C20

A few hours later, the four children were walking through the forest with their parents. They had been allowed to explore freely once they had finished their lessons earlier that day, after all, and they had spent the morning hiking around the forests surrounding the village. They had hiked into the mountains and found some wild animals, although their mothers had warned them against doing so without their fathers present. They had also discovered several caves, although their fathers had already explored a few of those caves, so they didn't stay too long in the first cave. Another cave proved less interesting, however, although it had a large lake inside it which was teeming with fish, so it made for a good spot for a picnic. The last cave had been far more interesting though, although it hadn't had many signs of life in it; in fact, there hadn't even been any animals inside of it apart from bats, and those had flown away soon after entering. The final cave, however, had been full of strange lights and shadows moving in the distance, and it hadn't taken them very long to realise that there were monsters lurking in there, so their parents had quickly ushered them out of the cave.

It hadn't taken them too long to find the second cave though, even if it hadn't been easy finding a suitable route into the third one. That had proven difficult, after all…

"We shouldn't try to enter the fourth cave either," the eldest boy murmured worriedly as he stared at the entrance to the cave, "we don't know how dangerous it is," he added hesitantly, "but there are creatures living inside it as well…"

His sisters exchanged glances with each other, and they shared a worried frown amongst themselves. It hadn't taken them very long to realise that something was wrong about the village after all, after all…although nobody had actually admitted it yet. Something wasn't right about the entire situation, after all…the townspeople certainly seemed to treat them differently than they treated anybody else…perhaps the same went for all outsiders, after all…even if they hadn't noticed it until today, after all…

And something wasn't right about the way everybody behaved around their parents after all…the villagers seemed almost afraid of the parents after all…afraid of something…as if something horrible lurked behind closed doors, after all…

They had all heard whispers about it during the past year or two after all, after all, although their parents had always tried to ignore them…and they had done their best to do so, after all…

"Let's head home," their mother murmured as she looked around carefully before sighing in relief when she realised that the coast was clear, after all, "I can see my husband," she added quietly as she looked up towards the trees, "wherever he may be," she continued, "he must have gone off to check on the fields…and I hope nothing has happened while we were exploring," she added as she gazed at her daughters, "did you notice anything strange?" she asked cautiously as she smiled slightly.

The youngest girl shook her head vigorously. She couldn't recall seeing anything strange at least. In fact, she thought she had seen some small butterflies fluttering around in the distance earlier on, and she wondered if she had missed something obvious by ignoring them. There had been plenty of other flowers around, and she could have sworn that she had seen some bees flying among them. Had she overlooked a few things because she had ignored them? It wouldn't have surprised her much, after all…her father would be able to confirm whether or not she had overlooked anything by asking her later on. He knew where most of the plants were located, after all. She had only known about half of them herself before today, after all, and she still struggled to recognise a number of the plants that grew nearby as well…

There was still one thing that bothered her though…one plant that caught her attention every time she spotted its distinctive yellow flower growing beside her. She had stared at it for a moment before finally turning away from it, however, before her mother noticed her staring at it. Her mother was still watching carefully ahead as she frowned as she sensed the unease in her daughter's voice as well, after all. She turned her attention towards her daughters as she studied her daughters carefully, before glancing at her youngest son as he walked alongside her husband as he headed for the fields, after all…

"What did you see?"

Her older daughter shook her head firmly as she glared back at her mother angrily as she crossed her arms tightly across her chest, "nothing!" she snapped back immediately as she stomped her foot irritably, "you're always looking for something suspicious! You always accuse people of being suspicious! Why do you always assume that they're guilty? Is it just your nature?"

"Of course it is, dear," her older sister interrupted sharply as she glared at her younger sister fiercely, "just look around you," she snapped back impatiently as she pointed towards the fields, after all, "there are lots of farmers working in the fields," she snorted, "some of them work in the fields for years, and you think they might suddenly become criminals?"

