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"I’m here," I whisper to her, our faces mere inches from one another "I need to see what you see…please let in"
Araers rest on my lips I don’t freeze up this time, but I do remain quiet and still
"Close your eyes," she says so softly that it could lullthe ses of my lips
And then the ind of Ties and into the life of a young woman in Serbia
Balkan Mountains – Eastern Serbia – Winter 1761
The wolves are bolder in the winter They patrol the thickly snow-coveredthe brave wildlife that dares to tread out in the open hunting for a scarce enerations for fear they are the beasts eating their cattle In some cases, this is true, but the real truth is that the locals fear that believing in the Black Beasts will htening as if this will satisfy their hearts The people of this ses that scatter the h the heavy snoearing the furs of the wolves they killed the winter before and they hunt them down, year after year But the cattle are never spared, no ray wolves are eradicated And the horses and the sheep; they are being killed, too Savagely So left, not even the bones, butback the Old Myths, the stories their ancestors told of the Black Beasts that stand on two legs and are taller than any man
Secretly, each of therow up fros in the vast Balkan Mountains far worse than anything man has ever known They have feared the beasts for a thousand years, but superstition keeps the it openly
On this frigid winter day, Ara the outside air Ara out of her tiny e Still in her nightgown and with bare feet, she stands in front of the rickety wooden door with the snow up to her ankles In seconds, her feet are stinging from the cold She rushes back inside and thrusts her feet down into her father’s boots and then yanks her father’s thick coat fro it s her sain and Arah the doorway and runs out into the snow, the oversized boots loose on her tiny feet
"Father!" Filipa shrieks froot Vela!"
As Aramei comes around the corner of the house she spots a trail of dark red staining the bright white snow and co boots and the weight of the snoing her feet inside of them will allow
"Where’s Vela?" Aramei shouts as she enters the barn
Filipa sits crouched over the dead horse, a pool of thick warround where the horse’s lower half used to be Stea the sight that
"Oh, no, Vela…," Ara in the boots and she falls to her knees beside Filipa and the horse’s corpse "Oh, girl," she says, stroking the horse’s stiff snout; its eyes are glazed over, the tongue lolled out of its ht and never sickened or afraid She doesn’t even notice that her father’s coat is covered in the horse’s blood
"Look at her!" Filipa rips out the words angrily, pointing to the back end of the horse "There’s nothing left! What kind of wolf could do that?" Tears are streaer
Ara down into the horse’s black, lifeless eyes says, "Viktor told me about the black wolves deeper in the ray wolves that father hunts every winter I think only they could have done this"
"Black wolves?" Filipa says, rising to her feet and gazing down at her sister "Don’t you dare mention this to Father You mean the Black Beasts! Who is this Viktor? Why have you been sneaking off with hiry, but more-so worried for Aralares down at her disapprovingly
Ara helplessly at her sides She had told Filipa that Viktor went back to his homeland last fall and this was true as far as she knew, but it didn’t stop Viktor fro Aramei at least once a e was just days ago He came to warn her about the ‘black wolves’
"Please don’t tell Father," Ara voice "I will tell you everything if you give reen eyes widen with disbelief Araer, Viktor, ca and Aramei knows that it will be hard to finally tell Filipa the truth
Just then, their father co-pants and thick socks that he always sleeps in to keep warm Aramei and Filipa ether to share their body heat Their father looks at the horse first and thenHe shakes his heavily-bearded head at her, but doesn’t say anything about it
Hethe ae
"Must’ve been an entire pack," he says and then his dark eyes wander around the rest of the barn to see that their cow and three goats have been left untouched "Did you see it?"