Girl in the Red Hood by Brittany Fichter Page A

parts." Except for Kurt's family, of
course.
    "I forgot about that," he muttered,
scratching his head.
    "Well," Liesel began to stand up. "I hate to
go, but-" Kurt's eyes opened wide as he looked around again.
    "It's cold out here," he exclaimed. "You'd
better go back inside." Sadly, Liesel nodded. Leaving Kurt was the
last thing she wanted to do, but her toes were beginning to lose
their feeling. "I wish I could..." Kurt frowned in frustration at
the cottage just outside the woods.
    "I don't want you to get into trouble with
your father," Liesel said. As she turned to go home, he called her
name out once more. She looked back again.
    "I'm glad you kept your new cloak red," his
eyes were still sad, but he wore a lopsided grin. "I'll be able to
find you next time you get lost." Liesel smiled in spite of
herself. She could feel his eyes on her back as she went inside.
She set the sticks down by the sputtering fire so they could dry.
It would be a quite a while before they were ready to burn. She
hoped she had enough dry tinder to last until then. She plopped
down in a chair that was drawn as close to the hearth as she could
get it and wrapped herself more tightly in her cloak.
    Her father's booming voice woke her up
several hours later.
    "Liesel, what's this now?" Liesel tried to
blink the sleep from her eyes as she stumbled groggily towards the
door. When she opened it, she saw her father holding up a dead
rabbit and a bundle of small log bits, wrapped in a cloth. "Where
did you get these?" he demanded.
    "I...don't know," Liesel stuttered, although
she had a pretty good idea as to their origins. "They weren't there
when I last went out." The more she thought about it though, the
more she had to keep the smile from her face. Warin, however, was
not amused in the slightest. "You know huntin' is illegal is these
woods," he held up the rabbit and shook it at her. "I don't want
them to be thinkin' I'm breaking the rules now!"
    "I think it might be from my friend, Kurt,"
Liesel had hastened to explain, afraid he might throw it away. "His
family owns the land, remember?" Warin had given her a long, hard
look. Finally, he handed it to her. "Fine, cook it up. I suppose it
won't hurt anythin', as it's dead already. Besides," he followed
her inside and began removing his muddy boots. "The dried meat stew
they serve in the tavern is gettin' mighty old." Liesel mashed her
lips together so the words on her tongue stayed there. So he'd been
eating at the tavern, too. What kind of rations had they received? Liesel hadn't tasted meat since the winter had begun.
    The soup Liesel made that night was the most
delicious she had ever tasted. And every night after that, a small
piece of game had showed up on her doorstep, as well as a dry
bundle of wood. Liesel felt herself begin to grow stronger again,
and when spring finally came, she was as healthy as she had been
before. When they met up again for the first time, nothing was said
about the food or wood, but Liesel could see the satisfaction in
Kurt's eyes when he saw her walking steadily towards him.
    Though they still met from time, both Kurt
and Liesel found themselves busier that spring than the one before.
Kurt's father had decided it was time he begin shouldering the
responsibilities of the family. Liesel, though grateful for all
Kurt had done, was determined never to be so dependent upon others
for food again. As soon as the ground was thawed, she had begged
Kurt to teach her how to garden in a place without sun. If the
village healer's garden was any indication, trying to garden the
way she had outside the forest wasn't going to work.
    "Your mother had a lovely garden," Liesel
had recalled from her quick glimpse of his house. "Perhaps she
could-"
    "Absolutely not!" Kurt's voice was so sharp
it startled her. "You are going nowhere near there."
    "But how else will I learn?" Liesel had
whined. They were sitting up on the waterfall's ledge for the first
time since the snow had thawed. Liesel