Chapter 8: New Shoes- Part Two

"Look, it's the illegitimate daughter...from a whore!"

"No!"

"I am my father's daughter. Let me go"

Harriet struggled as she found herself amid bullies. When she left her house and ran to the building at the back of the church, some children of her age and older had her cornered and they began spouting mean words. There were five children in total. Two were identical, one was a young girl, and the rest, probably relatives as they laughed and painted her face with black soil. Even though they were of the same age, the bullies were taller and bigger. They were males and a single female.

"You are a wrecker!" One of the identical twins cried out in exasperation as he resorted to violence by snatching Harriet's hair and brutally squeezing the strands. The girl forced herself not to scream, as her eyes swum with tears.

"Let me go!" She struggled. Who were they" Why were they attacking her?

"Brother, she is too ugly. Why does Darius adore her so much? He should be with me, not her!" The bully's younger sister, a red-haired with russet eyes wearing a grey-tattered frock, that couldn't in the least shield her from the cold weather, appeared behind the other twin.

"Farrah, I will get revenge. Brother promised you" The bully cried in a soft tone, but when he skimmed his eyes back at Harriet, his brows snapped together, and his face contorted in frenzy. It was because of this girl; his sister had cried for hours and had fallen sick, resulting to a disagreement with his parents. She must pay.

"Noah, it isn't right to oppress the girl. She is scared" The other twin muttered, boredly. Although he tagged along to find the person that hurt his sister, it didn't occur to him to start terrorizing a girl. More specifically, a child.

"Hush. What do you know, Bastien? She hurt our sister. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!" Noah hissed.

"Oh, now you've learned new words?" Bastien knitted his brows.

Noah turned at him speechless. He yelled "How are you calm. She is the culprit, behind our sister misery"

"Still. You are in no right to cause pain to a sick person. Quick to forget the virtues taught by father? Don't become barbaric" Bastien countered. He took his eyes briefly to the petite girl in his brother's web for a second, before looking away.

"We are at the back of the church. If Father Saul catches you, Mother will be mad. And you truly do not wish to anger that unrealistic woman! Let her be. She can befriend anyone she likes; it shouldn't matter to any one of us" He added. Older than Darius.

"Farrah cried for hours because of HER, and you tell me to stop? Bastien, have you turned soft-hearted because you like the pest? Are you defending her?" Noah provoked.

Bastien narrowed his eyes, the green pupils dilating. A muscle in his jaw twitched and his lips drew back in a snarl. He was trying to repress his feelings of rage at what his brother had said. For a moment, he met Harriet's disheartened eyes and frowned.

"Farrah is our sister. I am aware of her pain; however, I wouldn't hurt another just to satisfy her ego" Bastien yelled.

"Brother" Farrah called softly. She felt betrayed. Then, she pointed at Harriet, seething her teeth.

"Darius is human. He can befriend anybody, Farrah. You are not allowed to be obsessed with him. I disagree with your thoughts."

"But brother, he was mine before she took him away from me and now, she seduced you too!!" Farrah broke down. She started sobbing and screaming. "I like him first. Darius liked me too, but she TOOK HIM" She fell to the ground and continued weeping.

"Are you mad! Why did you make her cry again? Is it for her? This girl" Out of frustration, Noah pulled Harriet's hair again.

"Ah! Let me go" Harriet bit her lips as she suppressed the burning pain in her head. She sucked in a sharp breath to contain the agonizing throb. When the pain became unbearable, she extended her small hand and hurled a slap to his face. This led to her freedom, but Noah, who was inflamed, indecisively threw a blow at her shoulder, causing her to wither and fall to the ground in agony. At the sudden fall, her knees bruised.

"Mother! Ah! Where are you?" She screamed.

"You pest! Stay away from Darius and my sister" Noah warned. He hurried to his sister's side and carried her piggyback. Tossing hateful glances at the girl, he disappeared with his friends that just watched the show, but with soils in their palms.

Bastien sighed. He listened to the girl's cries of lamentation and meandered around to leave like his brother, but then he wavered in his track. Without looking at the girl, with his back fronting her, he said "You are too weak. Grow up and be strong. I hate weak girls" most especially that sister of mine. He acknowledged with a sour smile.

Harriet rubbed the tears flowing down her eyes. She was in an open space, where the priests often passed, and was scared she'd collide into one. She tried to stand herself, but the pain from her shoulder had implanted a deep trauma to the spot. Her face turned red. She felt sleepy and hungry. She missed her father. She wanted to see her mother and apologize. She was annoyed.

But she was too weak. She hated herself for being too feeble. Because of her illness?

"I am not weak" She fumed flatly. Bastien heard those words, and a slim smile was fixed on his face. He scoffed and left.

