A Winter Story: A Winter's Night Incident by Ghost Ryter

In celebration of Christmas, I invited readers to write a story about the painting below. Enjoy the short stories submitted and have a Merry Christmas!

a winter’s night incident

 by Ghost Ryter

One shouldn’t shiver at a Christmas party.  It may be cold enough outside to shiver, but not inside.  The warmth of people, joyful and laughing, gathered together to celebrate the Savior’s birth … that is more than enough to keep a person warm.  It is impossible to feel cold.

It should be impossible.  Susannah reflected.  Then, for the third time since arriving, she shivered.

Around her, everyone was dressed in their brightest, though not necessarily best, clothes.

Kae Hill was a small town (more of a village, really), but Susannah only knew half of the people living there.  Whether she knew them or not, everyone greeted her with a smile.  It was a warm scene.  Yet Susannah felt cold.

She backed away from the crowd and slowly went to the coat room.  She pulled her dark red cloak around her, shivering again.

A burst of laughter carried to her from the common room.  Then, she heard them begin to sing.

“O come, o come, Immanuel …”

Susannah stepped out into the snow, quietly closing the door behind her.

Everything became silent.  She breathed in the sharp, dry, cold air; then let it out again in a small cloud of white.

She shouldn’t have left.  Her family would be upset when they noticed her gone.

But they won’t notice.

Susannah pulled her hood up over her mass of curls, and hurried through the softly falling snow.  Unsure where she expected to go, she carefully made her way down the icy and deserted streets.  The buildings of Kae Hill soon came to an end. 

She stood near the forest.

Miller’s stream, frozen solid, stood between her and the trees.   A bridge stretched over it, providing a way across.  

Shivering again, Susannah looked up at the sky.  The stars and the moon shone coldly down on her, offering no answers for the questions she wasn’t certain how to ask.

“I don’t know what I want.”  She whispered, shaking her head.

Almost in reply, she heard a mew.  Susannah looked down, and frowned.

A small, pitifully skinny cat stood shivering in the snow a few paces from her.  It almost looked like a furry, orange rat; it was so thin and narrow.

It looked up at her, its eyes big and golden.

“Prrmeow?”

Rodent-like visage aside, Susannah’s heart couldn’t help but melt.  “Poor, cold thing,”

She knelt in the snow, ignoring the icy bite that stung her legs through the fabric of her dress.  “Here - here, kitten,” she held out her hand.

The cat stepped closer.  Susannah leaned forward, stretching her hand farther.

A yell shattered the winter quiet.

“Stop!”

Startled, Susannah looked over her shoulder.  A bright light shone on the bridge over Miller’s stream.  She blinked, and saw it was a lantern being held up by a man in a brown cloak.

“Stop!”  The strange man yelled again.  “For the Love of God …”

The man ran, reaching her in seconds.  He grabbed her arm and yanked Susannah to her feet. 

“Get back, before I kill you, beast.”

Susannah stared at him in shock.  Then she realized that he wasn’t speaking to her.

The man was glaring down at the cat.

With a low growl, the cat turned and fled.  Susannah watched it disappear over the rise.  Then she looked back at the man.  He let go of her arm and she backed away, the snow crunching under her feet.

“Are you a fool?”  He queried.  “What were you doing?”

“I …”

“That was a puca!  Do you know what it would have done to you?”

He was mad, Susannah decided.  She took another step back.  “There’s no such thing as pucas.” 

The man stared at her incredulously. 

Susannah pulled her cloak around her tighter.  “Who are you?”  She asked. 

He did not answer her right away, but considered for a moment.  “Call me Erik,” he said finally. 

Before anymore could be said, Susannah heard the wild cry of a wolf.

Another joined in, then another.  Susannah’s heart jumped in her chest.  It sounded like there was a whole pack, gathered on the other side of the hill.

She glanced back at where she could see the town in the distance.  If she was fast enough, maybe she could make it back before the wolves out ran her.

“Lord Almighty …” Erik said, but it sounded more a plea than a curse.

He turned to Susannah and held out his hand.  “Quickly, come with me.”

She eyed him uncertainly.

“Would you rather wait for the wolves?”  He demanded.

Not knowing why, Susannah felt that she could trust him.  She took hold of his hand and Erik pulled her along behind him, across the bridge and into the forest.

She struggled to keep up, the cold air stinging her lungs, clumps of snowing finding their way into her shoes.  But they did not have far to go.

A light glowed through the trees.  They ran towards that, and Susannah saw it was a candle in the window of a cottage.

Erik opened the door, and she stumbled in.  He slammed the door behind her, bolting it closed.

“Erik!” 

Susannah looked up and saw a woman, sitting in a chair pulled close to the fire.  The woman gaped at them.  “Erik, what in heaven’s name …”

“Has Kerr returned yet, Ingrid?”  Erik asked, taking off his cloak and moving towards her.

“Why, no.”  The woman answered, standing.  “But who …”

“This lass was about to become prey to a puca.  It was stopped, but they’ve gathered into wolves.   I thought she would be safe here.”

The woman nodded, then looked past him to Susannah.  “What is her name?”

Erik frowned. 

Susannah glanced between the two nervously.  “I am Susannah.”  She spoke up.

