Chapter 130
Linda and Bill had become the only people who could freely come and go from the mountain cabin.
It wasn’t Gilly who refused Linda’s suggestion to go down to the lower village—it was Raphaella.
Gilly still wanted the young Raphaella to have at least a parental figure, even if only as an adopted parent. But Raphaella stubbornly insisted on staying in the mountains, and Gilly’s persuasion was useless. Linda tried to soothe her with a pretty doll, but it didn’t work either.
Raphaella never said why. She couldn’t bring herself to tell them that going down to the village with Linda made her feel like she might be permanently separated from Gilly.
Bill couldn’t leave the blacksmith’s workshop often, so he only visited two or three times a week. Each time, he repaired the worn doors, stoves, and window frames of the cabin. In the meantime, he taught Gilly how to set traps and how to repair tools like axes and hammers.
But Linda, who had been a homemaker, came every single day without fail. She brought nutritious and delicious meals, bathed Raphaella, dressed her, and taught her to read, since Raphaella hadn’t fully learned letters yet. She also patiently taught her sewing and cooking.
The children absorbed the warmth and security of adults frighteningly quickly.
A month passed, and it became routine for Gilly and Raphaella to wake up in the morning, fetch water, sit on the cabin’s porch, and wait for Linda and Bill to arrive.
“Cough, cough.”
“Ella, stay inside. You keep catching cold from the wind, so your cough lingers for too long.”
“I feel cramped! But at least I don’t choke from coughing like before!”
“That’s thanks to the medicine Linda worked so hard to get.”
“Yeah! I don’t even have a fever anymore!”
“Still, that lingering little cough doesn’t go away. I’ll go make some ginger tea that Aunt brought. If you want, you can wait here and drink it.”
“Okay! I’ll do that!”
Gilly stroked Raphaella’s small head with a worried look.
But even after finishing two cups of ginger tea, Linda and Bill hadn’t arrived.
“They’re a bit late today.”
“Yeah. Today, Aunt was going to make roast chicken and braid my hair too.”
“That’s strange. I wonder if something happened. Maybe they slipped in the snow…?”
“Ah! That can’t happen!”
“Ella, stay inside. The sunlight is weak today since it’s cloudy. I’ll go meet them ahead.”
“I want to come too! Cough…”
“You’re not allowed out until your cough is completely gone.”
“Che! That’s unfair!”
“No matter how much you pout. Aunt Linda said coughing is dangerous, remember?”
Gilly tapped Raphaella’s small duck-like lips and laughed. She gently pushed her inside the cabin, and then started walking down the mountain path that led to the lower village.
The weather had turned cloudy and cold, and the snow had hardened, crunching unpleasantly underfoot.
Even after walking down the mountain long enough to see the village, Linda was nowhere in sight. Come to think of it, they only knew that Linda and Bill lived in the village—they didn’t know exactly where their house was.
Gilly turned back toward the cabin. She was afraid of entering the village and encountering trouble like last time.
As she walked back along the winding mountain path, she was startled.
Linda and Bill were already at the cabin.
The Gilly-Raphaella cabin was deep in a valley in the middle of a mountain range that served as a border between two countries. Its location was so remote that travelers or merchants passing by would never come across it—they always used safer, more efficient, and well-known routes.
In short, very few people knew about the cabin. Even the people of the lower village, though aware of an old, now-buried mountain village, didn’t know about the cabin or the hideout.
So how were Linda and Bill already there? Gilly hadn’t seen them on the way down—so how did they get there?
“Aunt! Uncle! How did you…?”
Gilly ran to the cabin, asking, but Linda suddenly hugged her tightly, speaking anxiously.
“Gilly! Where have you been?! Do you know how worried we were when we didn’t see you?”
“Aunt? What’s wrong?”
“There’s no time to explain in detail. Hurry and pack your things!”
Only then did Gilly notice that Linda’s hands were trembling. Instead of panicking, Bill calmly explained the situation.
“We need to evacuate immediately. It looks like the war… is starting again.”
“What??”
“The enemy has taken over our country’s castle. Everyone thought we’d be living under occupation, resigned to it… but someone from the royal family who had escaped is gathering a liberation army.”
“That means a war to reclaim the country is about to break out.”
“So we need to run before we’re caught in the crossfire and die for no reason.”
“This war won’t end quickly like the last invasion. The liberation army plans to strike the enemy country in return, so no one knows how long this tug-of-war over land will continue.”
“W… What? All of a sudden?”
“War always comes like a bolt from the blue. It happened before too.”
Even as Gilly listened to Linda and Bill, she was confused. All she could recall was the sound from when she and Raphaella hid in the cliff shelter—the echoing thunder that scraped across the mountains, the awe-inspiring and terrifying sound of tens of thousands of troops marching.
Gilly’s body shivered. Bill and Linda urged her on.
“Hurry and pack! Quickly!”
“We need to cross the mountains immediately.”
“Cross the mountains? That’s toward the enemy…”
“It’s safer to hide right under the enemy’s nose. There’s a blacksmith I know there—he can hide the four of us safely.”
“Then we must leave before the liberation army sweeps through! Hurry!”
Bill and Linda kept pressing Gilly, leaving no time to think. She couldn’t even recall how peaceful and quiet the lower village had been just a moment ago.
“Ah, okay! Wait a moment!”
“Make sure to pack plenty of blankets! We’ll be crossing the mountains all night.”
“Yes! Got it!”
Gilly quickly stuffed the remaining food and blankets into a sack. The noise woke Raphaella, who rubbed her eyes sleepily.
“Uh… Aunt’s here. And Uncle Bill too. But… what’s my brother doing?”
“I was just about to wake you. Ella, quickly get dressed. Wear your thickest coat.”
“Uh? Where are we going?”
“Nowhere we can delay. We have to go immediately.”
“Where? Why are we leaving all of a sudden?”
“Just put your clothes on!”
“O… O…kay.”
Gilly, packing so fast that her hands were invisible beneath the pile, inadvertently snapped in frustration. Then she froze, startled at her own outburst.
“I-I was just in a hurry! I’m not angry. Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll listen carefully. I’ll wear my coat and pack.”
“Aunt will help you. Let’s hurry.”
Linda helped Raphaella put on her coat.
“We’re going on a long journey now. You know there’s another country beyond the mountains, right?”
“Yes… It’s a bad country.”
“…Right. A bad… country.”
Linda’s eyes flickered strangely, but Raphaella didn’t notice as she tightly tied her scarf.
“My mom said we shouldn’t take what belongs to others. But that country came all the way here and took everything. So only greedy people must live there.”
“…Did they take something from you too?”
“Back then, my brother and I were hiding. We ate carrots and radishes in a cave. We wanted to go out because we were bored, but the sound of bombs scared us, so we never went out.”
“…So that cave protected you.”
“Yes! It’s an old shelter made by adults. No one who doesn’t know the mountain path can find it!”
Linda secretly gave Bill a quick look. Bill, standing by the doorway, nodded slightly. His gaze also changed subtly.
Linda softened her expression and looked at Raphaella cheerfully.
“It seems Ella knows the paths well.”
“Of course! I go picking raspberries and apricots all the time. I also know forests where mushrooms grow really well!”
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
“Well… my brother actually knows a bit more than me. Since he’s taller, he could go deeper into the forest for hunting with the adults.”
“…Really?”
Linda’s sharp gaze shifted toward Gilly, who was busy packing in the kitchen.
“Then Gilly will guide the way.”
