Helena

  The front door opened, and a man in a soldier's uniform, whom Helena recognized as Sergeant Brody, came out in front, followed by two men with bruised faces, hands tied behind their backs, and torn, bloodstained clothes. Both walked with their heads down, avoiding the curious glances of the people. The pair was escorted by two soldiers with sweaty faces and rifles in hand.

  “That’s Elisa’s man and her brother-in-law,” a man said near Helena.

  “Weren’t they on the green with the others?” another man asked.

  “They went after some lads who were lookin’ for them,” a woman said. “Maybe it was to bring ‘em here.”

  Natalia and Celeste came out after the soldiers, accompanied by a person whose face was covered with a white sheet. She walked while holding tight onto Natalia's body, and the tall woman guided her gently, taking her by the waist and arm, as though she was taking her out for a dance. From her size and body shape, it was easy to see that it was Elisa.

  "That must be Elisa. I’ve no doubt about it. She thinks we won't recognize her by covering her face. That whore," said an old woman with contempt.

  Taylor and two of his friends came out next, escorted by a soldier who led one of them by the shoulder. The parents of the young men screamed and ran to meet them, but were stopped by Sergeant Brody.

  "You all stop right there," Brody said in an authoritative voice. "I'm sorry, but your children are in custody right now. You'll have to wait for the police to arrive and come to terms with them."

  “But what have they done? What are they being accused of?” cried one of the mothers desperately.

  “I told y’all to wait for the police, and that’s final.” Brody gestured for the family members to step back.

  Lastly, Esther and Emma came out, leading a man by the hand who appeared to have something gelatinous and shiny stuck to his face. He walked slowly, pausing for a few seconds each time he took a step forward. The women held him tightly so he wouldn't fall.

  “That must be Bastian, Luke’s nephew,” Elsa said. “From what I can see, Clark and his brother gave him a good beating.”

  “Good mighty heavens. How did that skinny bugger manage to mount the beautiful Elisa?” a man said with a long sigh.

  “Was the woman that hungry? I don’t know what she saw in that ugly creature,” a woman said mockingly.

  “She probably saw him takin’ a pee and her two mouths became moist, my dear,” an old woman said with a derisive laugh.

  "He must have it and works it like a fine donkey," said another old woman.

  Helena blushed as she listened to the villagers' lewd comments, which became more and more imaginative and perverted. Her mother covered Julie's ears while laughing uproariously. Emmy sensed the excitement among the people and began to bark.

  ?“Richard,” Emma called, “help Esther with Bastian and bring him to the clinic. Be very careful with him, for he’s badly wounded. Celeste, you take Elisa and get everything ready there when you arrive. Esther, you’ll give her a hand. Sergeant, I know you plan to wait for the police, but I’d like to treat your two prisoners. Why don’t you come with us?”

  Brody looked at the people and the enormous sphere of water floating above. “That’s a good idea, ma’am. It’s better than standing here in the sun and under that bloody thin’ you have hangin’ over our heads.”

  “Well, that can be fixed, Sergeant,” Emma said, and with a flick of her wrist, she dissolved the giant sphere into millions of water droplets and disappeared. The muddy road became dry in the blink of an eye, as if it had never been wet all morning. People watched in amazement as the mud stuck to their clothes and shoes turned into dry earth and fell off them like sand.

  “Well, let us go,” Emma said, and handed Bastian to Richard and started the march, followed by Esther, the soldiers, the prisoners, the wounded, and the curious crowd, with Agnes and her friends leading the way. The little Emmy barked and ran after her owner.

  The rest of the Hunters stayed behind.

  “Interesting day,” Natalia said to Elsa, who was approaching her.

  “It is… How did you end up involved in this whole mess?” Elsa asked. I thought you were at home.

  Natalia glanced at Julie. “This brat and her friend brought us here. They thought some men had broken into Luke’s house to rob him.”

  “That’s what the little boy told his mother. And what were you doing with the soldiers?”

  “We were looking for Michael.”

  “Why?”

  Natalia shrugged. “For no reason at all. I just want to know how he is.”

