A large house towered over Sal, Lea and the constable. It covered them in its shadow. The house glittered it seemed and the concrete walls were covered in fuchsia bougainvillea. The next day, Sal locked herself up in the library staring at the ceiling until she thought she could be sick of the place. But the undeniable familiarity the space brings and the smell of old books and the silence muffled sounds from the outside felt like home. It was like she never stepped out of the house.
Signora Edihna piped in by the door. She brushed her fingers across the shelves whilst asking, “ My collections are great, don’t you think?” She stuck a black book in the shelf making it stick out like a sore thumb amidst the long, green line of books.
“Would you like to read me to sleep?” the woman stood straight with a smile and her eyes beaming. Anticipation it must be.
Sal replied, “ A nice proposal it is…but, why do you need to?” Sal composed herself. “It is nice of you, but if you may, Miss Lea will be upset if I do not stay with her. I ought to tell her first.”
She let out a sharp laugh as she seated herself crosslegged in one of the chairs in the library. “Haven’t she told you of her age? She is only sixteen. A child. You might not look like it but you are older than her. Why should you bend to ask her?”
Finally! someone who sees her and does not think of her as a little child. Sal sat on the statement for awhile while trying to tamp down the smile in her lips.
Sal stopped herself, Lea is a goose, but she is not a liar. Maybe, if she will not grow to dislike Sgra Edihna but she will eventually.
“Are you scared, little woman?” the older woman purred. “ Lea must have told you things but to be fair to her, she’s not totally wrong. I’m bad to bad people, I am good to good people. You’re good, aren’t you?”
Sal nodded then stared up at the woman. A tall woman that she is. She has always been uneasy looking up at people. Signora Edihna was a particularly tall woman. She must behave.
She followed the Signora onto the looming hallways. Large, spacious hallways they were that turned cavernous under the dim light like a dark forest. But who is she kidding? She let her feet lead her willingly despite the shadow of the tall woman.
The room, as expected is large like the ones in the hospicio. It was needlessly adorned with shining, glittering things. It was a lot different from the Casa, bare and beige. The Signor once said that only less virtuous women would display their gold like harlots.
She accidentally placed an arm on a paper lying on a desk making her arm wet with fresh inked words.
“Oh, dear. Such a delicate creature,” the Signora exclaimed as she handed her a towel to wipe her arm with and swiped the ruined paper away.
Reading to the woman was a strange task, speaking for this long. Never raise your voice. Be delicate. Speak in whispers. Books are only for knowledge. On account of the woman’s poor taste, Sal read books which for lack of a better word, unvirtuous.
Yet, there was a genuine brightness in the woman’s eyes and a childishness as she inquires what’s next, clearly watching her as she trudged through the horribly amorous cartoonish texts and yet, what was it here that elicits such a reaction?
Soon, Sal too fell in. Curiosity perhaps, but maybe plain urge to probe how horrible the text was.
It has been almost a week since she started reading to the woman nightly. Sal had already memorized her every reaction. This time, Sal took that black book from the shelf.
The woman’s expression furrowed in confusion at the strange book she brought, but Sal continued on.Sal kept on her pace growing quicker.
Maiden Mara ugly as a toad
For a cloak of gold
her sister she sold
Down the river she lies
Clothed in a swath of flies

“See? A horrible, horrible book I must say isn’t it?” The woman glanced at her from her bed.
The tale was not out of the ordinary but it did leave a bad taste despite the triumph of the main character. Sal closed the book and thumbed the edges. “The ending is truly unfortunate, but it feels bad to start a story and leave it unread.”
“The writer is a moron. He likes his villains demons.”
Sal pondered, “She was evil because the story was not about her.”
“Any one with taste should trash this, forget it existed. Even a child could give this a proper ending. What do you say?”
Sal squirmed in her seat just wanting to burst all the endings and ideas she has long thought of yet she remembered Lea’s words to behave. She chained back at the fact that she is being asked a question,
“I don’t know, Madam. The ending is alright, I guess. The character was branded a villain so nothing else would be done for her fate.” she remarked, her head bowed as a heavy feeling overcame her. She apologized to the image of Ren in her head.
