“And where does it go?” Everything goes somewhere.
“To England,” Alec replied.
England... what if... “So, we can go to England with the horses, right?”
Alec tilted his head. “It’s not that simple. Yes, we can go up to a point, but we might fall in the returning of the sea, and so we could drown the horses,” explained Alec. Poor horses. They didn’t deserve that.
We reached the city and there were so many people everywhere. Someone shouted, “Eva. Eva.”
I didn’t turn at first because surely there were other Evas, but the voice was persistent. I turned and saw Alicia, and I dismounted. She ran toward my horse and hugged me tightly. “It’s so nice to see you. I missed you so much.”
“How did you recognize me?” With my hood, I didn’t think anyone could recognize me.
“Midnight. I would recognize her anywhere.”
Of course. Midnight had chosen to sit on my horse. Since we were not traveling by walking, she preferred to sit outside and watch. Who wouldn’t? “What are you doing here?” I asked her as Alec and Jonathan dismounted too and walked toward the shops.
“We came here for exchanging... goods.”
They had come for the meeting too. “Everyone?” I asked.
“No, only some, and we came along because father thought we wouldn’t attract much attention as a family. We said we were leaving to be safer here, you know...” I nodded. “Where are your friends?” she asked.
“There, with the blond hair.” I pointed at them.
“But they had dark hair.”
“We had some... complications. Don’t tell anyone that, all right?”
She nodded. “Thank you for the drawing. It was troppo bello. My mama loved it and hung it on the wall.”
“I am sorry we left so suddenly, but...”
She nodded. “We understand, but we felt bad that we didn’t offer you something better. Are you a princess then?” She whispered the question.
I laughed. “Don’t feel bad. We just wanted a place to sleep and some food. No, I am a peasant girl, like you, who got involved somehow in healing and fighting. I live—I used to live in Spain and work as a healer, I help a lot of people no matter their status.”
“But you seem to be friends...”
“We are. I saved their lives so many times and they saved mine too. Well, once or twice, but they did some nice things for me, and we became friends that way.”
“Friends from bad experiences.” She beamed. “Then something good can come from something bad.”
“Do you know where we can stay? It seems that there are a lot of people in here. Are they all for the market?”
“Yes, from different places. You can stay where we are staying. It’s a little far and it doesn’t have many people. It’s that way.”
Alicia and I looked for the boys and found them quickly. “Alicia and her family are here, and I am going to where they are staying. Do you want to come along or do you want to stay?”
Alec and Jonathan greeted Alicia. “We will stay here for now. We saw Stefen, and we are getting information about the market,” Jonathan said.
“All right. Don’t do anything stupid.”
Jonathan smiled. Alicia explained how they could find where they are staying, and we parted ways.
While we walked, Alicia told me everything that happened after we were separated. The war was in Germany now. The Hope People had held some meetings, and when Stefen received the message, there was a meeting to select who would attend, and Alicia’s family was chosen. I told her some of our news—minus the bloodshed—and she congratulated me on my trick with the “death potion.” I didn’t think it was the greatest idea of the century, but it was certainly the most dangerous.
When we passed the next street, a paper on the wall of a shop caught my eye. I was wanted for ten thousand French francs. Great. Like I need another problem on top of the others. Now, what do we do? I ripped the paper from the wall and tore it into pieces.
“Now, how am I going to enter?” I asked.
Alicia was quiet for a minute, and then her face brightened. “I know.”
We entered an inn named Ville de Bretagne. I left my horse in their stables to be fed. I kept my hood up so my face was covered. When we went inside, a woman greeted us.
In Italian, Alicia said, “She is blind, and she and her two companions are friends with my family. They will need a room here for three people.”
“Tre?” the woman asked. I lifted my left hand and with my right hand, I pointed and counted three fingers. “Some friends. Two blonds. Send them up,” I said and gave my arm to Alicia who helped me to the stairs.
Our room was on the third floor and the view was amazing. I could see a bit of the sea now. It was a strange sight to see all the little boats without water. I took a paper and made a quick sketch.
“It’s great,” Alicia said.
“It’s just a sketch.” I sighed. “And now I have to change my hair color or something bad will happen.” I searched my bag, but all I had was what was left over from doing the boys’ hair. I couldn’t make my hair the same. It would be too conspicuous.
“Mama will have something you can use, I am sure. We are in the room across from yours.”
We went to their room and knocked on the door. Alicia’s mother was delighted to see me, she ushered us inside. “Eva. How nice to see you. I know why you are here. Where are your friends?” she asked with a shy smile.
“They are still in the city. They wanted to see some people.”
“I am sorry if I didn’t treat you very well.”
“You treated us perfectly, and we had more than enough. We should be thanking you.”
Alicia told her mother my problem. Her mother said, “I have just the thing. The mixture is what I use to get this lovely brown color. I think it will do the job, but it might be darker with your hair.”
I nodded and they helped me put the mixture on my hair. Midnight stayed in a chair and watched what we were doing. She was very curious, but she doesn’t go near the sink.
