Thanks for reading! If you like the story so far, I would appreciate it if you leave a good review. The next book is about Flora, the kitchenmaid and will explain more about the strange things that Jon experienced as well as provides information that would be useful later in the novel. Very important! I made several chapter insertions and sequence revisions in Book 2. To avoid having problems, you may delete this book from your library now, and then, add it back again. All your unlocked chapters should remain unlocked as long as you are a registered user of GoodNovel. This just ensures that only the latest revisions of the chapters are copied onto your app. Sorry for the trouble... P.S. If you'd like a change of mood and read some light comedy. Check out my fantasy novel also in GoodNovel entitled Journey Through the Shadow Realms.
The moon had set somewhere beyond the horizon, making the darkness of the night sky almost absolute, if not for the sprinkling of stars that shone even brighter with the absence of the celestial disk. The air had grown much colder and Flora shivered in the darkness as she waited for the sun to rise. She sobbed softly, not quite knowing if she would survive the night. There was only the dawn and the light it brings that she looked forward to, hoping that it would bring her fresh hope and that against all odds, she would be able to return to her home in Cardena. Flora remembered how barely two weeks ago, she was anxious as to how she could celebrate her daughter’s birthday who had just turned five. She blamed herself for falling hard for that selfish, lying scoundrel whom she called her husband. She had come to Malen many years ago to work as hired help for an old lady who was living off her savings and needed someone to stay and help her with her daily chores. Flora worked really har
"Ms. Flora and Ms. Eva?" It was the recruitment officer. The two women whose names were called stood up and were immediately ushered inside. The interviewer gestured for the two women to sit down in front of him and opened his mouth to speak. "My name is Pablo and I am looking for two housemaids who will be staying in at my master's house." "The two of you were selected. Congratulations!" The recruitment officer suddenly interjected and smiled widely as she clapped her hands enthusiastically. Pablo stared at the recruitment officer who realized that she had spoken out of turn and walked backwards to the far corner of the room where she stayed for the duration of the interview. "As I was saying..." Pablo resumed speaking, his disdain at being interrupted evident on his face. "...I have selected both of you to serve at my master's house. You will receive food and lodgings as well as very attractive salaries, more than what you were receiving at your previous employment. In return, you
On her way home after getting hired by Pablo, Flora reflected on what she had just been told inside the interview room. She knew that she should be happy for getting a job with good pay that also allowed her to live with her daughter. Finding a job had been more difficult lately because of the recent typhoon that destroyed the livelihood of many of the people of Cardena. Farms that grew rice and other crops were flooded while fruit-bearing trees were toppled down by the strong winds. Flora knew that many people were looking for a job and she was quite lucky to have been offered one. Surely, she could not let a good opportunity pass. Still, there was something heavy that weighed on her mind that kept on warning her to stay away from Orsica.Confused and very much worried about her future, Flora did what she always did whenever faced by big decisions and events in her life. She went to church.The church Flora went to was almost three centuries old and had withstood the many disasters th
“Surprise!” Flora held her hand against her breast as she felt her heart skip a beat. She had just switched on the lights when her daughter jumped from behind their battered sofa to surprise her. With her mind still occupied with thoughts of an unknown future, Flora was extremely jumpy.“Oh, help!“ cried Flora to all the saints, her face briefly displaying her fright before beaming into a smile when she recognized that it was her daughter who jumped at her. Flora lowered herself to hug Nadi who was only too happy at scaring her mother out of her wits.Flora kissed her daughter and let herself be pulled towards the sofa. She saw her friend Perlita standing up from where she hid with Nadi behind the furniture. Perlita, as always, had her necklace of synthetic pearls hanging around her neck and wore her sarong over a white shirt. She greeted Flora, gently pressing her cheek against hers and joined her at the sofa.“So which one of you thought about scaring me to death?” Flora asked her d
The two women were silent for a few minutes as they both processed in their minds what Flora’s future was going to be. In Perlita’s mind, it was akin to a death sentence based on the stories she had heard about Orsica and its infamous resident. How many stories had she heard over the years about the people and the boats that had gone missing while sailing close to the island? Recently, she heard about a relative of a friend who was supposedly hired by the rich recluse but was not heard from again. Some say that the person was still in Orsica and very much alive, enjoying working in the island while properly cared for by the master. Still, there were others who asserted that the person had not communicated with friends in the mainland and was most probably dead. The body would have been kept hidden or buried somewhere within Orsica, but it was more plausible that it was thrown to the shark-infested waters surrounding the island. Perlita’s own grandfather was also said to have sailed to
Very early morning before dawn, Flora finally closed the door of the house that had been her shelter for many years. She had a lot of fond memories of the house, having lived in it for so long, but she also remembered painful experiences that she endured while living there – the death of her mother as well as the news of her husband’s unfaithfulness.It was a small one-storey house made of light materials with just two rooms. It had a small backyard that used to have cages for chickens that her mother raised when she was still living but was replaced with fighting roosters by her husband, Tunying. There was a vegetable garden that Flora tended from which she would pick tomatoes, bitter gourd and horseradish to augment the food that she bought from the market. Flora hoped that the next tenants would tend the garden and take care of the house as well as she and her mother did. When Flora got married, her husband had come to live with her in the house. She had returned from Malen a few y
Flora heard a metallic click as she pressed the padlock to the door of her home. She saw that Nadi was looking at her intently as if sensing her sadness at leaving the house. Flora forced a smile and took Nadi’s hand as they walked towards a small truck where Perlita was waiting. “Come on, Nadi! We’re going to our new home!” said Flora, swinging Nadi’s hand as she tried to be cheerful. Nadi looked down at the ground and allowed her mother to pull her towards the vehicle. “Look! Aunt Perlita’s here to see us off.”Nadi glanced at Perlita who was looking at her from the back of the truck. The truck was used to transport fish and other goods to and from Cardena but seats were installed for passengers at the back. Perlita’s brother lifted Nadi to the back of the truck where Perlita was waiting and then helped Flora get on. Nadi yawned, obviously sleepy after having only a few hours of sleep.“Hi, Nadi!” greeted Perlita and moved to the end of the seat to give her friend and Nadi more spa
The crew in charge of security continued to rummage through Flora’s bags and thoroughly searched it for any other devices that were prohibited on the yacht and the island. Flora could only look on as she saw her belongings being searched. She tried to recall Pablo’s instructions and could not remember if he said anything about mobile phones being prohibited. Perhaps they were written in the contract which she was not able to read thoroughly on the day of the interview. Flora knew that Perlita would worry that she was not able to contact her, but there was nothing she could do about it now.The crew found a small mirror that Flora kept in her bag and asked Flora about it. “Do you have any other mirrors in your bag? Mirrors are not allowed either. The master said there’s no room for vanity on the island. We also don’t want you breaking it and hurting anyone.”Flora answered that she kept no mirrors except for the one the crew found. She let the crew take the mirror away. She did not real