The Devil's Daughter by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 13

Anca and Nelu returned from the church. Once again, angry at having been excluded, they sat in front of the mantle, talking about how they would deal with their daughters' behavior. Nelu suddenly got to his feet and angrily pace across the floor.

“Our daughter is 'not' evil!” he yelled. “She is troubled, not cursed! Whatever evil lies here is in those mountains, and I will kill it myself and bring an end to this childishness.” He stopped near a window, and pointing towards the church, continued his rant.

“These people are supposed to be our friends, our family, yet they stand against us and judge our daughter as if she is the devil! I see it in their faces every day, and I am sick of it!”

Nelu then proposed they leave for the next village, discarding the people of Gura Haith like the gut pile of a dead animal. Anca, however, did not agree, making it clear that their families had been there since the village sprang into existence centuries ago.

“And they will not want us,” she said. “The people in these mountains do not welcome strangers easily.” Nelu suggested they move to Bistrita, a larger town. “There will be work there,” he replied. “And Alina will not be noticed so easily.”

But Anca was resolute in her desire to stay and briefly considered suggesting that if he wanted to leave, he could do so alone.

“But she will be noticed,” she said. “And we can't keep running forever. At least we know these people, and I believe they will come to accept her. Can you imagine the reaction of a town of strangers? No! We are staying here!” Nelu knew she was right, that running was not a solution and would likely cause more problems, possibly forcing them to live in isolation.

They decided, for the time being, to keep Alina indoors, away from the eyes of those who might be inclined to drag her back to the mountains, hoping for the return of a peaceful life. For a time, it seemed to work, but Alina reacted with anger and resentment, feeling as though she was being punished while having done nothing to deserve it. However, it didn't take long for Alina to find another way of making her presence known. During the day, she stood at the window overlooking the nearest houses of the village. In the mountains, people live closer together and are often intimately familiar with their neighbors' lives. As people passed by, she stood, staring. Some managed to ignore her but most were affected by her blank, unblinking gaze. Sometimes, she would offer a playful smile, offset with angry eyes, provoking peoples' fear and paranoia. However, in spite of complaints, Anca and Nelu refused to remove her from the window.

“She is in the house,” Anca said. “That should be enough!” Soon, those closest to them would avoid their house altogether, and while Anca and Nelu saw it as a relief from their complaints, they couldn't help but see it as a form of exile and felt they had been cut off from the everyday life of the village. But things would soon take another sinister turn, and again, bring the village to a state of alertness.