A Leap Of Fate

Chapter XVII- Secrets and Doubts

Chapter 17

I stared at the ceiling and the shadows in it while lying on my bed. My head slightly ached and so were my limbs. After climbing down the carriage from Auntie Angelina and Uncle Marcel’s, I refused to talk to anybody and excused myself from joining the supper. I walked too much in Auntie Angelina’s garden and so delighted with the forest that my legs were aching now, and because of that, I don’t think Mariana saw me since I came back home.

But I knew I really had to see her and Siervo as well. Robell might be coming too. I almost forgot we only have so few days left.

The trip to Auntie Angelina and Uncle Marcel’s did not help in any way. But I had to do it so that I could still have Bienve’s confidence and trust.

But despite of not helping us in out mission, I felt that there was something wrong, something being kept from everyone. I knew it the moment I saw the look on Auntie Angelina’s face when she saw that certain family portrait in the album I was browsing earlier this day.

My heart raced fast again, remembering that moment and thinking there was more to it, surely there was….

~*~

I stared at Auntie Angelina while she blinked many times looking at the family portrait.

“Why Auntie, is there something wrong… with this?”

She swallowed. “This is not supposed to be here.” She whispered to herself and then she grabbed the photo album from me.

She took out the photo and hid it behind her. She stood up looking at me. She was sweating bullets but I saw that she was trying to appear calm.

“My dear, you can stroll around the garden. You will like it I am certain. We will call you when the table is ready.” She said smiling with her slightly shaking lips. I wanted to ask but I chose to just shut up. I nodded and walked out of the room.

I took a very deep breath and opened the door leading to the back garden. Sunlight poured out from the door. I shielded my eyes and walked forward and closed the door behind me.

The garden was a breathtaking sight.

Everything was so green; there were so many trees of different kinds everywhere and tall grasses. The weeds were neatly shaved at the center of the garden, with pots and bushes of different flowers including red roses, Gumamela flowers of different colors, and white Jasmines. The scent was pleasant herbaceous and flowery. At the left side, there was a charming wooden bench. I walked towards it and saw that it was dusty, with fallen leaves on it. Somehow, it was extremely nostalgic to me, with the bright light coming from the sun and the humid but still soft wind.

I wiped the bench a little with my bare hands and sat on it. I sighed deeply, staring at the swaying tress in front of me.

‘I smell something wrong…what’s with the portrait that she even removed it from the album, frantically?’ I thought.

Then I remembered that the thing I noticed might be that something wrong. I remembered how I noticed there were four children with the Cruz couple instead of three, which were Chico, Ciro and Leonel.

‘Perhaps…there was some issue with the fourth child.’

The face of the fourth child still lingered in my mind. I knew the smallest one was Chico, as he’s the youngest boy and it was clear in the photo how he resembled the smallest boy very much. The chubby one, youngest next to Chico was Ciro and the thin one with features that were already elegant in such tender age was Leonel, and I was certain about that. I would recognize those narrow and sharp eyes everywhere…