CLUES BOUND

CHAPTER 6: CLUES BOUND

Warm morning streets busied as shops opened to their active patrons. Wide open windows allowed the gentle breeze to toss about the smells of starched linens, sweet breads, and the unfortunate mixture of manure and mold.

A toothy wide smile was spread across Derk's face. He beamed as he navigated the crowds, the thin streets, and the numerous neighbors trying to coax the short man into buying their wares for his upcoming child. After escaping a young couple trying to hawk an amulet made of bread dough onto him for an exorbitant price, the man had found himself diverted a decent bit away from his intended destination. It was then that an old lady had burst out from her shop entrance, her feathery grey wings flapped with each spry step, and ran towards Derk. His previous smile had immediately strained upon the shriek rushing towards him.

"Oh, Mr. Derk! It's so great to see you stopping by our side of the neighborhood!"

The elderly woman had eagerly grabbed the man's hand with her wing tips and shook it emphatically as she greeted him.

"Sorry Mrs. Fauen, I'm just on the way home from dropping off Sal."

She laughed and slapped the man's back upon his response.

"Oh don't be such a stranger! It's been so long since we've seen you at the square! Don't tell me you're too good for us now that you've got a big fancy shop and family to take care of?"

Mrs. Fauen gave Derk a sly smirk as she jabbed his ribs a few time with her elbow and began leading him back towards her storefront.

"You heard about that too, huh?"

The grey-feathered lady laughed loudly at the shy remark from the man.

"Of course I have, dear! You and little Jelle are the talk of the town! It's not every day one of our kind is expecting, you know?"

Derk's smile completely vanished from his face for a long moment, unseen from the woman in front of him who stared only forward as she spoke.

"Of course, I had to learn about it from Sheeri! My useless husband was at that tavern last night, and he didn't even say anything when he got home! The gall on-"

The short man shook his hand from the lady's grasp before she dragged him into her shop.

"I do have to go, Mrs. Fauen."

Derk lifted his gaze to the elderly woman with his signature smile glued upon his face.

"Jelle and I will come visit soon though, I promise! Soon as our little one welcomes the world!"

Mrs. Fauen's eyes watered momentarily before she nodded with an equally wide smile. Then a light bulb reminder went off above her head.

"Oh! I almost forgot, here!"

The lady rushed into the shop and left Derk standing alone in front of the blue wooden exterior. Loud crashes and clangs of various metals and glass rang out for a few long moments while the man waited. Soon the woman had then returned with a small brown pouch in her grasp.

"It's okay Mrs. Fauen, we don't need anything! Jelle's parents have kept us well-stocked on anything we could even ask for, so we don't need to buy anythin-"

She thrust the pouch into Derk's hands.

"It's a gift, you silly boy! Now, accept it."

Derk pulled at the thin drawstrings keeping the pouch closed, before it was quickly kept closed with a firm hold from the old lady.

"Don't open here, you fool. Just, give it to your child when they're born, okay? Consider it protection from God."

The man raised his sharp eyebrow at the request from her, and then raised a small smile afterwards.

"Since when have you held on to such blasphemy, you old hag?"

The old lady laughed hard, the few gaps from her missing teeth were noticeable with her huge smile.

"You're a good boy, Mr. Derk. Now take care! Jelle must be furious, waiting on you for so long!"

Mrs. Fauen pushed the short man down the street as she waved him off.

Derk waved back as he continued his way home.

The lady stared as his form eventually turned a corner and left her field of view.

"This sucks."

The lady whispered to herself in a grave tone as deep shadows covered her intense visage. The once large smile had vanished into the wrinkles of her now frowning face.

Just then, more clanks and crashes came from the interior of the wooden shop.

"Who in the hell wrecked my shop?!"

Another Mrs. Fauen burst out from the shop entrance as her feathery grey wings gripped a large metal cane above her head. The lady had wide eyes as she frantically looked around the open street. The few rough-looking pedestrians ignored the elderly woman as she inspected the front of her shop.

The feathered old woman only found a dark gathering of ash beside the door, blue flakes of light fading from the small pile.

***

Heavy rain fell onto the brightly polished wood and mixed with the mud beside it.

Heavy dirt fell onto the brightly polished wood and mixed with the rising mud around it.

Heavy heads hung low as the brightly polished wood was covered and buried.

Heavy hearts sunk low as a young girl wept and begged to see her mother wild clung to her father.

Heavy bells rang as the solemn crowd soon dispersed.

Heavy burdens bore down on the responsible soul.

Heavy stones stood tall to denote the graves.

'Heavy lies Jelle Thestern. Beloved Mother, Wife, and Daughter.'

'Heavy lies -------------. Beloved Father, Husband, and Grandson.'

Heavy words were etched into the crying child's heart:

"I swear I will protect you, Hails."

***

Tears still stained Hailee's face as the fire had spread to the other buildings in the town, and left the smoldering ruins of her home behind. Every wooden support beam she leaned on as a child while listening to her father's stories, every chair she cleaned for the shop, and every pillow she begged for her dad to buy, they had all turned to ash and smoke before her eyes.

Her home was gone.

Her father was gone.

Her mother was gone.

She was alone, and it was the fault of the red cloak.

Yet, she could only gasp for air as smoke filled her lungs.

Her vision darkened as she fell to the ground.

More smoke entered her lungs.

She couldn't breathe.

More smoke entered her lungs.

She could breathe.

She could breathe?

The smoke forced her lungs to move, forced her to inhale and exhale, forced her to breathe.

Hailee opened her eyes, slowly at first. She blinked away the bright sunlight that wove through the gently rustling leaves above her.

The crisp breeze tossed her red hair against her face as she slowly sat up.

A sharp hiss and cry pushed its way out from her throat, and she laid her head back down on the soft thick grass it was on. Stuck laying down, she still forced her head to move as she looked around.

There were trees in every direction with bright green round leaves, and the grass she was on stretched for as far as she could see along the ground.

The movement brought up a series of coughs from the strain. As she went to instinctively cover the coughs with her hand, her left arm didn't move. Or, rather, the mass that would've been connected to her hand was gone.

A stump just above where her elbow would've been was wrapped in black cloth.

The girl tried to scream, but she only started coughing up blood.

"Easy there, Hails, easy!"

A gloved hand wiped the dribbling blood from her mouth and helped her slightly sit up amidst the pain.

After another coughing fit, she looked up at the person before her.

He had black cloth wrapped around every visible inch of his body, dark boots covered in mud, a smooth pearl white mask that reflected the girl’s face, and a ragged red cloak draped over him.

Hailee screamed.