235 A Barrel Full of Trouble (2/2)
The warrior didn't even seem to hear her.
She was certainly not the first to speak to him. At least a hundred people had already tried, and nobody had managed to make him say anything.
Someone, terribly frightened, had also tried to approach and hit him with weapons, but any tool used would bend or break in contact with the warrior's skin, hard as steel. The swords had lost their edge, the clubs had broken in two after the first hit.
And none of those who tried had managed to hurt him.
The girl took a deep breath before speaking again. ”So, are you sleeping or what? You have been scaring the whole village for more than week. Of so many places to be a scarecrow, why have you chosen this?” For a few seconds, she waited for an answer that showed no sign of coming. ”Look, I just got here and I'm not going to get kicked out of the store. I just want some peace.”
The girl's words seemed to contain a strange magnetism that made the warrior's gaze turn away from his horizon.
Looking straight into her eyes, the man slightly opened his mouth to say something.
The girl, tired of waiting, motioned him with both hands to leave: ”Come on, come on, go away. Go somewhere else.”
In response, the warrior sat down, his first movement after a week.
All those who had stopped to watch the show and those who were passing by began to rub their eyes. After countless attempts, had it been a skinny girl of mediocre beauty who made the thug react? Had he finally shown a reaction?!
A boy who had witnessed the scene was stunned: ”He really has strange tastes. Girls much more beautiful than her already tried to talk to him.” Although he had only whispered it, the surreal silence into which the path had fallen had amplified the sound, and had been heard by everyone. A companion of his nudged him and ordered him to be silent.
The warrior seemed to pay no attention to what was going on around him and finally said: ”I ended up here because I'm waiting for a friend. He's in danger because of me, also, and I'm waiting for his clan to make the next move. When the time comes, I will leave and I doubt you will see me again. Mine was not an easy choice, I ask you to have a little more patience with me. I doubt it will take much longer, a couple of months at most.”
He had really spoken!
The girl scratched her head: ”Ok, but please, if someone asks you, tell them that you are not a deserter or troublemaker. All the inhabitants of this village are here for a reason, and do you know what it is? They love peace and want stay out of trouble,” answered the girl.
At that moment, the warrior shifted his gaze to the yellow tunic the girl wore. My clothes are in a really bad shape, but such a tunic is really terrible. She looks like a canary.
The girl noticed the inquisitive look and asked: ”Why are you staring at me?”
”Um, that tunic is ... nice?” said the warrior, holding back laughter. Hell, lass, did you really had to wear that?!
”Thanks, how nice!” she laughed.
She laughed too, the fool.
After stifling his own laughter the warrior sat cross-legged with his swords over his legs and said, ”I will wait here until the right moment arrives.”
”I'll bring you something to eat, then,” replied the girl, winking.
”Lass, what are you waiting for to? Will it take long?” a croaking voice was calling the girl. Apparently, her task had been completed and it was time to get back to work.
”I have to go now,” the young woman observed, pointing to the door from which she had been pushed out. ”I am here temporarily, too. I have yet to decide what to do when I grow up, although kneading bread doesn't seem to be my dream job!”
She laughed and ran away, to the shop owner who kept calling her.
The warrior raised his chin to the sky, inhaling the air all around. He felt a lump in his throat and a rush of sadness ran down his spine.
From afar, behind a window, the girl looked at him while her hands were covered with water and flour.
”Hurry up or that bread will never be ready in the morning! It's practically rising in your hands, you idiot!”