  Elsa saw the wooden swords Natalia was carrying and the metal one hanging from her waist. “Are you looking for him to train?”

  “Yes… Today I felt like practicing with my sweet, wonderful, and extremely cute little nephew.”

  Helena trembled with terror at her aunt’s words. Natalia only referred to someone that way when she was marking them for slaughter.

  “What did he do to you to make you this mad?” Elsa asked.

  “He disrespected me and told me to get lost.”

  “That’s it? Just for that you’re mad?

  “It was the way he said it. It hurt my feelings.”

  “Explain yourself.”

  “I had changed my mind about letting him go to the village, so I went outside to look for him. I found him at the front gate, riding alongside Julie. I stopped them and ordered them both to dismount and return inside immediately, but my dear nephew disobeyed me. He raised his hand and said with an inflated voice: ‘Begone, vile beast of darkness, before I beat you and drag you back to the rotten hole from whence you have come. Flee from my sight, despicable and evil creature, and pray to your twisted gods that I do not hunt you down and cast you into the nine hells.’ Natalia faked a tear. “He has never called me this way. He broke my heart.”

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  Elsa and Helena became speechless. Then they burst out laughing.

  Julie looked at Natalia with arrogance. “Did you hear that, my fair ladies? My lord defeated his enemy with the power of his words alone,” she said proudly.

  Natalia shot her a glance that made the little girl hide behind Elsa.

  “See how this rascal defends her rebel cousin?” she said, pointing at the little girl. “She doesn't respect me either.”

  “Junior, it’s obvious they were just playing with you,” Elsa said. “Why are you taking it so seriously?”

  “I don’t care. We have to straighten out that idiot’s head. I’ve forgiven him too many times and look at how he talks to me now. This has to end.”

  “Just don’t hurt him too much, please,” Elsa said. “At least give him a chance to apologize to you.”

  “I’ll try. Are you going to the clinic?” Natalia looked toward the house. The front door was open. “This place looks deserted now.”

  “I'll go see what Agnes is up to and try to stop her from upsetting Emma with her crazy antics, if I can manage that miracle, of course. I imagine Luke's men will be here soon to check the house. Are you coming with me or staying?” Elsa asked Helena and Julie.

  “Let them stay,” Natalia said. “I need help tracking Michael down.”

  “Well, I’ll leave them in your care then. And please, don’t be too hard on him.”

  "I'll hit him very softly," Natalia said with a smile that made one doubt her true intentions.

  Elsa held her eyes for a moment. “Remember what I told you this morning, Junior. Don’t make me angry. I’m warning you.” She turned and left without waiting for a response.

  “Bah!”

  Natalia waited until Elsa was far away before she began to speak. “Listen carefully, you dimwits, ‘cause I’m not going to repeat myself: What’s going on? What trouble has Michael got himself into?”

  Helena frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about what happened here. I know you have something to do with it.”

  “You know perfectly well we have nothing to do with what happened. You were in there,” Helena said.

  “If I were a fool like you, I'd swallow your words without hesitation. But I am not that gullible. I am sure you and Esther are involved in some kind of mess with Michael. So start talking, or I will take my anger out on you first.”

  “But what’s wrong with you?” Helena said, taking a few steps back. “We’re not involved in anything shady. I swear.”

  “?Do I look like a bloody idiot? Stop lying and talk,” Natalia said, pointing one of the wooden swords at Helena's chest.

  Helena raised her hands to defend herself. “Auntie, calm down, please. You’re being irrational.”

  “You’re wrong there, my dear lass, ‘cause I’m perfectly fuckin’ clear on what’s going on. At first, I didn’t think anything was amiss when this brat and her little friend approached us asking for help. They saw some men break into Luke’s house and thought they were robbing the place. I accepted that. But after I found out that the men weren’t robbers, but Clark and his brother catching Elisa with her lover in the act, and that they were tipped off by the same lads Victor and Michael had beaten up weeks ago, and that these lads believed the lover was Michael, not Bastian, I started wondering: why did they say such stupid thing? Why was Julie around when the men broke in? And most importantly: where the hell is Michael if he left home with Julie?”

