Becky's Doll

Chapter 18

THE SKY WAS UNUSUALLY cloudy, casting dark shadows on the ground and made the day feel even more remorseful and lachrymose than it already was. I watched Scarlett stare blankly into space through her reddened eyes. Esther's funeral day was as mournful as her brutal death. Ezra sat next to me, holding my trembling hands.

Esther, the girl who loved wearing gloomy clothes and blended in with the crowd. The one who was capable of consoling a violent Becky. The one who told me stories about her witchy grandmother. The girl whom I watched getting smashed into a wall. She is gone from the world. The thought was so frightening because I had seen her munching on apples last morning at the breakfast table and now she is gone.

Each of Esther's friends were expressing their deepest sympathies on her vicious murder. I shifted uncomfortably in my black dress. I didn't shed a tear and I suspected that the death of Esther hasn't really sunk into me,as the reason for my lack of tears.

Officer Owen stood at the back of the church carefully observing each participant of the funeral service with his calculating eyes. I noticed that his gaze would occasionally stop at Scarlett for a long time before continuing to survey. There was no doubt that he suspected Scarlett. I sighed audibly.

Besides the detective, another elderly woman divided her threatening fury filled gaze between Scarlett and Jack. The woman had numerous wrinkles marking her pale skin, especially the skin rimming her luminous blue eyes was severely wrinkled but her hair was even more black than my black dress. She radiated an eerie aura that sent creepy chills through my spine. I guessed that she would be Esther's grandmother. If Jack or Scarlett turned back and met with the deadly stare of that woman, they could have been witnessed running for their lives.

After another hour of mourning and threatening glares, the funeral service ended rather peacefully. The priest concluded the prayer, hoping that she would rest in peace. How can she? She was bloody murdered! I clenched my fists tightly,quite confused about the murderer. I was preparing to leave, not wanting to see the burial as a dull ache was slowly emanating from my painfully beating heart, when Owen approached me. He was dressed smartly in the police uniform and a shiny tag above his breast pocket proudly emblazoned the name' Wilhelm Owen'.

"Allison," He greeted curtly. I didn't reply. The old lady who was staring at Jack and Scarlett came up behind him. She looked even scarier in a closer view.

Officer Owen cleared his phlegmatic voice,"This is Mrs Philip, Esther's grandmother," Bingo! I was right. The woman smiled or more like bared her canines at me like a wild cat. I gulped.

"I am Allison James," I answered, just out of politeness. The lady's eyes turned colder than tips of icicles, at the mention of James. She scrutinised me carefully while I awkwardly shifted in my position.

"Esther stayed at your home, I presume," She barked. I nodded feeling slightly faint. It's no surprise that this woman digested humans.

"You murderers! You took away my only grandchild. She was my only family. For days I was looking for my only daughter's orphaned child. And now that Scarlett girl and that bastard boy took her life," The woman cried in a voice that was badly masked by sadness. Officer Owen stared ahead, his eyes slightly softening. This is unbelievable. How can a detective fall for this obvious overdramatising?

"Officer, I wished only for her happiness. I knew that she had run off to Scarlett when she went missing. So I didn't inform the police. I wanted her to be happy after her parent's death. But t-they killed her. You have got to arrest them," Mrs Philip blabbered, dabbing a cloth on both her eyes. If they found her guilty for murdering Esther, I wouldn't be surprised. Wilhelm Owen placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, while his stern gaze was fixed on Scarlett who was having a genuine break down. That man ought to have his eyes checked.