The Dark Days

Chapter Twenty

 Apple didn't just race me, she flew. The forest around us had been a blur as we sped through it, leaping over fallen trees and large overgrown roots. I understood why Apple had been Druig's preferred horse. She was powerfully built for speed and the agility of racing against time.

Unsurprisingly, despite her speed, we reached Wrights closer to midnight. The street was quiet and the clopping of Apple's hooves would have been heard. I urged Apple to trot to my home around the back, the same route I'd taken after my trip to Daysa. It was definitely off the beaten path but it was one I used whenever I came home.

From behind the house, I could see Nana's room. Her room was in darkness, not even a candle lit. I slid from Apple's back, my inner thighs were raw from chaffing and my leg muscles were aflame but I ignored it and walked Apple to the enclosure around the borehole. She'd be safe inside there once the gate was closed. It was too high for her to jump over and much too high for someone else to try to force her over. Not that anyone in the village would try to steal her. As it stood, we didn't have a horse.

Apple was mine though. I would care for her as if she were my own. For all I knew, she was as much a victim as I. Druig had said he 'convinced' the twenty families in his village to abandon their homes and start anew with him. I couldn't help but wonder if he had taken the choice away from them and bewitched them into following him. I couldn't help but wonder how many of them stayed only because they were enslaved.

I tried opening the front door but it wouldn't budge. I guessed it was too much to expect them to have left the door unlocked when I was meant to be home for another day. So I knocked twice and waited. I fully expected Mama to be the one opening the door, I'd spied a dimly lit candle in her bedroom as I walked through the garden gate.

But it wasn't Mama who opened the door. It was Nana, with her eyes and nose red. She blinked, seeing me, and then pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Nana, what's wrong?" I asked, embracing her tightly. "Nana, talk to me, please."

She didn't answer, just pulled me in through the door and locked it behind me. I unstrapped my bags and placed them on the table as I heard the retching in the corner of the sitting room.

"Your mama has an upset stomach. Don't worry too much about it." Nana cleared her throat as I ran to Mama's crouching form. Isaac sat beside her, rubbing small circles on her back. This scene looked familiar, too familiar. I'd seen it before.

I'd seen Mama retching at all hours of the night and my younger self dabbing a cloth on her forehead, rubbing small circles on her back, trying not to touch her swollen belly. The realisation hit me like a tonne of bricks. Today was truly a day for revelations then.

I looked at Nana as Mama breathed shakily, but it was Mama who gripped my hand, "Food poisoning, I'm sure of it. Tell me about your travels, darling."

"Mama, if it were food poisoning why do Nana and Isaac not retch beside you? Why, when you share all your meals with them?" I asked quietly, knowing full well what her condition was but not having the heart to ask how or who had given it to her.

"Jane, I—" Mama would make excuses, I knew she would. I cut her off, looking at Isaac, "My bags on the table, Isaac, would you mind unpacking them for me. I'll take over here for a bit."

"Okay," he passed me the cloth he had been gripping in his hand as he stood up. Isaac gave me a quick hug, reaching my waist, and then left. He was scared, I could see it on his face. Nana sat in her chair obscuring Isaac from us.

I rubbed Mama's back and said, "I know what pregnancy looks like on you, Mama. I didn't know you'd moved on from Papa. Why didn't you say anything?"

Mama's eyes flitted up to mine, her eyes were lined with tears and pain, "I haven't."