After an hour, I had dark brown hair. Meow. Exactly what did you do now? Midnight seemed to say and sniffed me like I had changed smell. She sat in my lap while Alicia’s mother plaited my hair. She reminded me of my mother with the kindness and the care she put into her work. Mother, where are you?
“There we go,” Alicia’s mother said as she tied a leather strip at the end of my braid. She asked me to share what had happened after we had left their home. I was careful with my words, but when Alicia went to tell her brother I was here, I quickly told the mother of the slaughter.
“Oh Dio,” she said and let me finish. “You are brave, Eva. But since you are a wanted person now, why don’t you change your name?”
“You are right, but to what? I can’t make it shorter. There would be nothing left.”
She smiled. “But you can make your name longer. Try Evangeline. It’s a French name and is actually your name, isn’t it? The French girls shorten their names to Eva.”
I shook my head. “No. You must mean Eve, but mine is Eva. Just Eva, nothing else. If I had a bigger name why would I ever want to make it smaller?”
She laughed. “If you don’t have any other ideas, that one is probably the closest to your name.”
I grinned. “Evangeline it is then. “Oh. And I am your blind friend.” I explained how we had entered the inn.
Alicia returned with her brother. He gave me a hug and petted Midnight. “Eva. Do you want to come downstairs with me?” Alicia asked. “There is a fortune teller. She can tell us our future.”
“No one can tell you your future. You have to make your own path.”
“I know, but it will be fun to hear it.”
I shake my head, remembering the last time. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t go to those kind of people,” I said.
“But why? It’s not like it will be true.”
Her brother called her to the window and she went to see what he was so excited about.
“Why don’t you want to go?” her mother asked.
“The first and last time someone spread tarots for me, she saw my death. I am still alive, but I will never go to any kind of fortune teller again.” I still didn’t know what that woman meant, but I didn’t want it to be true. Besides, I had my dreams, and they were more than enough.
“You will not die,” Alicia’s mother said decisively as if she believed that if she said I wouldn’t die then I wouldn’t. “I am sure she didn’t know what she was saying,” the mother said, dismissing it.
“Eva. Eva. Your friends are here. I will go and tell them...” Alicia said.
“I better go to our room and prepare things. And don’t call me Eva anymore...” I waved.
“Right. Evangeline.”
It would take some time to get used to a new name. Midnight and I returned to our room.
I started taking things out of my bag and setting the table.
The door opened and Alec said, “Excuse me, who are you?”
I turned and smiled. “I have saved your life more times than I can count and you can’t even recognize me?” I laughed at the expressions on his face and Jonathan’s face.
“Eva?” Jonathan asked with bewilderment. “Is that you?” he continued.
“What happened to your hair?” Alec asked.
I nodded and touched my plaited hair. “Well, we ran into a few more... complications.” They raised their eyebrows. “I am a wanted person for ten thousand French francs. I will go hang out with the criminals.” I smiled but they didn’t. Horror was what etched on their faces. “Don’t make those faces. I couldn’t stay in the dark forever.”
“I am sorry,” Jonathan said. “I am so, so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? You didn’t force me to help you or make the decision for me. It was me. I decided to stay, and I decided to help. Don’t be like this.”
Alec was playing with his hands, and Jonathan had a look of despair on his face. “But still... we have brought this upon you,” Jonathan insisted. “We have ruined your life.”
Is that what they see? Is it just me that sees the possibilities? “My life was ruined before that, so don’t worry. At least I had a choice. Some people don’t get free will.”
I finished setting the table, and Midnight took her place. The boys didn’t talk at all during lunch, which was weird. “Is it bad news?”
They looked at me like I had interrupted their thoughts. “About what?” Alec asked.
“What you learned in the city.”
They shook their heads. “No, we talked to Stefen, and he said he received your message. So far, nothing else bad has been heard,” Jonathan said.
I was not convinced. “Is that all?” He nodded. “Why do I not believe you?”
He tried to smile. “Well, we didn’t talk much. We learned where exactly the market is... that’s all.”
Then why were you so sad? “If that’s all, why do you not talk?”
They stared at me. “We talk,” Alec said.
“No, you don’t. You haven’t uttered a word while you were eating.”
“Is that bad?”
“For you, it is unusual. You always talk when you are eating.”
He smiled a little. “I thought it was bad to talk while we are eating.”
Now he changes his mind? “You do it no matter what.”
Alec sighed and frowned. “We are just feeling bad about what happened to you.”
What happened to me? Do you still think you have ruined my life? “For Heaven’s name. You didn’t. You can’t be stuck on this forever. You have to focus on other things.”
“But we ruined your life. It is our fault,” Jonathan said.
“You didn’t ruin my life. Besides, when the war ends, I won’t be a wanted person anymore. You would have ruined my life if you had killed someone I cared about. But then you would be dead because I would have killed you. Being a wanted person isn’t ruining a life; it’s just a complication.” I smiled and they smiled lightly too. “But it’s a disgrace. Why would I be a wanted person for ten thousand francs?”
