Ellida by J. F. Kaufmann

they’re
still a part of our community. If Lucy and Charlie decide to stay
here, they’ll learn eventually. When they’re ready, that’s all.
Hugh Langdon, Charlie’s grandfather, may already know. The rest of
the household—the farm hands, workers, domestic help, we made sure
they don’t know.”
    Keeping her eyes on the road, Astrid tilted
her head brushing her cheek against Jack’s arm. “How did they end
up here in the first place?”
    “My father gave this piece of land to
Charles’ great-great grandfather in gratitude for saving James’s
life.”
    “Oh! What happened?”
    “It was shortly before I was born. James went
to Europe after a rogue wolf, who was hiding somewhere in the
Balkan Mountains. He got badly wounded fighting with a whole pack
of local werewolves and left to die. William Langdon, a British
intelligence officer on assignment there, found him and saved him.
They returned to England together and became close friends. Brian
gave the Englishman a piece of land here, as a token of his
gratitude for saving James. Langdon stayed in Britain, but he and
his family came here every few years for a couple of months.
Eventually, two of his sons settled here. One of them was Hugh’s
grandfather.”
    “But there’re two farms that belong to the
Langdons.”
    Jack nodded. “Aspen Grove is the wedding
present to Lucy from her grandmother, who is, by the way, a
great-great-granddaughter of William Langdons’s wife Alice.”
    “But that means Charles and Lucy are
cousins?”
    “Not through blood. Hugh’s grandfather was
adopted, I think. Initially, Aspen Grove was outside our territory,
but because the two families are close and share many connections,
my father extended Red Cliffs’ spiritual borders to include Aspen
Grove, as well as Charles’ sister’s and brother-in-law’s farm
further south.”
    Soon Astrid pulled the truck in front of a
big, bright-yellow farmhouse with a white wraparound porch. Charles
and Lucy came out to greet their visitors.
    If Charles, by all standards, was a handsome
man—tall, muscular, with soft grey eyes, dark hair and a pleasant,
open face with a wide smile—his wife was stunning: gracious, with
long, dark hair, creamy-white skin, beautiful emerald-green eyes,
high cheekbones and lush, full lips. It had to be something to do
with the sanctity of this place to make the people of Red Cliffs so
good looking, regardless of their heritage, Astrid contemplated,
glancing at the Langdons. Hugh Langdon looked exceptionally well
for his age, tall and straight, with broad shoulders and still
powerful muscles. It was hard to imagine he was Charlie’s
grandfather and not father.
    They were soon joined by sisters Kay and
Rory, aged eight and five, who were staying with their Uncle, Aunt
and Grandpa while their parents, Charles’ sister and
brother-in-law, were away. The girls proudly showed Astrid their
ponies, birthday presents from their adored Aunt Lucy and
introduced her to Crusoe, a year old crossbreed.
    “His father’s a wolf, you know,” Kay
explained. “His mother was a German Shepard.”
    “She died last year,” her sister chimed in.
“She was very old, older than Grandpa Hugh.”
    “Oh? I’m sorry to hear that,” Astrid
said.
    “That’s okay. She had a good life, so Lucy
says we must not be sad,” Kay explained.
    “Crusoe likes Aunty very much but he doesn’t
like Harper. He always growls when he sees her,” Rory said.
    “He can’t like her because she doesn’t like
dogs and Crusoe feels that,” Kay said. “Aunty says some people are
like that, and that’s okay. I don’t like spiders so they probably
don’t like me either.”
     
    “THOSE TWO girls made my day,” Astrid said,
smiling, as she glanced into the side mirror of the truck at Rory
and Kay, surrounded by their aunt, uncle and great-grandfather,
waving to them enthusiastically. She waved back and honked one more
time as she pulled the truck onto the road. “Jack, did you