4 Obligations
Music Recommendation: Snow- Ben Frost
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Little Eve held her hand close to her chest while her little feet tried to get away from the fair and the scary townsfolk.
Reaching home, Eve closed and locked the door. Her little heart beating loudly in her chest, she moved towards the window to look outside the house, if someone had followed her. Her blue eyes continued to search before she finally gave up.
Her stomach growled. Hunger had been induced in her since her eyes had fallen on the hot bun, and she softly gulped.
‘Meow,’ came the sound from the corner of the room.
Little Eve turned alert, trying to find where the sound came from.
‘Meow.’ A little tabby cat appeared near the table, swishing its tail in the air.
“A cat!” Exclaimed the little girl in delight, quickly forgetting what had taken place in the fair. At her excitement, the cat turned startled and stared at her. “Here, kitty kitty kitty…” she tried to lure it towards her.
The cat didn’t look at her, and instead, it jumped on the nearby chair and then on the table. It came near the plate that had Eve’s lunch, which her mother had prepared.
“Are you hungry too?” Asked Eve, noticing the cat sniffing the plate that was covered.
She went to the table and moved the lid—a piece of meat, potatoes, and a loaf of bread prepared last evening. The cat was quick to sniff the meat, ready to take a bite, but the little girl placed her finger between the cat and the meat.
“Mama says you have to share food,” She tore the meat into two pieces. She offered the cat the meat and watching it eat it. Little Eve stared at it with a smile on her face. “Will you come here everyday?” She asked the cat, who was busy eating.
But the cat was greedy and eyed her hand that held the other half of the meat. It hissed at her, and before she knew it, the cat scratched her hand. This resulted in Eve dropping the meat. Startled, her hand pushed the plate, and it fell to the ground with a clatter.
The cat jumped from the table, quickly snatching the meat from the ground before escaping from the window.
“Wait!” Little Eve called the cat, and her heart sunk in her chest.
All alone again, she picked up the potatoes and the bread from the ground. Putting it back on the plate, she started to eat it.
Far away from the town of Meadow and Brokengroves, there were other towns that consisted of manors that belonged to the wealthy families. While Skellington town tried to be tolerable to people from the lower status, the wealthy side of the land looked at the middle and lower class folks as bugs and worms that needed to be trampled.
In one of the manors and one of the bed chambers, the lamp-lit dimly, but the fireplace was bright enough to shed light.
A naked woman sat upright on the bed, pulling the covers around her used body. Hearing the rustle of clothes in the room, she turned to notice the man wearing his trousers. He then picked up his shirt.
“My family isn’t going to be back until the weekend. You should stay the night,” the man let her know, a smirk on his lips. “I will pay you twice the price.”
Hearing she would be paid twice the amount, it was alluring. The debt that had been increasing over the last few years, she would be able to repay a little more of it.
But she couldn’t take up the man’s offer.
Rebecca politely smiled and replied, “Thank you, but I need to be home tonight. My daughter—”
“Yes, your daughter. I keep forgetting you have one,” he chuckled, picking up the cigarette case from the table. He took one of the cigars and lit it up, taking a large swig, while watching the beautiful woman. “I don’t think I have seen her before. You should bring her around. I would definitely want to get acquainted with her, it will be easier to do business in the future,” he said, turning behind to reach for the ashtray.
The smile on the woman’s face faltered, and her face turned stiff at the man’s words. She was here out of circumstances, and she wished and prayed for her daughter to not have the same fate as her.
With careful words, she replied, “I wouldn’t want to tarnish your reputation, Sire. If people were to see her here.”
“You do not have to worry about it. She can come through the backdoor like you do,” stated the man. “Don’t tell me that you are trying to hide her because she is more beautiful than you,” he looked straight at her, and Rebecca felt sweat form on her back.
Though Rebecca made money by selling her body to make a living, she had tried to keep the dirty claws of these vultures away from her precious daughter.
The man walked towards where she was sitting, leaning forward to come face to face with her. He said, “It will be a while again when I am free from work, and my family members are not home. How about this, I will pay you thrice for two days,” he raised his fingers to emphasize his words.
Rebecca’s eyes slightly widened, as she had never been offered this amount of money before. More money meant the debt collector wouldn’t harass her or her daughter. And maybe she could even spend some time with Eve.
