After a quick lunch, Daria and Polina drifted away from Marcia and Naomi. Marcia plopped on one of the chairs in the waiting area. Her mind pondered if she should introduce Naomi to her wolf. Naomi sprawled on the big couch, as she thought about outside the castle.

Hesitantly, Marcia asked, "Would you like to meet my pet?"

Inside Naomi cheered, "YES!" but verbally, Naomi answered nonchalantly, "Sure, I guess."

Marcia stood and went out the main entrance with an aloof Naomi trailing behind. As they walked out of the castle toward the forest, the watcher stood in the window, a small smile appeared. He mused. The two friends were together again. The circle was complete. Now it was time to draw them into his plan.

As Marcia approached the forest, the white wolf appeared. He always appeared, as if by magic, as if he knew she was there. He walked up to her and sat at her feet. As Naomi approached, he stood in front of Marcia to protect her. He detected the ill feelings Naomi still had toward Marcia.

Naomi stopped, as the wolf stood with the hair on his neck standing up. Marcia reached down, rubbed the wolf's head and spoke soothing words to him. Gradually he sat down, but continued to watch Naomi closely.

Naomi walked cautiously to Marcia. The wolf followed her every move. Marcia kept a calming hand on the wolf. He eventually calmed and sniffed around Naomi. When he finished sniffing, he sat between the girls. He still did not completely trust Naomi.

Naomi softly petted behind the wolf's ears and extended her hand to his mouth. The wolf licked her and relaxed more. "He is beautiful. How did you find him?" Naomi inquired.

"He actually found me. It was, as if he awaited my visit. I explored the forest and found the ideal place to sit and think. He appeared and came up to me. I found a message carried in his thin collar. The message was for me from Cal. You do remember Cal, right. He is here at the school, but wants to keep his distance for now." Marcia happily related.

"Oh, I remember Cal. He was that dreamy guy who helped the wolf mom with her wound. Have you seen him here? I would love to find him." Naomi dreamily replied.

"What do you mean? You already have an admirer here. He checked you out a lot earlier today."

"Oh, you mean the boy in the stable? He was cute, but Daria was all over him."

"His name is Stefan and he is quite handsome. He looked at you a lot."

"Yeah I get that a lot lately. Guys can be so superficial. I am not that interested."

"Do you want to continue further into the forest?" Marcia asked changing the subject.

"Nah, let's just go back to our room. I want to read the handbooks more. I may have more questions."

Marcia and Naomi walked away from the wolf that disappeared into the forest. Marcia turned to look back, but sadly, the wolf already slipped away. She caught up to Naomi and walked easily along beside her. When they entered the keep, Stefan rode up to them and stopped. He dismounted and joined the girls.

As they met, Daria watched from the steps of the castle. Daria wanted to catch Stefan flirting with Naomi. She wanted to bring down Naomi. She was jealous of the hold Naomi had with Marcia. She wanted to be Marcia's best friend.

"Hi Naomi, it's nice to see you. Hey Marcia, how is it going? Do you want to ride on my horse? You can get on and I will lead him in the courtyard."

Reluctantly, Marcia got a leg up from Stefan. She sat unsteadily in the English saddle. He gave Marcia the reins and grabbed the horse's bridle. He slowly walked the horse in the courtyard. Marcia moved with the horse. While Stefan walked the horse, he talked with Naomi. He stared at Naomi and forgot Marcia.

He crowded closer to Naomi making it hard for her to move away. "How do you like the school?"

"It is like being in a magical kingdom. I feel like a princess with my castle to explore. It is all so new, but I love it so far."

"Have you taken the whole tour of the castle grounds? I know of some special places hidden away. Would you like to explore those?" Stefan slyly asked. He tried to interest Naomi, but it did not seem to work.

Naomi looked pleadingly up at Marcia, but Marcia ignored her imploring stare. She wanted Naomi to handle her own social life. Naomi looked straight into Stefan's eyes. She melted a little, but thought of Daria.

She hardened and told Stefan, "Aren't you going with Daria? I don't want to get between you and her."

Stefan looked disappointed, but only paused for a minute. "Daria and I are just friends. She wants to think there is something there, but there isn't. She always plays the romantic, when we meet." His voice changed to softly pleading with her, "I would rather get to know you more. I am interested in America and learning more about you."

Naomi felt flattered, but she was not interested in having a boyfriend. She wanted him as a friend, but not as a steady date. She stuttered, "Let's slow down here. I just arrived at the school and my new life. Give me a chance to get to know the place and then we will see what happens."

They came upon Daria sitting on the stairs watching the trio approach. She stood up and glowered at Naomi, totally ignoring Marcia. The horse stopped and Marcia jumped off. She walked up between Daria and Naomi. By putting herself between the girls, she stopped Daria from making a silly fool of herself.

Marcia thanked Stefan for the ride. She grabbed Naomi and practically dragged her away. Naomi resisted, but reluctantly looked from Stefan to Marcia's pleading face.

