Chapter 3
***
🥀 She trudged through the damp dirt from the early morning dew, heading for the smell, and soon found a small stream.
As she quenched her thirst, she spotted a dead roe deer with its head in the stream and scurried away.
Whatever happened to it, its belly was already open and gutted, with maggots and other worms infesting it. The source of the odor was the decomposing carcass of the roe deer. Judging by its small size, it was a youngster.
She swallowed hard, her mouth dry. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get some meat from there.
Aubrey shook her head vigorously at the thought.
"......Wake up. Aubrey Sandalwood."
Her voice was hoarse and cracked at the end. The few times she shook her head, it shook with effort. Aubrey sank to her knees, barely able to draw in a breath.
Her feet hesitated for a moment as she turned to go.
Yank's men ate the healthy animals as well as the diseased and dead. They discarded the dead parts and sliced off the edible parts with large knives.
After a moment of hesitation, Aubrey then turned around again. Slowly, she approached the stream where the roe deer had died.
***
"Ha, ha, ha......"
A rush of breath poured out. The small hands that had been patting the dirt-covered mound slowed.
In the end, instead of eating the dead deer, Aubrey chose to bury it. Touching a bug-infested animal carcass was gross, but it wasn't something she hadn't done before, so she squeezed her eyes shut and picked it up. Then she found a clean spot and buried it.
Aubrey squatted down and patted the mounded grave, then fell back into place with a thud.
Her head was spinning and she felt nauseous, as she hadn't been eaten. Before long, her vision flashed white. She was sure her eyes were open, but she couldn't see anything.
A small, slowly collapsing body leaned its cheek against the damp, dirt-covered grave and gasped for air.
‘You can do this. Open your eyes. Get it together and walk, you can do this, not after how you got away!'
She could hear her body scolding her, but it was no use. She didn't even have the strength to open her closed eyelids.
Perhaps it would be better if she died like this.
A weak smile spread across her resigned face. And then it was gone. White light peeked over the tiny back of the disembodied spirit. Morning was coming.
***
The Count of Ravant's mansion bustled with activity in the early morning hours, with maids sweeping and mopping everywhere and the sounds and smells of the kitchen heralding the start of a new day.
The Countess was up early, strolling around the sprawling mansion. She hadn't slept much the night before and her face was filled with worry.
"My lady, why don't you let it go?"
Henna, the maid, walking a couple steps behind her, said comfortingly.
Finding her long-lost sister was not easy. It had been nine years since she disappeared with her young daughter. No one had heard from her sister, Diane. Or her daughter, Aubrey.
"Now I just hope she's alive. That's all I can ask for."
The Countess of Ravant, Barbara muttered in a low voice. A maid, who had rushed in, whispered to Henna. Henna narrowed her eyes.
"What is it?"
"Vadem says he found a child on his way out for his morning walk."
"A child?"
Vadem was a stablehand at the Ravant mansion, and every morning he went for a walk in the mountains behind it. He had found a girl. It didn't make sense.
As Barbara scratched her head, she was stunned by what she heard next.
"Vadem says the girl looks a lot like the madam...."
Barbara's heart skipped a beat.
"Where is the child?"
"They say she's in the cabin."
"I'll go there. I need to see the child now."
Barbara scurried away, the maid and Henna hurriedly following behind her.
***
"Madam, I think we should send her out..."
"Don't say that. She hasn’t even opened her eyes yet."
The soft voice drifted into the blacked-out girl's ear. Struggling, Aubrey slowly opened her eyes.
The maid, who looked quite young, shrank back in horror when her eyes met Aubrey's.
"Madam, oh, she’s awake!"
Aubrey cautiously rolled her eyes. The fireplace in the front room was huge. The cream-colored mantel was alive with flames, and the heat radiated from it to where Aubrey lay.
Above the mantel was an unknown symbol carved in gold. The combination of letters reminded her of a witch.
What the hell was that?
Green eyes flashed with warning. Her body tensed, ready to flee.
"Aubrey......?"
There was a murmur, followed by a cautious voice. The same soft voice she had heard in her sleep.
Aubrey turned her head.
There stood a woman with her auburn hair braided into a corolla. Her white face and slender neck looked elegant in the olive-colored dress she wore.
She looked at Aubrey and covered her mouth with her hands in disbelief.
Slowly, she approached and crouched down at Aubrey's bedside. Aubrey's eyes widened as she took in her features.
