He walked without hesitation, for some time. Then, he seemed confused, too.
“Are you lost?” I asked.
And he said: “I do not see them anymore.”
“What do not you see?”
“The bits of bread I had thrown to mark the way!”
I was shocked, but I came back to myself very fast. “You were throwing bread, you stupid? Do you know that birds fly low? They have eaten the bread, stupid! They have eaten them all!”
And in front of all of us he widened his arms desperately, as to admit that he can’t help any longer.
We were in trouble, now, and in a big one: we had abandoned the camp and dad would not be able to find us, we were lost somewhere in the heart of the woods, and soon it was going to get dark. Brothers asked me what to do, ignoring Tom Thumb, who had disappointed them.
So, we went to the venture, hoping to find a shelter. We walked and walked, through the complete darkness. Then a wind stared, a terrible wind. And you could hear the wolves all around, who were looking for us. We were tired, exhausted, too scared to talk. Finally, there was a thunderstorm, which made it more difficult for all of us. The soil became muddy, and it was getting harder to walk without slipping.
At the end, we felt exhausted, all of us.
Except Tom Thumb. I noticed he was trying to climb a tree. “Did you not have enough?” I shouted. “Is it time for you to play?”
And he said: “I climb up to see if I see a country!”
I let him do it, because I was too tired even to slap him.
When he came back he told us he had seen a distant light in the night, and pointed us to the direction.
It was again touching me. Even my brothers did not trust him anymore, but did we have much to lose? I had no idea where to lead them. So, we started walking in the direction indicated by Tom Thumb.
Once again, the journey seemed infinite; we have crossed the whole forest. My brothers were already giving Tom Thumb a bad look when we hit a plain. There was a big house in front of us.
Once again, we let him come forward because he was so small and fragile that we hoped to move the inhabitants of that house to compassion.
In fact, it was so. Tom Thumb told our sad story to the woman who opened the door, told her that we were in the forest and we were tired and hungry.
The woman looked at us with sweetness, but with so much sadness. “Poor kids!” she said. “How unlucky you are! Don’t you know that this is the House of the Orc?”
None of us had any idea what an Orc was; I imagined it was some noble title, like Count or Duke.
But Tom Thumb insisted, he spoke of the wolves who wanted to kill us, and in the end, he succeeded. The good woman asked us to come in, all of us, and let us warm ourselves around the fire.
She was cooking lamb for her husband, and the smell of the meet reminded us of how hungry we were. We were about to ask for a bite when we heard three dry shots at the door.
“My husband!” said the woman. “You must get out of here!”
She took us by the hand and hastily led us to a room where she hid us under a great bed. She left us there, ordering us to be quit.
We heard her husband, the Orc, come in, and she welcomed him thoughtfully.
“Is dinner ready, wife?” asked the big man with a thick black beard.
The woman hurried to serve the dinner. But soon afterwards, as the flesh dripped, the Orc began to smell the air. “What is this smell? Has anyone been here?”
The woman denied with vigor. “No, my husband, absolutely not!”
“This is a living flesh!” said the Orc. “It is the smell of living flesh!”
“No, no”, she insisted. “Must be the calf I brought a little while ago! Here, I just washed my hands.”
But he did not take her for granted, he smelled the air, and came straight to us. He walked into the room and pulled off the mattress without much thought, pointing out at us.
“Ah! You wanted to deceive me, witch!”
We all stayed paralyzed with terror. But before the Orc could do anything, the woman came to him. “Not now, dear! Calm down! Dinner is waiting for you! We need to talk. They are only poor children who have been in the storm. They do not know where they should go, so they cannot leave now.”
And using her cleverness he managed to get him out of the room.
Unfortunately, it was too late when I noticed that Tom Thumb had snuck out of the bed and was going behind them. I tried to stop him, but unnecessarily. I saw him slide passing though the small opening of the door and he disappeared. I did not have the courage to follow him.
The twins were crying, all of them, but I tried to comfort them. “Do not be afraid, I’m sure that the good woman will convince him and he will allow us to stay here tonight.”
It took a long time before they made a decision. We heard them talk, behind the door, but in a too low voice – we could not understand their words.
Then suddenly Tom Thumb returned, and hid under the bed together with us. He looked excited, and he spoke so quickly that we could hardly understand him. “The husband is an Orc! Orcs eat children! He wants to eat us all! He wanted to kill us immediately, to have a banquet, but the woman convinced him to do it in the morning! We have to get away right now!”
I thought he had gone out of his mind. What we already face was not normal, but that information was too much! Eating children? Where have you ever heard such a thing?
I did not have time to do anything, even to teach him a lesson, since someone has opened the door: there was the Orc and his consort.
“Come on, kids”, said the woman. “Come and eat with us!”
Tom Thumb was shaking his head, but I had no hesitation. I did it, and my brothers came after me.
The man looked at us smiling, pleased. He came forward and observed us one at a time, tested my muscles and seemed satisfied. When he saw Tom Thumb, the last one in the row, he just threw a quick glance at him and grimaced.
