Lea spread her clothes on the slacky rope that tied round her house's pole to another house's pole.
She was doing it in a type of rushy way because the whole environment was silent. All the people were in their houses and she was the last man standing outside in Maneth.
She quickly spread her clothes and her Dad's dirty clothes that she washed and hurried into the house in great fear, locking the door behind her and staring out the window in fear.
She watched intensely out the house and kept wondering if the men that had come a day ago will still repeat their visit.
Most importantly, she kept thinking of her father and how well he fared on the trip he was on. How he was faring and when he will come back home was all she asked herself about.
Lorn's health still hasn't given her a clue whether he'll be able to walk or run so that she'll get some food. And so she have to go get food herself but at night.
Lea thought that the night was better because no soldiers would dare come to Maneth at night because of the darkness and so they may not see that clearl.
Lea kept that faith of going out at night and not being captured.
But as soon as she thought of that, she heard a knock on her door.
Her heart skipped. Who was that person that had the mind to come out of his or her house for the sake of visiting.
Grabbing a broom from a nearby corner, Lea held it tightly and walked upto the door slowly, yet the knocks on the door weren't stopping so she just opened it and to her greatest surprise, it was the mother of one of the girls that was being taken away a day ago.
"Mrs Linda?" Lea questioned herself because it was rare to see a woman like this come to visit her at such time in the afternoon.
"Yes, Lea. How are you?" Mrs Linda asked
Lea couldn't help but notice how her voice was. It was shaky and weak than usual.
Usually, Mrs Linda would always shout on her daughter and the neighbors always thought of what the girl passed through in that house.
But now that the girl had been taken away, the mother had a shaky and weak voice. To Lea, is was a bit amusing.
Pardon her misunderstanding of discipline because she don't have a mother.
"How can I help you, Mrs Linda?" Lea asked and Mrs Linda smiled wearily.
"I know and pray that you won't be the next lady to be taken, Lea... " she started and Lea stared at her, confused and out of words.
When Mrs Linda saw that Lea said nothing, she proceeded.
"But if you are eventually taken, please tell Marian... " Tears flowed down Mrs Linda's eyes just at the mention of her daughter's name.
"Tell her that I love her and... I didn't mean to be aggressive when she was home, with me.... "
Lea was touched emotionally. Tears gathered in Mrs Linda's eyes as she spoke to Lea and Lea didn't know whether to start crying or to keep numb.
"I love my baby. Tell her that I will never forget her, ever in my life. Tell her that I miss her... The same feeling that I always feel when I remember her father, is what I feel right now and whenever you see her"
Lea nodded and placed her hands gently into Mrs Linda's hands.
"I will tell her Mrs Linda... I promise"
The tears had reached the peak of Mrs Linda's eyes and she cried uncontrollably and Lea's hands went out spread into the thin air as Mrs Linda fell into her warm embrace.
"Thank you daughter"
Those words sank in deep in the spirit, soul and body of Lea. She started wondering if this was how motherly love felt like. The passion in the word "Love" gave her goosebumps.
Suddenly, the flash of what happened to Lamina took place at that moment and Lea was stiff, but unconsciously still tapping the back of Mrs Linda who is still crying heavily.
Lea didn't know why but the flashes were sudden. Something was happening, but she couldn't tell what it was.
Slowly, Lea withdrew herself from Mrs Linda and wiped the tears off Mrs Linda's face with her palms
Mrs Linda sighed in deep and smiled tiredly at Lea.
"Can I also borrow some food? I'm too stressed up to go to the edge shift" Mrs Linda said as that gave Lea the certainty, that she had to go to the edge shift tonight.
Lea went into the house with the basket given to her by Mrs Linda and packed some legumes, vegetables and carrots with other leftover spices and placed in the basket.
She went back to Mrs Linda and handed over to her the basket.
"Thank you, Child" Mrs Linda said and with a little postrait, Lea passed unto her the basket and Mrs Linda departed and Lea quickly got a basket from inside the house and prepared to go out.
She peeped from the windows of the stable to catch a sight of Lorn and with satisfaction, she left the house to go to the edge shift.
Luckily, it was growing dark, so she won't be seen by the town people of Maneth.
Going by foot and coming back by foot will take about an hour and some minutes and that wasn't a problem for Lea, so she just kept it low and went in full assurance to be back before anyone even notice.
The moon shined down on the houses and Lea as she walked with a basket swinging around her arm. She felt the cold breeze paralyze her body with goosebumps but Lea kept moving.
But her ears stood erect at the slight sound of slight movements coming from the bushes.
The lights that flickered a little stopped flickering and now shined heavily upon her path.
The place is completely dark and she haven't even walked for fifteen minutes.
Her body and conscience began to judge her. What was happening?
Just as she took a step forward to cross the compounds and into the dark fields of Maneth, a horse came out of the darkness and on top it was a soldier with an armor on his head.
Lea's mouth dropped open in fear and dismay that she had successfully fallen into their trap.
"Well, well who do we have here?" She heard a voice.
The basket that hung around her arm dropped as fear began to ravage around her.
"Don't worry. I won't bite"