Chapter 105
Veronica disliked the photo very much and wanted to delete it. The next moment, however, Matthew snatched her phone out of her hand. “Never mind, let me take a photo of you.” After taking her phone away, he took a photo of her alone and showed her the photo.
Veronica nodded in satisfaction, but as she scrolled through the photo album on her phone, she asked, “Where‘s the photo just now?”
Holding the umbrella in his hand, the man walked ahead of her and replied with a casual air, “I deleted it.”
“Oh, okay. It‘s fine that you deleted it. It didn‘t look good, anyway,” Veronica muttered, before setting the photo Matthew had taken as her phone‘s lock screen wallpaper.
That night, the rain poured down heavily, accompanied by flashes of lightning and claps of thunder.
Veronica lay wide awake in bed until about four or five in the early morning before drifting off to sleep. At some point in time, however, she was woken from her dream by Melissa, who shoved her a few times, saying, “Get up, Veronica! Something bad happened. Veronica, get up!”
Veronica asked in a sleepy daze, “What‘s the matter?” When she opened her eyes, she saw Melissa looking incredibly worried and anxious.
Melissa explained, “The rain was too heavy, and it caused a mudslide that took down the school on the hillside. The teachers and a few kids who went to school this morning are still there, so some people have been gathered in the village to rescue them. They asked us to tell those in Goon Village to evacuate.” Dawnpol Village was situated between two mountains that were very far apart, so it wouldn‘t be affected even if a mudslide occurred. On the other hand, Goon Village was situated close to the foot of the mountain. If a mudslide occurred, the consequences would be disastrous.
“A mudslide, you say?” Veronica‘s heart skipped a beat. Startled awake, she sat up in bed at once. “How could this have happened?”
Melissa replied, “You‘re right! I‘m scared to death. Many of the volunteers who came
we want to leave, but the rain‘s too heavy at the moment. Even if they want to leave, dey can‘t. She was anxious as well. After all, she had always lived in comfort without ever having to do manual labor or fend for herself. She only came to Almeida this ume because she got bored with staying in the city and wanted to experience life, but she never thought she would come across a mudslide.
Getting out of bed at once, Veronica got changed and walked out of the house with Melissa. Standing under the eaves of the doorway, she watched the rain outside, which never seemed to stop as though the sky had cracked open with water pouring into the crack. The sight was worrying. Worried about the school, Veronica asked, “What about Matthew and the others? Are they on their way to the school already?”
“Yeah, they are.”
“In that case, let‘s hurry to Goon Village. Something bad‘s gonna happen if we‘re late,” Veronica said to Melissa.
The two ladies walked out of the yard and stepped on the muddy road together. However, neither of them had time to care for their shoes, which became sopping wet in an instant, as they hurried toward Goon Village.
They hadn‘t gone far when a voice rang from behind. “Melissa? Melissa! Stop right there, Melissa!”
Upon hearing the voice, the two looked back to see Hendric coming their way in a raincoat. Pointing at Melissa, he questioned angrily, “What are you doing in such a heavy rain?”
“The village chief asked Veronica and me to tell the villagers at Goon Village to evacuate. Are you coming with us, Dad?”
Big raindrops were pattering loudly on the umbrellas in the heavy rain, forcing everyone to shout at the top of their voices so that the other party could hear them.
“I just knew you‘re going to Goon Village. It‘s too dangerous over there. Go back with me!” Hendric grabbed Melissa‘s arm without giving her the opportunity to say no. “It‘s enough that she goes alone. Go back with me!”
“Let go of me, Dad! I‘m going with Veronica. It‘ll be dangerous for her to go alone instead!” Melissa usually seemed unreliable, but she was worried about Veronica and didn‘t want to let the latter risk her life by going to Goon Village alone. She argued, “How could you be so selfish, Dad? There are still many people over there. If we‘re late, they‘ll be in great danger.” Hendric was worried about Melissa, but Melissa was a kind–hearted child at heart, so she was, of course, worried about Goon Village, the
situation of which was unknown.
“Whau nonsense are you talking about? You‘re my only daughter. How am I supposed to explain myself to your mom if anything happens to you? Go back with me!” Hendric chastised Melissa angrily while dragging her back without allowing her to protest.
Melissa kept struggling while looking back at Veronica. She yelled, “Veronica, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and lend me a hand!”
“You‘d better go back with your dad.” Veronica shook her head; she wasn‘t planning to take Melissa to Goon Village. Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Melissa was very delicate. If she went to Goon Village with Veronica, she would only be a drag on the latter, which wasn‘t a good thing. Moreover, Veronica supported what Hendric did very much.
Holding the umbrella, she quickly headed for Goon Village. Surprisingly, as soon as she reached the village‘s entrance, she saw the masked man coming her way with an umbrella in his hand. “You‘re going to Goon Village?” he asked her, his back bent.
“The school on the hillside has been taken down by a mudslide, so the village chief asked us to hurry up and tell those in Goon Village to evacuate.”
“I‘ll go with you,” the masked man said eagerly.
At that instant, Veronica frowned slightly. She shook her head in refusal, saying, “You‘re in poor health, and you walk slowly. Best if you rest at home. It‘s more convenient for me to go there alone.”
However, the masked man reminded her, saying, “Goon Village‘s households are scattered throughout the village. How are you gonna notify all of them on your own?”
His words knocked some sense into Veronica. In the end, she could only say, “In that case, just be careful. I‘m going first to the eastern end of Goon Village to notify them. You go directly to the western end of Goon Village.” There were no phone signals in the mountains. If anything dangerous happened, it had to be communicated to the others in person. Otherwise, no one knew what kind of consequences they would be facing.
“Okay.” The masked man nodded slightly.
The two went all the way to Goon Village while holding their umbrellas.
Marsi, Veronica thought the masked man would walk slowly with his stick, but she realized that he could keep up with her no matter how fast she was walking. Gradually, something stirred inside her, and she put her guard up against the masked man all of a sudden. This man isn‘t any simple guy, she thought.
Thunder rumbled as the two headed quickly toward Goon Village. The rain was pouring down heavily all around them, causing them to be shrouded in a layer of mist. Everything looked vague and indistinct, and muddy water was raging down the canal before them without restrain. Above the canal was a simple and narrow wooden bridge that only allowed one person to cross at a time.
Veronica hesitated for a moment while looking at the wooden bridge. Then, she looked back at the masked man and shouted, “You cross the bridge first. With such a strong current below the bridge, the bridge is gonna be flooded. I‘ll be worried if you cross the bridge after me.” She shouted at the top of her voice, as if fearing that the masked man couldn‘t hear her.
With his stick in one hand and his umbrella in the other, the masked man watched as river water surged rapidly down the canal and splashed against the wooden bridge. He replied with a nod, “Okay, I’ll cross the bridge first.” Then, he walked past Veronica and walked toward the bridge step by step.
Seeing that everything was safe and sound when the masked man calmly stepped onto the bridge, Veronica couldn‘t help but doubt herself. Am I being overly suspicious because I haven‘t slept well recently?