“Come on, come on, kids, there’s a roasted meat waiting for you.”
So, we went out, all in a row, and only after few steps we opened our mouths. At the table, there were seven beautiful girls. The Orc presented them: “These are my daughters.”
They accommodated us in front of them. Tom Thumb, before going to his place, whispered to me. “Do not eat! He wants to make us fat!”
What a nonsense, as if I had weight problems! I could eat the whole ship, that’s how hungry I was.
The woman served us so abundant portions that overflowed the dishes. But when the eating time came, I stopped.
The little girl in front of me was beautiful, and she looked at me with unenergetic eyes. I blushed. “I’m Pierrot”, I introduced myself.
She, who was probably my age, and was the oldest of her sisters, lowered her head with shyness. “Brigitte”, she mumbled.
There were no other words among us, but we could not close our eyes. She was perfect and s beautiful, her golden hair was decorated with a crown, just like all her sisters. I complimented her; I told her that the tiara made her even more beautiful.
“Oh”, she scoffed. “It’s dad that has given us the tiara, he wants us to wear it always.”
Then she told me that I looked so good, and I blushed with pride.
“Eat, kids!” the Orc interrupted us. “I want you to clean your plates, there is more food waiting for you.”
When the dinner was over, we all felt overloaded, and we had to loosen our belts. The Orc drank wine during the lunch, without a pause, and eventually fell asleep on his armchair and snorted.
“Come with me”, said the woman, and took us to her daughter’s room. There were two large beds in the room. “The beds might be a bit small for all of you”, she admitted. “But it’s just for one night.” And she put the girls in one bed, and to us in the other one.
I was very embarrassed at the idea of sleeping so close to Brigitte, but she was giggling and seemed happy.
“Let
her lose!” Tom Thumb murmured to my ear. “Don’t you see that they would like to eat you?”
That time, he took two blankets that he would hardly have forgotten.
“In bed, kids” said the woman, lowering the light.
The little girls obeyed immediately, and we did too. We were in fact very tight, everyone sleeping on that one bed, especially after the dinner we just did.
I fell asleep smiling and started dreaming of Brigitte, of our lives together, of the children we would have had, of the palace where we would live.
And then a sudden awakening interrupted that dream. “What?” I whimpered.
“Sttt! Be silent, please!”
It was Tom Thumb’s voice. “What did you put on my head?” I asked.
“Do not touch it! Do not move! Do not say one word!”
What else has he invented? I passed my hand though my hair and recognized Brigitte’s crown. “But…”
Tom Thumb hugged me, blocking me completely. “Be silent, please! He is coming!”
Before I could do anything, I heard the door. The darkness in the room was total, even the light had switched off. I could not even see Tom Thumb standing in front of me. He kept on keeping me tight.
I heard heavy steps and felt a strong smell of wine. I recognized the Orc, that could be no one else. I paralyzed, thinking of the crown on my head. What would he think, seeing it? That I was a thief, of course, and he would punish me. Was that Tom Thumb’s revenge for all the times I have beaten him? But I did it for his own good!
The bed made a sound and bent, and realized that the Orc had sat on the edge right next to us. I felt his hand. He touched my arm, then went up to my shoulder. Then I felt on the neck something cool and cold touching my throat. Then the hand went on, moving through my hair, touching the gold crown.
I heard a hiccup, and a confusing voice, like that of a drunk. “Heavens, what was I going to do? My daughters! They are my daughters!”
His hand has gently touched my hair, then the smell of wine became stronger and I felt a kiss on my forehead. “Sleep, little girls, stay quiet.”
I did not dare to whine. I had escaped, and it was better this way, Tom Thumb’s plan failed. I was planning to give him a lesson just the Orc will leave.
I felt that he sits on the edge of the bed in front of us. Tom Thumb put a hand on my mouth. “Sttt.”
A few minutes passed before we heard him stand and walk out of the room. When the steps stopped, in the distance, Tom Thumb jumped out of bed before I could attack him. “We have to run!”, he said. “There is little time left!”
I did not have the slightest intention of doing so! But then I realized that my brothers were getting up and they also had a golden crown on their heads. “What have you done?” I asked Tom Thumb, with my heart in my throat.
“There is no time to talk”, he said. “We have to go!”
He had stolen something, I was sure! That’s why he wanted us to run away! He was putting us in trouble! Should I go and tell that what Tom Thumb did, but will the good man and wife believe my innocence?
Tom Thumb pulled me by the arm, impatiently. “Move!”
I was getting more and more confused and took off my crown. “What did you do?” I asked again.
“I will explain later”, he insisted. “Let’s go away.”
I looked at the girls’ bed, but I couldn’t see them in the darkness. “I must salute Brigitte”, I murmured. “I cannot leave her like this.”
Tom Thumb’s face was illuminated by the light coming from the door which Orc left open, and I will hardly ever forget her expression. “There is no time now”, he said. “You will greet her another time.”
He pushed us out of the room, and I noticed that my brothers were shaking. I could not understand what was happening.
