Hair of Gold: Just Right (Urban Fairytales Book 6) Read Online Free PDF

better than the boys I knew in my old village, messy and unkempt. But they were my saviors.
    I had just brought in another bucket of water from the well out back and started scrubbing the cobblestone floor when Pavel said, “Little kitten, you do not need to do so much. We like how we live.”
    I remembered something mother had caught father with once and smiled to myself then said, “You are right Little Bear. There are two scrub brushes, make yourself useful.”
    He just blinked at me a couple times as his brother's laughter boomed out. He sheepishly took the other scrub brush and started helping. I hid a satisfied grin. I would teach my new brothers not to be lazy. He cursed softly under his breath though he had a bemused smile on his face.
    I paused to look at the two other men just snickering as they watched their brother clean. I pointed at them and said, “It isn't polite to mock others.”
    They hid their smiles behind their hands, and I pointed at the wrought iron firewood rack. “Make yourself useful and chop some more firewood, we are almost out.”
    That quelled their smiles. They sighed as their shoulders slumped and they trudged to the door, Vladimir grumbling, “She is worse than mother was.”
    Andrei chuckled and clapped his shoulder, giving me a little wink as they headed outside.
    I turned back to my work to see Pavel just grinning after his brothers. I tapped his scrub brush with an expectant look, and he saluted me and said with enthusiasm, “Da, little kitten.”
    As we worked, I had a sense of satisfaction that I was able to get these big men to take more pride in their dwelling.
    We stopped for lunch, and I took inventory of their larder, it was a mess too and had meager offerings, though they had a few months supply of salted or smoked meats. I shooed the men out of the way. I had always been mother's helper in the kitchen, so I was able to put decent fare together, and we ate sandwiches and a venison soup I made with some smoked meat and dried vegetables. I was determined to pay my way.
    After lunch I had asked where the outhouse was, I had not seen one behind the cottage, only the well.
    Andrei shrugged and asked, “Why do we need an outhouse? We have an entire forest of trees out there.”
    Eww. I was starting to think that maybe they were truly bears who could become men. I shuddered and headed to the forest, grabbing handfuls of leaves as I went.
    Before long, we had the cottage looking more like a home than a battlefield. I was exhausted, and the men looked to be worn out as well.
    Vladimir looked around, rubbing his hand on his chin that had a day's growth of whiskers. He mused out loud, “I do not believe the place has looked this tidy since the day we moved in.”
    I beamed with pride.
    After I had made dinner, accidentally overcooking the flatbread, we ate. They said nothing about the crispy bread. I sat on a little barrel since they only had three chairs. They told me of the wonders of the land and the freedom they had, traveling the forest and harvesting wood for the nearby villages.
    That is when I looked around again and asked, “I saw no cellar, where do you hide on the Wolf Moons?”
    This just got me boisterous laughter, then Andrei sobered suddenly and said in a dangerous tone, “I pity the wolves who try to take us. You saw our bears. Wolves are stupid animals, they have only three thought in their heads, hunt, kill, mate. But they are not so stupid that they don't know when they are outmatched.”
    Vladimir grinned. “We chase them off every month. Sending them running with their tails tucked between their legs to find easier prey.”
    They grinned at each other. Oh. I looked around and hugged my arms across my chest. Pavel stopped smiling, and his brow furrowed when he looked at me. He said softly like father did when he spoke to me, “Fear not tiny kotenok, we will not let them get to you.” The brothers all looked at each other and seemed to nod in agreement to some