---------

On her way back home, Harriet became depressed as she shielded her face by releasing her braided her. Feeling thirsty, she glanced around, trying to find the well the villagers usually fetched water from.

The rope from her corset was loosed, so she briskly tied them back and took herself to the back of the large tower, at the center of the field. Her shoulder was still pricking, but she made do with it.

She darted her dark-gray eyes here and there, feeling heavy-hearted. Because the church was built close to a white buckwheat field, Harriet had to tread into the field to the tower at the farther side. The grasses were a green-honed thorn, as translucent as the finest wad needle. As Harriet stepped onto the grass barefooted, her feet shuffled through the spaces of the wet silage. The sunlight reflected brightly on the petite figure seeming to flee the meadow.

She would occasionally stop to wipe her sweaty face with the back of her hand and then continued her journey. She lifted her skirt and dived deeper into the pathway until she eventually arrived at the tower.

Trekking barefoot, she carried her feet to the back of the tall tower, where a medium-sized drawing pebbled groundwater well was discernible. The groundwater well was old and water-soaked all over as it was drawn previously by some villagers. Harriet blinked her eyes timidly, running to the savior for her thirst.

For an eleven-year-old, especially one that was sick as her, Harriet had never been to this part of the town or any place. Her parents never let her. She heard the directions from one of her aunts who often visited their home.

Standing before the well, Harriet's face was ridden with sadness as she couldn't take water or the least open the cap of the well.

There was no way to take water from the well.

'If only mother... ' Her face turned ashen as she recalled that sad scene of her mother raising her hands to her. She had been very heartbroken back there. Never did her parents hurt or beat her as others did to their children, so when her dearest mother's hand was near to her face, she had become depressed. She only asked for her father because she missed him. Yes! She yearned for kids of her age to accompany her to the back of the field, while they played joyously but they were inferior compared to her father. Was it wrong to ask for his return? Was it wrong? Why hasn't he returned? Why must it be years? Why did he suddenly neglect her?

These questions quirked in her head whilst feeling bitter. Those negligent feelings swallowed her heart.

Little did she know her dearest father won't ever return.

Tears began spilling across her eyes, down to her cheeks. She missed her father so much. She missed his voice.

"Father, where are you?" She sought for. Tears that poured slowly were now scurrying unsystematically and heavily. Her cries became louder that it'd make one pity the small child and wished to shelter her. She hid her face in the palms of her hands and wept bitterly. Her chest was suddenly squeezed to suffocate her and when she gasped for air, more homely tears escaped, frenetically. She was too fragile for the world she lived in.

"I miss your kisses" She fumbled between her cries and accidentally bit her tongue. Harriet seldom cried this much and when she did, like a habit, she'd often bite her tongue or cheeks which intensified more pain to her. But this time, as soon as her tongue was bitten, she stood up from the gravel rashly and took a valiant step toward the well.

She'd fetch the water herself!

"You can draw the well," She told herself confidently "Without anyone's help" and murmured bravely.

I am not weak. I AM NOT!!

She ran her eyes down the thick cap of timbers covering the well. Harriet was a head taller than the well, yet she looked smaller in comparison. She took her fingers to the cover trying to sever the cap, but nothing worked. She caught the neigh of a horse from wherever but ignored the sound and instead adopted her muscles. Her brows were knitted thinly as she crushed her fingers into the wood. With a low grunt, she finally was able to detach the caps causing the woods to drop sideways upside down with a loud thud.

Harriet wiped her tears and groaned for water. She turned around, innocently, and ran over to carry a sizable rock from the ground - one she could handle. Having done that, the little girl placed the medium-sized rock at a potential length from the well. She raised her feet and rested them on the rock. All the while, she supported her hands on each pillar of the well and leaned her head down to the well.

"Where is the water? I cannot find any!" She questioned, her eyes roaming about inside the dark, gothic groundwater well. She reached the rope of the bucket connected to the well, dragging and keen for the water. Feeling frustrated, the little girl dug her head even deeper into the well, an inappropriate position unless she wanted a lethal end to her life. She was briefer than the well, yet the little girl craned her neck deeper into the well and now one of her feet was levitating in the air, while the other could join sooner.

"Arggh!" She screeched. The scream echoed in the well.

"What have we got here? A foolish human, who is tired of the free breath of life. Interesting"

"Not again with this sarcastic tone"

Harriet heard voices behind her which caused her heart to thump against her chest. Unsure if the intruders were kidnappers or villagers, still, she was scared. That fear got to her, and her hands were freed from the pillar, in which her balance erred.

"Ah! I don't want to die" She begged "Save me. Help me please"

"Foolish Human" A voice spat.