The Wolf Spring near Coo

During a harsh winter, the wealthy farmer Gilles Benoît held a ball at his farmstead near Roanne. While outside the snow covered the paths and the wind howled through the firs, guests danced in the warm light of hearth and candles. Among them was Louise, the fairest daughter of the valley, whose laughter bewitched every young man.

What nobody knew was that Louise’s father was on his way to the farm that evening to fetch his daughter. Antoine Gilet was old and worried. The snowstorm worsened and the paths across the High Fens became impassable. But Louise danced on. When someone pounded on the door she laughed and refilled her glass.

The next morning hunters found the remains of Antoine Gilet on the moorland above Spa — scattered bones and scraps of clothing. The wolves, starved by winter, had torn him apart. Louise heard the news without shedding a tear. She danced again that evening.

But heaven did not forget. A few winters later Louise herself was attacked by wolves on the same heath. Her body was found at the very spot where her father had died. At the spring where she once drank, no flowers grew thereafter. The people named it the Fontaine aux loups and let their children drink from it, so they would never forget to honour their parents.