Chapter 6 The Girl In The Rain

The world became silent, a gloomy and chilly atmosphere can be felt. Three people can be seen outside the pavilion. Manager Tang was standing there with a look of pity on his face, his head was lowered while looking at the man kneeling in front of him.

Martin was still in a daze, he felt numb. He was wishing that this was just a nightmare and was waiting to wake up from it. The scenes from earlier kept playing over and over inside his head. He felt that he was becoming crazy.

Eznho still maintained his silence while trying to control his emotions. He thought he is gonna spend the rest of his life just doing a daily routine. He never had any dream for himself, he always felt like he was just a leaf drifting on the ocean. But events took a turn and a twist has been made, and for the first time in his life, he had a goal.

There was no point in just standing there, what happened has happened and they can’t do anything about it for now. After he took a silent deep breath, he loosened his grip and retracted his murderous gaze. But he promised to himself that he will make the city lord, his son, and the four city guards pay back for what they did. He will not do it for himself but for his big brother Martin who knelt down for him.

After another breath, he started walking towards Martin and tapped on his shoulders.

Boom! Martin’s mind was suddenly pulled back into reality.

“Haaaaa” he sucked in a lot of air like he was running out of it. He was pale and was feeling cold all over like waking up from a nightmare.

“Stand up big brother,” Eznho said softly from behind.

Martin regained his clarity and slowly stood up, he understood there was no point in continuing his actions.

“Thanks, little Ez, I’m alright now.” Martin forced a smile back to Eznho.

“Ai, tell me, Martin, how did this happen? Why would the city lord bother himself to make a decree against the both of you?” the manager inquired with curiosity.

“Sigh, all of this happened because of an incident about three years ago,” Martin answered.

“That long?” the manager asked.

“Yes, I thought that the matter has been forgotten because nothing has happened since then. As it turns out, it was never forgotten, it was just delayed. It was as if it has been planned since the beginning.” Then he suddenly thought about the guard who whispered something to the chubby boy.

It has been planned all along. He thought to himself.

“Anyways, this is what happened...”

Then Martin told the manager what happened three years ago on the main street while they were heading back from the market.

“Ai, so that’s what happened, what a terrible encounter. I always knew that the rich were petty people but I never thought that there are those who stoop down to such a level. Tsk tsk.” The manager said while shaking his head.

“I’m sorry for the both of you, I really am, but feeling sorry will not change anything. Even if I plead the boss for the two of you, his influence cannot change anything. Especially that it was a decree from the city lord himself. The only one who can oppose him is the city guard captain but we don’t have any connection with him. Even if we did have a connection, I bet he is not willing to go against the city lord for your sake. I may sound harsh but we have to accept reality.”

“The only thing we can do now is to accept the order and hope that both of you will survive this predicament. At least there is still hope of survival, it’s better than a direct execution. Where there is life there is hope.”

The manager sympathized with the two, he tried his best to console them give them hope to cling on to.

“You better go inside and continue cleaning first, it can help you relax your mind. Don’t be depressed because of it, instead treat as sort of a challenge. After that, make your preparations. I’ll try to gather information for you to have an idea of what’s going on over there. You will depart from the city a week from now along with other people.”

He instructed the two and started walking away while massaging his forehead. He is starting to have a headache which resulted from this incident.

“Thank you, manager.” Martin sincerely bowed towards the manager. He may be strict on their job but he knew that the manager’s heart was with his employees.

He composed himself and looked at Eznho and forced a grin.

“Let’s go.” He walked towards him, rustled his hair and walked inside.

Eznho nodded and followed, he stopped and took another deep look towards the north then proceeded inside. No one knew what he was thinking.

.....

After cleaning, Martin went to cook for lunch as usual while Eznho went to wake Miss Minchin up. She noticed that Martin was silent which was out of his character.

“Martin, is something wrong?” Minchin inquired.

“Sigh, I’ll tell you all about it after eating,” Martin answered with a helpless look on his face.

He had no choice anyway, he has to tell her everything. It’s better to inform her earlier for her to have time to ingest what he was about to tell her.

Miss Minchin prepared tea for the three of them after their meal. They sat in front of a round table in three different directions.

“Now, tell me everything and don’t even think about lying.” Miss Minchin seriously warned Martin.

She can feel that what he was about to tell her was far from good and even had a premonition that little Ez was involved. She then looked at the boy with doting eyes. She truly cared for him, she treated him as his own son.

“Miss Minchin, before I tell you everything, I want to tell you first that none of us wanted any of this. I don’t even know what to think why this is happening, Ai.” Martin sighed.

“Just tell me already!” Minchin was starting run out of patience.

“Okay okay, relax, this incident started three years ago...” Martin started to narrate everything.

He started from when they were heading home back from the market and a girl running from the alley bumped into the front leg of the horse. He tried to tell every detail he could remember including the look on the chubby boy’s face when he was leaving.

“Days and months have passed without any incident so I thought they have forgotten about it. But this morning, the four city guards paid us a visit then...”

He started to tell everything that happened outside the pavilion previously.

“That’s about it.” Martin bowed his head after narrating everything. He was afraid to look at Miss Minchin.

She listened without producing any sound but with a careful look, her body was trembling. She was furious, not because of Martin or about the event but due to the differences in status and the pettiness of the people with power.

“So that’s what happened, if the boss can’t do anything what more of us.” She said dejectedly while controlling her emotions.

She did not blame Martin, it was nobody’s fault. She did not comment any longer and continued sipping her tea. Time passed without nobody speaking, after everybody finished their tea.

“Little Ez, come to my room later this evening, I have something to talk with you about.”

