Chapter 16

Jane

"How long is it?"

I was tired, tired of walking, so much so that my legs were automatically dragged, shuffling, exhausted.

"That's enough,

please stop.

Stop. "

The boy walked on impassively.

"We've arrived," he ventured, showing me the almost deserted village just a stone's throw away.

I was there, yet my conscience conformed to the forest, I was fascinated by it, so much so that I didn't want to leave it. The plants and shrubs were of an intense, radiant green: they involved me, making me part of the landscape.

RedBaron007 looked at me: he was not a superficial person and seemed to have noticed my state of mind.

He broke the silence by saying the exact words:

"There is a strange atmosphere and you don't see anyone around."

"They followed my directions," Matt confabulated.

"Did you tell the inhabitants to hide?"

"They have to respect the curfew."

We entered the narrow alleys that marked the houses, stacked one to the other on the eastern side of the town, surrounded at that point by the slopes of the hills.

We wandered until we met a resident.

His appearance was horrible: the signs of the wars were visible in the furrows beneath his eyes and the huge nose ...

well, it wasn't due to the riots.

"Hi Jack!" exclaimed RedBaron007.

The villager made a prolonged cry.

Matt thanked him for giving him the book that was in my custody, winking, saying that there was no point in using brutality and that I was a friend.

My eyes widened.

The inhabitant remembered having seen me before, he repeatedly apologized in our language: he could understand us, but he spoke in the third person, often not finding the words.

I accepted the apology, asking for news from my friends.

Jack, as Matt had nicknamed him, introduced himself.

He was the mayor.

He wore a yellow tunic.

According to Matt, who acted as interpreter, Jack thought he had offended me, but although I said the opposite, keeping to my most occult feelings, he replied that he wanted to repay in some way, perhaps inviting all five of us to dinner.

He let out another sound.

"Jack says that our friends live in the northern part of the village, that they are comfortable and working. They are very kind. "

"I'm glad they're okay," I admitted.

The news gave me some relief.

"Can't wait to see them again."

Without going too far, he led us to them.

Francis was sitting at a table in front of his house and at the end of the street, there were Gaia and Samuel, who, when they saw me, ran in my direction.

"Jas!" Gaia had tears in her eyes.

"I missed you guys!"

Samuel, also moved, began: "You too, but the next time you go away ... there will be trouble!" he concluded him.

"Who are they two?" Fra asked, pointing to Jack and Mathias on the sidelines.

"The villager is the mayor of the village, his name is Jack. And the boy instead ... "

"I'm Mathias," he interrupted me.

"Mathias !?" my friends exclaimed almost in unison, recognizing him.

"My friend! Why are you here?" Vallefra1058 asked, rising from his chair to approach the group.

"For the same reason as you," he replied nonchalantly.

"What are you doing together?" Sam asked with a grin.

"Nothing special, it was buzzing behind my house. Do you remember the shadow I mentioned to you? », I raised my eyes to heaven.

"Affirmative," Gaia replied.

"Well, it was me," Matt finished, arousing my anger.

"Can you not finish my sentences every time?"

The villager smiled.

He threw us an invitation to dinner with a lot of speech.

We all accepted and went to their homes, to present ourselves in elegant clothes. All but one.

Matt was lost for a few minutes. Francis and Sam asked him if he would like to get ready with them, but he refused.

"I'm okay, thanks," he said.

He walked off without waiting for us.

Gaia turned to me with a strange expression on her face: «but look at this. Do you know him?"

"No. I don't know why he's in such a hurry. Maybe he wants to arrive on time, "I supposed.

My friend tried to prove me wrong:

"What if you want to talk to someone?"

I gave her a dirty look.

"It will be her business.

Where would you like to go with this? "

"I wanted to make you jealous," she teased me, snorting.

"I doubt you will succeed. She doesn't care what she does. It doesn't take so little to change my emotions, so I won't hide them, don't worry. "

"I think it's best to hide them sometimes."

"You are so tough but you have a heart of gold," I winked, she followed me, annoyed.

Let's go! I told the boys. We come, they said in response.

On the way, they asked me for information.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you everything in detail, we're already here," I concluded, climbing the numerous steps.

The mayor had set up one of the best rooms he had available in a multi-story building, one of the survivors among the rubble, very large and with two rectangular windows overlooking the square, occupied by three large tables set.

orations were very sparse, but they made the furniture and the environment special.

It was a banquet reserved for the knights of the village, that is the bravest inhabitants.

The courses were numerous and abundant.

We were seated at a table with eight other people, including Giulio and the girl Sam had saved: Kayar.

I had an intuition, a sort of reference to the past, which would probably also arise in the future.

"Five, plus eight,

thirteen.

That's no good".

Was it a reference to the Last Supper?

I began to tremble imperceptibly.

"And if it were true,

that in a climate of solidarity like this,

is there anyone ready to betray us? "

I quickly scanned the people in the room, one after the other.

"Never let your guard down, ever, for any reason."

I should have thought of other things, relax as others did, have fun, take my head elsewhere.

But, after all, it's just when you think you don't have to think about something that comes up in your mind, over and over again.