The woman smiled kindly.  “And a pretty name, that.  You can call me Ingrid, dear.  I’m sorry you had so much trouble.  But it’ll be fine now.  The wolves will be gone by the morning.”

“Morning?”  Susannah gasped.  “But, my family …”

“Oh, you’re family will worry a little.  That’s only natural.  But you’ll be back tomorrow.  And it’s too dangerous for you to leave the cottage, what with them out there..”  Ingrid stepped toward her and took her hand.  “Mercy above!  You’re like ice, Susannah.  Come here - sit by the fire.”

Susannah let Ingrid remove her cloak and lead her to the seat by the fire.  There wasn’t much she could do to object.

“I’m going back to help Kerr.”  Erik announced.  Ingrid nodded.  He left, taking his lantern with him, and Ingrid slid the bolt into place.

Susannah stared at the closed door.

“Here, dear,” Ingrid pressed a warm mug of sweet smelling tea into her hands. 

Susannah took it, but did not drink.  “Why is it” she asked, “he can leave, but I can’t?  Why must I wait for the morning?”

Ingrid was busy moving a chair opposite of her, and did not answer until she had settled herself on it.  “They don’t like to come out in the morning, Susannah.  It’s easy to see them as they are then.  Drink your tea; you still look cold, and it will warm you up.”

Suspicious, Susannah lifted the mug to her mouth, but didn’t let the liquid pass her lips. 

“They wouldn’t dare mess with the boy,” Ingrid continued.  “He knows how to deal with them.  But you …” Ingrid sounded genuinely concerned.  “I don’t want to think what they would do to you.”

“What … are ’they’?”  Susannah asked.  She leaned forward a little. 

Ingrid took another sip of tea before she answered.  “’They’ are pucas, just as Erik told you.”

“But there are no pucas.”  The words were out before Susannah could fully think through the wisdom of them.

“Now, where did you hear such a thing as that?”

Susannah didn’t answer.  She frowned and sat back. 

Ingrid took her silence in stride.  She shook her head.  “And what on earth were you doing out near the woods at night.  It’s no wonder one nearly got you!”

She shook her head again, and rose with a sigh.  “I’ll ready the bed in my room for you, Susannah.  You can stay there for the night.”  She set her mug on the round table.  Then she disappeared into a room Susannah hadn’t noticed before.

Susannah hesitated a few minutes, then followed.  The room was small and dim.  There was nothing in it but the bed and a chest of drawers.  Ingrid was spreading another layer of blankets on the bed.  She looked up at Susannah with a small smile.  “You can have my bed, dear.  I’ll sleep in the loft with Erik and Kerr.  Did you want something to eat before you sleep?”

Susannah shook her head. 

Ingrid patted her arm and left, shutting the door behind her.  With the door closed, the room became darker and colder.  But Susannah didn’t feel cold.  She didn’t shiver.

Reason told her to be cautious, to be wary.  But Susannah felt warm.

Early the next morning, Ingrid roused her.  The sun would rise in an hour ago, and it would be safe for her to leave.

Erik was sitting at the table, eating a bowl of porridge with another man, younger than him.  Ingrid introduced him as Kerr. 

Susannah smiled tentatively and said, “Good morning.” 

He nodded politely, but looked uncomfortable.  Hurriedly, he put the last spoonful of his meal into his mouth and left the cottage.

Ingrid cleared Kerr’s bowl and placed another one on the table.  “Eat up,” she said.  “Then Erik will escort you back.”

Feeling she should be apprehensive, Susannah sat down.  But all suspicions of poison in the porridge fled when the aroma wafted up to her.  Her stomach growled loudly, and she began to eat.

It was better than anything she had ever tasted.  As she scraped out the last of it, she was half tempted to ask Ingrid for more.

“Thank you,” she said, standing up.  Ingrid brought out her cloak and handed it to her. 

“Be careful now, dear.”  She said as Susannah fastened it at her neck.  “Even if you don’t believe in pucas, there’s no reason to go wandering near the woods alone at night.”

Susannah nodded, unsure what to say.  Erik pulled on his cloak, then held the door open for her.  They left the cottage and made their way through the trees, Ingrid calling after them, “Farewell!  God go with you!”

The world was filled with brilliant whiteness as they crunched through the snow.  Through squinted eyes, Susannah glanced at Erik and really looked at him for the first time.

His hair was brown and a bit long, just covering the tops of his ears.  His eyes a light blue, like the winter sky.  And he was younger than she had heretofore thought; perhaps in his early thirties, but no older.   He was, Susannah realized, quite handsome.

She peered back over her shoulder and could just make out the cottage through the snow-crusted pine trees. 

“I had not known anyone lived in the forest,” she said, looking again at him.

“Not many people do.”

That cryptic remark was all the answer she got.

Erik led her out from the forest and across the bridge.  He went with her to the edge of the town, but there he stopped.

“I’ll trust you’ll be fine on your own from here.”

Susannah nodded.   

“Good-bye, then.  And … take care.”  Erik turned and began to swiftly return back the way they had come. 

Susannah watched him.  And as he trotted along, his hair shifted, and she saw how the tips of his ears narrowed to small points.

She stared in amazement as he disappeared into the forest.

not the end, perhaps, but the pause in the tale

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