Dusk was slowly settling as I returned home, holding a pheasant in my hand, only to immediately realize that the room was empty. Entering inside, I heard a commotion coming from afar. Stepping outside, I saw a gathering in the middle of the village. From a distance, I noticed Lady Aldona standing at the center of the crowd, interrogating Antoni about what had happened to Ksawery.
I instantly thought this was my chance, and adrenaline surged through me. I stormed inside with near force and headed straight for the kitchen. Mark always kept his knife in the same place, by the fireplace. I grabbed it without much thought and ran out of the house.
With the knife in one hand and the pheasant in the other, I reached old Jan's cabin after half an hour.
His house was distinctly different from the others in the village. Entirely made of oak logs, with a wooden roof, it looked well-maintained yet slightly mysterious. Strips of drying meat and animal skins hanging outside the entrance gave the place an unsettling air. I paused for a moment, feeling the eerie scent permeate the air.
I approached the door with a steady stride, knocked, but was met with silence. Growing impatient, I knocked again—this time harder, enough to make the hinges tremble.
"Who's knocking at this hour?" Jan's sleepy voice came from inside.
"It's me."
"And who might 'me' be?"
"The boy you'll be training from tomorrow," I replied as the door began to creak open.
Suddenly, an intense smell hit me. Good Lord, does he spend all his earnings on the cheapest booze?
And in such a stench that even the cheapest vodka would feel insulted.
"Got a knife?" he asked, swaying slightly.
"I wouldn't have come without it," I replied, showing the blade.
Jan fixed his gaze on me, lingering on the pheasant in my left hand.
"Do you sleep with Lady Luck, kid?" he asked, taking the catch.
"What?"
"Nothing… you move like a fly in dung," he retorted sarcastically. "How'd you manage to catch it?"
Because nothing says "great hunter" like "a fly in dung." At least his compliments are original.
"Something startled it," I replied uncertainly. "It ran toward me…"
"And did that 'something' take your cousin for a stroll?"
News spreads too fast in places like this.
"…"
"Haha!" He suddenly burst into laughter.
Did this old geezer just laugh?
"You watched the boy you grew up with get ripped apart, and the first thing you did was come to me?" he asked, amusement lacing his voice.
"Well, I figured…"
"Enough, enough," he cut me off. "I don't want to hear it. Be in front of my cabin at dawn."
He slammed the door shut right in my face.
An old drunkard with a god complex, fantastic...
Night had already fallen outside. I hurried back home. When I reached the yard, I saw Izabela standing by the door, intently watching the horizon.
"Ball!" she called out upon spotting me. "Finally! I was worried something happened to you."
She was pale and sweaty. It was clear she'd been worried.
"I'm fine."
"Why didn't you come straight home?"
I did, though only briefly, to grab what was mine.
"After what happened, I was scared," I added, feigning terror. "I hid in the bushes, afraid the monster might return."
It's really easy to lie to Izabela.
"That was dangerous!" she cried. "You should've come back with Antoni."
"I was afraid…"
I felt her sympathetic gaze on me.
"There, there," she said, opening the door. "Come inside."
Crossing the threshold, I found myself in the hallway. I immediately noticed two extra pairs of shoes. Voices came from the kitchen.
"Do we have guests?"
"Yes, I think they want to hear your version of events," Izabela replied.
Entering the dining room, I saw who had come. Along with Mark, Antoni, and a tearful Aniela, there were two older people at the table. One was a gray-haired woman I already knew—Lady Aldona. Beside her sat a balding, elderly man.
Before I could say a word, Mark stormed over to me.
"I'll kill you, you little brat!" he shouted, grabbing me by the neck. "This is all your fault!"
I felt the vise tightening around my windpipe.
"B-but…" I struggled to speak. "What is this about?"
Did he figure out so quickly what had happened to his knife?
"Let him go!" the older woman's voice rang out. "I want to hear what he has to say."
The grip on my neck loosened, and I collapsed to the floor.
"We've already heard everything from Antoni," Mark growled through gritted teeth. "Why even bother talking to him?"
"Because I want to hear him out," Aldona replied.
"You won't boss me around in my own house!" Mark shouted, averting his gaze.
Aldona rose from her chair and focused her eyes on my uncle. Her gaze was so intense that, had it the power to kill, Mark would've been long dead.
"Just get on with it."
Now I was the center of the household's attention.
"Come here, boy," the older woman said with a touch of concern. "I'm Aldona, and this is Mr. Stanisław, the village headman."
I focused my gaze on both figures.
"We'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Questions?"
First, I need to find out what they know and whether they suspect me of taking the knife.
"Yes," Aldona continued. "Why did you go into the forest with your cousins?"
What?
"But I went alone…"
"Antoni claims you convinced them to help you hunt."
"I went alone," I insisted. "I wanted to do something on my own, not just ask for help."
"You're lying!" Antoni shouted.
It seems he's already told everyone his version. That might explain why Mark attacked me so quickly.
"I went alone," I repeated calmly. "They followed me. They wanted to steal my catch."
I tried not to raise my voice. There's no point arguing with Antoni when Mark is around.
"What happened next?" Aldona asked.
"I hit the pheasant with a stone, but I couldn't approach it. Someone grabbed my arm."
"Who?" Aldona inquired.
"Him," I pointed at Antoni. "And Ksawery approached to take the prey."
"Are you trying to tell me my son lied?!" Mark bellowed.
I didn't expect someone as thick-headed as Mark to be objective.
"And then?" Aldona pressed, testing the consistency of my story.
"A monster ran out of the forest and snatched Ksawery…"
"What did it look like?" Aldona asked.
"It was a wolf, as big as a bear, with red eyes."
"You're lying!" Mark snarled.
"I'm telling the truth," I replied. "Even if I'd asked my cousins for help, as Antoni claims, they wouldn't have agreed. They don't like me."
"Off to bed!" Mark ordered.
As I left the kitchen, I overheard a snippet of their conversation.
"Stanisław, we need to send word to the town," Aldona said.
"Agreed," Stanisław nodded. "Someone must handle it."
At least one good thing came out of this. Thanks to the commotion, Mark hadn't noticed the missing knife.