The Hidden Manor

"Where is she? What did you do to her? You can't ..." She was shocked!

"Lady Maria-Eva, calm down, your sister is perfectly well and you may talk to her in some minutes. However, please hear me out, I need you to understand the whole issue completely, before we can decide. Her first names had been Eva and Maria, just as the premonition said. It was almost too easy, as your sister loved to be talking to Walter, the reigning Baron of our lands. Of course he was in his human form. He gained her confidence and confessed the whole plot, while he introduced her to our barony. Initially she had been thrilled and agreed to take him as fiancé, and that has been made public. At that time she agreed to forged papers in 2018 documenting her departure with a yacht from Wismar, a she relished the thought to become a Baroness. However, she became less thrilled as she realized that our lands in 1850 are sparsely populated and that cultural events are rare. Me and Walter, we became more and more uncertain about her. Nevertheless, we could not let her go as the magical energy had already been spent to transport her to the year 1850. Our agreement with the yacht owner had prescribed that the sailboat would be declared as capsized and sunken in two weeks from now and we can't change that anymore, so we can't let her reappear in the village. This might raise inspections by the police - and that is something we can't afford at all. In short, it became very clear that we had been looking for the wrong person. Your sister had been telling us before, that you had the name Maria. Well, after we learned that you have the first name Maria-Eva ... According to Walter, you have the perfect smell - and he is adamant about it - you are the perfect mate for him. ... And here you are."

"This is outrageous! You can't just abduct people! This is criminal! You have deceived and seduced her just for your own good! And now you are telling me you will do the same to me! And I am married!" She was outraged.

"You can now talk to your sister - and hear her opinion about us. I can understand your anger, but you should understand our situation, too. Each year, at least some of us werewolves are being shot dead because of the drive to extinguish wolves and werewolves alike. For us it is a war for survival. And it is a need for us to conquest the right mate. Maybe it is not legal, what we intend to do, but as Napoleon said, all is fair in love and war..."

He waved to the attendants to fetch her sister. Half a minute later she appeared in a blue robe, similar in cut to Maria's, and rushed to her, embracing her.

"Maria, I did try so hard to convince you to avoid your destiny, but here you are. I have been dreaming about our destinies every night since I wrote that letter to you. I have never thought that my own dream could become my destiny, but my dreams say it now."

"Eva, are you okay? You talk like you are on drugs? What have they done to you? You should have asked me before you had barged into that...!"

Maria did try to avoid sounding reproachful, but she could not quite evade that undertone in her voice.

"Maria, you will need to see with your own eyes what happened to me and feel with your own body what happens, if a werewolf protects and caresses you. I have been really overwhelmed by that kind of passion but I am not made for the landscape of Mecklenburg and neither for the time period of 1850, but you might be better suited for it. I will not say more, in order to let you form your own judgement."

"Lady Maria, I told you that I will provide proof. We need to visit the village right now in order for you to understand. We do not have a lot of time on our hands, since you will be expected back in Basel on Friday, but latest on Saturday. And your husband may wait until that day, but if your cell phone does not answer, while you are no longer at the inn, he will declare you missing and police will search the area of the village. All of us from our time have to go back before that happens. One of the two of you has to stay in our time and the other will be sent back to your time and to your husband since you are identical twins..."

Maria was flabbergasted. Those guys behaved now rather polite but they were ruthless. She was not going to accept this mad plan at all!

"Your Lordship, I demand that you will release my sister and me immediately. Kidnapping is a severe crime - and you will be punished by the law, if my husband files complaint!"

"Lady Maria, you did apparently not listen well enough. Baron Walter has announced publicly that he has a fiancée named Eva-Maria Isegrim. If neither of you two show up as that, then rumors about kidnapping in our time will appear. And we can't afford rumors, as suspicion is already high enough about us being werewolves. In our time wolves and werewolves are being hunted in order to be extinguished, wherever possible. You may not understand that, but it makes us liable to make a sacrifice, too. The balance between our times has to be kept. For keeping one in our time, we will have to send one from our time to your time with the identity of Maria-Eva. And it can only be one with werewolf genes in order to keep the balance. You two have those genes, so we need to keep the balance."