A white, demur face. Dark green eyes like her own, the corners of her eyes drooping down to a gentle expression. It was definitely Diane.
"......Mother?"
She asked cautiously, and the woman's face lit up with emotion as she wrapped her arms around her small body. Her arms were warm and she smelled good.
"It is you, it really is you, Aubrey Sandalwood."
The woman murmured, sounding as if she might cry at any moment.
How the hell did this happen?
For a moment, she looked so much like her mother, but then she realized she was dead. She watched her mother die right next to her, no longer a living, breathing skeleton.
How...............
The woman removed Aubrey from her arms and searched her face again.
"My God, you look so much like my sister. I expected it when you were little, but I never thought you'd look like her like this. Henna, do you remember? Doesn’t she really look like Diane?"
The woman said with happiness in her eyes. The girl named Henna, who was standing a few steps away, nodded with an expressionless face.
"......your sister?"
Aubrey asked, stumbling back to her senses, and the woman smiled sheepishly, a single tear sliding down her cheek from the corner of her eye.
"You don't remember me, you were too young. Aubrey, I'm your aunt."
"What?"
"Barbara. Barbara Herbaldi. Diane is my sister."
She laughed through her tears, and as she did, she stroked Aubrey's messy red hair lovingly. Aubrey searched her face quickly.
As she looked at her face smiling kindly at her, and as soon as she could remember her face that she had seen in passing when she was very young, someone walked in.
A man in a white shirt and a black vest knitted with coarse yarn. It was Dr. Renald, the family doctor, and when he spotted Aubrey, he pushed up his glasses, which were smaller than his eyes.
He walked over to Aubrey, gave her a quick examination, and smiled at Barbara.
“As I said earlier, there are no other symptoms other than severe dehydration and malnutrition. Wounds on the soles of her feet can easily fester, so it is best to reduce her activity level as much as possible. She should eat well, rest well for a few days, and monitor the progress.”
“Thank you.”
Renald started to say something more, then shook his head and looked at Aubrey.
"If anything else hurts, just let me know."
Aubrey nodded hesitantly, and he smiled wryly.
As she watched him leave, Aubrey looked around the ornately decorated interior again; it was the coziest yet most sophisticated place she'd ever been.
"Give me a minute."
Barbara said, still looking at Aubrey with warmth in her eyes.
"Yes, ma'am."
Then the servants who she hadn't realized they were there left without a single sound. The last butler left, closing the massive doors that swung open on either side.
"Aubrey."
Aubrey's shoulders jerked at the call.
How long had it been since she'd heard her name called so sweetly, so affectionately.
"The stable hand was out for a walk and found you. He said there was a girl lying in the mountains, so he brought you to me..."
Barbara clasped Aubrey's hand in both of hers and pressed it to her cheek as the emotions of the moment overwhelmed her.
He really did. The moment Vadem, the stable hand of the Ravant family, placed the girl he was carrying on his back on the sofa, Barbara felt like she'd been pierced through and through.
The girl looked exactly like the Diane she'd been searching for. Except for the freckles on the bridge of her nose, the girl's eyes closed as if she were dead, she was Diane herself.
Barbara saw a younger version of herself in Aubrey. The scene of the happy days of her twin-like sister,
even her scent came to mind immediately.
"I recognized you at a glance."
Barbara gazed into Aubrey's warm eyes as if whispering love.
Aubrey was both perplexed and intrigued by the look. It was a bit of a shock to realize that there was still someone in the world who looked at her like that.
"But, Aubrey. How did you end up on that mountain?"
The affection in her voice, the warmth in her touch. Barbara’s lips parted easily.
"I was................"
Aubrey was about to reply when she remembered something.
Yank had said that once a slave was on the island, he or she was a slave everywhere. So if they were lucky enough to make it off the island, there would be nothing they could do once they had been branded a slave. All they could do was starve to death on the streets.
His words didn't leave her mind easily.
"I mean, I'm......."
The more she stuttered, the more she felt the tingling sensation of the brand on her back. Like a warning that she was about to be discarded.
That was when the closed door slammed open with a bang.
A furious-looking man strode in, his voice cracking as he strode forward and stood in front of Aubrey in a flash.
"I heard the child is awake."
The man's voice was heavy with weight. His dark eyebrows and tightly pressed lips beneath his graying blond hair were intimidating. A mustache tucked into the corners of his mouth.
Aubrey jumped to her feet as he stared her down. She felt like she should.
***
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