Red cntd.

  The wolf ran quickly through the woods toward grandma's house at the top of the hill. Red would be on her way at any moment to serve up her poisoned muffins.
  "How will I stop her and save grandma without hurting either one of them?" he thought to himself. The last thing he needed was some kind of reputation as a big bad wolf.
  After what seemed like forever, he saw the hill where grandma's house sat. Mustering up his last bit of energy, he bounded up its grassy side and stopped right in front of the door. This was as far as he had thought. What should he do next?
  Walking to an open window, he peeked over the sill and saw grandma sitting in a rocking chair reading a book and sipping a cup of tea. She looked so peaceful, he hated to disturb her but he knew her life hung in the balance. If he did not scare her away, Red would arrive with her muffins and it would be too late.
  He took a few steps back, then gathered just enough strength to run forward and leap through the window into grandma's house. She looked up in shock and her tea cup hit the floor and shattered. Screaming, she leaped up from her chair spilling her book on the floor, and ran over to the door.
 "Oh my, a wolf, a wolf!" she cried, as the wolf stood in the center of the room trying to look intimidating. He tried to growl as he had seen other wolves do but it felt so wrong. It hardly mattered at this point anyway, he decided. Grandma was already at the door in a panic struggling with the lock.
  "Oh no, oh no," she repeated, seemingly unaware or uncaring that the wolf was making absolutely no move to harm her.
  Finally she got the door unlocked and swung it open.
  "Help, help!" grandma called, as she ran down the hill and off into the woods. The wolf watched her go until she disappeared in the trees. That had been easy enough, he thought. Now he just had to wait for Red to show up, drop off her muffins and once she was gone he could dispose of them. Grandma would never have to know.
 "This was not so hard after all," he thought to himself, feeling relieved. "I wonder if grandma bakes just as well as Red."
  He was about to start looking around for treats when he heard whistling outside and loud footsteps crunching in the leaves. Running to the window, he looked out and saw Red coming up the front walk. He had not expected her this soon. He looked around desperately for a place to hide but the cabin, although large, was only one room and no furniture of grandma's was big enough to cover him.
 "I will have to hide in plain sight then,"  he decided. Walking to the hearth, he curled up in a ball, facing away from the door, tucked his tail under his legs and pretended to be asleep.
  "Grandma!" Red's voice called out. There was no answer and so it came again.
  "Grandma, are you home?"
  The door creaked open and Red's boots clicked across the wooden floor.
  "That's strange. I didn't know Grandma had a dog," she said to herself, shutting the door behind her.
  "I guess she isn't home. That's alright. I can wait."
   The wolf heard the sound of something being set down, the basket of muffins he assumed. Then Red's boots across the floor getting closer and closer.
  "That's one big dog," Red said out loud, and the wolf heard her plop down in a chair. His heart jumped. This was not supposed to happen. She was supposed to leave the muffins and go.
  "I guess I could just leave the muffins with a note," Red mused aloud, as if reading the wolf's thoughts.
  "But then I wouldn't get the pleasure of seeing them do their work. Just one muffin and she will be on the floor in seconds. Then there will be no cheating me out of my money and Allister and I can be married and build a nice cottage on the lake."
  Red rocked back and forth in Grandma's chair whistling.
"Oh well. Look who it is," she said minutes later. "Grandma's come home to have her final meal."
  In a few moments, the door swung open and Red's granny ran into the room.
 "Red, Red!" she cried, "Get out of there this instant!"
 "What is wrong with you?" Red snapped. "I am just sitting with your dog enjoying a nice afternoon."
 "That's not my dog, that's a wolf!" Grandma cried.
 "A wolf?" Red repeated, not seeming at all concerned. "Well who knew."
 "We must leave this second," Grandma insisted. But Red could not be bothered.
 "He is obviously not harmful. We've been sitting here ten minutes and he hasn't moved." She walked over and poked at him with her finger.
 "Maybe he is dead."
  The wolf did not move. Red grinned evilly and kicked at him with her boot. The wolf whimpered and leaped up to his feet. Grandma took a step back but did not run away this time.
 "Oh I know this wolf," Red said. "He hangs around my house alot and comes to sleep next to my chimney."
