Chapter 98: Following the Trail (2)
A Hooded Man!! That is the first clue!
"Did you ask him who it was, Martha?" Riku inquired, keeping his tone even.
"Oh, many times!" Martha exclaimed, a flash of her earlier frustration showing. "But he’d just brush it off, pat my hand, and say it was a ’secret mission’ for Lord Gregor. Something very important and confidential, he said. He told me he couldn’t tell me more, for my own safety and Pip’s. He also started leaving for the manor at odd hours, sometimes long after his usual shift should have ended, saying there was extra work, special duties."
"A secret mission?" Riku exchanged a look with Lila and Elara. This was an expected excuse if he had to hide something.
"Did he seem afraid of this mission, Martha? Or perhaps excited by it?" Riku pushed further.
"A bit of both, I think," Martha said, her voice thoughtful. "Sometimes he’d come back looking pale and worried, like he’d seen a ghost. He wouldn’t sleep well those nights. Other times... other times he seemed almost... hopeful, like he was involved in something grand, something that might change our fortunes. He brought home a little extra coin now and then, pressed it into my hand, and said it was a bonus for his discretion and loyalty to the Hummers."
She sighed, a deep, mournful sound. "He was always a good man, Master Riku. A good husband and father. He never kept secrets before this. But he swore this was important, for the good of House Hummer, and that it would all be over soon, and then things would be better for us. So... so we put up with it. I trusted him." Her voice cracked again. "But now... now he’s gone, and I don’t know what to think."
Pip, who had been listening silently, let out a small sob. "Father... Father promised to take me to see the performing bears at the festival next week."
Elara, her own eyes glistening with empathy for the child, moved to comfort Pip, murmuring soft words to him. Lila also did her best to comfort her