Jonathan’s jaw dropped and Alec stared at me. “Well, it’s the bottom. If a thief is a wanted person, they put ten thousand francs or pesos or whatever money is in that country.”
“I am at the bottom? At the same level as a common thief? That’s an insult. There is no way I am going to be at the bottom of the list with a thief.”
The boys couldn’t contain their laughter.
“What is so funny? It’s a major problem.”
They laughed so hard their faces turned red. Alec took a deep breath. “Ahh, don’t worry. You will reach the top of the pyramid if we continue to do business together.”
Jonathan wiped his hand across his face. “From everything I have heard in my life, I have never heard something like this. No one has ever complained about being at the bottom. That was a first.”
It’s probably true, but a witch can’t be at the base of the pyramid. After lunch and our conversation, they seemed more cheerful, and we washed our dirty clothes and unpacked only a few items. We never unpacked everything. If we ever needed to leave in a rush, we had to have our bags ready to go quickly.
In the early afternoon, I decided to go for a walk by the sea. “You might get lost,” Jonathan said.
“I will be fine. Besides, I have Midnight. Cats can always find the way.”
“Put the hood on so no one recognizes you,” Alec said.
I put my hood on and left. When I found the beach, I took off my shoes and walked in the sand, which had the imprint of the waves. I breathed in the salty smell of the sea and watched the sun begin to set. It was beautiful. I needed to do some thinking. Our situation was becoming more complicated. Before, I was the one who watched out for them and warned them to wear their hooded cloaks so they wouldn’t be recognized, and now, I must act just like them. I had to be careful too.
“Anybody there?”
I grinned. Ritta decided to check in again. She has impeccable timing. Somehow, she always knows when I need help. “Someone is here.”
“Good, how is it going?”
“Badly.”
“Why? Was anyone killed?”
“Yes, but we didn’t know them exactly.”
“Tell me what happened. How is Italy?”
“We are not in Italy anymore.” I told her what had happened since we had talked the last time.
“So, you went to Paris and it was horrible.”
“Yes, except the food.”
“Right and now you are in the north of France, and it’s amazing with the sea. I am jealous.”
“Well, I didn’t see much sea yet. Only the beach.”
“Jonathan and Alec are supposedly dead, and you painted their hair blond. I have a stupid question: why on Earth would you be carrying a mixture to change hair color with you?”
“I have no idea.”
I sensed her laughing. “And you painted your hair brown...”
“Actually, Alicia’s mother painted it. You know, the Italians who helped us.”
“And taught you horse riding and celebrated your birthday. I have to meet them.”
“And they love cats.”
“Then I definitely have to meet them. When is that war going to be over? I am bored.”
“I wish I knew. Oh, I didn’t tell you the latest insult: I am a wanted person but for only ten thousand francs. I can’t be in the same place as a common thief.”
She laughed again. “The fact that you are wanted doesn’t scare you at all?”
“No. It’s for a good cause.”
“I am sure, but still... I could never be you.”
“Obviously, I would never eat flowers.”
“It was an accident. No more of that.” Ritta hated when I reminded her of the time she wasn’t paying attention and accidentally started eating flowers.
“We must visit Bretagne for sure. There is a weird phenomenon in here.” I explained to her what the sea did.
“Oh. I must definitely see it. But we must learn how to swim first.”
“Well, I know already.”
“How?”
“Jonathan taught me in Bologna.”
“Oh. Right, how is everything with him?”
“Ehh...”
“What ehh? Do you like him or are you still confused?”
“I said to myself that I would give him a chance after we get back alive.”
“Oh. That’s a historical moment. Miss Eva after five to six years decided to give the boy a chance. We have to have a party.”
“Don’t blame me...”
“I will blame the cat.”
“Don’t blame the cat.”
“I will blame the rats then.” Ritta was so funny sometimes.
“What news?”
Ah, you know... the princess is crazy, and I recommend you tear the whole building apart. She can’t have witches for servants. And she told me to stop being your friend. Unheard of. When she calls you, I will go too.”
“On one condition: you are not to say that I am an heir. If anyone hears this, then I have to become a princess, and I don’t want to yet. Plus, there is a mess in here and I want to sort it out.”
“All right, but next time I will stay down there too. You are having so much fun and I am bored.”
“Oh, I saw Madame Tenise.”
“Oh Heavens. Why?”
“Because she was in Paris.” I told her the story that involved the monster woman.
“I see...”
“Next time will be her last time, and that servant of hers was really a demon.”
“Really? Or do you mean it metaphorically?”
“Explain something else to me because I can’t understand it.” I told her what had happened between Demon and Jonathan.
“What don’t you understand? It’s all pretty clear...”
“To you. Why was Jonathan so angry at him? From the first moment? He didn’t even know him. I know he said he didn’t like him, but still...”
“Ah. That. Well, you are smart, Eva, but in that domain, you have zero brains. He was jealous.”
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