It was just two days, and she would have to worry less about being far away from her daughter. What could go wrong in those two days? She asked herself.
“Okay,” replied the woman.
The man looked extremely pleased, knowing exactly how to twist people from the lower class. All he had to do was offer money, and they would do anything. He internally smirked at it.
Rebecca wore her clothes and was returned to the spot where she had been picked up this morning in the carriage. The sky had turned dark, the weather colder than the morning, almost as if she would have frostbite if it weren’t for the shawl wrapped around her shoulders. But that didn’t stop her from shivering.
With the time of Winter here, most of the streets looked deserted, with not many outside.
Somewhere, she was glad. Glad that the weather was harsh enough to send the people to their houses, reducing the eyes and the gossip from the people who lived here. But when she reached her home, she hoped for the weather to show mercy on her daughter, who was curled in a blanket on the floor.
Closing the door, the woman made her way to where Eve laid. Bending down, she gently caressed the little girl’s head.
Eve woke up, her blue eyes opening to see her mother.
“Mama, you are back,” came the muddled voice of the little girl.
Eve didn’t know when she fell asleep, only that she had started to feel terribly cold and had ended up crawling into the blanket. Happy to see her mother, she got out of the blanket and wrapped her small hands around her mother’s neck.
Rebecca might have lost respect in front of society, but having Eve next to her, she forgot the despair and the way society looked at her as nothing more than someone who sold her body. She hugged her daughter, patting the back of Eve’s head. Feeling her daughter cling to her more than usual, she asked,
“Were you alright today, Eve?”
“Mm,” answered the little girl, burying her head in the crook of her mother’s neck.
“I brought you some things that you might like,” said Rebecca, pulling away from her daughter. But when she took a look at Eve’s face, the little one was fast asleep in her arms.
The woman laid her daughter back on the mat and then lay next to her. Pulling the blanket over them, she covered them. Little Eve was quick to snuggle into her mother’s arms and fall sound asleep with her mother softly humming something.
Eve had lost her father before her father had the opportunity to hold her in his arms. He was a handsome and kind man who had brought Rebecca to the shore when she had fallen into the water. He loved her very much, and she loved him back. She doubted she could love anyone the way she loved him.
But one day, he was killed brutally. Rebecca had witnessed her lover being killed by the humans, humans like herself. She remembered the day well as if it had happened a few minutes ago. She stood behind the tall barrel, covering her mouth with her hands to not let the sobs escape and be heard by the other humans.
She looked at Eve’s sleeping face, where her lips were slightly parted and her expression filled with innocence. Rebecca knew that her daughter was going to be different. Special like her father.
She had taken a lot of care when raising Eve, making sure people didn’t find out what or who she truly was. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips gently on top of her daughter’s head.
“I hope you have good dreams, my child. Grow up wise, move up in status, and live a comfortable life. A respectful one. But most importantly,” she whispered to Eve. “Be happy.”
When it was morning, Eve was bathed and dressed, and so was her mother, who had packed their clothes for the two-day stay. Stepping out of the house, the woman locked the door.
One of their neighbours, who caught sight of the bag in Rebecca’s hand, commented, “Good riddance. It looks like the shame is moving away from near our house.”
Rebecca bowed slightly to greet the woman, who looked appalled that she had grown a thick skin. The woman turned her face and got back inside her house.
“Mama?” Eve called her mother. “Are we going for a picnic?”
Noticing her mother stretching her hand towards her, the little girl was quick to hold it. Her mother said, “We are going to a manor today, and we’ll be staying there for two days. Your mama has work.”
“In the manor?” Asked Eve, her big blue eyes staring at her mother while they began to walk.
“Yes, my dearest. And once my work is done, let us go out. Just us,” promised her mother, and Eve looked happy at her mother’s words. “Okay?”
Eve eagerly nodded.
“Now remember, do not step out of the room. Stay away from trouble and wait for me to come and get you. We do not want to cause any trouble to anyone, do we?” Her mother’s voice was gentle as she spoke to her.
“No,” came the small voice of Eve.
Before they could reach the end of the road, a carriage with two horses appeared and halted for them. Rebecca squeezed her daughter’s little hand, offering her a smile to assure her that she would be with her.
But only fate knew what was in store for them and the danger they were walking into.