Page 23 of Whisper of Nightmares

Euphemia’s chest rises and falls with sinking dread. She has been caught. Her secret and shame found out. And by a stranger traveling through town, of all people. Someone who only exchanged a few short words with her before adequately deducing that she is a dark cloud. A curse.

If this stranger was able to perceive her truth within only a few chance encounters, it won’t be long before others find out as well.

Euphemia cannot be here when that happens.

“I-I have to go.” She pushes past the woman, clambering toward isolation, toward a redemption she knows she doesn’t deserve but one her family does.

Euphemia only makes it a few short steps before stopping. The dirt road ahead disappears into pitch blackness and she can’t control her breathing. Can’t imagine facing the emptiness of a life without her family. Her home. Her brewing.

A cold hand rests upon her shoulder.

Euphemia tries shrugging it off, but she’s lost all of her bravado. “Leave me be. Please.”

The hand does not release her. Glancing back, Euphemia finds Kelda watching over her with something like motherly warmth in her gaze. She can’t help but feel herself leaning toward it, hungry for even an ounce of affection. Something to make her feel loved.

“Where is it you are running to?” Kelda asks softly. No judgment. No pretenses. No hidden accents. Just openly seeking honesty.

Euphemia is so disoriented, she actually answers, “Anywhere but here.”

Only once she’s taken a few calming breaths does she realize she’s said too much. And to the wrong person. But the damage is already done.

So what if Kelda knows she’s leaving. The whole town will know of her disappearance by morning anyway. But she can’t help but watch Kelda with eyes as wide as the moon, wondering what this cunning woman might do with this information. What she’ll do with anything she learns about Euphemia and her family…

A long moment passes.

Crickets chirp.

The wind rustles the leaves in the trees.

And the gentle sounds of night finally lull Euphemia into a momentary calm.

Euphemia takes a step aside and truly looks at this strange woman. “Who are you? Truly.”

Kelda’s shoulders roll back. Her crooked spine straightens, proving all of Euphemia’s suspicions correct. “I am a friend, I hope. Someone who needed to watch you to make sure you were someone worth revealing myself to. Someone who might be able to help you the same way you can help me.”

“You cannot help me. No one can.”

Holding up a finger, Kelda tuts. “So quick to assume the worst, little cloud.” She pauses long enough for Euphemia to roll her eyes. “I would not discredit me so quickly. Are you not in need of shelter? A new life?”

“How did you…” Euphemia’s knees feel weak and she squeezes her hands into fists to keep her balance. “Speak plainly. Please. I cannot take any more of your riddles.”

By way of apology, Kelda throws both hands up. “Of course. I will be blunt then. I know of the rumors surrounding your family. Your father, the deserter. Your youngest sister, broken. Your mother, a woman running her husband’s business. Scandalous, the way the people talk about it.”

Euphemia’s fists tighten. “Do not talk about my⁠—”

Kelda cuts her off, utterly unbothered by her show of emotion. “And then there is you, little cloud. The tempered one. The people whisper many unkind things about you.”

Tears sting Euphemia’s eyes. She tells herself she doesn’t care. They’re all gossips and fibbers anyhow. The conversations she overhears after church sermons or in the middle of a long night at the tavern would make God smite the whole town. Petty thieveries, slanderous gossip, and inconsequential squabbles. Who cares what the people say about her. She doesn’t need their approval.

Only, it’s not her own reputation that worries her.

Before those fears can settle, Kelda clasps her hands behind her back and starts to pace. “But I care little for the town blather. Everyone passes their own judgments. Myself included. And you were right. I have been watching you. For quite some time now, in fact. Passed my own judgments, I have. And from what I’ve seen, you are a hard worker. You’re someone who puts her family first, even when they do not always do the same in return. Someone unafraid to stand up for herself and others.”

Kelda pauses, perhaps to give Euphemia time to respond or ask questions.

She does not.

She cannot feel her legs.