Victoria found Aunt Alice in the little saloon, where the dinner table seemed to have been set for hours.

'I'm so glad you're here,' she whispered, happy to see her. 'I was so worried about you... but what happened to your leg?' she asked, looking at the wound.

'A mere trifle,' said Victoria while sitting at the table while ripping a piece from a fresh bun. The events of the day gave her a smashing hunger.

She then couldn't stop from chatting and telling her adventures to her aunt while also eating the goodies Matilda had prepared: meatballs, veal stewed in blackberry sauce, fresh vegetables and an entire plate of cheese pie. Victoria tasted all of them at once, without stopping from talking. The aunt joined her and smothered her in a warm gaze. The only grumpy one was Matilda, who was taking her time clearing the table, making sure she wasn't missing a word.

'Nevertheless, you shouldn't have let that poor, vagrant boy following you around,' went Matilda bitterly. The woman pretended to clear the table from invisible crumbs. But her words drew her aunt's attention. 'What are you talking about, Matilda?'

'What the little lady forgot to tell you is that she was with Paul, the village's orphan. He's a cheeky boy, that one,' she added, using not the kindest voice of all.

'But auntie, Paul didn't bother me at all. Quite the contrary, he was helpful. I could have got lost in the forest if it wasn't for him.'

'That wouldn't have been an option had you been back in time,' added Matilda before leaving the room.

Aunt Alice smiled. 'Never mind that, Paul is a good and hard-working boy. He helped me with the gardening a couple of times and I have to admit that he's quite skilled.'

'What's his story, anyway?' asked the girl, trying to look as casual as she could. She even took a bite out of a juicy peach to emphasize that. She kept looking at her aunt while cleaning the dripping juice off her chin.

'This boy has a very sad story. His parents died, one after the other, slain by a ruthless disease when he was a few years old. He remained with his grandmother, but she too passed away, leaving the boy on his own. Some greedy neighbors offered to take care of him; but after a while they threw him out, leaving the boy homeless by the time he was ten-years-old. Yet he never complained. He worked wherever he could, as young and puny as he was. I think he knows more traits than anyone in the village. He found food and shelter even during the coldest winters. Because a good pair of skilled hands is always needed in the village. He has only one wish, but I don't think it will ever come true.'

'What wish is that?' asked the girl with tears in her eyes.

'To go to school. He's convinced only an educated person can fulfill anything he wants in life.'

Victoria fell silent. An idea sprung into her head and cleared the tears away. She was going to give him all the books she had on her. Starting tomorrow.

'So you don't mind if I go back to the forest tomorrow? With Paul...' she asked while feeling her cheeks on fire.

'Of course not. Never have I heard a bad word about this boy. Now go to sleep, dear, it's pretty late.'

And Victoria got her good-night kiss from her aunt, dallying towards her room.

The bath she took was beyond words. Matilda had thrown in lavender for a good night's sleep, drizzled a dash of musk because she knew young girls liked to leave behind them a faint sweet perfume and left a big soap smelling of roses. All these resembling a magical ritual that would carry her, ever so gently, towards the long awaited sleep.

Victoria got slowly out of the tub and wrapped herself in a soft robe that caressed her skin with the same lavender aromas coming from the wooden cupboard. The room was waiting for her, silent and alluring. The nightstand lamp flickered as she sat down in front of the mirror and started combing her long, brown hair with slow strokes. Soon enough she would throw herself into the arms of that good night's sleep that was now waiting for her in the cool bed. The girl's eyes with heavy eyelids, however, had noticed something different about the face in the mirror. It was her face, alright, but just for a moment, her own eyes gave her a strange look, almost wicked. Even her mouth made a grimace of a smile that wasn't hers. And she was positive she had never in her life grinned as ghoulishly, with the corners of her mouth pulled down, showing her pearly teeth, like a stepmother that had something in store for her stepdaughter.

'I'm too tired,' she thought, and quickly took refuge under the bedcovers where she felt safe. She touched the amulet that never left her body, holding inside a small photograph of her parents and drifted away in the land of quiet sleep.

She didn't notice that the moonlight was shining on the pale face which was still reflected in the mirror.

⃰

The morrow was expected to be as beautiful as the day passed, to say the least. While she let the cold water perk up her face, she was thinking of the things she would wear. Without knowing why she wanted to be more beautiful than usually. But she soon dismissed the puffy dress that waggled its swishy layers. The same happened with the pearl earrings she had taken out of a small wooden box with pink roses painted on the lid. There was no point to them. And she found herself thinking about Paul and how natural it was for him to wear those frumpy clothes. And how little all this meant to him. So she gave up the fussy accessories with no regret whatsoever.