Daria's face turned crimson, as she watched Stefan grab Naomi's hand. Marcia tugged hard enough to pull Naomi away. That was all she needed, they ran up the stairs into the castle.

Daria clutched Stefan's arm and wrapped it in her arms clutching him tightly hanging off him. She dragged him away from the castle toward the stable. Stefan turned his head toward the retreating girls. His eyes pleaded for help, but none was there.

Daria tugged Stefan into the stable, with his horse trailing behind. He extricated himself from Daria's clutches to put the horse in its stall. He removed the saddle and the reins. He poured some oats into the bucket and threw some hay into the stall.

As he closed the gate on the stall, Daria moved up behind and spun him around. Before Stefan could protest, Daria wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He pushed away from her, when she broke the kiss. His anger showed at the unwanted intrusion. Daria moved after the retreating Stefan. She tried to push him down into a pile of hay. As he fell, he rolled out of her clutches and stood up rigidly looking down at her.

Daria laid there, hay in her mussed hair, her dress askew showing her legs and underwear. She did not attempt to cover herself. She gazed dreamily up at Stefan and patted the hay beside her. In an irked voice, "Stefan, get over here with me."

Stefan stood scrutinizing her lying in the hay propped on an elbow. His gaze softened, but his steadfastness never wavered. In a stern voice, he harshly said, "NO! We are friends, nothing more. Get up. If you want to know, I am interested in someone else."

Daria softened her mood and shifted her position. With a melodious and seductively sweet voice, she softly pleaded, "Stefan, please sit with me. I need your arms. I want to rest my head on you." Her pleading did not stop. She tried her best to get him closer to her, but failed.

Stefan's face was impassive and hard to read, as he resisted strongly. As he stood there, his thoughts were of Naomi. He stiffened, removed his riding helmet and gloves and tossed them in the storage locker in front of the stall. He abruptly turned, gazed at Daria and walked away from her.

No one witnessed what happened between Daria and Stefan. Daria thought she might use her humiliation to her advantage. She thought, "If I leave some hay in my hair and my dress askew, I can make my classmates think Stefan and I had a thing going. Maybe that will get Naomi to back off from him."

At dinner, Stefan waved to Naomi and Marcia, but sat with his friends. The girls returned the wave with broad smiles and sat with Polina.

"Where's Daria?" Naomi naively asked.

Polina responded softly, "She went to the stable to have some time with Stefan. I saw him here, but she has not returned yet. I hope she is all right."

"She waited for Stefan on the stairs outside. We left him and she grabbed him away. She should be here." Marcia injected.

Naomi piped up, "I will go talk to Stefan and ask him about Daria." She stood and walked to his table. She asked him for a little private chat.

As she talked with Stefan, Daria entered the dining room. She had not cleaned up. Her hair hung limply with hay mixed in it. Her dress was in a visible state of disorder. She started to walk to her table, but when she saw Stefan and Naomi, she went toward them. An expression of anger and rage flooded her.

She pushed her way to Naomi and pointed a menacing finger. "Get away from my boyfriend! You can't have him. He is mine." Daria drew closer to Naomi. Stefan tried to step in, but Daria shoved him aside. She put her hands up in a menacing gesture. Naomi, rather than shrinking away assumed a protective stance. No blows rained, but the possibility of a fight rose.

Marcia jumped up from her chair and rushed over to Naomi's side. She stood off to the side but ready to defend her friend and stop anything. Her presence calmed the situation, but Daria wanted revenge.

Ignoring Naomi, Daria turned to confront Stefan. "Look what you did to me. You took advantage of my helplessness in the stable. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Everyone watched, as Daria berated Stefan and tried to provoke him to do something. Stefan stood his ground and glared at Daria. He shook his head in disgust. He wanted no part of her. She was a disgrace. The more she ranted the less people thought of her.

Marcia took Naomi back to their table. Whatever would happen was now over. Daria stood alone and disgraced. She turned slowly and sheepishly exited the dining room. As she left, she signaled Polina to join her. Polina sat at the table, as if she did not see Daria's plea. When she was gone, the dining room erupted in chatter about the incident.

"Now, do you see what I mean? Stefan really likes you and not Daria. She just made a fool of herself and he did nothing to protect her." Marcia admonished Naomi.

"I see that, but as I told you, I am not interested in 'boys' right now. I have a life to rebuild. Let's bury all this behind us and start again as friends. We are older and stronger emotionally."

"Yes, we are. Are we still best friends?" Marcia warily asked.

"We are still best friends, but things that changed us and pulled us apart, will not go away easily. We need to take each day at a time." Naomi smiled at Marcia with genuine feelings of friendship. The girls broke the barrier that held them apart.

"Marcia, I want to thank you for coming to my aid with Daria. I was close to punching her lights out. I had it with her jealousy and rage. She seems like a good person, but it will be a while before we are friends."

Polina piped in, "Daria is ok. She just feels that what she has is hers and she will not share. She will be fine in a few days. This is not the first time this has happened."

Dinner ended and the three girls walked arm in arm back to Naomi and Marcia's room.