The Antelope's Journey

30. Please, take a hint!

“I’ll carry the burden for you this time.”

“Huh! Um, oh…” Mrs. Peterson was speechless.

The woman proceeded to take the bag. “I heard you say, ‘him’. Who might be in here? No wait, did you steal somebody’s man again?”

“Again? What are you talking about?” Mrs. Peterson laughed it off, knowing that this was not the first time she had dragged a man to the palace. Since, this woman claimed to have seen the palace imposter, there’s a high chance that she might have seen Mrs. Peterson dragging those men.

She tried lifting the bag but it was very heavy. A man ran by, he had brought a wheelbarrow. “I’ll help you, ladies.” The man started filling the bag in the wheelbarrow. It was very hard for Francina, Kali and Mrs. Peterson to watch those two people fondling with the bag like that. They were anxious that very soon these people might catch on to what was in that dead weight bag.

“Oh, that’s Thabo.” The woman bragged, smiling as she spoke, “He’s being a gentleman ‘cos he’s crushing on me.”

“Oh, uh…” Mrs. Peterson was still tongue-tied.

“So, don’t steal him away from me like you did years back. You remember, I once had a crush on a man who turned out to be crushing on you? He spent all those years searching for you. Finally, he gave up and got married to someone else.” Soon, the woman realized something about Mrs. Peterson, “You don’t remember me, do you?”

“Am I supposed to?”

“I guess not,” the woman’s hopes went down. She gave a small shrug and recollected herself again. “I can understand why you would forget me and I would remember. See, years ago, when my son got really sick you helped me out with some coins to get him medication. Because of that, he managed to live a few more months longer.”

“Wait, he’s…?”

“Yes,” the woman prompted, “he passed on. He passed away as soon as the medication finished. He may be gone now, but thanks to that donation, he got to recover for a while. He got to walk and play again. And I got to spend plenty of time with him. You were truly an angel sent to me at that time. Hey, I never got to see you again. Where did you vanish to?”

“I was around.”

“Around where? I’ve been searching for you.”

“Maybe our paths just did not cross at the time, but we’re here now.”

The woman insisted on helping Mrs. Peterson to her door. “This is a heavy load. Let my friend and I help you to your house. It’s the least I can do.”

Mrs. Peterson ended up stopping by some shack claiming that it was her place. It took a very long time to chase the woman and her boyfriend away. They kept waving to no end.

“Phew!” Kali sighed. “They are gone at last. I thought they’d never leave—”

“Hey again!” the woman was back. “Oh, I thought I’d find you inside already. What are you doing outside?”

With a very stoic tone, Francina asked, “What do you want now?” Francina had no problem being upfront with the ‘clingy’ woman. She wanted her gone already so that they would drag the man to the palace before he woke up and starts causing chaos.

“Well, I… See, there’ll be a feast tonight. My comrades and I, will be celebrating our work today. We managed to recruit 68 more people to our rebel movement. You should join us.”

“Oh, uh. No, but thank you. I will be busy.”

“I’m not taking a no. Be there, okay?”

Mrs. Peterson only gave a silence for that while. Maybe the woman would read the answer to her own plea. The silence went a little longer. Still, the woman turned blind to the meaning. Mrs. Peterson started gently shaking her head as kindly as possible.

“Come on, you must be there. Or I’ll have to come back here and drag you over myself.”

Francina pried, “We won’t be in the house. We won’t be around. You won’t find us here.”

“Not to worry, I’ve got my guys watching you now.”

“What?!” Mrs. Peterson was shocked. “Where? Why?”

“Like I said, you were that angel I needed back then. To repay you back, I asked the man who was just here with me dragging the wheelbarrow to go and deploy some guys to watch over you. Now that you have been seen with me, you are bound to get harassed or captured by those opposing fools working for the palace. So, if I can’t find you in your house later tonight, my boys will always know where you are.”

The three people were struck with much shock. They knew that at this point, they could not go back to the palace anymore as they were, apparently, being heavily watched. It was also annoying how the rebel woman would not take the hint. Above all, it was most atrocious that she did not care about their privacy at all. It was becoming very clear that they could never sway the woman’s decision. They could never shoo her away.

“Okay, then.” Mrs. Peterson had given in, “I’ll be there.”

The woman still stood there. She wanted to see them go inside the house. She would feel better knowing that they arrived safely in their house considering that everyone seen with her was normally harassed by some bandits looking men and women. The woman did not want the same case for Mrs. Peterson.

Stuck at odds, Mrs. Peterson held on to the door handle and stayed like that. She continued nodding the woman away. Kali and Francina tried their bit too. They tried as hard to wave the stubborn woman away. The woman only stood there nodding and smiling back. Mrs. Peterson did try the door a few more times, but the house was locked. Mrs. Peterson was in a tricky situation. She had to start thinking of a way out of this. The longer they prolonged the situation, the more suspicious they looked. And it was the smarter the rebel woman became. She was a very fierce woman and it was only wise to not get caught by her, especially unprepared.

Mrs. Peterson thought that she could hold on for long, but then, the owners of the house arrived. It was a father and his daughter. They found the bunch of people standing by their door. It looked exactly like a burglary going on. It was very odd to even see the strange people’s hands on their door…