Grimm Wolf by Julie Steimle (well read books TXT) 📕

wasn’t too fond of going after badgers. He sniffed for more life as he continued to ascend into the wood. When he was far enough from the road, he kicked off his shoes and took off his socks, hanging both on a nearby tree branch. He could smell a fox. A hedgehog. And then… a hare. This was good. He sniffed for more, his nose itching to take shape.

Loosening his pants, pulling off his shirt, Rick hung both on the same branch as his shoes and tucked in his cell phone and wallet, hoping no idiot hiker found them before he had to claim them again. His car keys jingled in the pocket. Taking off the rest, his body rippled with reddish fur, his tail sprouting as his snout elongated with full teeth and his ears moved back and up on his head. Then, getting a whiff of rabbit, Rick-the-wolf darted onto its trail for dinner.

Three Buddies at Cochem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two

 

 

Jordan, Emory, and Rhett got up early after spending a fun evening at a local pub just to enjoy the local flavor. They had a hearty meal and an excellent night sleep in beds. Though they had missed Rick and his mildly distorted sense of humor, they also knew that he probably would not have been in the mood for mischief when he had business on the brain. He was like that.

The morning was bright and sunny. Hardly any clouds were in the deep blue sky, a perfect day for exploring the vineyard town. They pulled out their map and selected places to go.

“Ok, first there’s this cable car we can take to the Pinnerkreuz lookout point. We can hike down from there. I hear there is a café at the upper station,” Emory said. 

Both of them agreed it was a good place to start. It was open at ten at the latest, possible nine-thirty a.m..

They walked to the Sesselbahn in the Endert Valley, which was the chair lift taking them straight up over the mountainside. Only two people were allowed per chair lift, so Jordan opted to ride up with this cute girl from London who was touring the Mosel River Valley with her friends who also happened to be split off from a threesome.

The day was off to a good start. The single trip cost a little less than five euros each.

The view as they rose up the steep mountainside was spectacular. The green below and the strip of houses in the valley town was nothing like from home. A bit of a fairy tale really. It made a person question the concept of overpopulation, as there was so much space with things growing in it, and people were just specks on the distant ground. They could see people hiking up and down the paths underneath their feet as they rose higher. The couples they passed going down the mountain on the gondola seemed oblivious to watchers as they kissed and laughed. Jordan’s seating companion blushed, but also scooted away to make clear she was not that fast a mover, though not averse to the possibility in the future.

Assistants at the top helped them safely get off the chair lift and step out of the way while the mechanism safely moved on. And Jordan’s seatmate lingered with him as they all waited for their friends to get off. They walked together to the turnstile gate, threesome and threesome, where they walked out to look at the view. Arrow signs pointed to hiking paths they could take, all written in pure German. Rhett had to translate. Then they went to the lookout point.

The hiking trails were rough, unpaved walk spaces at the start. But then there were railed switchbacks with stone steps. The craggy, slate-like rock face was not quite what they had expected to see up top, giving it a shockingly barren feel for a place they had assumed was a rich soft area. Rough scrub surrounded them as they trekked on to where they could get a clear view of the Mosel River Valley. The unmistakably large cross there on the peak was hard to miss.

Down below, little gray-topped white buildings sat in rows among trees along the river bank. Leaning on the railing, they could see the trains move along the shoreline and the town, paralleling the river. Boats trekked down the water. And there were a few cars on the highway. Not a lot of traffic, but lazy like. They could see the castle, vineyards, the steeple of a church, and many other quaint European buildings. But after a short look, several photographs, and lots of goofing, Emory insisted they join ‘the ladies’ at the terrace café where they could have ice cream and get to know the girls better.

“So… are you backpacking through Europe also?” Rhett asked, flashing his brilliant white teeth at them as they sat down at their tables.

The British ladies giggled, shaking their heads. They were such a cute row of college gals, flirty and tempting.

“Not quite,” the pretty redhead with fluffy hair said, the one who had gone up with Jordan. “We’re taking trains.”

“Public transportation,” the blonde chimed in.

Their quieter brunette friend, who had blue stripes in her hair and was wearing a Green Day tee shirt merely, smiled.

“We’re seeing a bit here and there,” the redhead explained. “But this is really a brief stop on the way to Cologne.”

The guys shared looks. They were going south, not north. They had already seen Cologne with Rick. That meant it was unlikely they would be able to strike up a long relationship with these ladies as Rick would want to continue going south. But a day with them would not be bad. It would be fun.

