Chapter Five: Creeping Suspicions
When Papa sent Brainy and Vanity back to the village, they looked back only to see that he was not coming along with them, but rather remaining behind with Roesia for a little bit. He didn't get to see her often, Vanity supposed. And it was always nice to chat to her, have someone to listen. Someone that existed outside of the dynamics of Smurf Village, wherein the mere act of talking to her would not influence those dynamics – someone who wouldn't gossip. Someone who always seemed to know just what to say. Of course, Papa Smurf was always ready to have smurfs confide in him if they needed it, but he was also usually very busy – not so with Roesia.
Now of course, Papa warned against sharing any important information with Roesia, because they still didn't know to what extent they could trust her, and the last thing they wanted was important information falling in the wrong hands. So, what constituted "important information"? Vanity doubted there was much harm Roesia could inflict purely by knowing about his latest disagreement with Farmer, or if he told her about the fabulous birthday present he'd gotten for Wild, or how he and Smurfette had come to an agreement in their latest friendly debate.
In all of this, however, he was commendably careful, if Vanity did say so himself. He fully realised that in this manner, perhaps it was easy for something that would probably be best left unsaid to filter through. Well, the solution to that was simple. He always screened what he was going to say rather carefully, even when the subject matter was purely social and far removed from what one may constitute "important".
"You go and see Roesia several times with no issue at all, and yet Papa shows up on my first instance of going to see her," Brainy huffed, more to himself than anything. He just couldn't win!
Brainy - now there was a smurf who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut at the right times, Vanity thought. Perhaps his limited interactions with Roesia were for the best, as much for Roesia's sake as it was for the village's privacy. He didn't know anyone who could put up with Brainy for very long… well, except Clumsy.
"So," Brainy said as they walked back, "do you think it's a trap?"
Vanity pondered this. They were both probably being overly cautious anyway, although they'd trusted humans in the past and it usually hadn't ended well. "We just have to be careful… It's not like Roesia is a complete stranger - she's a friend. She's already had so many opportunities to try to capture or hurt us smurfs and yet she didn't, so I don't see why this should be different…"
That was good enough for Brainy – Vanity had interacted with Roesia much more than he had, so he would accept his judgement.
They arrived back at the village and helped work on doing up everything for Wild's birthday, not thinking much more on it. They'd just have to wait and see.
"Everyone I spoke to so far was sure they're always careful when they speak to Roesia…" Papa told Grandpa, feeling unsettled.
"Well, it can be easy to let slip something like that without realising it. I can only speak for myself, but it could have been something as simple as one of the others saying "while Papa was in the middle of working on a potion"…"
"I understand what you're saying, but…" Papa shook his head, "I think there's…" he paused. "I think it's better to err on the side of caution. Some of my little smurfs have been seeing Roesia an awful lot. I think they've been ignoring my request to only see her if they come across her, or if she's directly on the way to somewhere they're going."
Papa couldn't help but notice the rather guilty-looking expression that appeared on Grandpa's face when he said this.
Papa continued on, "I've been happy to look the other way up until now, because it's smurfy that the village has made a new friend, but…"
"…But you think it's best that they start seeing her less?" Grandpa prompted.
Papa looked at Grandpa. "I think it's best that they don't see her at all."
"Ah… that's a shame. You don't think it's a little hasty?"
"Just until we can find out a little bit more information about this Roesia and can be more sure that she can be trusted," Papa reassured Grandpa.
"Well… Alright. I trust your judgement, even though I feel that you may be worrying a little too much over this. When are you going to make the announcement?"
"No more seein' Roesia?" Sassette was perplexed.
"Ehh, that's no difficulty. She's not that great anyway," Nanny remarked. "I'm sure you'll be fine Sassette – Papa's said it should only be temporary anyway."
"I-if she can be t-trusted," added Scaredy, in a rare instance of speaking up.
Vanity and Brainy shared a look, both trying to discern what the other made of this development.
"Well, of course she can be trusted," said Hefty a little defensively, "but… alright, Papa Smurf."
"Now we can put it out of our minds, and just focus on Wild's birthday for tomorrow," Papa said, finishing on a lighter note.
The crowd began to disperse, only a minority (like Sassette and Hefty) seeming affected by the announcement. Vanity and Brainy gravitated towards each other.
"Are you still going?" Brainy asked in a whisper.
Vanity nodded. "We already told her we would. She'll be expecting us. Just the one last time… then I'm going to avoid her as Papa wishes."
"If Papa Smurf suspects that Roesia is hiding something… well, he's right. There's whatever she'll tell us about, for one. It may be completely benign but she still could have given him that impression as a result. So, if anything, we'll probably find out what it is and be able to sort out this whole misconception." In truth, Brainy's mind was set. He had planned on still going regardless of whether or not Vanity would be coming with him, at least to get the information.
"Well, either way, I'll see you, then," Vanity told him.
Yes, see you, then.