A man

Zach continued to cry for over thirty minutes while I tried to comfort him in vain. At some point he stopped crying and I figured he had probably slept off. I didn’t mind that I was in the same situation. I was more worried for my innocent brother. I started shouting “help” as loudly as possible but no one came to save us. After sometime, I gave up and stayed silent, left with no other option.

Being alone made me think of my mother’s death, a subject I had successfully avoided for a long time. I had kept myself busy to avoid thinking of her and now I had all the time in the world. I was starting to feel the emptiness she had left behind. Mama was who I rushed to whenever I felt overwhelmed. Her hugs were the best and never failed to make me feel better. 

Had she been alive, we wouldn’t be in that shanty town. We would be back home, living life the way it should be, not stuck in some pit in the middle of nowhere. 

Suddenly, I heard whistling. I stood up and listened attentively before hearing a voice.

“Anyone here?” the unfamiliar male voice made me panic. It was strong and raspy. Very manly. Was he the one who had set the traps? Rationalizing that the traps were probably for animals, I yelled. 

“Over here.”

I nearly collapsed in shock when a head immediately popped up at the opening of the pit I was in. That was fast. 

The man had a perfect face with a chiseled jaw and symmetrical masculine features. He had this strong but yet beautiful look one could stare at all day. He was devilishly and deliciously handsome. My breath hitched in my throat when I realized he was staring with his sharp eyes.

“Who are you?” he asked. “A tourist?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m Emilia Colman. We’ve recently moved to this town. Please save my little brother. He is in another pit.”

“I shouldn’t save you?”

“He’ll get me help, if you can take him to town.”

He raised a brow. “The Colmans. I’m interested. I’ll save you all. I haven’t seen dear Hannah in a long time. She is supposed to know that this is forbidden territory. Humans don’t learn.”

“What do you mean?”

“This place is reserved for animals, a hunting area. If you’re a not hunter you shouldn’t be coming past the hedge. Everyone who lives here knows that.”

“Why not put up a sign that shows that? What about tourists?”

“We don’t like tourists around here. Didn’t you read the reviews before coming? Have you seen any tourist?”

“Why don’t you like tourists?”

“You’re too inquisitive,” he said, standing up. “Let me check out this baby brother of yours.”

Barely a minute later, he returned. 

“What happened?”

“I got him out. He’s asleep so it was easy.”

“How?” 

He chuckled. “You don’t want to know?”

“You’re weird.”

He walked away and soon returned with a rope which he threw to me. “Tied it to a tree. Get yourself up.”

“You won’t help me?”

“Nope. Tell Hannah that Rafael said hi. And by the way, be careful where you step, don’t want you falling into more holes. You’re lucky I was the one who found you.”

It was a tough struggle but I was able to bring myself up using the rope. To my relief, Zach was sleeping peacefully under the tree. I untied the rope from the tree. I had no idea where Rafael got it but I decided to keep it in case he came looking for it. 

I went back to the pit and looked down. A man as tall as him might be able to grab the grass at the top and get out easily but how easy would it be to do that when holding a child. I wondered if he had lifted Zach up. Wouldn’t that have woken him up? How had he done it so fast? I checked Zach’s pulse and noticed he was breathing steadily. 

I was beginning to think there was something strange in the town. Why did they have hunting grounds so close to the lake with no clear signs? Was it negligence or had it been intentional? Why did they discourage people from touring the town? 

“Emmy,”

I glanced at Zach who had woken up. He had already sat down. “How did you get us out?”

I smiled. “Someone saved us.”

“Who?”

“Rafael. You don’t know him but you will soon enough.”

“Can we go home now? I’m hungry.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to walk?” I asked, staring at his cute sleepy face.

“Yes,” he leapt up to his feet.

“Not so fast. There are lots of traps around here. Rafael said we should be careful.”

“Are the traps for people?”

“No, of course not. It’s a hunting ground. I think that’s why that website recommended having a guide. We are not supposed to come past that part of this place.”

“We should have remained the other side.”

“Why is there no sign?”

I sighed. Zach was always asking questions I could not answer. I knew almost as much as he did about the two but he didn’t know that. As someone older, I was expected to have more knowledge of the place. When we reached the lakeside, I found that my things were gone. My phone, purse and flip flops. Had Rafael taken them or was it someone else? Had someone else known that we were in the pits but left without helping? This town clearly had more mystery than any place in the world. Its people were shady. 

Zach seem to have no idea about my missing things until we got near the main highway when I was still barefoot. 

“Where are your sandals?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

We found Hannah pacing about the living room. 

“We were mobilizing a search time to look for you,” she said, hugging us. “Where have you been?”

“We fell into animal traps,” I said. 

“How did you get out?”

“A friend of yours helped. Rafael.”

“Rafael?”

“Yes. My stuff was by the lake and someone stole them.”

I found your stuff on top of my car, at the resort. That’s how I figured something was wrong.” Hannah said, glancing at the dining table. My bag, flip flops and phone were intact. Nothing was missing.

“I wonder who brought them. Could it have been Rafael or someone else?”

I have no idea. I don’t know what kind of person Rafael is at this point. I last saw him five years ago at dad’s funeral. But, we’ll figure it out, I hope. First, I’ll take you both to the hospital to make sure you’re okay. Do your feet hurt?”

“They do,” I glanced at them. “Some thorns pricked me when I was looking for Zach.”

“I’m fine,” Zach said.

“You fell. I need to know you did not get internal injuries,” Hannah said. I smiled. A few weeks ago, Hannah was some lazy college dropout who didn’t want to do anything and now she was in full mum-mode, making things happen. She seemed to have matured overnight.

“You were going to tell me something about the town,” I reminded her. If I was going to be safe in Artheford, I needed to know everything.

“I never found time. I’ll have a talk with all of you on what you can and can’t do around here.”

“This town is very weird,” Zach said.

“I agree,” I said, patting his back.

Emmett seemed to be the only person enjoying the town.