"That's ridiculous!" her youngest sister retorted hotly. Her older sisters' eyes widened as she stared at her, stunned. Her elder sisters' eyes narrowed dangerously, however. What did she mean by saying such a thing? The younger sister's mind raced frantically as she suddenly realised what she had been thinking about. Her elder sisters' eyes narrowed as they stared at her menacingly. Her elder sister's gaze hardened, however, as she stared at her youngest sister intently, and suddenly she knew what she had been missing, after all…she had been overlooking a lot of details, after all, and she was slowly realising what she had been doing wrong. Her elder sister was staring at her intently, and she felt like someone was watching her…watching her with hungry eyes…a predator's gaze. And then it dawned on her that the predators were circling her relentlessly. They didn't seem very happy, however, but they didn't want to eat her either…they wanted to play with her, and to watch her…to torment her…

She glanced down momentarily, feeling sick to her stomach, and gasped softly, "how could you forget?"

She couldn't remember when it had started, after all, but they had probably been stalking her for quite some time now, after all, and they didn't want to attack her yet. They simply enjoyed observing her, after all, and waiting for an opportunity to strike…

"How dare you?" her oldest sister whispered furiously as she took another step forwards, "how dare you insult me this way?"

And now it was her turn to stare at her youngest sister nervously, wondering if the young girl had really forgotten or not, after all, "what have you done, little one? How many secrets have you kept hidden away from us?"

"None of your business," the youngest sister snapped back angrily, "if you haven't figured out what I've done, then neither will anybody else," she added coldly, "so stop trying to find out what I'm hiding away," she snapped back impatiently.

And then, abruptly, they both stepped backwards quickly as the youngest sister suddenly threw up, "oh no," she cried out in shock as she clutched her stomach as if it hurt terribly badly. It certainly looked like the young girl needed medical assistance, after all, "I need help," the youngest girl moaned miserably as her eyes filled with tears.

Both elder girls instantly rushed forward eagerly as they grabbed her shoulders urgently, and they helped her to sit down hastily. Their hands trembled as they tried desperately to comfort her. Neither of them had expected her to throw up so easily. Both elder girls stared at her intently as they held onto her as she panted anxiously. The eldest girl gently brushed a lock of hair away from her face. She had noticed a slight bruise on her cheek as well. Someone had beaten her up recently, after all. Who had beaten her? Nobody had beaten her since their arrival in the village, after all, although one of the farmers had been rather unpleasant towards her once he discovered that she liked reading books as much as he did, after all…but nobody had beaten her since arriving in the village. The farmer had even apologised for his behaviour afterwards, after all, so it couldn't have been him…hadn't it? The younger girl nodded weakly and sighed sadly. The bruises hadn't appeared until today, after all, and none of them had mentioned anything about them to each other yet either…or at least they hadn't discussed it with each other until today…and that meant that somebody had beaten her up without telling anyone else about it…someone had beat her up without asking her parents' permission first…

It couldn't possibly be anyone else, however. No matter who might have been involved, however, it was impossible for anybody else except for their own parents…not even their mothers had ever beaten them up…

"We should go and tell our mothers," the elder girl murmured worriedly, "it looks like it hurts very badly."

"No," the younger sister snapped back, shaking her head firmly, "no! We shouldn't do anything stupid, after all, we don't know what's going on here…our mothers aren't likely to listen to us if they suspect that we have ulterior motives," she said stubbornly, "after all, they never believe us when we talk about these kinds of things," she said firmly, "and they won't pay any attention at all if we start acting suspiciously, after all…"

Her elder sisters exchanged glances with each other as their eyes narrowed threateningly. If she insisted on staying silent instead of speaking up, however, it would definitely prove to their parents that something was going on…and it would also make them feel more anxious than they already felt, after all. They hadn't been entirely sure what exactly had happened yet. None of them had spoken to their parents about it yet either. They hadn't told anybody else apart from each other until today, and they weren't certain how their parents would react either.