Maria did not believe her ears. She had werewolf genes? What kind of bullshit was this? And why didn't her sister oppose his words as well?

"Eva, don't stand there and remain silent. Tell them that this is madness and that you won't stand for it!"

"Maria, you may not believe that, but I have started to have had strong forebodings, ever since I arrived here. I know that you will fight to accept your destiny, but you will finally accept and embrace your destiny. And your destiny is to become the mate of this werewolf Walter and at the same time to become the Baroness Eva-Maria von Steinhart-Wolf as his human wife. I know this, because I did visit your gravestone in Russia in my dreams with Eva-Maria engraved on it. You will be very happy, except for initially missing me and your husband. My destiny is as clear as yours in my repeating dreams. I will become Maria-Eva, the wife of Siegfried Gruber, and I will live with him in Davos, which will make him happy. He will never learn that I am your sister, but believe to his very end that I am Maria-Eva. In my dreams we will be protected by a werewolf, who will sacrifice human life and live permanently as a wolfhound."

This was very spooky. Eva did talk with such certitude that Maria shivered. At the same time she was mad at Eva. How could she even dare to think such, even less spell it out in public?

"Eva, I can't believe you are really saying this. It is my husband you are talking about. How can you tell that you would deceive him and betray me at the same time? This is despicable and selfish on your part!"

"Maria, let us assume, you were in my place. What would you do, if you are staying here? Tell him that his wife is stranded in the 18th century? Let him mourn his unattainable wife and be sent to the nuthouse? Be assured, if you tell him that, you will be sent there or you will be charged with forged papers and potential murder. He is a man of science. He will never believe that time travel is possible and that werewolves do exist. In the end he will have lost his wife and have her sister ended up in the lunatic asylum or in prison. Do you suppose that makes him happy? Now, who is being selfish here, when instead he would be able to live happily in Davos and only have to miss his unloved sister-in-law?"

That left Maria speechless. Of course, Eva was right about Siegfried being a science man. True also, that nobody would believe somebody claiming time travel as reason for the disappearance of a person. In fact, she grasped that the claiming to be Eva-Maria while in possession of the papers of Maria-Eva did raise suspicions about how she got those papers.

"Eva and Maria, you may discuss that later on. And be assured, you have the full liberty of decision, on condition that one of you stays here and the other gets back into the 21st century with the identity of Maria-Eva. We will have a baroness with the first names Maria and Eva, and we will not care in which order they are - at least I won't, whereas Walter... Now, it will be useful, if Maria-Eva gets to know the village in the 19th century, as this will make her believe the truth and grant her the ability to make an informed decision."

That was Machiavellian! Richard did intend to let them make the decision who was going to stay. Maria glared at him.

"I will escape at the next possibility and call the police! You can't make me stay. This is not going to happen - period!"

"Fine - if you do that, you will already have taken your decision. Eva-Maria will be sent back - and you will come back sooner or later to us, as you are in the 19th century right now. We don't even need to look for you. You will come on your own, as you have no money and no place to stay. Only we can transport one of you back into the 21st century. And we will not abstain from the opportunity to have as fiancée the woman according to our omen."

The Wolf at the side of Richard whimpered excitedly as Richard detailed his view about her futile threat. Maria was stunned as she realized that if she really was in the 19th century, he would probably be right. It dawned on her that she had no power to make them do as she wanted. In this century criminal prosecution against a baron by a woman with no influence was unthinkable. She could not go to the police and tell them that she and her sister had been kidnapped from the 21st century, especially not, if her sister was the fiancée of that baron.

"Your Lordship, I will cooperate, if only to make the life of my sister Eva not more difficult."

"Lady Maria - that is a wise decision. Believe me; we would not force your hand, if the survival of our group would not be at stake. I propose that we depart immediately with the coach. Lady Eva is better staying here in order to avoid confusion in the village."

