ANISHA'S POV
I had a dream in which pastor Noel Everdeen was smiling at me, and in the dream I had told him that I was getting tired of searching for Amelia. I was on day three and still had nothing; not even a hint. In the dream, pastor Everdeen had shown a very sad face and he said, "Anisha my child, I really hoped you would fulfill this one last wish of mine. Please don't give up. You will find her."
Early in the morning, while staring at the ceiling, I narrated to Valentina my dream.
"You probably just dreamt of him because you think about him daily", she said.
"I think so too. I am really tired. I want to give up now. It's not like he left some money or gift for Amelia. I mean, I have nothing physical to pass on to her; just an apology! Does it really matter?"
Valentina sighed and said, "well it mattered to pastor Everdeen. Since that was his last request, just try and fulfill his wish. Give it the five days that you had promised. If you fail to find her in those five days then you can stop. You would have given it your best.
I rolled over in bed to reach out for my phone. Eagerly I scrolled it and saw messages from Dylan. One of them read, 'is the search still on? Don't work yourself out, Anisha. I won't tell you to stop the search, because I know you won't. But honestly, if you fail to find her, it is OK to give up. I'm sure even if pastor Noel Everdeen could see you, he would know that you gave it your best.'
I smiled sweetly and re-read the message. There was another one which read, 'I really wish you could come back, Anisha. I cannot travel to Hallowcave now; there is a lot of work at the hospital. Please wind up the search and come back to me. If I could, I would come over now, and we could look for Amelia together.'
I smiled and re-read the message, I sat up in bed and started to respond to all his messages.
After I had prepared breakfast for Ms Meyerton, I made sure that she was comfortable before I told her I would be ack in three hours maximum.
"How many hair salons have you searched so far?," she asked me.
I fished out my little diary and looked.
"Twenty one. Imagine! I haven't found her after looking in twenty one hair salons!"
"Anisha my child, you have really put in your best. I think you can call it quits now. Remember Amelia was seen in this city many years back. It's possible that she left the country long ago, or worse still, she might have died! I don't wish her dead, but it's a possibility. I think it's time to leave it."
I smiled at Ms Meyerton and said to her, "I understand. Allow me to just search for the last time today. If I fail to find her, then I can forget about it." I said in earnest truth.
When I left home, I was already feeling tired before visiting any hair salon. I walked into one which looked rather fancier than most of the ones I had seen earlier. As I walked in, a girl was in a rush, almost running out of the shop. She was holding two small bottles of hair oil, and we bumped into each other with so much force that one of the bottles fell and broke. The shiny slimy hair oil flowed freely on the floor, and I watched as it dripped down the stairs.
"I am very sorry, pleased forgive me, I am sorry", I said.
The girl, who had fallen on one knee, slowly raised her head to look at me, and she made a loud angry sound
"If you can't watch where you're going, then surely..." she said something which I totally failed to pick, for I was not very fluent in the Hallowcave languages.
She spoke again in the other language, smirked and went back inside the hair salon. In a few seconds she emerged with a mop and roughly mopped the floor, leaving large streaks of oil on the floor.
"Let me help you. I will mop that.", I offered.
She glared at me from head to toe before tossing the mop at me. I slowly picked it up and mopped the area where the oil had spilled on.
She snatched the mop from me and walked back inside. She marched angrily towards the door. I heard one of the young men in the salon calling after her, "hey Tessa! So how are you going to explain the broken bottle?" the young man laughed.
"I...I can buy it for you. I mean, I can replace that hair oil." I felt compelled to do that.
The girl looked at me and said, "I'll have to hear if my mum wants that."
"OK I'll talk to her. where is she?" I asked.
"She's not here. Give me your number. If she wants the oil replaced, we'll give you a call. If she is ok with your silly mistake, you'll not hear from us." She said in a cold tone.
"Hey Tessa, who's that beauty you're talking to? Let her in! She is so beautiful!", the young man spoke again.
Since Tessa was already standing outside of the shop, I walked outside and stood next to her, and I took her phone to enter my number.
"May I also have your number?" I smiled.
"Why?" she snapped. "You don't need to call me. I said my mum will call you if she needs her oil replaced; not the other way round."
"Sure. It's Tessa, right?" I asked, still smiling.
"That's my name", she said as she was already walking hurriedly away from me.
I was left standing there, and all the searching energy was gone. I fished out my phone, which I had thrown into my bag, and typed to Dylan;
I'm putting a stop to the search. Its fruitless, and the people in Hallowcave are very rough. I plan to leave Hallowcave tomorrow.
Resignedly, I walked away from the hair salon and headed back home.
Later that evening, I informed Ms Meyerton and Valentina that I planned to leave Hallowcave, and they all begged me to add a few more days to my stay. Although I badly missed Dylan and wanted to be with him, I failed to dismiss Ms Meyerton' pleas for me to stay longer, so I extended my stay by two more days. As I was still speaking, my phone rang. I quickly answered.
A hushed voice came through the moment I said hello. "My mum said its ok, don't buy the oil. And she insisted that I call you!"
"Huh?" I was a bit confused.
"It's Tessa; the girl you bumped into. Literally."
"Oh OK, yes, yes I remember now. So she said I shouldn't buy the oil? Thank you. May I just talk to her and thank her?"
"Hold on."
Soon, a woman's voice came through. She explained briefly that the oil had cost her a lot, and she had really expected to make some profit out of it. "I didn't go to work today. It's me who works in that salon, not Tessa. So I sent her in to get that oil for me."
"Oh you work at the salon?" I asked as I felt a glint of hope. Somehow, I felt it was worth trying one last time, for pastor Everdeen.
"Yes I do," she answered.
"May I ask, would you know a lady called Amelia Reshell? She studied some years back at Cally's School of Hairdressing."
There was dead silence from the other end.
"Hello? Hello?" I spoke, but there was no answer. It did not seem like the line had disconnected, for I could hear soft breathing from the other end of the line.
"Hello are you still there?" I asked.
I was about to disconnect the call when a heavy sigh came through, followed by "Oh no. This cannot be happening."
"Hello? I didn't get that?" I spoke.
"This cannot be happening!" the lady's voice came again, sounding very much distressed.
"Sorry I can't follow," I said.
Silence again. A heavy sigh again, then a question, "Girl; who exactly are you?".