Professor Layton and the Memories Of A Time Gone By

14. Faith and Mysteries

The group huddled closer towards each other until their backs touched. Flora was still being wrenched by the silent attacker. She let out a squeal, and Hershel snapped out of his daze.

 Yelling, he pushed his way through two of the frozen men and grabbed Flora's arm. He tried to pull her back but the man holding seemed to have her in a vice-like grip.

"Dad! HELP ME!"

Hearing Flora call him dad seemed to spark something inside of him. This was the child he could have. It had often been a topic of discussion, if only phrased as a joke, the possibility of a child. Yet beneath all the witty remarks, Hershel knew Claire was deadly serious. She wanted nothing more than to be a mother, and secretly, he wanted to be a father.

Pulling his hat on tighter, Hershel steadied his feet and pulled with all his might. The man still held on, but the Professor gritted his teeth, heaving until the momentum brought them all tumbling down. Flora fell atop Hershel, while the man fell to their side. Flora went to hug her father, but she gasped as she couldn't pull her left arm forward. The frozen man was still holding on.

"HELP ME!" she squealed again. Hershel began to pull at her arm again while trying to push away the man's hand. As soon as he touched the hand he gasped at how spine-tingling cold it was. They both gasped as the frozen man began to pull back with more ferocity. Hershel felt his grip loosening. "DON'T LET ME GO, DAD!"

"I shan't!" Images or Randall, of sweaty hands, and a deep ravine, fingers linked... then not, flashed into his mind. "I WILL NOT!"

He winced with the effort, but began to pull once more, determined to see his daughter escape. He would never let go. That was a promise.

Through the grunts and wincing, Hershel took the moment to turn his head back and see why the others were not helping him. They weren't there anymore.

"DIMITRI!" he cried aloud. He felt sweat dripping down his head and he could feel his grip loosen again. He gripped tighter once more. No matter what, he wouldn't let go. "ALBERT! KATIA! SOMEONE HELP US!"

No one returned the call for help. Hershel wasn't a violent man. He would not attack this man, evil or not. What happened to this poor man was no fault of his own. Yet, he could feel this most unusual feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't quite identify with it, but it was a similar fire, burning, leaving a horrible scar, as it did years ago, when he lost Claire. 

He sneaked another quick look to see if he could spot the others. How could they just leave us?!

He did not see the others, but he did see the other lumbering townsfolk, slowly surrounding them now. It seemed they had been split. Half were watching the scuffle taking place before them, sure that Hershel and Flora were a lost cause while the other half seemed to be standing in front of the path with an archway. They were clearly interested in something but Hershel could not tell what. None of that mattered though. How was he going to get out of this?!

He had told himself countless times that every puzzle had a solution. Every problem could be solved with critical thinking. But what could he do now? The odds were truly against him. Maybe I have lost  he thought grimly. He was about to let go when he looked into Flora's foggy eyes. He looked closer, beyond the tears and through the terror. There was another look there. One of hope. One of faith. She placed all her heart into believing that her father would get them out of this mess. He could not let her down! He couldn't let these feelings of doubt cloud what mattered beyond anything else! He had to protect Flora with all his life!

Gritting his teeth, he slowly raised his legs until he was in a standing position. He held Flora firmly with a new strength. The strength of love and faith. He would not let his daughter down. He would do everything in his power, everything in the world to keep her safe!