Shelby helped the reluctant Ingrid out of the water and then onto her lap on the wet floor. She wrapped the large towel handed to her around the little girl just as the beautiful scaly flesh faded right before her eyes.
It had been light to start with, and from afar, it only looked like Ingrid’s skin had been glistening under a bright light. Only those really close to her would have seen the changes in themselves. Out of the water, none of those changes remained.
"Are you okay?" Shelby asked, looking at the slightly excited girl. That was the first time Shelby had seen Ingrid come out of her shy shell. She had seen the little girl’s eye twinkle and shine when she sang or when music was around, but nothing like what Shelby saw at the pool site.
Shelby had even forgotten about the little fact that something had tried to pull her into the pool.
Ingrid went on her knees on Shelby’s lap and wrapped her little hands around Shelby’s neck. Shelby’s heart swelled at the way Ingrid had gotten close to her, and she patted Ingrid’s back just as she heard,
"I can breathe under the water, Mama Shelby!"
Shelby was shell-shocked. Ingrid said the statement like it was the most normal thing then.
That was when Shelby felt another presence, which instantly relaxed her. Subconsciously, Shelby had expected him to come, and he had!
Upon Shelby’s initial instruction, Murray plunged into the water and went for the small body that was still floating. They had many questions, but no one rushed to ask what was on their lips.
Currey stayed at the back and removed a vial. He passed it under Suzie’s nose, and her eyes fluttered open.
"OMG! That was a strange dream! I saw – Aaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Suzie screamed when she realized her surroundings.
’It was not a dream! What....’
"Should I wipe her memory of it?" Currey asked nonchalantly,
"It’s been done once and might not work if we keep on doing it, brother. She must learn to bear with it as she is the trusted maidservant of Her Highness!" Murray said as he swam effortlessly with the small body out of the pool.
"W-ipe me-mory? Alr-eady- don-e on-ce...." Suzie was confused and scared, but she was smart enough to understand the underlying meaning. She was panicky and scared out of her wits with all she had seen, but something told her that they meant her no harm and also, she remembered one thing: ’Miss Shelby never went out of her way to hide anything from me.... But this....’
Suzie scrambled back from Currey towards the wall, leaning against it. However, none of them paid any more attention to her.
"Lea-rn t-o be-ar with it?"
Suzie did not know what, but the last sentence from Currey made her swallow any more words.
"We can just do off with her if she can’t shut her mouth. It’s not like she is not replaceable."
The brothers talked as if they were just commenting on how hot a coffee mug was while Suzie’s world was shattering under each word.
With those words, Currey stood up, but Shelby did not like it.
She turned and saw that Ian had blocked her vision. She had only sensed when he came, and at this moment, she was not too surprised by his actions anymore.
Shelby still said for all to hear, "No one is going to get rid of Suzie!"
Ian was not interested in that. His one and only interest was her!
"Are you okay?" Ian gingerly brushed his fingertips on her cheeks.
He sat behind her on the wet floor, disregarding his image and leaned her back against him, but Ian saw that Ingrid did not have any indication of letting go.
"She- Ingrid-" Shelby did not know what to say, but Ian’s heart flipped.
Ingrid raised her eyes to meet his briefly, and at that moment, he saw Ingrid as Aliya’s exact replica. The defiance and confidence in her eyes were exactly like those of her dead mother.
It was a known fact that Ingrid bore a great resemblance to her mother, with the exception that Ingrid was a painfully shy girl. However, in that moment, there was none of that shyness, and without her glasses, Ian lost himself for just a brief second before he got a hold of himself once more.
Shelby turned to him and leaned her head against his chest.
"I am, now that you are here."
Ian nodded as he felt his heart calm. The same thing had happened again. Ian had felt that discomfort again in the office, and he had been pulled right there to the pool area. The distress he had felt had not been as bad as the last time when he had been pulled to the park, though.
Ian caressed Ingrid as well and smiled at her.
"Mama Shelby, I like the water so much- I-"
Ingrid’s voice got cut off when Sara’s cold body was placed right by them.
"What happened?" Ian demanded, but even Murray was not too sure how the girl had died because he had been engrossed with Shelby, but he did know one thing.... which Ingrid beat him to it.
Ian raised his head in surprise at that.
"Sara is a bad girl. She looked weird under the water. First, she pulled me under the water, and then she tried to do the same to Mama Shelby-"
Ian suppressed his swelling anger not to scare Ingrid as the adults listened. Ingrid was the only one under the water, so she had the most information on what had happened.
"I got angry, and then I pulled her hard. I didn’t mean to...." Ingrid’s voice trailed off. She then asked, "Am I in trouble?"
"You did well!" Ian whispered and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"... and you are not in trouble!"
"Is she-?" Shelby asked, looking at Murray.
Murray shook his head, indicating that Sara was already dead.
"It’s already done, your Highness!"
Suzie could not follow through, but she saw Currey on his tablet as he deleted the last of the CCTV record.
Her brain was overloaded, and she shrunk further back against the wall.
Just then, Gabriel emerged from hiding and said, "Ingrid, I am so tired of hiding; why are you not coming to find me yet?" His childish voice sounded out.
Just then, they heard the pitter-patter of footsteps approaching from outside.
Suzie sprang into action, "Master Ian, you have to leave. We cannot explain how you came here and all this!" Even though Suzie said this, one could see her whole body shaking and her hands clenched together.
"She is smart!" Currey bemused, but they did not react. It was as if from just that one sentence, Suzie had passed her test. She did not know that that single sentence from her mistress had already guaranteed her safety.
Gabriel walked up to them, not at all surprised at the number of people there. The door pushed open just then as Madam Ruby and a few others walked in.
"What happened here?" Ruby asked and then bowed to Ian as if it was so normal to see them there when they had not even used the front door!
"OMG! Sara! What happened!"
Back in the park, the children looked up at the pool house worriedly. There had been no significant ruckus made enough to alarm them, but they had been around their matrons long enough to understand when something was wrong.
One child started walking in the direction of the place but was stopped by one slightly older child.
"Madam Ruby said that we should stay here."
"How about we go inside then, as it’s getting colder?" another suggested, and they all nodded. They knew that anyone who misbehaved that day might not be given the gift that their elder sister Shelby had brought. This thought made them extra obedient.
The older kids mobilized all of them and packed the paintings, at least the ones they could grab, leaving only Shelby’s easel there.
"What of sister Shelby’s stand?"
"It’s okay to leave it. Our hands are full anyway.... But this is so beautiful."
Looking at the reluctance in their faces, the oldest of about fourteen said, "Let’s do this... I’ll come back for it, okay?" The little faces shone brightly, and the oldest girl smiled.
As they left, two figures appeared there. "Did you say that it was from here?"
"Yes, I tracked it here, but I can’t feel it anymore! It’s so strange... It should be here somewhere...."
The other person shook his head and kissed his teeth in annoyance!
"Useless! How can you lose the one clue we have to finding him?!"
If any of the children had seen any of them, they would think that these were strange people as they were dressed very strangely, thighs hugging and visibly showing their bulging manhood, with no top but hung swords on their backs.
"I’ll take a look around."
The one who looked like the leader stated and started moving without waiting for an answer.
However, he had barely taken a few steps before he sensed something wrong. He turned, but the tracker who was supposed to be just behind him was nowhere to be found.
"We are busy as it is, and you choose to play your stupid games this time?" He shouted into the empty space, but little did he know....
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