"Come, then one and all to listen. I ask for nothing but a momento f your time, for an attentive ear. Will you open yourself then, to listen of one fair of hair as she was pale as moonlight. Listen of one who lived long ago, when the times were more innocent and the people more ignorant." Even as he begins to speak, he turns his head to those around him, never pausing too long or short upon any but Angel. Even then, he hesistates only a moment, subsuming himself once more into his own story.

"Listen of a lady, young by our standards yet inmeasurably old from the wear upon her soul. Innocent yet weary, for she had lost all but one of her family to the plague. And so she toiled in her garden, gathering what vegetables she might, harvesting them such that there might be enough to feed her and her family."

Even as he speaks, his voice changes. Once slightly gruff they turn lilting, twisting the words to blend into one another. His stance changes, from wariness and watchfulness of unseen dangers to that of a performer before others, casting his story forth upon the winds.

"But for life, then as now was dictated by money, and of that she had little. To gather some to her, to buy what she could not mend nor make she gathered herbs in the forest that surrounded her small farm. Each day at the break of dawn she would rise, to enter the forest to gather what herbs she may, to make poultices and seasoning to sell at the market for coin to bring home."

"And thus one day, scarce 8 months when the plague itself had visited its deadly visage upon her family, she would journey outwards. But this day, unlike any other would change her life forever"

"As she walked to her favourite spot she would hear, not the baying of the wolves that plagued this land but the whimpering of a caught animal. Drawn by the pain of the sound, curiousity drawing her closer she moved closer. Pause she did, for" and now his voice drops, drawing the others closer to listen "she saw a wolf, a wolf caught in a bears trap. Set by a hunter, one who had perhaps forgotten of its existence or perhaps who no longer graced this fair earth, the wolf was caught." "Now, this time was not as is now. A wolf then was not a creature to save, to treasure, to be of concern. A wolf then was an animal, a beast, a predator that stole livestock and roamed free. A wolf then was to be killed, for the dead take no action

"All this she knew, all this she had heard before. And yet, as she gazed upon the pitiful creature, caught in the trap and destinied to die, she perhaps reflected upon her own cage. Unable to leave, unable to roam free for the duty that bound her to her cottage and her brother, to the life she walked. Perhaps she saw all this reflected, perhaps she but felt pity."

"No sage records her thoughts, no bard recounts what might have passed unbidden through her mind. Only her actions were known, actions that many say - and perhaps might still say - was foolish. She bent, releasing the creature from its captivity."

"But enough was not enough, for the creature though wary and angry was still injured, its paw broken. Again, only her actions are recorded, that she brought such an animal secretly home, hiding what wounds she recieved from its pitiful, ineffective and worn out defence. For no creature wild would trust humans willingly or easily. For why, you know why. We lie too much."

Again he pauses, and for a moment the eyes crinkle. He feels the shift in mood of his crowd, knowing they dislike the truth and thus continues the story, witholding further such comments. "Ah, but how does one gain the trust of a creature wild? Slowly. Patiently. With knowledge that one such will always seek to escape. All this, all this she did not know. Yet what she had was a heart that was pure, and one that was innocent of malice. Perhaps the beast saw this within her, perhaps it was but too tired to fight"

"Many weeks they'd live together, many weeks whilst the wolf healed and the woman ached, working to feed not two but 3 mouths. Yet complaint she had not, instead shouldering what burden she had. And at last, the time came as they both knew it would"

"Autumn had come, and with it the graceful falling of leaves and the reminder that nature cares not for man. Winter was coming. And with it, the healing of the wolf. There was no word of thanks, no uttered remorse over a goodbye. One day, as the woman awoke the wolf was not there."

His voice falls silent for a moment, his tone sadder when he begins again. "Alone then the girl was, alone with a brother too young to care for himself and with little to store for the winter. And regret came, for the time he spent caring for the wolf was time not spent building provisions for the winter. Time perhaps spent better. Bitter for a time yes, angry certainly. Yet..."

"Yet she could not really find fault with her actions, nor desire to change them. For what time she spent caring for the wolf, she had taken bcause it had been right. And what time she spent, was hers alone. And though there had been no spoken woves of friendship, no uttered oaths of fealty, a bond had developed."

"Winter came, as it always must. And with it, the howling winds and the frozen snows. Food became scarce, the provisions within the village soon dwindling as the hands so lately lost were sorely missed. Winter came and behind it Death stalked."

He stops then, letting them imagine a winter as they would, a cold that sat within their bones and that cracked trees as their saps froze. A winter of death.

"Winter came, and Death followed. Yet in one household only, meat was unrare. For on each dawn a hare would arrive, a squirrel caught too far from a tree. Even perhaps a ground rat. It mattered not, for one who was on the brink of death does not argue of the meat they consume. In one household, meat arrived to stave off Famine."

"She would never see the wolf again, though perhaps on windswept nights she might feel yellow eyes upon her. Throughout that winter and many more to come, meat would arrive. And sometimes, sometimes only the prints of one she knew well."

"She would never see her wolf again, for his path lay away from hers and what little she could tame of it could only bind it so far. But for many years, meat would arrive to see her through the darkest of times."

"Sometimes, there are bonds that grow through hardship and pain. Sometimes what we do has no effect upon the future. Sometimes, those that we would feel have abandoned us have but left. Sometimes."

And there, he ends it. He bows his head slightly, not speaking for many moments before raising his eyes.

"Thank you for listening. I pray that this story was but not too boring, that the litany of hope I offer you was not cast aside by your fears."