The SIgnora fell quiet for some time. Eventually, she took a box from the bedside cabinet. She pulled out a gold locket not unlike any she has seen. She opened the locket where a mirror is placed. “My daughter always has this habit of pulling down baby hair from her bun. Had to tell her to use oil.” A frown took over her.
Sal only stared at the box. “ Should I give it to her?”
She paused, a slight expression crossing her face.
It was her, wasn’t it? The one who the white chrysanthemums are for She hoped that she was wrong despite the nagging feeling.
The woman sighed. “ She might have been your age by now, small as she was. She was a cute baby, she’d cling and hide under my skirt as a child but as soon as she became a lady, she sprouted some lady horns.”
She rested her head on the bed, closing her eyes. “ She hates me singing. She does not like duets.She hates to go to gatherings with me when it is her the only one I have for company. Lea must have thought her cousin obeys me all the time.”
She cringed to herself as the woman continued her story yet sat as to know more as she stared at the woman who smiled before.
“What I told you, it is a secret between the two of us alright.” She whispered.”Even Lea does not know this. My family would celebrate if they see me like this.” She let out a small laugh.
“ They brand me a fool but they are even more foolish themselves. Living another second in that house. All my grandfather’s mistresses playing games. All proud pretentios people that they are.” The woman’s voice trembled. “Our family is a joke. They are worth nothing without that piece of metal they call our heirloom.”
Sal searched the woman’s face for any tears. There was none. Just hardened, cold indignity.
“They set me up with a horrible man. He likes me so everything he does is alright, but did they see me? Stealing that heirloom sword was momentary foolishness of a child who did not know any better. A momentary mistake. But the freedom is worth the pain.”
Rage. Familiar rage it was in the woman’s face. It was the nails buried in her palms.It was the last sliver of her voice sobbing the first night she was caged in the Casa.
This woman seemed happy, yet Sal could only remember Oleon,how she acted silly around him when he was fighting illness.
She looked at the mirror, dark her face is. She averted her gaze and whispered. “ Does Lea hate the clan too?”
Signora Edihna gathered herself before responding. “ She is a Ruotzhe, there was no reason for her to hate my family with how generous they are.”
Sal noted the mocking tone in her voice. “She told me she does not like you.”
“As expected”
“But she talks about her brother a lot.”
“The one who died”Signora said casually.
Sal paused and crumpled the mattress in her hands. “She loves her family. Rio. She says she needs the sword. “Sal whispered, “The sword you stole.”
The woman stood up from the bed and turned away from Sal. “So, this was it all along.” A wry tone in her voice.
She hates the clan, she said, it was a measly piece of metal she said. “Why do you keep it still?”
“Revenge, of course-”She faltered.
There was only silence. A heavy cloud descending on them.
“Go now, I am already falling asleep. Take that shitty book with you.”
Sal did as she was told, curiosity unsated, only pursed lips and fake smiles, but before she got outside the door, Signora Edihna handed her a note.
“Find Abeng. Do whatever you want.”
***
The note seemed heavy in Sal’s hand though it was the address and nothing more. She was almost certain that Sgra. Edihna granted her an answer. She wished she had not.
At one look, the tall servant named Abeng tasked her to follow him. It was quite puzzling to see how a few names of places could command this man, but she ought not to fool herself.
Sal kept herself quiet and prim in the carriage with the tall man, intent not to stir any trouble. As the carriage went on, Sal clutched her skirt and busied herself with the sights inside the carriage.
When it stopped. Sal can’t help but have a tiny peek outside to see a mansion not unequal in glamor with the Signora’s residence. However, the place was quiet and decidedly empty of people other than the servants. So this is where the heirloom was?
The tall man was addressed highly by the servants. “Boss, they said. He spoke strictly and inquired on the maintenance of the mansion and its implements.
Sal ducked. She waited on the corner of the carriage, keeping her knees to her chest while she kept on listening in. Just telling herself to wait for the tall man to bring the heirloom. An hour later, the tall man went out holding a small chest, but there was grimness in the tall man’s face.
Sal peeked out and watched as the tall man opened the chest to the servant. It was empty. His worries were not sated until a man came rushing in.
Their conversation died down to nearly a whisper until it was not.
“It was not stolen, Boss. I saw that it was in need of maintenance so we took it to a goldsmith. I see to it that you know it is safe. I will escort you to the man himself.”
