~ 6: A Cure to All Miseries ~

My father came running up the sloppy road as people started dispersing after watching the event. The incident must have been so eventful that people were still gossiping about it.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did that bastard do anything to you?" my father ranted out his questions while checking my arms and face. I knew he would be more than worried to have heard that it was me who was in danger and not anybody else.

"I'm absolutely fine," I replied, assuring him with a small smile. "He couldn't do much, not to Celestine Dixon. Besides, he will be paying for his crimes in prison. Isn't that amazing?"

"If he so much as touched you without your permission, he will first have to face me," he declared, seething with anger.

"Don't, Father. I don't want to see you getting penalised, or worse, ending up behind the bars. Let's just leave things as they are and keep moving on with our lives. The universe has bigger plans than we know."

"Okay, my sweet child, we will see. Now, let's finish off our business. I hope we didn't lose out on the number of people buying our catch. I will be miserable for such a distraction."

After a tight embrace, we walked through the dispersing crowd of people, who continued to look in our direction and chatter about the happenings.

The gathering at our stall was a lot more than I had expected. People were standing in the queue, bickering and swearing at each other. We rushed to open it up and I set about helping Father out.

We were done by mid-afternoon, and after lunch, I took my father with me to the station as he wouldn't leave me alone. I persuaded him that it wasn't needed, but he wanted to see my harasser and give him a piece of his mind if he couldn't land a few punches at him.

I lagged in his shadows as he stormed into the police quarters of our town. They were questioning Jarvey Crawford, the name written on an official document placed on the desk we had approached. And he, as usual, blamed it on me.

The head inspector greeted us with a small smile and nod of his head. When he turned to my father, he was on his feet.

My harasser had said that everything about me was seducing. It was at that moment that he found his head being back by the roots of his hair. My enraged father had seen enough of his non-sense and had turned the man around by bringing him down on his knees.

Jarvey cried to exaggerate his pain, but I paid no heed to him. I was calming down my father who wouldn't stop cursing and swearing to put an end to him.

"You are a disgrace to this land and its people!" yelled Father. "How dare you accuse my daughter of committing a deed so low?"

"The lady was most definitely not the one to influence you," the officer said. "With a plain well-buttoned shirt, modest pants and boots, please explain to me how she went about to do so."

"She unbuttoned her shirt! How else can someone control themselves?" Jarvey screamed in agony as he wasn't let off the hook yet.

My father flew at him in a rage and beat the pulp out of him. One of the inspectors and I had to hold him back.

"Let it be, Father!" I implored. "He will get his share when the time comes. Come along now, you do not want to be given a hefty fine."

"This is not something that I will live to see!" he voiced in fury. "Not with my daughter. May God truly curse you for your ways."

Father left him and I yanked his arm to bring him away from the scene he had caused. That was when Mr 'Machiavellian' Crawford looked straight at me, with wide eyes, and said, "She's cursed."

My father started for him but I dragged him back. The officers took the man off to the jail. When everything was calm again, I heaved a sigh of relief.

Recalling his words, I looked at the pendant that had slipped out. I immediately tuck it in, although I was curious to know why that would make me cursed.

"You are not to leave home," he said to me seriously.

"What?! How am I to go to college?!" I hollered. "Why are you so worried when I actually got the better of him? He was down on his knees the last time I meet him at the shop."

"Don't worry too much, sir," the captain stated reassuringly. "Nobody will dare to come near her. You must see this to believe it for yourself."

He took out my phone and replayed it for my father. There seemed to be pangs of anger on his face as he quietly and grimly listened to the footage.

'At least now, he will believe me,' I thought. 'What a day! How I wish it would end better!'

"Now, sir, I must apologize for saying this but breaking the rules is not possible on my side," the captain continued. He scribbled something in a paper and handed it to us. "For the use of violence against the purpose of self-defence is restricted by law. The penalty is given here."

The paper he tapped read that we had to pay a hundred. Father's face frowned as he had earned just a little more than that. Compared to the rest of the week, he made the most sales on weekends but it wasn't sufficient to pay for all the food, repairs and debts we had.

"You can take three days to bring it in," he said kindly. "But after that, we'll have to confiscate your property till you can get the fine or we will sell the property to get it."

I could see the glint of fear on Father's face. I understood that if we couldn't pay up, we would have to lose everything we had.

"Fear not, Father," I said. "I have a brilliant plan and you will still live as you always have."

After the captain inquired us about the whole story, the officer said, "Your daughter might be the next saviour of humanity. I wouldn't say she's cursed. Rather, an impossible dream that she might encounter will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. You must use whatever you have in your hands to catch it."

"But how do you know about that, sire?" I asked curiously. "We have only just met. Are you a seer, by any chance?"

"I'm no seer but my ancestors were. But all of us know what the land needed to endure a major war. If you know what that chain stands for and who can get it, then you will get the answers to most of your questions."

I placed the chain in my palm, trying to understand why I, of all humanity, would be given such a task. I had no merit in the skills of saving the people except in small ways. Only a person of high rank was educated in such ways. So how could I, a commoner, ever be seen in such light, even with all the technologies? After all, everyone will view me in the same light, whether a commoner or not — that I'm from humble origins, which can never be changed.

A finger snap brought me back to reality. When the interview was over, we were free to go back home. But I pleaded with Father to take us to Mother. I couldn't delay giving her the jewel any further. If it was similar to an elixir in curing her illness, it had to be given without further ado.

We took our little cart to get to the infirmary at the earliest. I ran all the way to the room after getting the information from the main desk. I threw open the door.

She was lying in a lifeless condition. According to the doctors, she was in a coma. Her skin was pale and her lips were turning blue by the minute. It felt as though death was lurking around the corner.

I undid my necklace and quickly tied it around her neck. And I waited, and waited, and waited...

In the dull light of the room, it shone red. I took out the diamond and contemplated whether to use the same trick I had tried back in the cave. Playing with the ring in my hands for a while, I took out the torch.

The brilliance of the diamond reflected on the embedded stone and it shone green. For a moment, it only continued to shine brighter. Then, it started to turn black as ebony.

Suddenly, her eyelids flew open and she gasped heavily. A tear trickled down into her dark brown hair. Her blue eyes looked at me with relief. And then, as though she was possessed, her hands quickly grabbed my arms and she whispered repeatedly, "Don't go to the sea. Don't go near the waters."