Maria's eye flung opened. She coughed. Her body felt deprived of oxygen. She had the same dream again. In a way, she was glad it ended so quickly this time.
"My arm…" She looked down at her right arm. It was still there, yet, it didn't feel like it. "My arm!" She used her left arm to pick it up. A cross-shaped scar was etched into her palm. She let go and watched it fall limply at her side. "My arm!" Her mind went back to the recent events. It hurt to think but she pushed on. She wanted to kill a priest…He called her a stray…"I don't get it. My best arm, I don't get it." She forced her self out of bed. "Milly! Milly! Oh god, is Milly ok?" The last image she saw before the darkness flashed before her eyes.
"Milly's ok. You're the one you should be worried about." Vash sat backwards on a chair next to the bed. He looked tired. He must have been watching me last night, Maria thought. "You should get back in bed." Maria felt helpless and cornered. She meekly nodded and returned to her bed.
"You have a little explaining to do," He held out her two daggers, but was glad he didn't find the third one. "Like why a young lady, like yourself, is armed." Maria looked away.
"Doesn't a lady have a right to defend herself?" She heard a familiar chiming as Vash held up her cross necklace.
"And could you tell me a little about this?" Maria tried not to look at him when she spoke.
"A little boy gave me that. He said it would protect me on my trip." He held it out to her. She cringed slightly, and then took it from him.
"Did you know what it was for?" She looked at, confused by the question.
"Well, I figured that since it was sharp enough, it might have been for self-defense…" She looked at her little cross.
"Did you know it was poisoned?" She dropped it out of her hand and watched it clank to the floor.
"Poison? It could have killed me?" Vash frowned.
"So, who really gave you the cross?"
Maria shook her head. "I wasn't lying when I said a little boy gave it to me, but someone else gave it to him. He said a guy that was taking care of him. He said that he gave him that cross and he thought it was only right if I had it."
"May God's Angels watch over you, ok?" He smiled sweetly and she returned the smile.
"Ok, I promise, I'll take good care of myself." She opened the clasp and placed it on her neck.
"It looks pretty on you Sister Ash Wood. Come back her when you can, ok?" Maria eyes shone.
"I promise!" She waved good-bye and walked away.
"In December…it was in December…" Maria laid her head against the pillow. "I want to go back to little December." She yawned but was struggling to stay awake.
"Get some sleep, Miss Ash Wood." He yawned. "I could use some myself, to be honest."
"Ok, I promise." He closed the shutters and walked out of the room.
"She's doing fine Milly, and could you not pull one my arm like that?" Milly let go of Vash's arm.
"Sorry Mr. Vash, I was just so worried." Wolf Wood lit another cigarette.
"So, is she angry that we stopped her from suicide?" Vash shook his head.
"She didn't even know it was poisoned, and beside, she looked more willing to kill you then herself, you big scary wolf monster." Vash laughed as Wolf Wood threaten to strangle him.
"And I thought you said some weird things in your sleep, but then, it always about doughnuts so it gets really boring after the first few nights." He dropped the butt on the floor and crushed it, and lit another one
"What? That's not very funny Wolf Wood!" He only gave a stout puff of smoke as his response. "Hey Milly," Vash walked away from Wolf Wood and approached Milly. "I think she really likes you Milly. Once she got over the loss of her arm, her next thoughts were about you. She wanted to make sure the big scary wolf monster didn't eat you." Wolf Wood dropped his cigarette.
"I would not eat Milly!" Milly started laughing, followed by Meryl and Vash.
"Oh no! The big scary wolf monster in angry!" They sung in chorus.
"You guys better cut it out. You're going to wake her up." He pointed to the closed door to the room that Maria was sleeping in. Inside they could her a muffled sound what might have been crying.
"Oh dear, come on Milly. We'll keep an eye on her. You two play nice, and no more scary wolf monster stuff, ok Vash?" Meryl stood up and gave Vash a cold stare, and then she and Milly went to check up on Maria. Vash gave a small sigh of relief
"I thought she was going to hit me again." Wolf Wood watched the smoke coming from the floor. He stepped on it.