Sal withdrew her feet from the edge of the carriage floor and sat on the couch self as the tall servant turned to go back to the carriage.
He didn’t look pleased.
When the horses turned back towards the mansion, Sal does not know what spirit possessed her to speak out to the man and ask him a favor. She wants to meet the goldsmith now.
It was the spirit of recklessness possessing her for her to demand to seek the goldsmith immediately. Sal wrung her hands. Don’t come out of the carriage again.
After half an hour of travel, the carriage stopped outside a workshop. It was teeming with constables. A voice rang out from a man tied on his back, yelling as he was shoved into a carriage.
They’re there. They’re coming for her next. Maybe not now but they will. They are looking for her. Stay quiet. Don’t speak. Don’t get seen.
Three knocks on the carriage window. They’re here. Don’t look. Don’t be seen. But should she?She does not deserve to hide then-
“Oh! Hey, kid. Can’t imagine seeing you out here. Wow! Missus Edihna seemed generous. Out for a stroll?”
The constable from the hospicio looked from the carriage window, his light face filling up the whole space of the window.
Sal nodded. “ I think so.”
“Good to see. That lack of air, being stuck alone inside the palace must be awful. Hey…” He then left to talk with the tall servant.
It was improper to listen in on conversations but Sal found her ears stuck to the wall of the carriage, grasping the words she can from Ro and the tall man’s conversation. Settling a case, he said. Place is out of bounds while everything is settled.
So the goldsmith did something bad then.
Sal was hoping Ro would talk about something that the goldsmith might have said.
Ro did not leave but fancied himself to stay in the carriage for awhile with Sal.
She wished she hadn’t. She didn’t know what to say around him as he made talk. He talked about a lot of things.
“Tell Lea I’d be angry if she makes you cry, okay?Tell that when you get home.” Ro finally stepped out of the carriage and began closing the carriage door.
Sal made a fist. “ I’m not going back.” Sal stopped the carriage door from closing.
Ro turned back at her.
She can’t look. She cast down her eyes. He would surely be annoyed. He told her to go home. Would he tell the other constables? But Sal was almost finished. If only she got to talk to the goldsmith before the constables came. No, they would arrest her too.
Ro raised two arms at Sal. “ Go home or a monster will eat you.” He made a strange face, tongue out, eyes bulging, his fingers curled.
“Frog” Sal remarked
“That was supposed to be an aswang, but a frog would do.” He tapped lightly on the door. “I’ll get going, be safe okay”
Ro stepped on the stairs blocking the whole view outside with his body. “Don’t worry. My colleagues have left a while ago. They already forgot about me, but it happens.If that is what you’re worried about. The Rock will protect you, alright?”
Sal stood by the door, silent at his declaration. How she was close to seeing the heirloom. How she thought she could’ve gone home it should’ve been finished, how the answers were yet out of reach.
Ro knelt down a bit,”Look. I will protect you. I will not let anyone harm you. But you can’t go to places like that. You’re small, fragile, much worse, a -” he stopped himself like he was about to spit a bad word. ”Can you handle what might be out there at your state? The man you’re looking for may be dangerous. You will be hurt.”
Small, weak, a little girl.
This man is blocking her vision. She can’t see anything properly but the ground, She’s always been looking at the ground! But where should we look at To eyes that show anger? To her that is weak?
“I’ll accompany you back, so don’t be scared, alright?”
Sal let him in quietly in the carriage. Sal endured the constable talking on talking.
“I was almost seventen,” Sal blurted out.
“Ah, yes. Sorry about that, but you were cute.”
“I was almost married. Married people go out and do things.”
“This is strange, but-”
Sal stood up on the moving carriage. How far have they passed from the man’s house?Were they that far already?
“That man is dangerous. We have to stay away from him in the time being so I will escort you back.”
Sal glanced at his uniform. It was just a plain uniform.
The constable scratched his nape as he laughed drily. “My! It looks so dirty, isnt’ it?”
Sal kept her gaze unbroken.
Ro heaved as he spoke in the littlest voice ever. “There were a few illegal items seized from his workshop. An heirloom sword not one of them.”
Sal leveled a stare at the man as he looked away.
