CHAPTER 112
Frankison's entourage made its way along the winding road that cut through the darkness of night. Edward watched the dancing shadows around them, while a cold mist enveloped the landscape, making it all the more mysterious. The moon, hidden by dense clouds, cast its intermittent light over the deserted road.
Edward noticed the concern on Frankison's face for Elizabeth, and his gaze turned to the wagon where Malyn lay asleep and vulnerable, he knew all too well what it was like to worry about someone.
There was something deeper in the connection between the two brothers, something that transcended common understanding; Edward, witness to this bond, could not ignore the intensity that emanated from them.
The motorcade finally arrived in Hope Valle, and the first stop was the local café.
Bill and Charlote, the very friendly couple, welcomed them, as they were already there waiting for them. Sitting around a rustic table, they shared their stories and misadventures since they last saw each other there. There was concern in Bill's eyes, and Frankison could tell that something was wrong.
We recounted what it was like on the dangerous road, the obstacles faced and Frankison's urgency to get to Hope Valle. Charlote listened attentively, her expression reflecting the empathy she felt for the situation. Edward, noticing the anxious look on Frankison's face, knew that he wasn't going to get anything out of the conversation, because the look on Bill's face said something...
Frankison spoke abruptly, his chair dragging on the floor, echoing the tense sound in the café.
- Your father... Wynn, is injured and in need of care, after saving your sister Elizabeth from the clutches of William Thatcher who tried to rape her. It was a priority to be with him and see how he was... Frankison rushed to the infirmary, with Edward and Bill following as suspense hung in the air as they faced the unknown.
As they entered the ward, a heavy atmosphere enveloped them. The faint light revealed the father lying on a bed, with the pallor of grief on his face. The suspense increased when the local doctor, Dr. Carson, looked at them seriously.
Frankison moved to the side of the bed, his heart beating fast.
- Calm down, young man... he's sleeping on a tranquilizer.
- Because... Why did he need a tranquilizer? Is his wound very serious?
- Yes. It's not a pretty wound. But he's been operated on and is no longer in danger.
- But... then why?
- Your father held on until Jack took Elizabeth home. But then he collapsed. At first he was a ferocious bear, and your mother, Bill and Henry and I had a hard time holding him down in bed because he wanted to kill Willian Thatcher. Your father snapped out of it, he was possessed with rage.
- I'd never seen my father like that, so out of control.
- Frankison... young man! I'm not going to say anything about your father, because I had to hold back so as not to finish off that immoral old man. Just looking at Elizabeth, at the forensic examination, Jack and I had to stop ourselves from exploding, you can't imagine what it was like to see her with her skirts torn, those finger marks on her legs, her blouse all torn and part of her corset, her arms, neck bruised and her breasts bruised... Carson took a deep breath... now imagine your father, who saw through the school window, that monster attacking the girl on the floor on top of her and tearing her clothes?
- What did he do? Frankison shouted...
- I'm going to kill that old man, and I'm going to do it now... Bill and Edward, who had come up behind and heard everything, because they knew he would react like that, began to hold Frankison down and he struggled and screamed more and more.
Frankison didn't want to listen and didn't know anything, he just wanted revenge on the man who had hurt his sister.
Bill held one hand while Edward held the other, that young man was like an untamed mule. That's when Wynn's voice rang out...
- Doesn't a poor man have the right to sleep in this place?
- Father! Frankison ran to the foot of the bed and hugged his father, crying.
- Hi, my son... I'm fine, you crying boy!
- Dad! I'm going to kill that man, how could he do that to her?
- Frankison, I understand your anger. It's no less than mine or Bill's, or Jack's or even Carson's. You don't know what it felt like to see your sister lying on the floor, her clothes torn and screaming in terror. But he'll get the trial he deserves, I promise. He'll pay for everything.
- I also promise Frankison, as a foster father and as a judge, I won't rest until he pays for everything. Bill said.
Carson explained the seriousness of the injuries and the need for care in the coming days.
The suspense turned into palpable worry, and the fate of the family patriarch was now in the hands of the doctor's skill and the man's own willpower.
While Carson stayed with Wynn, the night unfolded outside the window. The fog persisted, creating shadows that danced to the rhythm of the uncertainty that permeated the environment. Edward, watching the scene, felt a mixture of hope, as if his family's fate were intertwined with the shadows that moved in the cold night.
Malyn, asleep in the wagon outside with Charlote, was oblivious to all this; they would be sleeping at Henry's house that night. While facing the challenges and mysteries of Hope Valle, the night continued to wrap the town in its cloak of suspense and secrets. Their fates were intertwined with the events of that night, and only time would reveal what awaited each of them.