Frozen 3

Chapter 66

Ryder

Screams outside woke me up. I was so disoriented that I fell off the couch in which I had unfortunately fallen asleep for the few hours of sleep I had left. The hardness of the soil drew me for good from the semi-comatose state in which I was. I straightened painfully, leaning on one of the armrests, grabbed the t-shirt I had carelessly left lying on the ground and put it on. It was dark, I had not reopened the shutters. I growled and put a hand over my face as I walked to the living room window. What time could it be? Late certainly. My sore cheek reminded me of the slap Honeymaren had given me. I had never seen her so angry at me. Of course, I understood it. I was really blaming myself. But the temptation had been far too strong, I had no choice but to succumb to it. That said, I had not been in a normal state, perhaps if that had been the case, I would have categorically refused. But wouldn't I have regretted it in the end? It was an unexpected opportunity and I took it, that's all. Well, almost—

I pulled the curtains out of the window and looked through. The small gap between the two flaps let me guess a crowd of people outside. I opened the window and pushed them away, hoping to find out more. Some cried, others screamed. Something serious was happening. I barely took the time to put on my shoes and rushed outside. The crowd was so dense that I couldn't get between the Northuldra who were gathered there. There were those who remained passive, their faces dazed, their arms crossed, not knowing what to do more. Conversations erupted in all directions. I didn't understand anything.

"What's going on?" I asked.

The few people who heard me gave me an empty look, but they did not answer my question. They seemed out of touch with reality. I tried to push those who blocked my view but others immediately took their place, preventing me from advancing. They jostled each other, just as curious as I was, to see what was happening in the front. And then suddenly, a scream more piercing than the others froze me. I tiptoed up and leaned on the shoulders of my neighbors to keep myself balanced and try to see what was going on. I managed to see between two people an old woman in tears screaming indistinguishable words. I did not know her, but seeing her in this state broke my heart. I didn't know yet why she was screaming so much but I could feel all her pain. She dropped to her knees in the grass and buried her face in her hands to smother her screams. I veered slightly to the left while glancing furtively between the Northuldra's legs. I noticed then a hand, an arm and a leg and then the whole body of an old man lying on the ground. I moved a little further and finally saw his face. He was unconscious. Two other men were leaning over him, talking to him, and groping his chicken on his wrist. He wouldn't move. I was focusing on the old woman. She seemed torn in front of this man on the ground, the one with whom I assumed she had shared everything, the one with whom she had laughed and cried. Her whole world had collapsed around her when her husband collapsed in the grass. And during this time, we were all there to contemplate them from above, without daring to move. I felt ashamed. Ashamed to witness this scene without the slightest discretion. On the contrary, I had been in a hurry to discover what had happened to these poor people, even if it had to pass through my entry into their private life, now exposed to the general public. Instead of feeling like intruders, we stood there passively observing the misfortune of others, secretly rejoicing that it happened to them and not to us. But what was it? Nobody really knew.

I was looking up, nauseous. They were like fairground animals in the midst of a crowd of curious people who were looking forward to their next issue. And I was foolishly part of it, carried away by a common desire to know what was going on.

"You think he's dead?"

"I don't know. They just pulled him out of his house."

The hypotheses erupted in all directions, each more indecent than the other. I couldn't take it anymore, I had to get out of this unhealthy mass in which I had come to get stuck. I took a few steps back, needing to breathe. I then noticed a face I had not seen before. My sister's face. Like me, she stood at a distance from the crowd, petrified. Our eyes then crossed. We were so absorbed by each other that we did not notice that the crowd stretched more and more to leave a guard of honor to the men who were pulling the old man towards the infirmary. Honeymaren shook in one of his hands a fuchsia shawl that I immediately recognized: that of Iduna. There was no emotion on my sister's face. She was just staring at me with an empty gaze, lost in her thoughts. I could only return the favor.

***

"Where did you find this?" I asked, pointing to Iduna's shawl.

"Do you really wonder? You know the place well, yet you should know."

I didn't know the pinching tone of his voice. Honeymaren was talking to me, that was all I cared about.

"But she agrees? I insisted.

"She doesn't seem to refuse often right now, does she?"

I put back the cushions from the sofa that I had dragged down into place. My sister stood with her shoulder against a wall.

"What are you going to do with it?

"I don't know yet."

I sighed at the young woman's lack of cooperation. I was doing everything I could to mend the bonds that had brutally broken between us and she didn't seem to want to make any more efforts.

"This man out there.... What do you think happened to him? " I said, changing the subject in the hope of relaxing the atmosphere.

"Fatigue. Lack of food. Lack of water. That seems obvious to me, right? "

"Water... What happened? How..."

"She disappeared that night. I was by the creek. I saw her suddenly dry up. "

"Do you know what that has to do with?"

Honeymaren looked at me for a few seconds as if to assess how much I wanted her to answer me.

"To Elsa I think, does she end up saying. All spirits are connected, right? It wouldn't be...

"Wait. You said last night?"

"Uh... Yes. Why?"

I'm thinking, pacing around the living room.

"Stop moving like that, it makes me nervous," she said.

"Only if we sit together."

Honeymaren looked up at the sky but ended up grabbing a chair and settling in. I did the same.

"Last night," I began, "I heard knocking on our door. At first I thought it was you and then just before I went to open it, I had a doubt and I went to look out the window. The shutters were closed, fortunately, so I could see who was at the door between two wooden grooves without being seen. It was Elsa. I knew right away she was coming for you, so I didn't open it, so I decided to make her think there was no one there. I think it worked because she turned around quickly. But I didn't immediately understand why she was leaving. Only then did I see him. Erik was there in front of our cabin. She went to meet him, and for some reason, she followed him. I don't know what happened next, I lost sight of them. All I know is she left with him and I never saw her again. "

"Erik? He must not have had good intentions.... But she does not know him well enough, she must have fallen into his trap too easily."

"Think Honeymaren... If the water disappeared that night just after Elsa left with him, there's bound to be a connection. What do you think happened?"

The young woman's face fell apart. She knew something more than I did.

"Honeymaren? " I worried.

"I must leave you."

She got up, almost dropped her chair and rushed into her room, taking Iduna's shawl with her.