FIDO publishing
A Bear in the Woods © 2010 by Molly Wens
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
FIDO Publishing, LLC
P.O. Box 54
Kimball, MI 48074
To order additional copies of this book, contact:
books@fidopublishing.com
Cover art © 2010 Michael Mantas
Edited by Sheri Leigh
First Edition – March 2010
A Smashwords Edition
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
A Bear in the Woods
The Adventures of Snow White and Rose Red
By Molly Wens
“There you are, daydreaming again,” Rosa said with a shake of her head.
She often found her twin sister gazing out the window with that sad, vague expression on her face. To Rosa, such pursuits were a waste of time. There was so much work to be done and so few hours in the day.
“Don’t scold me,” her sister replied, her voice soft with memory. “Don’t you ever get lonely for the past?”
“No, Neve, I don’t. I have too much to worry about with the present. We have to get this next batch ready to ship out or we’ll lose the McCrery account. Do you think you can tear yourself away long enough to help?”
With a sigh, Neve relinquished her seat by the window of the old cottage and went to join her sister in the back room. That was where Mama had started the business all those years ago when the girls were still young. The work fell to the twins now that Mama had passed on.
It was a good business, turning nature’s own products into soaps, creams and tonics. Myrna Carino had combined the knowledge she had brought from Ireland with techniques she had learned since coming to the United States. It had been lucrative once—before the dwarf.
Neve shuddered when her mind wandered to that odious man. Harvey Malo had taken their sleepy town by surprise when he arrived fifteen years earlier. He had been unpleasant even then. A small, squat man with a round middle and beady, piggish eyes, he had been dubbed “the dwarf” by the local children. The name had taken hold, although no one ever called him that to his face.
Neve was no more than five or six the first time she had laid eyes on him. She and Rosa had gone into the forest to collect wild honeysuckle for Mama’s soap-making. They had always found wonderful adventure in the woods, going there together as the best of friends.
They were giggling together on their way home, their baskets full, when the sounds of an argument piqued their childish curiosities. When they crept closer to the voices, what Neve saw made her think of a porcupine quarreling with a bear. Mr. Malo was facing off against a man so big he seemed to diminish even the majestic trees around him.
There was another sound, the snapping of a twig behind the girls that startled them both. When they whirled around to see who was there, they discovered the face of a boy. He had motioned them to silence and led them into a thicket of bushes. A second boy, a bit smaller than the first, was hiding there, intently watching the arguing men.
Neve smiled at the memory. That was the first time the girls had met Aedan and Hugh.
“That’s our dad,” Aedan said.
Aedan was older than his brother by a mere eleven months. Both had skin that tanned quickly in the summer sun and hair that was dark in the winters but bright blond in the summer. Mama had said it was the mixture of their Nordic and Apache bloodlines that caused the strange coloring. To Neve, they were nothing short of dreamy, especially young Hugh. They seemed like mythical creatures, too perfect to touch.
They’d all had such fun when they were children. That was before that terrible day when Aedan and Hugh had been taken away. The boys had found their father, Jack Bear, dead behind the Bear family home. No one knew how the man had died, only that his death meant certain ruin for the family. The dwarf owned the note on their vast holdings. By the time the cruel man was finished, Nora Bear was obliged to take her two young sons back to her parents’ home in the east.
Neve pined for those innocent days when the four of them had been inseparable. They had been happy children with all the freedom of youthful simplicity. Their time together had been so short, only seventeen months in all, but the memories had sustained Neve through the long, empty years that followed.
“Honey, please,” Rosa said, “we have to get these crates delivered today.”
“I know.” Neve sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to focus.”
“I’d appreciate it. Maybe after we’re done at McCrery's, we can do a little shopping. Would you like that?”
Neve instantly brightened. Shopping didn’t always mean buying. There was the joy of looking at all the lovely things at the few stores in town. She dreamed one day of designing the items that people wanted, to add her own artistic touch to the world around her. Already, she was creating all the clothing she and her sister wore. It was cheaper and far more elegant than anything that could be bought off-the-rack.
“Georgia Mays told me she was getting in a new shipment of fabrics this week,” Rosa continued. “Maybe you can work another deal with her.”
“Did her little girl like the dress I sent over last week?” Neve asked as she packed the boxes with pretty jars and bottles.
“You should have seen the kid dance in that thing.” Rosa grinned. “You’d have thought you’d given her a dress of spun gold. Georgia said she wouldn’t even take it off at bed time.”
Neve blushed clear to her temples. There were few women in town that would throw work her way, but when they did, they were always satisfied. Making clothing for children was especially pleasurable. Knowing that the children liked what she made was the icing on the cake.
Only one thing could take the joy out of an excursion to town. The thought had Neve rethinking the trip. Normally, she stayed close to home, allowing Rosa to do all the trading. Neve preferred the company of the quiet animals of the forest to that of the less gentle people she might encounter out there.