  The wolf looked up at Red feeling a little indignant. All this time she knew he was there and she never thought to share her treats?
 "He's probably just hungry," Red shrugged. "That's why he came in your house."
 "Well he was certainly very frightening jumping through my window. That's why I ran away to your house. I know your father left you that little gun. I was hoping you still had it."
  The wolf looked at grandma with big sad eyes. He had not even bit her and here she wanted to shoot him.
 "Yes well, I think Allister took it. You know how he likes to hunt. And speaking of eating, I made you some muffins."
  The wolf's ears perked up. He had nearly forgotten why he was here.
"The poisoned ones you mean?' Grandma said. Red stopped halfway to the table and turned around.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"Oh I ran into Agnes on the way here," Grandma explained, grabbing a broom and sweeping up the pieces of her broken tea cup. Still keeping an eye on the wolf.
"That child has lost her sweet little mind. She told me this story of you tying her up because she tried to stop you serving me poisoned muffins and how she'd escaped and run to try and save me. I told her to go home and get some rest but she told me she was going to go find the authorities."
"Well you know Agnes. She has quite the imagination," Red said, reaching into her basket and pulling out a perfectly browned blueberry muffin.
"Would you like one?" Red asked. "They're simply to die for." She held it out to her grandma.
 The wolf looked back and forth between them, his mind racing. How could he make Grandma see that Agnes had told her the truth? He did not want to kill Red and there was no way for him to talk to Grandma.
  The old lady reached out to take the treat and in that moment the wolf knew what he had to do. Leaping up from his spot on the floor, he opened his mouth and snatched the muffin from Red's hand eating it in one bite. He landed on all four paws and turned to face the two ladies. Red said it took only seconds for the poison to set in. Soon Grandma would know the truth.
 "My I guess he was quite hungry," she said with a smile. It quickly faded to a frown however as the wolf began to cough and gasp for air.
"What is he doing? Is he choking? Grandma asked, her forehead creased in concern. She gasped and stepped back as the wolf dribbled up blood.
"Oh my goodness, it seems as if he's been-" she stopped short and looked up at Red.
"Been poisoned."
 Suddenly the room seemed to spin. The wolf swayed back and forth unable to make out what was happening. Voices cried out but he could not tell who it was or see well enough to help. The last sound was the door opening yet again and a man's deep voice calling out instructions. Then the wolf felt himself hit the floor and everything went black.

  The wolf opened his eyes. Everything was a little fuzzy but he could make out a fire in front of him and saw a blanket covering him down to his paws. A sweet scent filled the air and a light breeze took the edge off the heat of the fire. The wolf had never been sure what happened after death but if this was it, he decided it was not so bad.
  He was about to get up and explore his new home when he heard a voice that sounded strangely familiar.
  "Oh you are one lucky wolf, aren't you?" said a lady. She walked over and knelt down next to him setting a bowl on the floor.
  "You're lucky my Red didn't know her poisons too well. That whole bottle sure would have taken you out. But spread through all those muffins, it was only enough to make you quite sick."
  Grandma patted his head gently and rubbed the fur behind his ears.
 "You slept on and off for almost two days, you poor thing," she crooned. "And my goodness were you sick. I had the doctor rush over to help you and he gave you some nice herb tea to soothe your tummy. There's some more here in this bowl if you like," she said, pushing it toward his snout.
 "I don't know how you knew what my Red was planning but I certainly am forever in your debt. Oh how I sobbed when the jailer took her away. She won't be seeing the outside of a cell any time soon."
  "And as for you, my new dear friend. Well you are welcome to stay here just as long as you like. No more sleeping by chimneys for you. There will always be a warm plate of food and a soft pillow by the fire for you whenever you'd like."
  The wolf's ears perked up. Homemade food and a bed inside? He certainly was one lucky wolf. Sticking out his tongue, he reached over and licked Grandma's hand. He had seen pet dogs do this to their owners who seemed to take it as a sign of affection.
  Grandma smiled and laughed.
"You are a sweet little wolf, " she said. "Rest now so you can get your strength back."
The wolf closed his eyes and as he fell asleep, he dreamed of sitting at Grandma's table as she served him all the cupcakes, scones and cookies he could eat.