We found Orc asleep in a chair, holding an empty bottle of wine. We passed through the room before he noticed us. Then we left the house and started running.
When we got far away from the house, I stopped to ask, “What did you do? What happened? Why did you steal those crowns?”
But Tom Thumb did not stop, ran and ran without stopping. “Later!” he answered fast.
After hours and hours, we crushed completely devastated, but he insisted on finding a shelter. It was intolerable for him to command us, especially to command me, but I still felt too confused to make any decision. I had to find out what had happened in that house before doing anything.
We found a cave and we hid inside. When we were all safe I could not wait any longer. “What have you done? What did you do this time?”
But he said again: “I will explain later!”
I did not understand his fear, but I started to feel it as well. Soon we heard a loud voice not too far away. “Where are you, damn it! I’ll find you, I swear I’ll find you!”
Tom Thumb again shut my mouth with one hand, but there was no need for that, that terrible voice frightened me completely.
Then he went to the edge of the cave, to spy, and I followed him.
The Orc was not far from us, but he was not aware that we were in that cave. In the woods, in the air open, he could not smell our smell, mixed with thousand others.
He leaned on a stone to take some rest, because he seemed exhausted, perhaps because of all the wine he had drunk. “My daughters!” he yelled. “What did you do to me? My poor wife, she cannot calm herself down! But I will find you, and you will pay for this!”
I started feeling awful. I thought of Brigitte.
“They were beautiful girls!”, he cried. “They did not deserve this! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you all!”
I still did not understand what happened, but I was sure about one thing: I will never see Brigitte again. I felt a tear slipping over my cheek.
“Monsters!” yelled Orc, as he lay on a stone. “My daughters, my daughters, what have I done to you?”
We heard him cry and sob for a long time, then his laments started to fade and finally ceased. Soon we heard him snoring again.
Tom Thumb slipped out of the cave before I could stop him. “What do you want to do?”
He looked at me for a moment. “Sttt.”
What else does this crazy boy has in mind? I threw myself behind him.
When I reached the open space, I was shocked. He was trying to remove Orc’s boots while he was sleeping
“Give me a hand!” he said.
“Why?” I asked.
“So, he can not follow us.”
Yes, it was logical, I could understand it. But as usual he was overdoing things. “They are magic boots! The seven-legged boots! With a single step, they allow you to ride a mountain!”
“Stop it!” I whispered. “Stop lying all the time! Stop inventing things!” Then I could not resist and I asked again, “What happened? What about Brigitte?”
I thought he would not answer me, but he did, even though he did not dare to look me in the eye. “He has killed them all.”
I groaned.
He continued: “Would you have preferred it to be to us?”
Yes, very much. I would have been happy to give my life to that beautiful little girl. I already knew that I would never meet someone like her, all my life.
Tom Thumb fell to the ground, together with the boot in his hand, and hastily started removing the second one. The Orc seemed harmless as he was deeply asleep.
“Why did you do it?” I asked. “Why Brigitte? What did you have against her?”
Did he do it for me, why does he hate me? Did he want to make me suffer? There has to be another way, I was certain, it did not have to end like that!
Tom Thumb also pulled out the second boot and put it under his arm. Then he reached me. “I’m leaving, Pierrot”, he said. “I’m going away.”
“What?” I was astonished. “But we have to go home…”
“I do not go back to that house”, he said angrily. “They do not want me! They do not love me, nor they have ever loved me!”
&nbs
p; “But… you are just a boy…what will you do?”
He smiled, and his eyes glittered. “Hurry up to leave before the Orc wakes up. Try to get away as much as possible.”
“Dad... Mom…”
He just shook his head and then he turned left.
He disappeared into the woods and that was the last time I saw him.
We returned home to mom and dad, and it was not easy, but in the end, we succeeded. They welcomed us with open arms, like the first time.
This time things got a bit better, as there was one less mouth to feed, even though it was so small. There was more work, and Dad took me with him to use some help. He said he needed me. Maybe he will not abandon us anymore. I want to believe it. I have to believe it.
And Tom Thumb? Oh, how many stories I heard about him! The only thing I know with certainty is that he returned to Orc’s house while he was still looking for us. He told his wife, who was desperate because of the death of her daughters, that the gangsters had kidnapped her husband and demanded a ransom. He took the money himself.
They also say that he has become a great messenger at King’s orders because of his magic boots and that he is rich and respected. They say that one day he will come back and make us rich. But I do not believe it.
It was a farewell what I saw in his eyes. And perhaps he was right, in this house no one ever loved him or believed in him.
I hope he never comes back again, I could not bear it. That bloody liar destroyed my life.
Every passing day I always have Brigitte in front of my eyes, I cannot forget her. I miss her, I miss her a lot.
Yes, I hope he never comes back again.
January 2010
HIERARCHY
Translation by Cinzia Albanese
To the mother:
“Mum, I can explain everything.”
“Not to me, my dear. I don’t look after those things, you have to tell your father.”
“But…”
“I only take care of the house and to keep you all in order. Some thins your dad takes care of.”
“Yes, but…”
The Prison Page 72