To Keep Her Safe

CHAPTER TWO

" Where is my daughter, you freak ? ".

Heidi's father pushed Freen as she fell to the ground, the firewood and the fruits in her bagpack made it difficult for her to maintain her balance, she sighed and got up ignoring the man.

" Where is she ? ". He asked again, Freen looked at the man, who was clenching his fists, she rolled her eyes. " How would I know ? She left before me ". Freen replied and tried opening her house door once again, thinking that the man would not disturb her anymore.

" You let her be alone in that jungle ?! ". The man furiously asked, he turned Freen around by the shoulder, making her face him, the man wasn't going to finish this conversation while talking to Freen's back.

" It was her choice ! ". Freen replied, she was done with the family, first the daughter and now her father, the family just kept getting on Freen's nerves. " It was your duty to protect her ! ". The man pushed Freen, making her lose her balance, the firewood and fruits from her backpack were scattered on the ground.

Freen glared at the man and got up immediately, she dusted off the pants and started picking up the fruits from the ground one by one. " Your daughter was the one who was desperate to accompany me in that forest but she changed her mind in the middle of the journey, I wasn't going to stop my work just because of your daughter so I told that either she could go back home or she could wait for me there and she chose to come home alone. I am not at fault here, everything happened according to your daughter's wish ". Freen answered, she won't allow the man to talk to her like that, she had done nothing wrong.

" You fucking bitch ". The man was worried and angry at the same time, worried became his daughter, the only source of income which had been left with him was missing and angry because Freen was of no help. The man picked up a stick of wood which had fallen to the ground when Freen did, he hit Freen's back with the wood.

Freen winced in pain and turned around to face the man, the man wasn't scared, who would be scared of a woman, he thought. " You tell me where is my daughter ! ". The man threatened, his voice was so loud that some of the neighbours came out of their houses to see what was going on, Freen's mother heard it as well, the commotion infront of her house.

" I told you the truth ". Freen groaned, some of the village man came to support the lady's father, they held back Freen when she tried to protest. " Did you hurt my daughter ? Did you take advantage of her ? That's why you took her with you in that forest alone ! ". The man accused, Freen was sure that he had gone insane, why would Freen try to take advantage of a woman, a woman she had met for the first time.

" I don't know how much times, do I have to tell you old man that I didn't harm your daughter ? If you loved her that much you wouldn't have let her come outside and let alone allow her to go along with me ". This time Freen freed her arms from the villagers hold and fixed her shirt, she sighed and finished picking up her belongings from the floor, the man hit Freen once more and nobody tried to stop it even if they could see that Freen had nothing to hide.

The man tried testing Freen's patience and she was nearly done, she took her axe out of the bagpack and faced the man with a stone hard look on her face. " I would back away if I was you ". The tables had been reversed, this time Freen was threatening Heidi's father.

" Look everyone, I wasn't completely wrong this woman could have hurt my daughter or maybe worse, she must have murdered her ". The man wanted the support from the villagers, most of it were men so they sided with him, leaving Freen with no support. Freen knew it, their society was overpowered by men, fucking patriarchal mentality.

Freen took steps towards the man with her axe, with an intention to harm him or make him stop talking awful things about her which were far away from being the truth.