Some minutes later, Richard and his wolf as well as Maria were sitting in the horse-drawn coach. Slowly but surely Maria started really to believe in being in the 19th century. The carriage was lit by lanterns containing candles. The wolf was lying on the floor of the coach and warming this way her bare lower legs. Absentmindedly she stroked his head gently. Instantly he looked up and his eyes did show his intelligence, even if his position on the floor seemed exactly like that of a well-trained dog. Richard smiled.

The coachman started over the drawbridge into the woods. Close to the village they turned onto a cobblestone plastered road and entered the community. It was an eye opener as Maria perceived the inn in a state with fresh wood beams instead of the weathered framings she had witnessed only a few hours ago. Behind the inn she perceived stables, which she had not seen during her stay. Probably they had been demolished, when no longer needed. Most other houses did look quite different, but the inn had still the same shape as when she had stayed there or as when she will stay there in the future. It was awkward to understand that this inn would be the same in 168 years, except that it would be aged by that number of years. The bakery was to be seen as well, but it was devoid of the large glass windows it displayed in 2018, instead it had tiny crooked windows.

The coachman opened the door of the coach and helped them get out. Villagers greeted respectfully as they stopped at the inn.

"Your Lordship, your Ladyship - we wish a nice evening to you."

Suddenly she grasped that she was meant with that title. It felt awkward. The innkeeper greeted them cheerfully and confirmed that he had prepared all His Lordship had ordered. Maria was curious what that was. A minute later she knew all. The inn had prepared special treats for a dinner to be transported to the Manor and some nice wines. Additionally he had prepared a room, where Maria was to change into riding clothes, as they all would ride back to the castle by horse.

"Lady Maria, your sister told us that you are an excellent rider. I thought that we should pass by the watermill."

The stallion she obtained was a magnificent animal. It was indeed a joy to ride it, even if the dark was only lit by torches. Richard was leading the way with one and a servant holding one at the end of the small caravan. He smiled amused as she pranced joyfully with the proud stallion. The wolf circled the small group with graceful movements and watchful eyes.

The watermill was busy and it was unbelievable to see that those ruins had been once a solid stone house with a wooden wheel turning in the water of the creek. The miller greeted them respectfully and glanced a bit fearful at the large wolf. He seemed uneasy about it, perhaps also because he had a yard full of chickens. It was a scene right of a picture book for children. Immediately thoughts came up in her mind about stories beginning with 'Once upon a time...'. They were offered some house prepared bread - it was delicious and she did not remember having ever had such a wonderful bread. The delight must have shown on her face.

"Yes, Lady Maria - we do have simple delights, but they are genuine and given by the nature freely. And you do seem to appreciate them, which is a bit of a contrast to your sister, who mainly appreciated to be titled as 'Ladyship'. Here is no stink in the air, as there is in your time close to the road with the awful smell of burned oil."

Instantaneously she regretted to have shown her joy with tasting that bread. She had the dreadful feeling that this constituted already another step of her not being allowed to leave this 19th century.

"Walter, run back to the Manor and prepare all for the final discussion. You know what I mean, right?"

A short bark and the giant, dark grey wolf departed with an amazing speed. In an instant he disappeared in the forest, covering the 100 meters or so in a few seconds. That was not natural! Even a fast greyhound would have seemed slow to that. Maria was amazed.

Back at the castle she was greeted by a man having a striking resemblance with Richard. Perhaps a year younger, but that was not sure as his skin was more fair than that of Richard. He was less attractive in terms of his skin, but his face was chiseled in such a way that he seemed to be the archetype of a male face.

"I am Walter - pleased to meet you, Lady of the Woods", he smiled with a grin that extended also to his eyes. She was surprised to hear his words. Richard saw her confusion and explained quickly:

"It is feasible to switch from wereform to human in 30 minutes, if you do employ magic, but it does cost you. However, I did ask Walter to do that, as it is important for your decision."

She did agree with his opinion. If Richard was attractive, Walter did top that easily in a way which would be difficult to explain. Somehow she just felt attracted to him. Perhaps all that talk about destiny was not as absurd as she had thought.

May be continued.