Just as Alicia assumed earlier, after about two hours, the two women were already asleep. Madam Grace slept on a tiny bed at the other end of the room while Paulina slept on a mat beside her bed.
She slowly sat up, careful not to make a single sound. She had to escape even if she didn't know where she was going. She just had to find the village and look for the river.
Once her feet touched the ground, she looked around the tiny room carefully. The lantern was very dim, but it helped her see everywhere. She saw a spare unlit lantern on top of a shelf and sighed in relief. She would have felt guilty taking the only lantern they had. Her only hope now was for it to contain kerosene or whatever people of this era used for their lanterns. Like a thief, she walked stealthily on her toes and reached for it, smiling brightly when it felt heavy.
The question plaguing her mind now was: How was she going to light it?
'They don't, by chance, still use stones, right?' She wondered in worry. As her eyes went around the room, she saw a very large broom made with sticks. She didn't waste time before breaking a piece from it. Just like she had done when she was still living in the slums, she used the stick to get fire from the burning lantern before using it to light up the second one.
Finally, she was done. And thankfully, the two women were still fast asleep. Madam Grace occasionally turned in her sleep, frightening Alicia.
It took several long minutes before Alicia left the house while holding the lantern by the tiny iron handle.
The breeze washed over her immediately she stepped out, but she ignored it. It was now or never.
She ran.
Her dress almost made her trip a couple of times and she swore loudly before gathering the hem in one hand, the other hand tightly holding the lantern as she ran for her dear life.
"Please Lord, forgive me my sins and take me back home. I don't want to stay here. I don't belong here." She prayed as she continued running, not bothering to catch her breath. After running for what felt like thirty minutes, she realized she still could not find any buildings. It looked like she was deep in the mountains. The only sounds she could hear were trees rustling, leaves falling, and some animal sounds. Sounds she had never heard before in her life.
"Where am I?" She asked, beginning to panic as she stood. She was panting so fast and hard as she continued to turn and look around her. She didn't know where she was.
Hadn't Paulina pointed in this direction when she was talking about the village? Why couldn't she find the village?
Before any other thought could register, she heard an animal growl which caused her eyes to widen in fear.
That was an animal? A wild animal?
Although it sounded like the animal was far from her, she began to move back, taking careful steps so that she wouldn't step on anything. She could literally hear how rapidly her heart was pounding.
Her already fast heart rate spiked when she began to hear things that sounded like distant voices and could see the faint glow of fire torches afar.
She was thrown into a dilemma as she began to wonder whether or not to show herself to the people. Maybe they would help her? Lead her to the village? On the other hand, what if they were bad people?
She guessed the latter was the answer when she heard a slash sound and somebody's scream.
She gasped loudly and turned to run away. As she began to run in the opposite direction, she wondered whether it was best to leave the lantern on or off. If she leaves it on, they may find her. If it was off, she would not see where she was going to and would probably bump into a wild animal or fall into a ditch.
Unfortunately, she was too lost in her thoughts and didn't take note of where she was stepping on. The next thing she knew, she tumbled and was rolling on the grass. Her first instinct was to scream as any normal person would have screamed, but she quickly reminded herself that her life was at stake. There was no point in screaming when it was not going to do anything for her but instead, cause her more trouble. Besides, at this point, nothing was normal.
When she finally got to the bottom and stopped rolling, she winced in pain. Her body felt as if she had been seriously beaten. She could feel pain everywhere.
"What luck I have!" Her voice was broken and it was only now that she realised that tears were escaping her eyes.
Thankfully, she found her lantern nearby and crawled to get it because walking seemed almost impossible right now. She wasn't sure she would be able to use her feet or entire body. Poor Princess. She was going to leave her with a battered body.
"Oh no! Don't do this please!" She cried when she realized that the kerosene from the lantern had poured away into the dried leaves on the floor. Even though she was glad it hadn't started a fire, how was she going to get through the night without the ligh—"
"Ahhh!" She gasped when she heard another growl. This time, it was behind her. Behind her!
She didn't wait to turn. Surprisingly, her legs worked and she realised she was running but there was nowhere to run to except she was going to climb back where she had fallen from.
Slowly.
Ever so slowly.
She turned around.
The first thing she saw was the deep blue eyes of a huge animal looking at her. The animal's height got to her chest region.
Her eyes widened in fear. She had never seen any animal this huge.
"Oh my God!" She gasped in fear and stumbled backwards.