The chapter is really short, and I'm so sorry for that. ^.^; I just couldn't really think of anything for it. But I'll try and make it up to you guys in the next chapter. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.
Killer
When we returned to the village, most of the villagers were standing near the centre, talking. The news that I had been caught with a white man who then killed Shea had traveled fast...
As Kimama and I walked through between huts, everyone turned to stare at us, but didn't talk. I kept my head low, and didn't look up until Kimama and I had disappeared into her hut.
"Are you sure you're alright?" my friend asked me, looking at me with concern in her eyes. "He didn't hurt you?"
"No, Kimama, he did not," I snapped irritably. "Vaughn didn't do anything to me."
"Why do you call him by that name?" Kimama asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
"Because that is his name!" I said, avoiding her eyes by staring into the fire in front of us. "He did not kill Shea, Kimama; it was another, Mark." I didn't tell her that he was my brother; that would have only made things worse.
"How do you know this?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Because I saw him, disappearing into the woods." I explained. "He was carrying a gun."
"Those sticks the white men carry that shoot fire?" Kimama questioned, rather amazed that I knew what they were called.
"Yes," I said, still not looking at her. "Vaughn is innocent. He did not hurt anyone. They have the wrong man, Kimama. It is Mark they should be holding prisoner. And many others, as well."
"Like who?" Kimama asked, curious.
"There is an old man, Taro," I said, looking up a little. "I saw him in the forest, talking to Mark and another. They were planning to attack the village, and kill us all to take our land."
"Then we must warn Wada!" she exclaimed, jumping up. I was surprised at how fast I had managed to convince her. "We cannot let the white men reach the village!"
I nodded, and we both ducked out of the hut.
"Where is the white man being held?" Kimama kept asking every person we met until someone gave us an answer: he was in the hut beside Wada's.
Kimama and I rushed to the hut, which was being guarded by two warriors.
"Where is the chief?" I asked one, who pointed with his spear towards Wada's hut. We nodded our thanks and hurried into the hut.
Shea's body had been laid out in the middle of the room on a magnificent fur blanket, his eyes closed as though he were sleeping. Wada and the village shaman were crouched beside the body as the shaman prayed to the gods to look after Shea and protect his people.
"Wada?" I called out softly, looking at the man.
Wada's head snapped towards me, his expression angry and distressed. But his face immediately softened when he saw me. The old man slowly rose to his feet, and hugged me tightly.
"Oh, Nidawi," he said, backing away from me. "How upset you must be; the white man attacked you and then murdered my son!" Tears glistened in his eyes, but the chief hastily blinked them away. "What did he do to you?" he continued. "That white man? How did he hurt you?"
"That's what I came to talk to you about, Wada," I explained, clasping my hands in front of me.
"Of course, of course," Wada said, sitting down away from Shea's body and motioning me to sit down beside him. "Come sit down. Now, what did he do to you?"
"Nothing," I said, sitting down beside the chief. "Vaughn didn't do anything to me, and he didn't kill Shea either."
Wada stared at me for a few moments; that obviously wasn't what he had been expecting to hear.
"What are you saying?" he asked, blinking at me in shock. "Of course he killed my son; there were no others around him with the same weapons."
"Yes there was," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "In the woods, I saw him. He killed Shea, not Vaughn."
"I do not believe you," Wada said, quickly getting up and going back over to where his son lay motionless and dead. "I cannot believe you. The man will be executed at dawn."
Dun dun dunnn! (Have you ever noticed that I say that a lot?)