THE DUTCHESS OF WHINGSIRE

CHAPTER3

Sherry ran through the dark forest happily. It had been a long time since she had felt this free. The beautiful sound of the wind whistling past her ear and the smell of vegetation calmed her restless heart in a way only the moon and Yuri could. After running a considerable distance, she found a small inconspicuous cave to rest in. For some weird reason, the area looked quite familiar, but she dismissed the feeling. She was absolutely sure she had never come out this far before. "The forest, for the most part, looks the same everywhere. I've probably mistaken it for somewhere else," she muttered as she walked into the cave. It was dark, musty and filled with the scents of the earth, which made her nose tickle a little. Because of the low entrance, she had to crouch to get in, even with her short height. After walking through the narrow and long entrance, she finally reached the belly of the cave. The roof of the cave rose high and out of reach, and the cave opened up greatly. There was a beautiful clear underground stream, fruit-bearing trees with pretty flowers of different colors, all sorts of vines climbing the walls, and even pretty glowing crystals on the roof and piercing out of the ground that acted as a source of light. Sure, she had night vision, but it really added such a mystical sense to the entire place. Who would have believed that all this beauty would emerge from such an inconspicuous entrance? Hmm? Sherry felt there was something very philosophical in that sentence.

She sat on a large rock next to the stream kicking her legs while eating one of the purple fruits she picked from the trees. Wasn't she scared it was poisonous? Nope!!! Not at all! Ever since she was young, Sherry had always been immune to all sorts of poison, not just that she seemed to get a serious energy boost from them too. They also seemed to get a boost from her, growing crazily out of control when in her presence, trying to wrap her up and swallow her whole, just like the little vine wrapping itself around her ankle at this time. Sherry stared at it with a smile on her face. The vine, as if shy after getting caught, released its grip and gently retracted to its place on the wall. Sherry gasped in amazement at the actions of the vine. Of course, she knew that the world was far from ordinary—filled with many exquisite things, like sentient animals that become human, otherworldly races like mermaids and dragons, and even some monsters... — but she had never heard or read of such a sentient plant. She walked over to the wall where the vine had placed itself, her eyes shimmering with curiosity. The little vine, being a shy little thing, started to fidget, its body swaying slowly like a snake.

In the vine's failed attempt to escape, it unknowingly exposed the wall beneath. Sherry's breath caught at the sight, all thoughts of studying the sentient plant flew out of her head as she reached out her hand to push the vine on the wall out of the way for a clearer look, 'Maybe she had imagined it?'. Clearly she had forgotten how the universe loved to prove her wrong. Carved into the wall in bold and deep strokes were the words SHERRY'S MOON.

"Can you guys please move out of the way a little? I need to check something." She wasn't sure if all the vines in this cave were sentient and even if they were, why would they listen to her? Though she was seriously doubting her sanity, she still tried. And they actually listened. The scene was absolutely divine, the vines parted straight through the middle, slowly moving in opposite directions like the world's grandest and most lively curtain ever. But Sherry's eyes weren't on the beauty of the curtain of vines, instead she stared at the different drawings and scribbles on the wall. "How could I forget?"

After her first moments of shock, Sherry was able to calm down almost immediately. These were, after all, the joys and memories of her past, not some malicious entity. Her hand ran lovingly over the various carvings and charcoal drawings. Some of them had faded a bit, but now that her memories of this place were coming back, they came back with a sharp vengeance, every detail etched deep into her mind.

No wonder she felt this mystical cave was so familiar. Back then, when she was younger, before her world went dark and twisted, they would all come here to play. It was their sanctuary, a secret place where they could talk about all their problems and have fun without worrying about what anyone would say. How could she possibly forget this place? Her memory had always been top-notch, so how? How long had it been? A few years at least, she was twelve this year and the last time she came here was on her seventh birthday, the day everything changed. Just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes. The point was, it had only been five years, her memory wasn't that bad, was it? She decided to put the thought behind her, time was too precious to waste on trivial things. She continued staring at the wall taking in all the wonderful memories.

Her eyes eventually paused at a drawing she made of Camille. Surprisingly, it had not faded in the least, remaining as beautiful as the first day she drew it. The drawing, unfortunately, reminded her of the reason she was hiding in a cave. She sat back on the large rock, her mood horribly somber. Even in her sadness, though, she still thanked the vines for their assistance. It felt kind of weird talking to plants, but it lightened her mood significantly.

