Chapter 79
“It’s going to be nice all day today, so it should dry out nicely.”
The sky couldn’t have been clearer and the sun was shining. At this rate, the fabric would be dry in a few hours.
But the old woman said, “No, it will rain in the evening, but the dyed fabric will be dry before then, so it doesn’t matter.”
Rosetta pointed her finger at the cloudless blue sky.
“With weather like this?”
“Yes, we’ll see. I’ll be right.”
Rosetta wondered what on earth the old woman could be looking at to predict rain, but she looked off into the distance and clicked her tongue.
“They don’t know any better, playing in the forest again.”
The old woman was looking at a dark forest down by the river, where a group of boys were running around and fooling around.
“They shouldn’t be playing in that forest?”
“Yes, because that forest is inhabited by monsters.”
“Sorry?”
Rosetta’s heart skipped a beat, having already been scared to death by a monster. She thought monsters lived in faraway forests.
“But we’re near the village!”
“Yes, it’s near a village, and that’s where the monsters live. They need weak, easy prey like humans, and this is their food storage.”
Unlike Rosetta, who looked like she might scream at any moment, the old woman spoke softly, as if she were discussing someone else’s business.
“Monsters have brains, after all, and they rarely raid villages without starving first, but it’s not the same for fearless humans to venture into the monster forest on their own. I’m telling you this because we’ve had a few children who have tested their courage by venturing into the forest, no matter how much the adults warned them.”
The old woman gestured toward the children and called out to them in Ardennese. I’m not sure what she said, but I think it was something along the lines of, “Don’t play where it’s dangerous, go play somewhere else!”
But the children didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the old woman. They just frowned in annoyance and walked deeper into the forest.
“Ugh, those kids. Someone needs to get their asses kicked before they come to their senses. We’d better get out of the forest before it starts raining.”
“What’s worse when it rains?”
“It’s hard for even the bravest of warriors to survive in a rainy monster forest. Not only can you not make fire, but the monsters become stronger. Isn’t it often said that water and fire are opposites? They are afraid of fire, so they must love water.”
The old woman muttered an expletive and left. Rosetta looked anxiously after the children, then heard Benny calling to her and walked to the river.
By the time the sun began to set, all the work was done. The dyed fabrics had been laid out on a line by the river and were now drying in the sun. The finely colored fabrics were rolled back into bundles and placed one by one into the crates on the cart.
When they had finished checking the goods and were about to leave for the castle, they saw a woman frantically searching for something. It was Ethel’s mother.
“Benny, why don’t you go find out what’s going on?”
At Rosetta’s words, Benny walked over to her. The woman urgently explained something to Benny in a sobbing voice.
“Rigaina, Ethel is nowhere to be found.”
“What?”
Rosetta thought about the last time she’d seen Ethel: two hours ago, sitting quietly by the river, playing with a teddy bear by herself.
“Has anyone seen her? Did she go back to the castle alone?”
Benny shook her head quickly.
“No one knows, and it’s quite a distance to the castle, so I don’t think a five-year-old would have gone alone, and there’s no reason for her to when everyone else is here.”
Rosetta looked up at the sky. As the old woman had predicted, the once-clear sky was gone, and dark clouds were gathering in the distance.
“Everyone spread out and find Ethel!”
At Rosetta’s command, everyone began to search for Ethel. Rosetta mounted Masha and began scanning from a distance.
After a while of searching, Rosetta spotted the group of boys she had seen earlier with the old woman. She was about to ride past them when she noticed a doll in one of the children’s hands. It was a teddy bear in a white dress.
“Where did you guys get that doll?”
Rosetta stopped Masha and asked urgently. Instead of answering, the children exchanged glances. When Rosetta tried to speak to them again, using what little Ardennese she had learned, one of the children said, with a slightly slurred pronunciation.
“Over there.”
The child’s finger pointed to the forest the old woman had mentioned earlier. The forest that was said to be inhabited by monsters. Rosetta’s face turned pale.