In the saloon, Matilda had left her breakfast; she took some sips of tea and a muffin for the road, kissed Matilda goodbye and cheerfully went out the gate. In her wicker basket, like a Little Red Riding Hood, but bigger and wiser, she had stealthily put a bottle of apple juice and a couple of sandwiches, without Matilda noticing it. And she hadn't forgotten a few books for her new friend.

She toddled on the heated streets, waiting... And soon enough, she heard him calling her name. He seemed a little more awkward that the day before, stuttering a little when he greeted her. He was wearing the same pants, but his shirt was different but just as clean. His head was uncovered and his hair seemed even more golden in the sunlight.

'So, what would you like to visit today?' he asked, joining her.

'The forest, of course,' said Victoria, wearing a smile on her face.

'Indeed, there are so many things left to see in the forest...'

He appeared to be lost for words, scratching behind his ear most of the time. 'You know, I hope your aunt didn't give you a hard time... For being late yesterday, that is...'

'Oh, no. Matilda gave me a little scolding, it's true...'

'Yeah, she doesn't like me too much, you know. When I was working in your aunt's garden she was always suspicious I wasn't doing my job as I should have...'

'Matilda has a good heart, she just needs to get to know you a little better, that's all,' said Victoria, although she knew Matilda could be very difficult.

And then they both went silent. Their steps led them again on the shady paths of the forest. As the foliage began to caress their heads, Paul started talking on and on, showing her weird and unknown plants with marvelous powers. Victoria picked them one by one and put them between the pages of her poetry book.

They had lunch in a meadow where the sun was shinings through the branches with tens of bright beams, making flowers and colorful mushrooms sparkle all around them. Victoria told him about her life in the city, about school and her colleagues, and that's when she caught his gaze, the gaze of a child who knows he'll never get the toy he wants so badly. But Paul soon let the sadness go as Victoria offered to lend him the books she had taken along. The boy read a couple of lines and soon enough, his face cleared like he had discovered the most precious treasure. He jumped into his feet and started to look around. He returned with a fragile blue flower with white fluff covering its stem; he gave it to Victoria.

'Here,' he said. 'It's a cornflower.'

'It's beautiful,' said the girl, gently placing it between the pages of her book. She was going to keep it inside the amulet, next to her parents' picture, like a charm, without him knowing it. And for a couple of moments, they fell silent again.

They kept roaming around the forest, talking and laughing like they've been friends since forever.

When the sun was about to set, they set moving to Aunt Alice's home. She was surely waiting for Victoria with dinner and the girl didn't want to disappoint her again, even more so as she didn't spent practically any time with her. The streets were now swarming with people of all ages, enjoying the cool breeze of the evening wind. There were, of course, some women who gave the two curious looks, while snickering to each other as they passed by.

They entered the street leading towards Aunt Alice's house. They walked slowly, smiling, not saying a word. Words were unnecessary. The joy on their faces did all the talking. Just as the butterflies in their stomach. Suddenly, a loud noise caught their attention. A bunch of children were rattling, shouting and throwing sticks and stones. In front of them there was walking, as fast as she could, a hunched old lady, leaning on her cane. But she was too old and tired to get away from the hoodlums. She had a funny hat, with crinkly brims, with a thick string strapped under her chin and a bulky long dress that went all the way to the ground, over which she had put a crochet shawl. All black.

'Witch, witch, where are you to?

We don't want to go with you...' sang the kids in one voice.

The woman turned around, threatened them with her cane and mean words, but to no avail. Some of the braver ones pulled her dress and even her hat. One wrong step and the poor old woman fell down on the still hot dust.

Victoria simply couldn't watch that. She trotted them away like they were flies, and stretched her hand to the old lady to help her get up. When she raised her pale look, Victoria saw both surprise and fear in those eyes, surrounded by hundreds of wrinkles.

'You have seen the world beyond reflected in this one,' she said in a thick voice that gave the girl chills. She then got up, as straight as she could, and limped away like a ghost.

Victoria needed a couple of seconds to get back to her senses. She felt Paul's gentle hand on her shoulder.

'Who is she?' she whispered.

Paul looked at her, a little bit surprised by the girl's reaction. 'A poor woman, with no family, nor friends... She lives in that big old house on the top of that hill. The people in the village say she just appeared out of nowhere long ago. In fact, it was so long ago, that no one remembers for sure... She found a home in that beat-up house. She might be a hundred-years-old... She lives off a small vegetable garden and the pity of some villagers. But many will have nothing to do with her, thinking she's a witch. She is quite odd, to be fair. She never speaks to anyone and, sometimes, at night, she wanders around the edge of the village, mumbling things only she understands. I've seen her myself, in the full moon, looking around for something by the lake. What did she say to you?'

Victoria looked at the house on top of the hill. In the falling darkness, it seemed like a lonely castle from an old tale. And that make her shiver.

'Something I didn't understand... And yet...'

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