Their mother would obviously be furious, however, especially since their father wasn't around yet. She wouldn't blame her sons for not reporting it immediately though. Their father wasn't around yet. Their father was probably somewhere around the fields, looking at how the crops were developing. After all, it wouldn't take long until they grew enough for them to harvest, after all. He would come home soon.

But he hadn't returned yet, despite having promised them that he wouldn't leave again for a while. Something terrible must have happened…something horrible had happened…

"…we'll get you some fresh water," the eldest sister murmured gently as she stroked her youngest sister's hair soothingly, "you can stay here while I fetch some," she added firmly as she stood up hurriedly, "I don't suppose that you're old enough to walk back home alone," she murmured quietly as she smiled gently, "do you think that you can manage?"

The youngest girl nodded shakily as she swallowed heavily as she blinked back a few tears. She had managed to convince them into letting her stay there for a while anyway, although she still had to admit that she wasn't completely certain about what she had done yet. That was why she had stayed quiet…because she didn't want to lie. Lying only made people angry at you sooner or later, after all, and she didn't want to end up in trouble over it later on, after all, "yes…my legs ache slightly though, and my ribs still hurt badly," she admitted reluctantly as she rubbed her arms tiredly as well, "but I think I'm better off sitting here than walking all the way home," she muttered unhappily. She could barely keep track of everything in front of her as well, after all, "I'm dizzy too," she confessed quietly.

She hadn't wanted to say anything at all in the first place, after all, not even to her elder sisters. She didn't want to cause trouble. Her elder sisters didn't seem to trust their father anymore though. Their fathers had never lied to them before, but this time they seemed worried, and they refused to speak with him directly…although they were talking with their mother about it constantly now…about what they had heard…

What did they know? Why did they refuse to answer his calls? What did they know? Were they afraid that they were about to hear something bad? Or had they decided that they would prefer hearing about it straight from their mother instead? Was it true? Did they suspect something? Had they decided that they were going to tell them about it eventually? What did they suspect? And what did they intend to do about it? What did they plan to do about it? They couldn't possibly have suspected something that terrible, however…could they? Could they really have thought that their father was planning to murder someone…their own daughter, perhaps?

He had promised her, however, that he wouldn't do such a thing. Her brothers trusted their father, however. They loved him dearly, and so she knew that he wouldn't try and kill anybody, even if it was possible. She just wished that she could talk to him herself as well…just as she wished that she could ask her brothers whether they really believed him or not, after all…

"Let's hope that he comes back soon," her elder sister murmured worriedly as she gazed worriedly at the sky as she stared up towards the clouds, "I'm scared for him," she whispered as she reached out for her youngest sister's hand. They were standing close together, however. Even their fingers touched each other softly, almost as if they had planned it, although their hands didn't linger, after all. They hadn't dared touch each other so intimately until today, after all, "did you see anything else strange yesterday morning? Anything that might suggest that your father has gone off to fight against another tribe, for example?" she asked hesitantly as she glanced at the youngest girl. Her eyes widened when she saw the bruises on the girl's face and arms as well. The girl had been beaten up recently, after all, "I haven't seen anything," the youngest girl replied quietly as she shook her head slowly, "nothing at all," she repeated, "we've always had our own rooms, after all, and nobody ever bothered us in the first place, so we were perfectly safe," she whispered as tears filled her eyes. She didn't understand what was happening to her family, however, not really, although she understood what kind of things her elders feared now.

They had always been careful, however. So careful…they never got involved with strangers. They hardly spoke to anyone, after all…but they couldn't avoid it now, could they? Not really. They had tried being cautious, after all, and they had been trying to protect themselves from strangers for years now…

"Perhaps you should move out of this house soon," the elder sister murmured worriedly as she gave her younger sister's hand a squeeze, "if you are really that much safer away from this house, I mean, if you are really that much safer here," she continued softly as she stared up towards the sky, "and if something does happen here…"