“You found this doll in that forest? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I found it while playing in the forest earlier.”
“How long ago was that?”
“About an hour ago, maybe?”
“What about the child? Did you see the girl with it?”
“I don’t know about that.”
For a moment, her mind went blank, and she couldn’t think of anything. What should I do? Should I go back to the castle and call for armed soldiers since there are only women here?
But the sky was not cooperating. By the time the soldiers from the castle got here, the day would be over and the rain would be pouring down.
The old woman had said that rain makes the monsters stronger. Even the most well-trained soldiers would not be able to push them to their deaths.
Rosetta made a quick decision. The best thing to do now was for someone with mobility to go into the forest and find Ethel and bring her back before the rain started. A five-year-old’s pace wouldn’t get her far, so she figured she could find her if she hurried.
“You guys go to the people over there and give them the doll. And if I don’t come out of the forest within half an hour, tell them to go straight to the castle.”
Rosetta drove her horse straight into the forest. She was the only one who had left the castle with a horse, so she would have to go in and find Ethel herself.
The forest was not as wild as it looked from the outside. It was just like any other forest, full of lush trees, flowers, and bushes.
“Ethel!”
Rosetta called Ethel’s name as she reined in her horse, her eyes searching for any sign of her.
“Ethel! If you can hear me, answer me!”
Rosetta wondered why on earth monsters existed, and why there were none in Lysa. Was it really because of the special powers of Lysa’s royal family, and did her parents and sister Tanit already know something about it?
Not knowing anything had never felt so frustrating as it did today. If only I knew something, I could do something.
Then Rosetta spotted a shoe lying on the side of the path. She dismounted and looked at it, and realized it was a child’s tiny shoe.
First a teddy bear, then a shoe.
Ethel’s things had been dropped appropriately, as if someone had guided her to this place. Rosetta looked around. With her lack of senses, she had no way of knowing if anyone was lurking nearby.
‘…Anyway, that means Ethel is here.’
Rosetta climbed back onto Marsha’s back. I’ve come this far, there’s no turning back now. I have to go to the end, no matter what.
“Ethel!”
As she rode on, calling Ethel’s name, she heard a small child’s cry in the distance.
“Ethel?”
Rosetta ran toward the sound. The cries grew louder. As she broke through the dense vegetation, she saw Ethel’s figure lying on the ground.
She was relieved to find her, but only for a moment. Rosetta soon realized why she was crying. Large, black shadows were creeping around the bushes across from Ethel.
And there was a low, eerie growl she’d heard before.
Grrrrrrr.
Instantly, every nerve in her body tightened. Rosetta gulped, feeling her limbs stiffen in unison. The experience of almost being eaten by a monster had already struck fear into her heart.
But she soon took a deep breath and let it out. As her paralyzed body relaxed a bit, she tightened her grip on the reins. She kicked Masha hard in the stomach, and Masha, understanding the signal to run hard, broke into a gallop.
“Ethel!”
Rosetta lowered herself deeply to one side on her horse, just as Rashid had done before. Stretching out her arm, she called to Ethel, and Ethel staggered to her feet, reaching for Rosetta.
Rosetta snatched her up with one hand. She was only five years old, but even with her light weight, her arm felt like it was going to be ripped out. How Rashid managed to wrap one arm around her waist and lift her onto the horse is beyond her, but he handled her as lightly as if he were lifting a feather.
As soon as Ethel was on the horse, the spot where Ethel had been a moment before was dug up. A monster leapt out of the bushes and tried to swallow her in one bite, narrowly missing.
“Ha!”
Rosetta never looked back from then on, running at full speed. Huge footsteps and creepy growls echoed right behind her ears as the monster chased after them.
By now, her back was drenched. Sweat was pouring down her face like rain. Rosetta focused all her attention on making her horse run faster.
Swish!
Just then, something whizzed by her ear. At first she didn’t know what it was, but the second it flew by, she earned that it was stuck in a tree.
It was an arrow.
‘So, there are people here after all? Why?’