Bertie follows a wolf

“Bertie, you leave your sister alone!” Gunnilda called from the bedroom.

“Aw, Ma!” How did she know what he was doing? Could she see through walls?

“Bertie, you come here,” his father said as he came out of the bedroom. “I want to ask you something.”

“I didn’t do it, Da!”

“Didn’t do what?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh.”

His father stood grinning at him, apparently distracted by this new question. Bertie reminded him, “What did you want to ask me, Da?”

“Oh. Well, Bertie, I never ‘member how old you are.”

“I’m five.”

“Oh. I never ‘member, can you count that high?”

“I can count to a hundred and a thousand. Backwards!” Bertie turned around and yelled: “Five four three two one!” Then, turning back to his beaming father, he explained, “Egelric taught me. He’s going to teach Dunstan how to count to a hundred thousand and then maybe he’ll teach me.”

“Well, that’s real good, Bertie,” Alwy said proudly.

“I’ll teach you how to count, boy,” his mother said as she came into the room. “I’ll count to ten and if you’re not in your bed…”

“I know, I know, Ma, but wait, I gotta pee!”

“Well, you go pee and then I’ll count. Now hurry up you!”

Bertie trotted outside to go to the outhouse, but he paused when he heard a rustling in the trees behind the house.

Maybe it was a wolf! Bertie had never seen a wolf before—and wouldn’t his Da be proud if he were the one to warn the people and save the sheep! He would just go see.

But it wasn’t a wolf, it was just a man. At first he thought it was Egelric since Egelric always took that path through the woods, but the man didn’t walk like Egelric.

He would just follow and go see.

The man went all the way through the woods to Egelric’s house and up to the door.

Bertie could recognize the man now that he was out of the shadow of the woods—it was a real mean man from the stables. That man laughed at his Da and called him names. What was he doing at Egelric’s house?

Bertie saw that the man was carrying a wrapped bundle, which he laid on Egelric’s doorstep before turning and running up the path towards the castle. Bertie thought he knew who put that dead bird on Egelric’s doorstep. He would tell Egelric in the morning. But right now, he really had to pee.