Rain fell down from the sky on the land of Franklin. One drop following the other making the view of the village dark and dull where one couldn't see what was ahead of them after a certain distance. Water flowed down the little street carrying the muddy dirt where a little girl stood under the umbrella with her aunty and uncle.
The young girl's blue eyes moved left and right in front of her to ask, "Aunt Maria, do you think they will come? The rain is getting heavier."
"They will come, Nina," her aunt rubbed and wrung her hands together. The rain was really getting heavy along with the wind, moving the direction of the rain every once in a while. Her aunt gave a look to her husband who stood next to her while they waited for the expected man to arrive.
They had been standing there with a sack of potatoes and onions mixed in the sack which had to be sold to a customer today. Her mother who had raised her had passed away six months ago she had stayed at the aide of her grave for 2 days straight crying her eyes out and since then her maternal relatives were taking care of her who owned a little shop at the corner end of the market of the village which sold vegetables and grains.
The shop didn't do well. Her Uncle Sammie worked hard, waking up early to be the first one to open the shop. But no matter how early he rose the income was lesser than the expectations. The shop wasn't located at the best spot making it so that the local folks and the people who belonged to the elites finished buying what they had to buy from the closest shops which was the opposite where their little shop was, this made her uncle a very grumpy man.
One of the customers had apparently requested for the vegetables urgently an hour ago and even after more than an hour had passed there was no one in sight. It made Nina wonder if the man would even come in such rain unless it was a person from the higher society who was holding some kind of party which people like her and her family weren't fortunate to look at it.
"Are you sure he is coming today?" heard her Aunt Maria ask her uncle who didn't respond to her.
"Let me go check the market to make sure they aren't there," said her uncle, readying himself with the umbrella to be stopped by his wife.
"I will come with you. I don't want to find you later with you on the ground with your back broken, Nina, dear," Aunt Maria turned to look over her shoulder to meet her niece's eyes that looked vibrant in the rainy weather, "Your uncle and I shall go see if the man is waiting for us at the entrance. Stay here and don't go anywhere so that we don't come looking for you next. Okay?"
"I can go take a look instead of you. I will be quick," the young girl promised that had her uncle shake his head.
"The last thing we want is you getting lost. Do what you are told," Uncle Sammie's words were sharp. He had always been sharp with her which often made her think if he didn't like her staying under the same roof as him.
"Don't worry about the vegetables. I will guard them safe," Nina smiled to have her aunt give a small nod to her before walking away with Uncle Sammie under the single umbrella. The rain continued to pour, a light thunder that kept growling up in the sky. The rain was common to the people who lived in Franklin as the days experienced rain than sun here.
The bell from the tall tower rang loud enough to be heard over the rain and thunder. The sky turning darker as a carriage passed by her without stopping to ask why she was standing alone in the rain or if she needed to go somewhere as she stood under the little roof that reduced the speed of the rain on her black umbrella.
The rain had started to move in the direction where her feet and the bottom of her dress started to get wet. Just as she stood there waiting for her uncle and aunt to return while also keeping an eye so she wouldn't miss the customer who had agreed to come to take the goods, a particular carriage came to pass by which was dark black in color.
Nina didn't know who it belonged to as every carriage came to appear almost the same which belonged to the higher men and women of the society. The most she had done was travel in the local carriage which was always packed and was used to travel from one village to another.
What Nina didn't know was that the carriage that had come to pass by had turned around to stop not far from where she stood. "Master is everything alright? Did you drop something?" asked the coachman of the carriage who had pulled over.
The man inside the carriage didn't reply to him, ignoring his coachman as he stared at the girl in the umbrella. The rain kept pouring down whilst she stood, her hands clutching tightly the umbrella. Her eyes scanning around her every once in a while until a loud thunder made way past the cloud.
Raising her face to look up at the clouds, he saw her smile which skipped his heart. She was a beautiful young girl, her golden hair tied into a single plait where the ends came to rest on one of her shoulders, her blue eyes were very captivating. Even with the rain, he could still see her quite clearly. When the wind increased, her slender hand came to tuck the pieces of hair that came to cover her face.
