The Insurgency

Chapter 7

A/N: Please vote and comment if you liked the chapter :) Thanks for reading xD

"Delilah!" her father almost cried as she came inside.

Alarmed, she made her way to an equally clueless yet terrified Timothy.

"What is it, papa?"

"The stocks! Our dry fruits!" he screamed, slumping down on the ground with his head resting on his hands.

Delilah quickly rushed towards the three jute bags they had kept their dry fruits in. She gasped as she found big, brown rats squeaking and munching their dry fruits.

"Ahh!" she cried in fear, backing away.

"What on the earth happened, Gabriel?" she heard one of the vendors asked her father as they entered the storeroom.

"Rats!" she shrieked pointing at the bags.

The men quickly rushed to take a quick look in the bag, cursing as they found the bags indeed filled with rats.

"Tie its mouth with a rope and throw them out! These nasty creatures will otherwise infest all our stock! Quick!" one of the vendors shouted.

Delilah watched them helplessly as they tied the bags and took them out of the building.

"What now, papa?" she whispered sitting beside him.

"I don't know, dear. I don't know," he whispered back, his voice strained with hopelessness.

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"I would not go easy on you next time, Gabriel. Mark my words." Mr Hugh, their landlord grumbled at Gabriel, who was sitting near his feet with his hands folded in front of him. Mr Hugh stood up from the chair with a scowl.

"I expect my rent by next month." with that, he left their shack.

It had been precisely five months since the night when they had discovered rats in their bags of dry fruits. Delilah was quick to connect the dots and realize that it was possible that the royal guard was behind this. Though, she had no evidence to prove this.

Money was a tight leash around their necks and her father was sure that it would eventually choke them if not handled as soon as possible.

Delilah stepped out into the room once the landlord was gone.

"Deli, it's night already. Why ain't you asleep yet?" he asked bewildered. Last time he checked, she was in deep slumber with Timothy tucked by her side.

"Why? You did not want me to find out?" she questioned him, sitting beside him cross-legged.

"Which father would like their children to know of their inadequacy?" a bitter smile tugged at his lips.

Delilah frowned and pursed her lips, "You are not inadequate. Far from that, in fact." Placing her arms around his neck, she hugged him tightly.

"We will get over this, together." she murmured, her mind already brewing with several options.

And she knew as night turned darker, that sleep will stay miles away from her in the upcoming days.

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Delilah wiped the beads of perspiration from her forehead.
Sighing, she decided to sit under a tree and have something for it was already lunchtime.

She had been roaming in search of a decent job for past four days. She would go out early in the morning, come late at night but despite all her effort, nothing came in hand.