Chapter 6

Chapter VI

“Why are you crying? Were you close to the old man who passed away this morning?” Beatrice looked up and saw a girl not much older than her leaning over her, looking genuinely anxious. Her brown hair was braided into two perfectly pleated locks, but she otherwise looked unremarkable.

Beatrice fought back further tears from her eyes. The girl had not been mean to her; but explaining it would make her relive the chaos, would make her remember the pain blossoming in her shoulder, would probably reduce her to a weeping pile of tears. Still, she looked back at the girl and answered in a dismissive tone, “No, I’m not from here. I-I’ve been through a lot these past few days, and I’d really like to forget it all.”

The girl didn't leave; rather she sat down next to Beatrice and replied, smoothing her own skirt in small, circular motions with her thumb, “Well, I’m Laura, and I have to wait here too, so whether you like it or not I’m staying here with you. So, what exactly happened so that you ended up like this?”

“It’s a long story,” said Beatrice in a last feeble attempt to be alone for a little while.

“I’ve got time.”

And so, seeing no other choice, she launched into the events of the past day, starting from the moment they left home and recounting up till now. Her face was concealed from the moonlight, but the sounds of her hiccoughing were clearly audible in an attempt to fight back yet another wave of tears.

“Well I’ll be darned. I knew they were bad, but I’d never think that they would ever do such a vicious, malicious attack!” She said, her voice clearly lined with a layer of surprise.

Their talk diverged from that line of topics without staying on one thing in particular, both girls wanting to pretend like it’s alright, like nothing happened or will happen.

They couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

“Beatrice? Where are you? I got the items from the alchemist! They were half price too!” Inesta’s Spanish accent intermingled with the shrill Czech words, creating a tone which sounded foreign at times but natural at others.

“That’s Inesta, the wife in the couple who helped me,” Beatrice explained, her voice practically indistinguishable from the winds’ rustles and murmurs. “I’m here! I’m coming!”

As Laura helped pull Beatrice up with one arm, she tentatively asked her, “Beatrice, is it all right if I stay with you just for a little bit more? My mother should be out in just a moment.”

They were now rounding the corner of the rectangular building to its front.
“We’ll have to see,” she replied. She hid the fact that she wanted Laura to stay, as she didn’t want to get her hopes up over a decision which was ultimately in Inesta’s hands. She didn’t know why, but being with her somehow lessened the emotional pain of losing her brother to the wretched Grenadores. Inesta was waiting for them, both her hands joining at her middle from which dangled a wooden basket containing several supplies.

“Come, darling, let’s get back to my house so we can redress your wound, and then we’ll get you back to your parents. All right?”

Laura nudged Beatrice, and, when she did nothing, promptly asked her in a matter-of-fact tone, “Um, excuse me madam, but Beatrice here and I have become good friends now, and I was thinking if maybe we could have some sort of time to be together before we parted, like if I accompanied you both back to your house, please.”

Inesta’s face contorted at the sound of the name ‘Beatrice’ and her body flinched ever so slightly for just a fleeting moment, but otherwise she remained calm and nonchalant as she said she may.

A cloud of dust kicked up from the dirt adjacent the road behind them, and Laura coughed from the debris entering her mouth. They all turned to see a group of figures, made silhouettes by the dust, rapidly approaching a neighboring house.

“¡Ellos son Grenadores! ¡Ellos son Grenadores!” Inesta’s words were incomprehensible to the two children, but their intent was clear. Laura and the wife sprinted away, but Beatrice stayed rooted to the spot in the middle of the road. The dust ceased to be kicked up as they reached their destination two blocks down from where she stood, but the particles already in the air refused to settle down, as if they were the thieves’ curtain. Through the silhouettes she could see rough faced people breaking down the door and smashing the expensive glass windows, their path of destruction left unhindered. Others, mounted on cavalry, began to load the loot from inside. In a glimmer of light, Beatrice saw a man with long brown hair on one of the horses, preoccupied with loading a chest of unknown contents. ‘That was the band that we saw in the morning. A spark of recognition lit in her brain. The band that took Samuel!’ Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a sound from behind her, then two hands on her shoulders. She felt a sharp twinge of pain shooting through her and radiating over her left arm.