“What do you know? Did he really have it? “ He whispers in a smaller voice. “Maybe he was secretly a gremlin hiding gold. He could have hidden it in an abandoned quiet flowerfield in the middle of the woods. Like in those stories.” He ruffled Sal’s hair.
A flowerfield it was with its roots nourished by the ruin of silence and memories being pushed by the sins of today. A nagging feeling tugged at Sal.
As they travelled, men travelling in horses rode in the opposite direction. Ro would smile and ruffle her hair whenever she’d try and peek outside. Opposite their direction was the road to Calare.
It was ‘that’ abandoned mansion is it?Say it is not so. Sal’s hands went numb as she eavesdropped more from the constable in his conversations with the tall servant back at the mansion.
The address was the Casa.
***
This may be the first time Sal has seen Lea in ages. Whenever Sal would wake up, Lea’s mat was already folded in and she’d sleep long after Sal would. The woman’s gone too busy.
Now, Lea lay sleeping on her side on the mat. She bent her knees to fit, appearing similar to how Oleon looked like back then. It was strange to see how small she seemed.
Sal placed the tattered note Sgra. Edihna had given to her by Lea’s side.
“Please don’t tell on me. I left you what Signora gave me. You will find the heirloom there.”
She’d find nothing in that address, isn’t it?Talking by yourself seemed strange. Somehow, it was easier to face the moon and talk to it instead.
“I can’t accompany you. You will not need my help. I am just a short, weak and fragile girl. I’m sorry.”
A rustle sounded from behind her, so she was awake.
“You’re still up? You’re doing a number on me. You go pray that the benefactor’s house has better beds for your delicate skin.”
Sal turned her head back, hesitating before whispering back to face the moon again.
“Does your benefactor know you are in this house?”
Ren had told her again and again, lie low. Stay quiet. Don’t speak too much.
“I guess you should give him a note. We can’t use a courier we’ll be dead. Ro can do, better use of his time than being a glorified slave.”
How could Sal face Ren right now? She buried her face in her knees, cringing at all the times she’s exposed herself to the outside, at how she’d settled in a stranger’s house.
“Ro told me you went out on your own. Lucky you, it was him and not some other constable who found you.”
Sal plopped on to the bed and grabbed a pillow to block all sound that she could hear to just fall asleep and forget. She closed her eyes but she could see constables gathering around her,that steel-barred room, and a disapproving face.
“The goldsmith, if only I got there earlier.” Sal remarked to herself.
“It must be scary for you.”
Sal loosened her grip on the pillows around her head.
“I’m sorry,” she answered.
Lea scoffed, “Oh, brother! Stop apologizing for every damn thing.” She continued. “Just remind me tomorrow to tell Ro of a note to deliver so you can finally get out of this damned place.”
Sal sat flat on her back as she turned to face Lea who lay there. “Don’t look at me like that That’s creepy.”
Lea turned her back at her. “I can manage getting the heirloom on my own now. You’ve done more than what I expected. Don’t worry, I won’t tell on you.”
Maybe she just wanted to be punished. Maybe, she hated having what she asked for. There was no smile in Sal’s face. The high- pitched, steely voice that spoke was quiet and gloomy.
She almost forgot. Lea can’t even read the address.
***
Another person must have lived in Sal’s body and held her hostage for her to venture out into Calare. She kept her arms on her lap the entire trip. The light whirr of the carriage and the slight rustle of the curtains punctuated by cricket cries. Listen, focus. Don’t think.
It finally stopped as she turned to the Casa. It looked the same when she went there with Ren, bare empty, a black shadow in the unlit streets. Overgrown weeds and vines covered the gate and the yard. The house, it looked taller, blacker, as if with claws raised against her, whispering, “ Don’t come in any further.”
“I’m sorry. I will be back in a minute,” Sal said to the tall servant.
Sal produced the small stick she grabbed from Signora Edihna’s place. Where to start? As Sal walked around the place, weeds, on her feet, shivering from the cold.
She crouched down and proceeded to dig. She searched other areas, again. She certainly looked stupid. Minutes turning to an hour. No sword in sight nor a chest. The tall man would be angry. Time is wasted by.
Then, a broken window gleamed against the moonlight. There, a hole poked through the glass window on the ground floor. Sal turned to the ground and continued to dig. After minutes of fruitless search, Sal turned at the door.