Her features were rather delicate and charming and if he could, he would have liked to go over but there were other matters to be dealt with in hand today. Pressing matters which needed his attention.
"Shall we leave, master?" the coachman asked him, waiting for his word which didn't come immediately.
"Yes," Oliver said. the word, taking a final look at the girl who had caught his eye.
Thankful that he wasn't going to get further wet in the rain, the coachman pulled the reins of the horses to start the carriage.
Nina continued to wait in the rain along with her umbrella until she felt it was too long since her uncle and aunt had left her here. It worried her if they were alright, making her wonder if she should go look for them as they weren't young and one didn't know what could happen in the rainy weather due to the slippery ground. She decided to wait for ten extra minutes before she would go and check on them.
Thankfully in time, she saw a figure appear through the rain, walking with an umbrella. It was a man and by his clothes where he wore a coat over his body, she guessed him to be the customer. He was late! Nina didn't like that just because they were poor, the elite society could do what they wanted. Their time was as important as theirs.
The man came walking towards her and when he was in a close-ranged distance, she said in anger, "Mister, you are more than an hour late from the given time. Don't you know the vegetables might soak in the water due to your no value for time? You will have to pay extra for making us wait," she raised her brows to make sure he understood what she said.
The customer stared at her, his black eyes raking her from top to bottom which made her uncomfortable, "Where are your uncle and aunt?" he said, he had a scar that ran from his left eye to his chin which her feel suspicious about him.
"They went in search of you as you didn't arrive on time but they should be back soon. Are you Mr. Joseph?" she inquired.
"Yes," he said looking around the vicinity to see no one here. Most of the villagers had gone to take shade under their home to prevent themselves from getting wet and catch a fever due to the rain.
"Your good is right here. Pay the money and you can take it," Nina patted the sack of potatoes and onions that were stuffed inside the sack and tied.
The man stared at her, a smile coming to form on his lips, "The payment has already been made," it did? Thought Nina to herself. Maybe the man trusted her uncle and shared a decent business with him. Suddenly the man instead of taking the good that was next to her where she had stepped aside went to hold her wrist and pulled her.
"What are you doing, Mister?!" Nina was startled by his behavior, "Let go of my hand," she said firmly as she tried to pull it away from him but he was strong. Unable to get away from him, she picked the carrot she had previously placed on the slab as it was a rotten one. Taking hold of it, she slammed it right into his face which dug into his eyes making him scream in pain. He let go of her hand and she closed the umbrella to beat his head with the edge of the handle before making a run from there.
She was running endlessly trying to get away from the psycho chasing her, she hit her leg on a stone and fell but stood up almost immediately and continued running, using her hand to hold her gown up so it won't prevent her from running as fast as she could.
Nina heaved for air as it had been a while since she had last run like this. The last time she had run this fast was when she was being chased by a horse in the field. For an odd reason, the animal just didn't like her and preferred to chase her like it had nothing else to do in the world. Thankfully it was sold two months ago to her aunt's dismay.
Hearing the splashing sound behind her, she covered her mouth and pulled her wet dress between her legs so that it wouldn't be seen by the man. She could feel her heart pound against her chest out of fear. Carefully she moved around the pillar when the man stopped to see where she had gone. There were three routes around the corner and she took the curved route and prayed for the man to take the straight one.
As expected the man did take the straight route and she couldn't tell how thankful she was.
Nina walked around the pillar and started to run in the direction where she had come hoping her aunt and uncle had returned. When she did reach, they weren't there yet and she wondered what to do, she looked around to see if she'll see any sign of them but she didn't. She decided to go home, taking into account that she wouldn't be able to carry the sack of vegetables easily, she decided to leave it there for now and started to walk on the road to her home.
On her way in the rain she paused her footsteps to turn and see if she were being followed and when there was no one there, she let out a sigh of relief and turned back to see Mr. Joseph standing in front of her, she shrieked and not a second later his fist came right at her and she fainted.
Thunder growled in the sky, the wind changing and the rain stopping as minutes came to pass by where no one saw a young girl being abducted.
