic!”
“Then why did she send you? What’s so special about you?”
What sort of question is that? Men aren’t supposed to ask that kind of thing! “I...”
He ignored her stammering and looked up at the starlit sky. “And if you’re here now, then that means... that this is the last time. If we fail to break the curse now, then I shall remain a bear forever!”
An icy chill ran down Hannah’s spine on hearing the prince’s words.
“I need to speak with my godmother. She needs to explain all this to me!”
Hannah assumed that by “all this,” he probably meant her presence—and she agreed.
“And if you really can’t help to save me,” the bear added, “then I shall demand that she conjure you back! I promise you that!”
She glanced at him. Was he smiling as he tromped ahead with such resolve? Could bears even smile? Or was it her imagination? Her fear of him disappeared. He had come to defend her against the wolves, even if he only did it so she could save him. How strange. Here she had met a prince, and now she was the one who would have to help him. Where was the classic prince on his shining white steed, the one who rescued the lady in the beautiful dress? She smiled halfheartedly to herself and trudged along beside him.
They arrived at the gate Hannah had fled through a few hours ago. A few steps later, they came to the fountain, and immediately the bear bent over the fountain’s edge and roared into the splashing water: “Godmother Friederike! Why did you send Hannah? How is she able to save me?”
No answer.
Hannah ran toward the fountain and brushed against a rose bush along the way. As the rose petals glided onto the water, she looked down at the water’s surface. Where were her children? But there was nothing to see except their own reflections, that of the stars in the night sky, and the red rose petals gently floating back and forth.
“Where are you, Godmother Friederike? Show yourself!”
The bear was roaring so loudly and wildly that Hannah’s heart nearly stopped. But then she remembered who was hidden beneath the fur and did not move an inch from his side. “Frieda!” she cried. “Come here right now and show yourself! We need to speak with you! And I want to see my children! Now!”
But the water remained the same. No magic penetrated through, and no voice drifted up from below. No face appeared on the water’s surface.
Hannah felt her chest constrict. Why wasn’t Frieda appearing? Was something the matter with the children? Was Frieda harming them after all? Oh, why had she broken her golden rule and entrusted her children to a stranger?
“Emi? Leon? Marco? Are you there? This is Mommy. If you can hear me, listen closely. I’m coming back to you. Don’t be afraid! Mommy will be back soon!” Hannah stared at the water, but nothing stirred and she didn’t hear any sounds from her children... when all of a sudden, a mighty splash made her jump and rained water down all over her dress.
The bear had struck the water furiously with his paw. “Damn it all! Why doesn’t she come? What did you say to her earlier that would make her not come when I call?”
Hannah thrust her hands on her hips and raised herself up to her full height in front of the bear as though he were nothing more than a harmless kitten. “This isn’t just about you! That woman has my children!”
The bear growled loudly, as only a real bear could.
“Now stop growling and concentrate. We won’t get anywhere if you don’t help. All I know is what Frieda told me about the night your father humiliated that poor girl Mirabelle. Frieda said I needed to find out what the curse was all about. Do you know who pronounced it? And when and where?”
The bear bowed to her, and Hannah couldn’t help but smile. “Pardon my rage,” he apologized, fixing his gaze upon her. For a moment, a hint of green flashed from his dark eyes, and he sighed as no bear had ever done before him. Then he began to talk.
“My father never spoke of the curse. He liked to pretend that it didn’t exist. I think he was ashamed of his behavior on the night of that ball or simply of what had happened. In any event, he didn’t want anyone or anything to remind him of it. But one afternoon, when I had just turned nine, I heard my parents arguing with each other. There was nothing strange in that—my parents weren’t happy together... but that’s another story. That afternoon, my mother screamed at him more loudly than I had ever heard her do before: ‘You must finally tell him. He has inherited your curse!’
“Curious, I crept closer to the library, where the two of them happened to be, and I was peering inside through the partly open door as my father, who was furious, replied: ‘No, he has not. The curse was averted by our marriage! I demand that you never speak a single word about it again! I forbid you to breathe even one word to him—or you will sorely regret it!’
“My mother was close to despair, and she threw herself at his feet. She seized his red mantle and looked up at him, pleading. ‘We must not leave him in the dark. His godmother told me at his birth that he carries the curse that once hung over your head!’
“‘Enough!’ my father shouted, and in his fury, he took a vase of flowers from the table and threw it on the floor. Then he stomped over to the door, and I managed to hide behind a pillar just in time before he stormed past me.” The bear looked up at the stars as if he were recalling the fear he’d felt back then.
Hannah was watching him closely. “Your father’s curse was transferred to you when you were born? And what did you learn from your mother?”
“Nothing. Not a word. She was truly afraid of my father.”
“Excuse me? I can’t believe that! A mother wouldn’t do that!”
The bear looked up in anger. “My mother was a good woman. But my father was the king, after all, and she had to obey his command.”
“Which means that you didn’t know what would happen until the time arrived? Until your father died and you were transformed?”
“No! I knew about the curse because my mother was a very clever woman. She devised a ruse to circumvent my father’s command. I had a governess at the time, one Miss Siebenstein, who was my teacher. And my mother confided the truth to this woman.”
Hannah nodded appreciatively. “Excellent. And what did this Miss Siebenstein reveal to you about the curse?”