“What’s wrong with you? We need to get out of here!” The already familiar voice of Laura was in her ear.

“They took my brother! I need to get closer!” Beatrice was screaming, but her voice was hard to hear over the loud cries of the feral Grenadores.

“Yeah! You’ll just go up to them and ask for him, and they, being as well mannered as they are, will definitely give him back! Were you knocked senseless? You have to get out of here!” Laura’s voice changed from sarcasm to anxiety as further clouds of dust reappeared and smothered them by the wind picking up.

“I have to at least see him!” With that, Beatrice launched into the vicinity of the building, not bothering to stay in the shadows since the sun was already gone and night reigned in the midst of their pandemonium. She attempted to catch a glimpse of a little boy in this mess, all the while trying not to remind herself that she was all alone in this jumble. Yet again, she heard someone scream her name and turned around to see Laura, having come back to accompany her.

“You really think that I’d leave you like that after the half hour since we met?”

Beatrice could not help suppress a giggle in her wake. They tentatively advanced to the edge of the picket fence surrounding a small garden adorned with petunias and daisies. They were just a few yards away from the entrance, and yet nobody noticed them, or seemed to care much. Beatrice couldn’t help but think, ‘Wow, this place is so beautiful and elegant. It’s such a shame they had to barge in and ruin it.’ And no one stopped them, too, in fear of being killed. It was probably the arrogance which resulted from this knowledge which led the thieves to embark on such bold escapades. ‘Is boldness for everyone, or is it just a virtue of the righteous? Can such despicable people and such valiant people be mutually described with the same adjective?’ Beatrice was so busy pondering these things and simultaneously staring at the ruckus that it was Laura who again brought her back to reality.

“Hey,” she said, her tone trying too hard to be soothing. “It’s been a while, and they’re nearly done. I haven’t seen him, and I don’t take it that you did either, so I guess we should be… going before someone sees us.”

‘Laura was right’, Beatrice reasoned. ‘We should go. It’s just that I don’t want to leave, because that would mean I failed, and I’d have to find them another way’. Slowly, she tore herself from the fence and ambled back, taking short, purposeless strides. She couldn’t help but turn around as they rounded the corner, and for a second she chanced upon the outline of a little kid, not more than seven or eight years old.

Or did she?

Beatrice and Laura didn’t bother running from the scene, as they both knew very well the Grenadores have had their fill of burglary and destruction and wouldn’t be looking for anyone. Anyways, their crimes consisted for the most part of stealing, and rarely of kidnapping. And even in those cases, it was usually motivated and not random. Still pondering these things, Beatrice voiced her concerns with her companion.

“I don’t have any idea. But,” she nudged Beatrice’s shoulder, and she flinched, pain searing her shoulder and extending to her torso. It wasn’t long, though, before it subsided and they continued their walk to the alchemist’s building, now with a little more purpose in their gait.

“I’m so sorry. I’m forgetful like that.”

They reached the alchemist’s, but Inesta was nowhere to be found.

Analyzing the situation, Beatrice said, “I need to get going now, since I don’t really know where their house is and it’ll be a long walk.”

She was just about to converge to the main street when Laura said, “Let me accompany you. Please.”

Beatrice turned, “But what about your parents? They’re probably already worried when they didn’t see you after they came out of the alchemist’s building.”

Laura shrugged. “They could care less.”

Mildly surprised by her answer, Beatrice said, “Well then, come along!” The two of them walked onto the road, picked a direction at random at its fork, and sauntered along the road on the nearly empty walkways.

Author's Note

This chapter's the longest I've done yet, but then again most of my chapters are really short in comparison to normal books. As usual, please feel free to review and rate.