Knock Knock, Mr Fox

Once in a far off place, a young girl of 20 (which in this place was a year away from womanhood) was shopping in the market place for her brothers' dinner, when a handsome man, who she had never seen before, stopped her from going anywhere. "Hello fair maiden," said the man. "Could I interest you in coming to my mansion for lunch?"
Without thinking about it the girl said, "Yes kind sir, you can. When?"
"Today. Now!" said the man
"I have to get home to cook my brothers' lunch," she said.
"Do not fret my dear," remarked the man with a smile, "you will be back in time. Be at my mansion at 12 o'clock." After he said this he started to walk away.
The girl shouted to the man, "But I don't know where you live?"
"The one on the top of the hill south of the village," replied the man and continued to walk away.
The girl walked to her house, north of the village. When she arrived she put her basket on the table, turned and started to walk to the man's house.
When she arrived it was almost 12 so she knocked. A maid opened the door and invited her in. The man was waiting for her. They sat down to eat. When they had finished the man asked the girl to marry him. She said, "I would have to ask my brothers first."
The man got up off his knees and told the girl that she could look around but not to go in the door behind the curtain because it was locked. She did.
The girl passed the door three times. She had visited all the other rooms so she ventured to look behind the curtain. A plaque above the door said "Be bold, be bold or thou blood will run cold." The girl opened the door and as she climbed the stairs the door closed behind her. She soon came to another door which had a plaque which read "Be bold, be bold or thou blood shalt run cold." She went through and there were more stairs. The same thing happened with the door as it did before. After climbing more stairs the girl came to yet another door which also had a plaque but a different message. "Be bolder, be bolder or thou blood shalt run colder." Past this door were more stairs. The girl climbed the many stairs and came to another door which had a plaque that said, "Be boldest, be boldest or thou blood shalt run coldest." She passed through the door only to see bits of women's bodies scattered over the floor. The girl heard some one coming so she hid in a closest with the door ajar to see who it was. To her surprise it was the maid and a fox. She heard the fox say, "The girl will be next." The girl knew he meant her. The fox sniffed the air. "I smell human," it said.
"I'm sure it's just the bodies' sir," said the maid. The fox agreed and they left.
The girl cam out of the closet and took out her handkerchief and placed a hand in it. She wrapped it up and put it in her pocket. She ran down the stairs. She pulled the curtain over the door. She thanked the man for lunch then ran home to cook her brothers' lunch.
She told her brothers about her day and showed them the hand. Her eldest brother said, "Invite this man round and confront him. We will be here to help you."
The next morning in the market she met the man again. She invited him round to meet her brothers at 4 o'clock. He said he would be there.
Forgetting he didn't know where she lived the girl went home and prepared lunch.
The man arrived at 4 as planned. While eating the girl started to say something, "Last night I had a dream where you were a fox."
"Not true," said the man.
"In my dream it was true," she said and continued her story. The man continued to deny it until the girl presented the hand. The man leapt from his seat. The brothers drew their swords that they had hidden under the table and chopped the man's head off. Instead of red blood it was green. The body disintegrated.
A few days later the girl took her brothers to the mansion but it wasn't there.
Nobody to this day knows what happened to the mansion except the maid who has not been found.