"Any thing else she said that you want to tell me?" Vash nodded.
"Yeah, that she got the cross from a kid in December. Isn't that where you're from?" Wolf Wood looked out the small window of the house. It had been very nice of the people who lived here to let them stay. It was a nice house with nice people. Although it was more likely the people cleared out from fear then kindness.
"Yeah, I'm from there and was probably one of my kids, but I never gave them the crosses, I thought they were too dangerous for children." He eyes widen behind his sunglasses.
"Is something the matter?" Vash watched Wolf Wood stand up and pace the floor.
"I'm just thinking, that when she wakes up again that we should leave and give those elderly people back their house." Sensing Wolf Wood's discomfort on the previous subject, he dropped and complemented on the nice house the folks kept.
"I was thinking about that too, but there just one more thing, should we leave Maria here? Milly will have a fit…" He stopped. Wolf Wood had stopped pacing as well. "Do you hear that?"
Milly held up Maria's right hand for Meryl to see. "She's lucky she only lost her arm."
Meryl started to trace the scar. "Well this is a nice scar, but it's kind of scary to think about it." Then she folded the arm on top of Maria's chest. "Milly, I think it's a good idea to leave her here, before she wakes up. The people here are really nice…Milly? Are you listening to me? Milly?" Meryl watched Milly pick up the cross up off the floor.
"Pretty things are dangerous too..." She tried to place the cross next to the daggers on the nightstand. Her hand stayed above the nightstand and held the cross up to the light. "What a pity…that is what she said when we first met her." Milly was on the verge of tears. She threw the cross as hard as she could. Leaving it stuck in the neighboring wall. "Do you hear that, Meryl?" They fell silent. A church bell was ringing.
"But it's a little late for Mass, isn't?" They raced out to the other room. The men had left already. "Damn it, what's going on here?" Meryl shouted. Then the town fell silent. They cautiously crept toward the window. A man wearing a dark robe and a Shepard's crook in his hand was facing the men outside. Wolf Wood had already removed his clothe on his cross gun. Vash saw the girls through the window. He made a quick gesture and mouthed a few words. "Get out of her and take Maria."
Meryl closed the shutters and had Milly retrieve Maria. "Things can't get worse, can they?" Meryl cried as they ran through the back door.
"You have some thing of mine." Said the man in the robe.
"Oh really? Like what?" Wolf Wood snarled.
He waved his crook in the air. "You have my offering, Sir. I would like her back."
Wolf Wood looked at him furiously. "Don't give me that religious bull shit." Vash looked confused.
"Is he talking about Maria?" Wolf Wood gritted his teeth.
"No, he's talking about the sheep we stole from him, Of course he is talking about Maria!"
The robed man smile, amused.
"This is a fight for men of God only. I hope you don't mind if I wish for
today for you to be out of this one, Vash the Stampede." Wolf Wood looked at Vash.
"Go check on the girls, Vash. This shouldn't take to long." Vash gave him a worried glance, then left.
"How dare you call yourself a man of God? You're probably some cult leader passing off as one! Using people like that is a one way ticket to hell, if we weren't all ready here." The man only smiled.
"Oh, I don't use little Maria. She's too smart to think that what I preach is true. She always was her daddy's kid. Too bad I killed him, huh?" Wolf Wood aimed his gun at him warningly.
"Who the hell are you, and what do you want?" The man removed the hood of his robe.
"I'm Abel the Shepard. You have one of my lambs. She's an awful naughty one. She loves to wonder off. One of the flock told me she has even been spreading the word of God instead of my word. What a naughty girl. I should just leave her to die, but I'm a forgiving man. Now, wolf, open your mouth and drop my lamb."
Wolf Wood fired a warning shot.
"This is sick! You don't get to treat people like that!" The bell sounded again.
"Oh look, I've run out of time. Master Legato is waiting for me. I will get my lamb back though." He turned away. Another shot was fired. Abel turned, a long blade extend from his crook. He sliced the air as the bullet fell harmlessly into two pieces. Wolf Wood stood fixed.
"That's impossible." He looked at Abel as he walked away.
"Not when you have God on your side." He laughed as he faded away from view.