The door creaked slightly open.The black gap stared back at her. The carvings embellished with mocking faces from the dim light. Perhaps she only has to stare at it long enough. Just a stupid door. Yet, at Sal’s first two steps, Sal fell to the ground.
Stop whining like a child. Move!
“It’s big.”
Of course it is .It was just a stupid door. Only takes a few steps to go inside.
“What will I see inside?”
Nothing you have not seen.
“It will see me. I can’t look.”
“Are you alright?” Voices. Two of them. One of them shook her by the shoulder. A woman with a long braid and a big man stood over her.
“ It’s way past midnight! What are you doing here? Besides-”
Sal pointed a shaky finer at the Casa. “The sword. The deal. It was… a big door….your brother. I didn’t reach the …goldsmith….Sorry…They will see me.”
Sal found herself encased in someone’s arms. Warm. Strange, but warm.
“Okay, so what happened is you found where the heirloom sword can be. It is in this house, yet you are scared. Am I correct?”
Sal nodded, no matter how sill y the idea was that she’s afraid of her own house.
“Perhaps, it will be around here in the grounds. You can’t come inside easily when you are in a hurry. So, to the grounds we dig?”
Sal nodded. Maybe she was mistaken. She should be mistaken. There was no way it is inside.
The two searched among the weeds and the gates of the Casa. A fruitless search. Sal glanced at the broken pane.
She pointed a trembling finger at the broken pane. Lea glanced at her. No anger or annoyance in her face. She rushed to Sal and crouched to see at her eye level.
“What’s in there?”
“The sword?”
“No, what’s IN there?”
The Signor’s office. The ring she gave back. The empty library. “It’s dark there.” Sal remarked.
“We could have two lamp lights going in. Here, hold my hand. I will go first.”
Sal gazed at Lea’s calloused hand.
Ro sat on the grass.”You need a lookout. This place is not exactly abandoned if you know what I mean.”
Sal gave a long look at the man before averting her gaze.
“Hear this,” Ro made a bird whistle. “Just hide when you hear that. I’ll come for you.”
Sal didn’t quite like the idea he raised of another person coming to the Casa but she can’t deny that at the moment, she was weak, fragile. Sal willed her feet to move as she slowly paced inside the house, holding tight on Lea’s arm, letting her talk.
Sal led Lea through the ground floor of the house as their lamplight led the way to a room where the broken pane surely was.
The room was no less recognizable than any Sal has seen. It was a mess, a jumble of old wardrobes, abandoned chairs and all sorts of rotting furniture and belongings, the Signor’s belongings.
Lea immediately got to work and dug the place like how she would in the ground. She placed one lamplight on the floor as she overturned chairs and scratched at woodboards. No sign of the box or the sword.
Sal stared long at the scratch marks on the floor morphing into patterns and shapes, morphing into letters. The ink that got into her arm the week before. She realized. They were words in reverse.
Deliver…to you…This week…Reward…
A short, high-pitched bird whistle rang in the air. Lea immediately pulled Sal between the space of the wall and a wardrobe. She peeked by the window at her side. On alert, watching. The bird whistle rang again. It stopped mid-note.
In the darkness, the room gained faces. Suddenly Sal was not holding Lea’s hand anymore. In front of Sal, loomed a large shadow, taller than Lea, large as he blocked the whole window.
By the lamplight, Lea’s green eyes stared at her. Voice muffled by a hand in her mouth. The arms of the figure seemed to swallow Lea completely.
Something pulled down on Sal’s head. It went black.
***
Pitch dark. Nothing is here. Disembodied voices. Laughing? Conversing? What are they? Shadows. Beasts. She was floating in space. Feeling left her arms.
A slow sensation of skin meeting leather came up in Sal. A familiar rattle and squeak. She was laying in her side or higher ground. Clip-clopping of horses’ hooves. A scratchy sheet over her neck.
Sal slowly opened her eyes to see through the grain of the fabric. Useless. Useless in the darkness of the night. The constables will take her to ruin. Will they take her to the barred room again? To the dark room? To the Sgr. Cuorre? She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can only hear and nothing more.
Lea’s voice. Her high steely voice remains clear in Sal’s mind. ‘ Let me go. Let me go. Sal! Hang on.’ Useless. Her voice on deaf ears. She can’t hear them anymore. Shout for help. No one comes. Alone.