“Are you planning on hiking down?” Emory asked, gesturing to the long way, though Rhett pointed to the short way as the gals did not look like they were wearing hiking ware.

“With you?” the brunette asked, smirking.

Rhett, Jordan and Emory had originally intended to hike the long way back to Cochem all the way through the Endert Valley. It was to be their main hike and then they intended to take it easier the other days. But the short switchbacks down was looking more interesting now as these gals were there. They could always do the long hike the tomorrow, they figured.

“Sure,” Jordan said, smiling.

And the British ladies grinned back at him, agreeing that it was a good way to spend a day.

They learned the British gals’ names: Emilee, Helena, and Tracy. Tracy was the sassy brunette. Helena was the blonde. And Emilee, who was much more giggly than the other two, was the redhead. And the redhead liked to talk. As the one who had ridden up with Jordan, she walked down with him, chatting up a storm. The other two were much less talkative, and by the end of the hike the boys learned that Helena and Tracy were actually a couple. It was why Tracy had laughed at them. They still hung out, though. And though Emory and Rhett were disappointed in their romantic expectations, the ladies were still good company.

It was well into the afternoon when they reached Cochem and decided to move on to Reichsburg Castle. The gals were up for it, and they figured they might as well enjoy the tour.

Reichsburg stood on the top of a hill hedged with trees and vineyards. It was a steep walk to get to the castle. And when they paid six euros and got in, they joined a tour of about fifteen people. There were people from all over the world on the tour—France, Spain, a few hijab wearing ladies, and a couple of Asians who were either Korean or Chinese. Rick wasn’t there to tell them which language they were speaking. They grabbed a few brochures with facts about Reichsburg castle on it and pored over the information while Rhett translated to them in English.

The tour lasted about forty-five minutes. Unfortunately, they weren’t allowed to wander about the place on their own—which was a downer. The tour guide gave a lot of fun facts, and shared many stories about the castle. The one thing they noticed was that the castle had been reconstructed. It wasn’t the original castle.

Their tour guide said, and Rhett translated, “After the castle was destroyed by King Louis XIV of France’s troops in sixteen-eighty-nine during the Nine Years War, it remained unoccupied until eighteen-sixty-eight when Berlin business man, Louis Fréderic Jacque Ravené, purchased it and reconstructed it on the remaining parts of the castle. If you look at the castle walls you can see the difference in texture and color of the stone. Those parts below are what was left from the original castle. It was reconstructed in a Neo-Gothic architectural style. He had used it as his summer home. ”

They looked about at the Renaissance and Baroque furniture which the tour guide said had been carefully collected by the Ravené family. He then began to explain that the castle was later taken over during the Nazi occupation, but since 1978 the castle has been owned by the town of Cochem and was run by ‘Reichsburg Cochem Ltd.’

They were allowed to tour only seven of the fifty rooms of the castle, though, and when it was over, Emory struggled to hide that he thought he had seen enough castles for one day. Rhett and he exchanged a look. They were hungry, jealous of Jordan, and tired.

They took a walk down into the valley again to a place where they could get a decent late lunch.

After, Helena and Tracy went off on their own.

And Jordan took a walk with Emilee.

With another look between them, Emory and Rhett went back to the hotel to get in a nap—but ended up playing video games on their phones until Jordan returned near dinner time. Jordan’s face was drawn down with disappointment when he stepped into Emory’s room.

“So?” They looked up expectantly, wondering how far their friend got with the girl.

Sighing once more, Jordan said, “She has a boyfriend.”

“Ah, man!” Rhett threw up his hands.

“Dude, we all got played,” Emory said, cackling. They had paid for the gals’ food after all.

They spent the evening on the Moselpromenade which was next to the upper part of the old town along the riverside. Mostly they watched the boats, flirted with the other tourist ladies and plotted their second day with more determination. They were going to hike to Burgruine Winneburg in the Endert valley, no distractions this time.

After they checked out Martinstor—the old medieval gate of the city, which had battlements on two levels—they headed off to a late dinner then crashed into their beds for a deeply needed night sleep.

 

The second morning, they hiked back to the Sesselbahn, rode up, then hiked the long way into the Endert Valley. It was their intention to stop by the Burgruine Winneburg along the way, which were ruins of a castle that did not require a fee or a tour guide. There were other hikers on the path, but this was the journey less traveled by and they could hike and just talk at their leisure.

“Why is it, do you think, that Rick always skips out on night hikes around the full moon—really?”