  Natalia glanced at the little girl. “I know our Julie is innocent of everything. She just does what her sister and cousin tell her. And I also know that Michael doesn’t get into trouble just because he’s bored. He usually does it to help the family.” She looked at Helena. “I know you and Esther were in his room early this morning, and since you’re the only one here, it’s your turn to confess.”

  “I only went to his room to tell him to come down and cook,” Helena said. “Nothing else happened. I swear.”

  ?“And what about you?” Natalia asked Julie. “You were with him. You must have heard something.”

  “My sister will be mad at me if I say anything,” Julie said quietly.

  “Let her be mad. Come on, tell me what’s going on.”

  “He… He went into Luke’s shed to check some boxes.”

  Helena was stunned. She was about to ask something, but Natalia silenced her with a gesture.

  “Why? What is in these boxes that interests him?”

  “I don't know. That's why he sneaked into the shed.”

  “I don’t understand. Did he see something strange that caught his attention about these boxes?”

  "It was my sister's idea. Yesterday she saw some very ugly men bringing the boxes and wanted to know what was in them. She was planning to sneak into the house today while everyone was at the shrine. I told Michael what was going on. He talked to my sister to try to change her mind, but seeing he couldn’t, he offered to do it for her."

  "Esthy... Why didn't she tell me anything? She should have trusted me," Helena said, angry. It's that silly obsession she has with Luke that led her to think of doing something so crazy. She blames him for Denis' departure.

  "What are you talking about?" Natalia asked. "What does Luke have to do with Denis leaving?"

  "Esther told me that Denis decided to leave early because Luke and his men were constantly harassing him at the clinic. I thought you knew that? Didn't you and Michael go with him when he left?"

  Natalia became thoughtful. “Now I understand why Denis was so nervous during the trip: he was running away. Clover knew it and didn’t tell me. Did Esther mention what those men looked like?” she asked Julie.

  “She said they were ugly and looked like highway robbers. Old Milton thought the same when he saw them.”

  “Was Milton with her?”

  “They stopped at the grandhouse to ask him where the shop was. They were lost.”

  “Do you know where your sister was when she saw them, or if they noticed her watching them?”

  Julie shook her head. “I don’t know. I wasn’t with her. But I remember her saying the driver saw her as he drove by. She said he looked hideous.”

  “Shit…” Natalia observed the house. “I don’t like this shit at all.”

  “What’s wrong?” Helena asked.

  Natalia ignored her and looked at Julie. “Where’s Michael? Is he still in the shed?”

  Julie shook her head. “He escaped by climbing over the back fence. It was right after you arrived with the soldiers.”

  “Good… And where did he go?”

  “I don’t know. But he told me that if someone asked about him, I should say he went to the river.”

  “Let’s go after him, and fast,” Natalia said, and began to walk away in a hurry. The girls ran after her. “But first we’ll stop by the clinic and make sure everyone sees us there. You two go to Esther and tell her that when she’s finished helping Emma, she must go to the river and meet us, and tell her that I know everything, and that this is a bloody order. Do you hear me?”

  ?“What’s wrong? Why are you running?” Helena asked.

  “Didn’t you hear what Julie said? We don’t know what the hell is in those boxes. It could cause us problems.”

  “And what does that have to do with us?”

  Natalia pulled her ear, making her squeal. "This is why your mother says you have the mind of a little chick. Don't you see that they left the house alone? If there's something illegal in those boxes and Luke's men find us standing here, alone, with the front door open, who do you think they're going to suspect if something is missing from the boxes? We don't know what Michael did in there. He may have made a mess, and the men will know that someone searched the place. It's best to get away from here quickly before anyone comes.”

  “I see,” Helena said, rubbing her ear. “And what if they contain something illegal? Do we notify the police or the soldiers, or do we keep quiet?”

  Natalia grunted. “I don’t know... Damn it. I knew that daft was up to something strange. I hope he has a good explanation for all this.”