She then stood up and started walking back to her room.

“Hey, little Ez, I’ll go later at the city center and try to gather information. If you have nothing to do, you can with me if you want.” Martin said in an invite.

“Sorry, I’ll go to the cemetery,” Eznho answered, rejecting Martin’s invite.

“Okay, no need to apologize. Take care then, don’t stay out too late. There have been rumors of ghosts walking around the cemetery, gahaha.” Martin laughed trying to alleviate the mood.

Eznho smiled while shaking his head and let out a soft chuckle. His mood started to turn for the better.

“That’s more I like it. Okay, see you around little Ez.”

.....

Later that evening,

Knock knock

Eznho knocked the door on Minchin’s room, she had her own separate place to live in. They were practically neighbors but Minchin has her own little house.

“Come in,” Minchin answered from the inside.

Eznho opened the door, this was not his first time entering. The inside of the house was simple, not a lot of decorations. The house has its own bathroom, bed room, lounge area and a kitchen. A couple of paintings can be seen hanging on the walls, most of them were flower paintings.

“Take a seat there and wait for me.” She instructed him while preparing tea.

Eznho walked towards the living room where Minchin receives her guests. He sat down on the couch covered in leather stuffed with bird feathers. A wooden square table covered with red cloth was in front of him, a vase was on top of it holding a single stalk of a yellow tulip flower.

Minchin walked towards him with a tray holding two tea cups and a tea kettle made of porcelain painted with blue flowers. She put the tray down on the table and poured tea into both cups then offered a cup to Eznho.

“Thanks,” Eznho said politely.

He was comfortable having a conversation with her aunt, he even treated her as his own mom. She was beside him since he was born, they may not often have long conversations with each other but he respects her from the bottom of his heart.

Minchin also sat down and sipped her tea and looked at Enzho solemnly.

“What happened to you and Martin was a tragedy, but despite all that I hope you will both survive this predicament. Since we can’t do anything about that, I don’t want to linger any longer on that topic.”

“What I want to talk with you about is your mother, and how I am related to her.” Minchin paused with a reminiscing look.

“I will just tell you the summary and skip the unnecessary details, I might bore you to death.” Minchin smiled and knew Eznho was not the kind to hold long conversations.

“Okay, I was a servant of your mother’s family, your grandfather’s name was John Walker and your grandmother was Beth. They were farmers from the western part of the city about twenty kilometers from here. Your grandparent’s family came from a family of farmers. Despite that, they both worked hard and managed to save and buy a farm of their own.”

“They had two children, your mother Mirna and his older brother Mario. My family was lucky enough to work with them and had our own place to stay. We helped them look out for the farmland, but I was not satisfied with that kind of life. I stubbornly argued with my parents and left when I was twenty years old. I came to the city and worked from one place to another until I found this place and worked here since then. Don’t ask me why I did not get married.” Minchin said jokingly.

“Kidding aside, I visited them from time to time. I also watched your mother grow in some way, they also visited me when they came and sell their products inside the city.” Minchin paused and took a deep breath.

“While I was working one rainy night, one of the bouncers approached me and told me that someone was urgently looking for me and her name was Mirna. Luckily they did not just kick her away. I was surprised by the sudden visit so I immediately followed him to see your mother. To my horror, I saw your mother soaked in the rain with tattered clothes and she was crying endlessly. Her feet were bare with blood flowing from her sole, she also had scratches and bruises all over her body. She ran and hugged me while she continued to cry. I was just standing there in a daze, then I suddenly felt that her stomach was big. She was pregnant, it was a miracle that she managed to come all the way from the farm. I then helped her and told her to calm down first. I brought her here and washed her first then tended to her wounds. Luckily, the wounds were light. I asked for one of the local doctors to check the condition of the baby and she said everything was okay. There was one thing that puzzled her, your mother’s condition was not good. She could not find out the reason but your mother’s health deteriorating. The doctor believed she would be in grave danger and could possibly die during child birth. The only one who could possibly help was the city doctor, but it was impossible to call for him especially for people like us. Your mother was not sad, instead, she was happy as long she would give birth to you successfully.” Minchin sighed while recalling the past.

Eznho just listened while occasionally sipping tea. He could only imagine what happened all those years ago and could not help but become emotional while listening.

“After taking care all of her wounds, I asked her what happened. She told me that bandits attacked the farm and killed everyone then burned the house along with everyone inside. She said she was the only one who escaped, she was even confused how she has done it. I could not think of any reason why the bandits would attack, especially for a small farm like that. She had a hard time recalling certain events, maybe because of the trauma, I suppose. Then she told me about how she became pregnant. She said that your father came knocking to their door wounded and bleeding. They suspected he was a hunter hunting from the nearby forest and had an accident. They treated him and he stayed for a few days, he got closer to your mother. She said she had a certain connection with him like she felt safe and comfortable around him. Her parents also had a good impression of him. He continued to stay with them after a couple of months. Then he got your mother pregnant, and for some reason, her parents were okay with it even if they were not married. They were open minded than most I guess.”

“Your father went out to hunt in the forest when the attack happened. She wanted to go back in case he was there waiting for her but she could not due to her condition. I went back a week after the attack with Martin but there was no sign of him, all that was left was a burnt down house and dying crops. In case you are wondering, the city guard or the military would not bother to investigate incidents like this.”

“She tried so hard to remember everything about your father but she could not, not even his face. She was mostly lying in bed, two months later she gave birth to you.”

She started to sob uncontrollably after telling this sad event. It was also a form of relief for her. She had been trying to keep it a secret until Eznho was old enough, but the circumstances have changed.