Girl with the Broken Dolls

Chapter 6

                                                                 6.

Luke let go of my hand when he was sure I wouldn’t run back to the lake. We silently walked down the road for a while. It was an enjoyable walk even though I was drawn into it; it was very peaceful but at the same time so lively. I still didn’t want to talk to Luke. I wasn’t mad at him; I was just confused and unwilling to investigate the place I had seen for the first time in my life. The trees surrounding the road were already replaced by fields when he finally spoke.

“Why didn’t you want to go?”

“I still don’t want to. I thought I made it clear.”

Luke narrowed his eyes. “Are you scared?”

“I’m not. I just hate not knowing what to expect.” I kicked a little rock that was in my way. “ And just so you know, if we get lost or hurt, or anything else, it is entirely your fault.”

“You are scared,” he laughed, “But you’ll still go. Because she needs you. Because she is yours.”

I sighed. He was right. I did consider that little girl mine. She asked me for help and it was my obligation to help her. I wanted to help her. I thought of her as of someone dependent, weak, alone. Therefore, I had to do this.

We were soon walking by some old farms. They all looked the same to me but Luke obviously knew what we were looking for so when he got off the road and walked towards one of them, I followed him. It was a typical farm with a lot of small auxiliary buildings and a house used for living. I still couldn’t tell the difference between other farms and this one when Luke pointed at the tree next to the house.

“A birch tree,” he explained. “That’s how I knew it.”

I nodded. Every other farm was surrounded with pines so the bright, yellow leaves and the white bark of birch really did stand out. Luke walked around the house and I followed him, not sure of what we were doing. The house was very old and, as much as I could see, it was empty. Not a thing was left in there.

We stopped at the front door again and just when I wanted to ask what our plan was, Luke hit the door with his foot and it opened.

“What the hell are you doing?!” I stood there in shock.

“Breaking in.” He entered the house and looked around. Then he turned to me. “Come in, Sara.”

I slowly walked through the door. “You could be arrested for this, you know?”

“Yes. You could too. You are my accomplice now.” He kept walking down the corridor. “Though I don’t think anyone would mind. No one has been in here for decades.”

He entered a room on the right while I decided to stay where I was and stare at something that once was a beautiful chandelier. Now it was just broken and dirty.

“Sara…” I heard Luke’s voice. He sounded tense. “You need to see this.”

I nervously followed his voice and joined him. The room we were standing in was empty and at first I didn’t understand why he was so upset. Then I looked at the opposite wall and I realized. It was lighter at some places and from this distance I could see that there had been a desk long time ago. I even knew what that desk looked like.

“Oh my God, Luke.” I whispered as my heartbeat quickened. “It’s real. She was here.”

I could imagine the little girl standing right there or walking through the door that I just went through. The idea of her standing right at my place scared me so much that I felt sick and weak.

“I need some air,” I mumbled and stumbled across the corridor. When I finally managed to get out I sat on the ground in front of the house and tried to breathe deeply. Luke closed the door and stood next to me, gazing somewhere in the distance. Few minutes later he asked me if I was feeling better. I nodded even though I wasn’t sure of it.

“Good, because we need to investigate a little more.”

“I’m not entering the house again!” I panicked.

Luke turned around. “Oh, I don’t think the house will help us anymore. There’s nothing in it. But I think we can do it the other way. Thank God for the people who remember our actions better than we do.”

“What do you mean? What people?” I had no idea what he was talking about. Luke pointed to his left.

“Neighbours.”