The country was a bustling one, the street of Hermosa was busy this Friday's morning, all the merchants and traders could be seen exchanging goods.
While the people trades, some others where in their mix of baking, seaming, hunting, fishing and planting, all these services done on this Good Friday all sinking in a harmonious day.
After a few hours of trading, you could see the scorching fire of the sun blazing over the aluminum rooftop of the village sheds, the market place had reduced in numbers but they was still a number of people about that
afternoon.
Young Miss Maurice Dallas walked her way with a scarf to protect herself from the sun rays, she had forgotten to pick ripe melons for desert for the night and had to run out to get it before she tires up.
"Good to see you again Miss Annika", did you forget to pick up fruits today, your usual?" the middle aged man spoke to her as he wiped his hands on his brown apron.
"Yes Mr Orin, hope trading was successful today, I would need some oranges, raspberries, apples, lemons and some melons for today.
"Yes it has been dear, I will get them right away."
"Thank you" she replied.
The man went into he's stall and got the items Miss Annikarequested.
As she walked by again through the market roads, the market women still brought their whispers as they did that early morning, when she came by to pick her daily need of bread, butter, eggs and some pork.
"The whoring witch, one of the women which stood in front of a jewelry shop" spoke a little loud in disgust, "stay away from her I tell you,
isn't it bad enough her mother was a harlot but now she's not just it but also a witch too," another woman with bright red painted lips spoke fanning her self. Stigmatizing her.
" You wouldn't I saw her at it again this time speaking with Elliot, the village hunter's son, I'm sure she was trying to bewitch him to her hut, It's no lie that the apple never falls too far from the tree."
Seeing a long stream of both married and young men eye her slyly, lady Gill a middle class Lady spoke with her hand fan over her nose.
Maurice had ignored it and had gotten green to this daily moments of whispers and daily ill comments.
Maurice made a beeline back to her cottage fit for the full numbers of a nuclear family, letting out a sigh of relief she dropped her basket and plushies on the kitchen stool.
Taking off her scarf, she arranged her meal and decided to draw water from the well to bath. Every homes had a well dogged up by the feudal lord a few decades ago for different benefits, for reduction of crimes, security and easy form of living.
A few years ago the crimes in the land was at peak, where women and children went mysteriously missing, raped or eventually killed all in the name of going to fetch a bucket of water, or taking a bath at ungodly hours, grown men got robbed on the days light in the forest, as the take to their barrel of water from the community's stream or from village pumps in the middle of the aisle city and eventually a degree abd structure was met hence the wells.
The lady, Maurice, was tagged a daughter of a whore since her twelve years of age, she had grown to this name of stigma and had already thought of it as cliche, every woman without a husband which bore a child was tagged loose in her community, and if such woman was no more, the tag ultimately goes to the female child in their anticipation to take on the steps of her biology although she had faint memory of her parents, especially of her father, if she had one, she remembers she once asked her mother of her father and was told her father does not exist, she knew her father wanted nothing to do with a village girl as he was a noble of another commune, he considered it his youthful mistake at least that she knew growing up in her society.
However, while her mother was a villager and a very beautiful brown woman with a striking brown eyes as if it could lit up at any moment, many suitors had lined up for her hands and on knowing she had a child would vanish in an instance, it indeed took on her mother, no matter how her mother branded the men as incompetent the little Maurice could still feel her mother's sadness and sometimes blames her own existence.
Maurice's mother Annie had no job, she wasn't literate to be a governess nor had resources enough to start up some kind of trade even she knew trading was useless for her type in her village, an obvious castigation, the villagers had refused her most sort of works and when she finally gets one she receives little to nothing and she eventually became what they called her a "tramp".
It came a day while Maurice sat by herself as usual, she waited patiently for her mother by the old chimney, warming herself by the moldy logs of wood, she enjoyed the crackling sounds but while she waited on her mother, she never returned, the morning came but she didn't return either and it went on from days to a week and Maurice had no patience to keep waiting for her for it was the longest she had stayed away from home.
At ten years of age she knew it was odd and became uneasy wanting to search for her mother's were about.
It was winter and the thick covers of the snow sheets swallowed her small booths, she made her way to the village administrator's office but as she walked in she noticed the high murmurs and whispers grow as she walked her way up, kids around her age pointed their hands and mothers of this children never cautioned them but scorned at her, she was used to their spiteful gaze but it seems that it was in great disgust today, was it because she never stepped out for a week.
Finally reaching her destination, lucky enough she recognized a young man with whom she had seen a few times with her mother and her small feet carried her to him tugging at the hem of his coat.
I am looking for my mother Master, she has not returned home for days, her face brimmed with upcoming tears. The young master with a lady at hand lowered himself a feet over her as he sneered at her," your mother was a spoil of business and had brought great problems to my business since this last few days I have had no rest, my investments are gone, she wasted my work by getting caught, that damned mother of yours owes me a tone and she steals from me by dying, he stood up and clicked his tongue, how would you her daughter make up for it, hmmm?
Maurice was confused about what he said, was her mother a thief and got caught stealing and what did he mean by "dying ".
I don't understand Mister, Maurice sniffled, the lady by his side let out a small chuckle.
"Oh you little thing, poor child, what the young master Ski here is saying is the woman said bending slightly towards her, your mother wass s s s… s she slurred In continuation.
"Bad for business and she's deaaaad.d.d. D.I.E.D she got caught in the sacks of the king and was taken to death by the queen herself and now, the queen's fangs are everywhere in his business, she requests a ton from the master in return.
"If I where you darling I will pick my tiny brown feet running for my life cause the queen would wipe out the generation of your whoring mother that means, she's coming for you.
"You stupid woman Dead is not spelt that way." Mr Ski snapped at the woman.
"I'm just trying to let her know". Taken aback by him
"Tsk, where did she go?" Ski clicked his tongue
While the pair battled their words, Maurice feet knew one thing, to run and run as fast as she could back home.
However, on getting home a great crowd had formed and fogginess of the street was chaos, she didn't know what was happening, her home was on fire as the flames danced with winds and crowds cheered to their success.
Suddenly, she found herself all alone, no safe heaven to cry to, all she knew was that home and her mother, the villagers too sometimes but she has lost everything in a day because she left home, her mom tells her never to leave home but today, just today she left and the house was burnt and still she couldn't find her mother, her mother would definitely be very angry at her.
She snaked her small self from the crowd running in with intentions to safe some of her mother's dresses at least but on her steps she got dragged away by the same master Ski.
"Are you mad, do you have the same death wish as your mother, come with me he pulled at her a bit but she resisted, If you don't come, I won't show you where your mother is, so now tap your feet faster".
The carriage rode for a few minute to a little mansion uncovering above the valley, they arrived at their destination and she was dragged out to a small room which happens to have some of her mother's belongings she picked up some items especially a hair scarf that stood out, her mother wore it always and along a DIY bracelet she made for her mother. She never takes it off but here it was intact, it didn't break off.