We still need man-things!

Chapter Thirty Three

A few minutes before the fateful explosion, Lady Dimitrescu woke up from her day-long sleep and went to the bathroom to take a shower. She didn't suspect yet that her daughters had secretly left the house, but she still got angry because she had forgotten to switch on her alarm clock, which would have made her wake up earlier. Unlike what her servants believed, Alcina indeed wanted to send Mike away today, despite the horrible weather, and she started looking for him immediately after having washed herself and consuming some eggs and sausages to kill hunger.

"Ingrid, did you put him to work?" She asked her headmaid at the kitchen after having learned from maids Camilla and Lois that Mike was the person who had removed most of the debris from the ballroom by now.

"I told you not to exhaust him. He has to go tonight."

"No, I didn't ask him to do anything, my lady." The headmaid spoke while being astounded by her mistress's decision. "But the weather is so bad! Where does he go in that rainstorm? He won't make it!"

"Nobody is forcing him into the mountains today. He goes to the House Beneviento."

"What? You will send him there?" Ingrid couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What's wrong with this plan, if you allow me to ask?" Alcina didn't understand her. "I made a deal with Donna to keep him there until the snow is gone or quarantine is over. Her house is the only place Mother Miranda doesn't visit very often, and the dollmaker needs him more than us at the moment. Or do you have some better ideas?"

"No, my lady, I don't have any better ideas. But Donna has serious mental health problems, and I'm afraid that Mike could easily die if he says or does something wrong to her. He has already suffered so much, and he doesn't deserve another fight for his survival. My lady, please let him stay here; the cables are all repaired, and electricity is just like before."

"Ingrid, I can't hide your friend any longer in my castle; please stop arguing. I want to give him some money for his new life at first, so you better tell me where he is."

"I just saw him in the main hall; perhaps he went to his room or library."

Mike was actually in the workshop. After having done very hard work for three long hours, he got enough of this stupid stone carrying for today, and he decided to start repairing some broken tools instead. There were a couple of hammers that broke today and a shovel that needed a weld, but most urgent to fix, however, were a set of drills that Angelika had accidentally ruined against the masonry. For the similar bar of chocolate he had gotten from Astrid, Mike kindly carried on this task and used the grinding machine to make these drills sharp again.

Linda's bomb exploded when he had started to sharpen the last one. The powerful blast was clearly heard in the castle, despite its thick walls and better-quality windows installed on the front side after the attack. Maids, however, didn't start to think that something terrible took place; they ignored it being either thunder or an avalanche from the nearby mountain. Even Lady Dimitrescu could have ignored this if she hadn't suddenly felt an unexplained feeling and collapsed in the library, where she went to find Mike.

"My lady, what happened?" Irina, who was cleaning the floor nearby, asked her in great horror.

Her mistress had fainted and landed on a chair, knocking it over and breaking one of its legs in the process.

"Lady Alcina, is everything okay?"

"My daughters." Dimitrescu spoke slowly. "Something terrible happened to my daughters. Where are they?"

"They must be around somewhere; how do you know that they..."

"Liar!!! They are outside, aren't they?"