But who was she to dare?
The ink left on her hands, the reversed letters she could have deciphered. “ Delivered to you by this week.” Did Sgra. Edihna mean a Sunday or a Saturday? It was a Friday today. How stupid of her. The heirloom was never in the Casa. Signora knew that from the start.
They were the sheep to slaughter.
Was she laughing now? Happy? Like a witch from a children’s tale? No, she did not. Her evil was a moment of spite.
Sal, she spited someone too. How is she any different?
If only she stayed put. Perhaps punishment was needed. Sal welcomed the feeling as the carriage rocked violently and knocked her down to the floor. Voices yelled and grunted and cursed around her. Clang of metal. The door creaked. Moonlight reflected on the floor when someone pulled the sack from her head. But he was quickly gone. A grunt, a struggle. The voices faded as if far away.
It was quiet again.
Outside the carriage, men strewn on the ground, others on the chariot. Are these the punishers?
Sal stood in front of no one. No response. The men lay still like dolls. Dolls can’t take her prisoner.
All around her are trees. All the same trees. Sal walked, wandering. Should she come back to the Casa?
Sal walked, wandered wherever the light is strongest or a faint dot of lamplight fools her eyes. The woods are vast, circular. She only went where her feet took her. Then, came a rustling, a strong new sound amidst the silence.
Sal followed the sound to a small stream with its long line punctuated by a small obstacle. Someone lay by the shore of the stream.
It was a man wearing dark clothing, his cape hung behind him like a mattress. By the small of the moonlight, one could see.
Sal approached.
The man laid face down on the shore. Perhaps a person could breathe underwater like this? Minutes passed, the man lay unmoving. Only then did the iron smell made itself felt, like when she bit her mouth by mistake and she’d taste the blood on it. By the small of the moonlight, the man’s body lay on the rocky shore, his head submerged on the water. Sal dipped a finger on it.
“Stop!” Someone yelled.
A man lay sitting on the ground. The familiar gait, the same voice. Ren sat acoss the shore, one hand clutching his left arm.
Sal stood idly, watching the moon light his features, stuck in time.Something blotted the sleeve of his perpetually white shirt. Sal approached, focusing on his left arm.
Ren took off his hand from his arm, showing Sal the dark, sticky mess on his palm on his shirt from an ugly gash across his arm. “I’m fine.”
He produced a kerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around his arm with his able hand and teeth.
The ugly red line must have dug deep, carved into his flesh. Red mess on his clean shirt. Blood, something from inside slipping out. Broken. But he was a fairy, how could he be broken?
Sal stood a distance away. The man looked up at her, paused, before continuing “That man attacked me with a knife, but he tripped on the rocks. He must be dead.”
Sal turned to glance back at the man before stopping herself. He’d look different. Now. He won’t look like a doll. He’s a dead man. The image will slowly burn into Sal’s head. The wide cape covering his body, like a shadow that took Lea, like the shadows that were the men lying in the carriage.
Sal closed her arms around her knees. Dolls, no mice. They don’t number in tons. They number in thousands, thousands of them.
“I’m scared.” She wants to say but Ren is broken too.
As horses’ clip-clopping rattled off in the distance. They would see her. They would find her.
But perhaps they must have seen Lea and Ro. They are fine right? Strong people that they are.
As the sounds grew louder, Ren grabbed Sal by the wrist, coming closer, whispering in her ear. “ You’re scared, we can’t stay here.”
Sal didn’t move even as Ren dragged her away. Her feet planted on the ground. Where would be that star closest to the Casa? Would they still be there?
“We have to go, hurry up.”
Sal started in a small voice, “I left them there. There were bad men with them.”
Ren ran a hand across Sal’s shoulder.
She flinched.
“The bad men must be all gone. If you’re still doubting, I’ll go check for them tomorrow, okay? “ Ren spoke in a whisper.
“Alright, I understood. I’m sorry.” Sal felt his hand cold, clammy. Unusually cold hands even in the night but no, she was thinking too much about it. How could she doubt him?
Ren led her to a horse. He assisted her before riding himself, his only able hand manning the handle. Amidst the surprise of being bumped from the rough side, something stuck with Sal. Ren’s shoes were wet.