"Do you think Camille will tell Mother?" she whispered the question more to herself than to the little vine now curled around her wrists. As expected, the little vine didn't answer, but Sherry didn't mind. She wasn't expecting an answer. Instead, she kept muttering to herself. "Maybe she wouldn't?." She knew harboring such thoughts would only make her more heart-broken when the time came, but she couldn't help herself. The crude murals on the wall had reminded her that they hadn't always been like this, that it wasn't their fault. Camille had once been sweet and gentle, filled with affection and love, but things happen — things like her — then people change— people like Camille. Maybe she would remember? Maybe she would wake up? Finally realize that her actions couldn't change what happened in the past. Just, maybe.

****

Yuri hummed a little tune as he weighed the pouch of coins in his hand, smiling foolishly. He walked down the hall only to pause in front of his Master's study, where the sounds of conversation could be heard. He wasn't trying to listen in on their conversation, but their voices were loud, and he was actually a little curious. "Lord Lugard, the village chief, requested ten young men from you." A young man's voice reached Yuri's ear, 'What for?' he wondered. The voice that came after was sleazy-sounding and had a fake "elegance" vibe. It gave you the illusion that the person who was talking was not someone to be trusted. "What does that old man need my men for?" was exactly the question that Yuri wanted answered. The young man's answer was pretty straight to the point: "There's a poison-refining witch on the loose, and we need more hands to find and capture her, since she ran into the woods upon being discovered." Yuri's heart seemed to reach rock bottom at those words, even the pouch of coins that just brought joy to his heart became way heavier. 'No, it can't be Sherry, please not her' he thought as he took a step back. He wasn't sure who he was pleading to, but he pleaded anyway.

He walked back to the door just as Lord Lugard asked the question that was most important to him: "Who is the witch?" Yuri couldn't help fiddling with his pouch as he waited for the young man's answer. His heart seemed to skip more beats in those few seconds than it had ever skipped in his whole fourteen years of existence. "No one has said it outright, but I am sure that the witch is that weird girl that lives with the Quintan family." BOOM.

Yuri's ears practically sizzled from the confirmation, 'Sherry, why?!'. He turned around and ran. The streets were crowded, it felt like everyone had come out of their houses. Their conversation seemed to drill themselves into Yuri's ears as he shoved his way to the house of the village chief.

"I just heard that the Sherolanda girl that always sells firewood is actually a witch," a woman whispered to her friend.

"Yes, me too," her friend replied. "Maybe she poisoned our firewood." Both women shivered at the thought.

"I always knew there was something wrong with the Quintan family. And I was right. Turns out they were harboring a witch," a man boomed pridefully.

"I can't believe I thought the little girl was kind. To be a witch so young she must have done something despicable," a young lady tsked to herself.

Yuri was relieved that Sherry was missing. If she heard these words, he was worried she would collapse from heartache.

Entering the village chief's house, he learned from a maid that almost all the high-ranking people in the village had been gathered. It was clear that they took the matter seriously. Why wouldn't they? Sherry had been accused of refining poison, of all things, poison. This was a very big deal. He snuck into the large hall where they were all gathered and hid in an inconspicuous corner.

"Where is the proof that Sherry actually refined poison?" the person that spoke up was the owner of the only pill shop in the village. He was very influential. If anyone needed medicine, they had to go to his shop. Yuri smiled, this man had always been super kind to Sherry, he even let her use his cauldron and medicinal herbs to make her own pills. He was a good person. After all, only a few people could speak when their family members faced such allegations, yet he stood up for someone that he only knew in passing.

Just as the man finished speaking, Camille stood up in front of everyone. "Everyone, this is the evidence of Sherolanda's evil actions," she brought out the cauldron for all to see. Everyone took sharp breaths. This was a cauldron after all, most had never seen it in person. Yuri's eyes widened, but he immediately forced himself to calm down, it was just a cauldron, implicating—yes, but not worth a sentence. But then Camille pulled out a book from the cauldron and showed it to the crowd. Yuri's face turned pale. Everyone could see the title of the book, someone in the crowd shrieked in fear. The man that had been supporting Sherry shut his mouth, his expression one of confusion.

Chaos erupted as a group of young men entered the hall, their steps rowdy. The leader of the men signaled for them to stop and bowed before the village chief, "Chief, we have searched as hard as we can, even the hunters amongst us tried their best, but we couldn't find any trace of the witch," Yuri sighed in relief, but his relief didn't last long. Camille, who had yet to sit, cleared her throat, successfully, drawing everyone's attention to herself. "I know where she is!" she proclaimed confidently. Yuri froze, what could she be thinking? He stared at her, and she stared back, even in the darkness their eyes met. He knew where Sherry was.