章節 23: Winds of Gossip and Disaster.

The following day, the people of Woodbridge woke up unaware of the things that happened the night before in their village. Only the wife of Mr. Perkin was troubled because her husband did not return home, and she had not seen him this morning.

She became worried that something happened to him. This was the first time he did not return home. What could have happened to him? She questioned herself as she decided to leave their house and look for her husband, maybe she could ask the villagers for help. Unknown to her that trouble was brewing at the corner.

At the same time, Mr. Lucas the medieval apothecary was coming to the house of Mr. Perkin to ask him about the pills he once brought to him. He wanted to know if his wife had stopped drinking those pills, and also encourage them to go for an examination because of their inability to give birth.

Now in the house of Mr. Perkin, Lucas knocked multiple times on the door but got no response. Where did they go this early morning? Lucas asked aloud.

Deciding to come back later, he turned to go but met Mrs. Williams on the way.

"Mr. Lucas! Good morning to you" Mrs. Williams greeted the man cheerfully.

"Good morning to you too, Mrs. Williams" Lucas responded with a small bow.

Mrs. Williams walked to stand in front of the man and asked, "It's unusual to see you outside. What happened? Did you come for something?" The eagerness in her voice to hear an early morning gossip was so evident on her face.

Lucas scratched his head. He nervously laughed and said to Mrs. Williams "Uhm…actually…"

"Don't worry! You can tell me. I'll make sure to keep it a secret" Mrs. Williams urged Lucas who was hesitant to tell her his reason for being there.

He looked left and right before whispering into the ears of Mrs. Williams the purpose of his visit to the house of Mr. Perkin.

Mrs. Williams' eyes widened together with her mouth she closed with the back of her hand to stop the gasp that wanted to escape. Her face held a gobsmacked expression at the newest gossip she just heard that was going to spread around the village like wildfire because of her mouth.

Lucas immediately bid goodbye after making Mrs. Williams promise she won't tell another person about it. But who was he kidding? Of course, Mrs. Williams has prepared her speech on how Mrs. Perkin is taking birth control pills because she is whoring in the village and the neighboring villages

She immediately headed to the market to spread the news to all ears.

Mrs. Perkin first went to the forest to look for her husband but so far, she did not see him. Could it be that vampires abducted him and killed him? Fear took over her body at the thought her husband could have been killed. She immediately rushed into the market, wailing and crying for help, but the villagers gave her a disgusted look.

Surprised and confused at the reactions she was receiving from her fellow villagers, she rushed to hold her friend, Mrs. Williams, asking for her help.

Unbeknownst to her that Mrs. Williams who she was running to for help was the same person who was causing her downfall.

One of the villagers who was most vexed stepped up to Mrs. Perkin and gave her a hard slap on both her cheeks.

PA!

PA!!

The sound of the slap resonated in the ears of Mrs. Perkin. She held both her cheeks and gazed at the villager who had slapped her with a stupefied look on her face. What has she done to receive such treatment when she was only asking for their help?! Was asking for help from them at the departure of her husband wrong?

"W...why did you slap me, Rosie? What did I d…" Mrs. Perkin began to ask but was interrupted by the same villager.

"Why did I slap you?" Rosie questioned back with a loud voice "You have the nerve to ask that question? The nerve of you to show up here after what you have done?! You should be punished!"

"Yes! The nerve of her! She should be punished for her sins!" The other villagers shouted at the same time with rage flaring up in their ears and eyes all ready to take the law into their hands.

"You came asking for help to find your husband when you are the one that chased him away! You evil woman, you should be punished!" Rosie now acting as the head of the warden shouted and threw a rotten vegetable on Mrs. Perkin and others followed too.

Mrs. Williams shifted from Mrs. Perkin to avoid the angry things being thrown at Mrs. Perkin to touch her.

Mrs. Perkin not knowing why she was punished cried and cursed at the villagers for subjecting her to such disgrace and treatment. How could they say that her husband ran away because of her? Such untrusting people! Big hypocrites that turn against their own without evidence!

Because of the chaos in the market, someone ran to inform the head warden in the village, and they quickly arrived at the scene.

"What is happening here?!" The head warden questioned in an angry tone at how things had turned messy.

Immediately, everybody seized their fire. Rosie spoke up "This woman is an adulterous woman, going around the village whoring"

Mrs. Williams turned shocked at the accusation "Me? A whore?"

"Quiet!" The warden shouted "What evidence do you have against her to say she is a whore" He asked and turned to look at Rosie who in turn, turned to look at Mrs. Williams.

Rosie pointed at Mrs. Williams "She said it"

The head warden's gaze went from Rosie to Mrs. Williams "What evidence do you have, woman?!" His eyes narrowed at the end. He knew cases like this, where one villager will accuse another just to get even with them. This was not his problem for Christ's sake. He didn't care if they killed each other, it was the report he was going to write to the church that was his problem. No one wanted to get involved with those people.

Mrs. Perkin was more than shocked and hurt to find out that it was the person she called a friend that was doing this to her. What did she do to deserve all this?

"I…I don't know but Mr. Lucas told me so" Mrs. Williams's voice quivered because of the attention now on her.

"And who is Mr. Lucas?" The warden's angry voice echoed around the market.

"He is the medieval apothecary" Mrs. Williams quickly answered to save her head. She didn't want things to escalate where she would take the blame for something she didn't know of. She was only saying what she was told.

"Take me to him at once!" The head warden ordered.

Mrs. Perkin, the head warden, Rosie, and Mrs. Williams together with some villagers who loved gossip all marched to the house of Lucas.

Lucas was surprised to find so many people at his doorstep. Not wanting to be involved in trouble, he quickly gave out the information he knew.

It was affirmed that Mr. Perkin did see the pills his wife was accused of taking. And together again, they all went to the house of Mr. Perkin to look for the pills.

On the way, Perdita who was just coming out of their house saw the villagers. What confused her was Mrs. Perkin who was at the front with vegetables smeared on her body. What was happening? Did they discover what happened last night? Perdita questioned in her mind. She immediately followed them to know what it was all about.

In the house of Mr. Perkin, the head warden was the one to search the house while others stood outside to wait.

All the while, Mrs. Perkin couldn't express how she felt at the moment. She was being accused of something she didn't do. What pill did her husband find that he also accused her of taking? Was it the reason he ran away? These questions swirled in the head of Mrs. Perkin, not knowing she was in this predicament because of her husband poke nosing into another's business.

Shortly after, the head warden came out with a small bag containing the pills. He brought out the pills and showed them to the villagers to confirm that the accusation was true.

Gasps filled the air when they saw it. Mrs. Perkin's body terribly shook and she slumped to the ground in shame of what she did not do.

Perdita's eyes were fixed on the pills that looked familiar to her. She walked forward to have a closer look. When she saw the pills, she remembered seeing the same pills in the house of Mr. Malphus. It resembled the ones she and Marco were taking but it was different.

How did it come into the possession of Mr. Perkin? Had he been following her when she went to buy the pills? Asked Perdita to herself. So this was the reason she found him there last night. He had come to know why she was taking them, but now the blame is on his wife.

Oh no! This was not good! Perdita screamed in her mind. She needed to find a way to clear this mess, if not Mrs. Perkin will be imprisoned and their secret will also be discovered.