The Antelope's Journey

31. Only one can carry on

It was true audacity to see the strange woman putting her hand on their door. It was alarming to see her try their door so casually as if it was her house. The father and daughter—as the owners of that house—were baffled. “Wh-what are you doing in our house!” cried the daughter.

“Huh, honey!” Mrs. Peterson improvised. She went over to the father. She was going to use her womanly charm, “Honey, honey…” She carefully put her arm around his shoulder so that she could hold him tight to herself. “I’m here now. I heard you cried and cried through all four seasons and all the phases of the moon, but I’m here now.”

The daughter had been standing there all confused. She tried to read her father’s facial expressions and pick out the truth. Meanwhile, Francina wondered if she could also do what her mother was doing. She was wondering if she had inherited the charm. Kali only wanted to get out of that sticky situation.

“I don’t,” the father spoke, “know y—”

“Ow, I knew you would be happy to see me!” she gave him a sweet peck on his forehead. “Now, open the door.”

The father now pulled out of her, he snapped, “I don’t know you!”

Mrs. Peterson had to do damage control. She wanted to hang on to her narration. Changing the tune now would only make her seem suspicious. “Oh, of course you’re still angry. And mad at me. Sweetie, I was wrong. A woman in her right mind would’ve known to treat you better.” Even though he had been backing away, she managed to get hold of him and pulled him back. She tucked him under her shoulder again. Carefully, she turned him away from the daughter and the rebel woman who had their pocking eyes out in confusion of the situation. Both Mrs. Peterson and the stubborn man had turned away. Now, Mrs. Peterson showed off her blade to the father. This was done so carefully that only the father could see, “I specialize in slitting cow throats but I don’t mind trying it on the little one’s throat. Would love the experience.”

She paused, giving him a moment to think things through. He was thoroughly shocked by that. His daughter was only 15. He always considered her his little girl. She was his best friend and his only family member. She was all he had. Looking at her, staring blankly at him like that only scared him more.

Mrs. Peterson added, “But because I’m a good person, I don’t want to do it. Just open the door and my young friends and I can come in. It’s only for a while until that woman is gone.”

The man still contemplated. He shot a glance at the rebel woman. Now, he recognized her from the mob earlier. He saw her and he remembered that she was known as a very dangerous rebel in the Kingdom and she had her own goons roaming around the village all day. She was the best one to protect him and his daughter—

“Don’t even think about it. Look at us, three of us and there’s only one of her. Do you think she stands a chance against myself and my friends? You'll only be putting yourself in danger.”

A silence.

“Look, we only want to go inside your house so that she can leave. After that, I swear we’ll be gone. We won’t hurt anyone, I promise.”

They were waving at the rebel woman for the last time from inside the house. For his own safety and that of his daughter, the father then agreed to help protect Lady Mare and her friends. He let them into his house.The rebel woman was finally gone. They shut the door. “We’ll stay for a few minutes just to be sure that she is gone for real,” said Kali. He was trying to reassure the shaken father and daughter.

There was an awkward silence as they all sat down in the tiny house. The daughter and father sat very close in a corner and watched the three strangers in their home.

Soon, the three strangers turned into four strangers. The big bag had been moving and groans were coming out of it. Kali went over to untie the knot and let the man out. The father and daughter only wondered what kind of people these were to hide an entire person in a bag. It was becoming very apparent that these strangers were more dangerous than they looked. Mrs. Peterson and Francina stood ready to take the man down if he tried to attack.

But the man only got to his feet and had his hands up to sign surrender. “You can only relax. I am glad to be out of that darned cave.”

“You too?” Mrs. Peterson said, “What do they do to you in that cave? Everyone of you is relieved when I capture them.”

“Well, the work hours are ridiculous, to start with. And the environment is not safe at all. They use intimidation to get us working—who wants to work in such an environment?”

“I’m gonna need information from you. But first, we must get to the palace.”

“Mrs. Peterson,” Kali warned, “we can’t go to the palace. The woman said that her guys will be watching us.”

“Kali’s right,” Francina added, “I say, we wait for the feast. We will go to their party and when their guard is down, we’ll sneak away to the palace.”

It all seemed like a good idea. Now, they just had to keep themselves busy until then.

“Father,” the daughter whispered.

“Yes?” he whispered back.

“I heard them say that they wanted to go to the palace.”

“Yeah, I heard them too.”

“But what are they doing in the palace? There lives the king and queen. What are these commoners doing in the palace?”

“Oh, I don’t know.”

“Do you realise what this means, father? They are the imposters the villagers are talking about.”

“But I thought, I heard that fierce woman say that she saw the imposter. She said that she recognized the imposters. She was here with us, she did not recognize these people as imposters. So, maybe it is not them.”

“Well, okay, father.”

Francina and her mother had pulled aside to talk in private. “So, both you and your friend are experiencing body fatigue and dizziness?”

“Yes, since morning.”

“And you told me that you did not die coming here?”

“Yes, we both came alive. What does all this mean?”

“It means you both still have a chance of getting out of here and you have a chance at finishing the game.” Mrs. Peterson started reminiscing, “Oh, I remember when I came here. I had just given birth to you. My body was still very weak and we had to keep moving. Thank God, you were in the arms of your father because I fell in. I fell into the water. My body was very heavy. It was not easy maintaining my standing above the water. Down to the bottom of that lake, I saw the door. I pulled it open and rushed in. I found myself here.”

“And then you were captured?”

“Yes. A guard found me in the same passage that I found the two of you and he dragged me to his king. They said I was an intruder, said I was trespassing. Then they jailed me and scheduled me for hanging.”

“Would you have died if they did?”

“No. Once you’re trapped in here, you live forever and you maintain your youth.”

Now, Francina understood why the woman looked very young. She was nearly her late 40s but she looked like she was in her early 30s.

“Once you die, you start over again to the point where you first came here. My life has been replaying over and over for 10 years. Until I finally captured the king and queen. And I took over their palace for another 10 years. Depending on how you play this game, it is fun. Just don’t think or worry about your waking life or your loved ones too much. That’s only gonna hold you back.

“And then why didn’t you get out of here and finish the game? You said you didn’t die.”

“Well, my time is up. Your bodies are adjusting to the new environment. Once the fatigue and the dizziness go away, you’ll forever be stuck here,” said Mrs. Peterson. “Well, at least until the next gamers come and retrieve the totem."

“Well, my friend and I are still alive. How do we get out of here?”

“I read something about the magic potion back in time.”

“I have the magic potion.”

“You didn’t finish it on him?”

“No, I still got some left,” Francina showed her mother.

“Ow, there’s enough for only one of you.”