CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Betrayal and Blessings

For the thinnest sliver of time, Pascale could not grasp what she had just seen and heard. It was as though a strange cosmic shift had suspended her in that dreadful moment, while the rhythm of life continued forward without her.

Kenta and Karuna moved quickly back to her side, ready to offer what comfort they could. Their kindness surrounded her as the awfulness of what had happened began to sink in. Pascale’s lips moved soundlessly while nearby Vimal murmured again and again how sorry he was.

His voice was anguished and Pascale had no doubt his remorse was sincere. He had come to do her a good turn and it had gone horribly wrong, but it would be just as wrong to cast blame on him. Not when his intentions had been nothing but kind.

Because of this, she struggled to hold her grief in check, a feat made easier by the shock of the moment. Even so, she could not prevent the tears from spilling out and trickling down her cheeks.

Everyone near enough to have witnessed the sad event turned their attention to the stricken girl. Only the briefest of glances fell on Vimal, which was his good fortune. If anyone had looked closely, they may have caught a glint of triumph in his eyes, for the eyes often betray the heart’s secrets.

And indeed, Vimal’s thoughts contradicted the despair he pretended to feel. Those thoughts were self-satisfied and dancing with the glee of revenge.

Best of all, he was certain to get away with it. No one would ever suspect his actions had been deliberate.

The idea to do this terrible thing had come to him almost as soon as his mother placed her bonnet in his hands and sent him to give it to Pascale. What a simple matter it would be, he thought, to do away with that nasty beetle, and to make it look like an innocent mistake.

His mind was made up before he reached her. He would show that girl!

And he had, even if he alone knew what he had done.

Word was spreading and the crowd around them grew as others moved closer. It was true no one understood Pascale’s peculiar attachment to Inch, but that did not lessen their sympathy. Their hearts were touched by the anguish on her face.

Pascale’s head was down, her shoulders slumped. She seemed shrunken, somehow, and had grown very, very still.

Karuna was on her right, an arm gently cradling her friend’s shoulder, while Kenta stood at the other side.

Vimal put a hand over his mouth and pretended to choke back a sob. He told her once more he was so very sorry.

Pascale’s hand fluttered up then, and wiped tears from her cheeks. She tried to answer Vimal, but her throat hurt so much it took several attempts before she managed to speak.

“You are not to blame,” she said at last. And her hand, still wet with tears, floated across the space between them and lighted gently on his.

It was but a ghost of a touch and yet it sent the oddest feeling up the boy’s arm and straight to his heart. In an instant, the pleasure his terrible deed had brought him crumbled into dust.

Pascale knew nothing of this. The only thought on her mind was her tiny friend.

“Oh, Inch,” she whispered piteously. “Inch, Inch.”

And to everyone’s enormous surprise, looking as though he had been suddenly wakened and summoned forth, Inch wobbled out from under her bangs, down her forehead, and stood squarely between her eyes.

“Inch!” cried Pascale. “You’re alive!”

Vimal gasped, this time in genuine shock! Heart pounding furiously, he tore wild-eyed from the building and raced home as fast as his feet could carry him. With every bounding step his fear grew.

“I know I squashed that bug,” he told himself.

His mind went over the moment — how he had felt carefully for the beetle as he adjusted the bonnet on Pascale’s head. Excitement had surged through him when his probing fingers found what they were seeking and closed together, squeezing as hard as they could.

Had he not seen with his own eyes how it was crushed, its insides pushed out, before he flung the thing away?

There could only be one explanation for its return to life, moments later.

“The girl has some kind of strange power,” he whispered to himself.

His heart froze with terror at that thought. It could only mean Pascale really was the Long Awaited. And who knew what his plan to kill her beetle might mean to the fate of TeJÉ?

Vimal would never know that his malicious attempt to murder Inch had actually been foiled by Oralee Oceansong’s raisin.

The traditional giving of stones to the newly married couple took place the following afternoon. Irina and Gabor joyfully welcomed the villagers who arrived at the door of their new home.

It did not take long for the collection of stones to build up. A small handful grew slowly until there was a modest mound. As the afternoon slipped by, it swelled and expanded and as always happened, it seemed as though the love in the new couple’s home also grew.

The beautiful thing about this tradition was that the gifts came with meaning. Each person or family brought, along with the stones, words of blessing for the couple and their new life together. In this way the stones became messages, soon to be permanently embedded in the main floor, forever representing the abiding love of their community.

Because she and Oralee were giving a stone together, Pascale joined the Oceansongs when they visited the couple. Oralee made her presentation first.

“I gathered a lot of stones and I had such a hard time picking which ones to give you,” she said earnestly. “I wanted to be sure I gave you the best ones because I really, really like you!”

Irina and Gabor nodded and somehow managed to maintain solemn expressions, although their eyes twinkled at the child’s innocent charm.

“These are the ones I finally decided to give you,” Oralee said, holding her hands forward to show them her stones before she laid them on the pile.

“They are lovely!” said Irina.

“Very fine stones!” added Gabor. “They will be a wonderful part of our home.”

Oralee beamed and stepped back. Just as quickly, she lurched forward again, having remembered that a blessing should accompany the gift.

“And I wish you EVERY good thing!” she said. She threw her arms wide apart to demonstrate the full largesse of her words.

Irina and Gabor thanked her, and Irina told her she must be sure to come over to see her stones in the floor once it had been set with resin.

Pascale then stepped forward shyly and placed her stone with the others.

“Oralee and I found this together,” she said. “So it is from both of us.”

Gabor’s eyes widened at the sight of the unusual stone, which was easily the most beautiful one there. He reached out to pick it up and he and Irina admired it for a moment. Every couple chose a special stone for the central position in their floor, one which all the others would be arranged around, but no one in the village had such a specimen as this.

“My wish is that you will always love each other,” Pascale said, pleased with how well her gift had been received.

Then it was time for Mr. and Mrs. Oceansong. They went forward and added their stones to those already collected there.

“We wish you much happiness,” said Mr. Oceansong.

“Thank you,” Irina and Gabor said together.

“And may you be blessed with good health all your days,” said Mrs. Oceansong.

As their visitors left, Irina felt a shiver of fear. The last words echoed in her mind. All your days. But how many would that be? The next day was the seventh from the time the butterflies had appeared, and she could not free herself from a single thought.

What if …?

Her eyes drifted to Gabor’s dear face. Her husband! How she loved him.

What if …?

But no! She mustn’t think such things. Look how healthy he was, how strong! She was being foolish.

And yet, she knew it would be a great relief when the next day was over and Gabor was still at her side. He simply couldn’t be the one death was coming for.

Anyone but him!