The Devil's Daughter by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 17

It was morning when the hunters returned. Those with little to no experience arrived nearly asleep on their feet. Being mostly farmers and tradesmen, they were not accustomed to traveling the woods at night. Those who had been assigned to stand watch over the village also remained awake but their senses had been peaked into alertness by fear. They had found nothing, not a track, not a sign, nor even an odor, lingering on the still air of the night. But they would be discouraged and would continue their search until the creature was found. Now, with no one having fallen asleep, both guards and hunters were called to the church by the elders, and after a few brief questions, it was quickly determined that the nights' pursuit had produced nothing. Yet, in spite of this, it was decided that the hunts would be carried out twice a day, and that experienced hunters would always take the lead.

The meeting was short and both guards and hunters were adjourned. But as soon as they walked back into the cool early morning air, a scream was heard. From a small house near the center of the village ran a young woman, carrying a small blanket, and with an expression of terror, ran, crying, towards the church.

“My baby is gone!” she screamed. It was her first child, having given birth only days ago. The entire village had come out to celebrate the birth of a new life. Now, it was gone.

“It was that creature, that thing that violated the Fathers' grave, wasn't it?!”

In a sudden wave of grief, the woman dropped to her knees as the hunters looked on with grave concern. “We must search the woods again!” Nelu said. Another of the hunters nodded in agreement.

“Yes,” he began. “Send the others home, and we will search beyond the trees.”

He looked around as others came out of their homes, drawn by the sound of a young woman's pain. “Where is her husband?” he asked. From the slope, near the trees, came a man’s voice. “Here!”

He had been, not part of the hunt, but one of those who stood guarding the village. However, shortly after day break, he decided to conduct a brief search along the treeline but was quickly drawn by his wife's panicked voice. One of the hunters told him to show his wife home and stay with her as they, again, sifted through the woods. Those who stood guard over the village were told to search the roads and between the houses. It was not imagined that the infant had been abducted, as trust had long been a part of the villages' daily life. But a thorough search turned up nothing. However, this was not the case for the hunters. Roughly half a mile into the tree line, they discovered what was left of the infant. A shredded, blood-soaked cloth diaper, a bit of hair and a few fleshly stripped bones were all that remained. Certainly, the parents would want what was left for a Christian burial, but it was hardly enough to bury. The hunters gathered round the sparse remains in silent prayer. When the moment passed, one of the hunters quietly spoke.

“We were just through here on our way back and I didn't see a thing.”

Nelu took the opportunity to try to sort out the confusion of their gruesome encounter.

“Did anyone hear anything?” he asked. At a loss for an answer, each tried to determine how they could have missed such an act of savagery -- the unholiest of crimes.

Without an answer, another of the hunters commented with something no one wanted to hear. “Whatever did this eluded us. How could we have missed this? I am afraid for our people. If we cannot see this thing in daylight, how do we catch it at night?” Again, there was silence. Ferel, the youngest among them, asked a pressing question.

“So, what do we do with the pieces?” Looking amongst the remains, Nelu was quick with an answer.

“Bury them, but bring the diaper. They need to know their child is dead but they don't need to see this.” After burying the remains at the bottom of a shallow grave, the infants' bloody garment was put in a cloth sack and taken back to the village.

Upon their return and in front of the many who had gathered, the mother of the now-deceased child ran to the hunters, pleading for her baby's safe return. Nelu took it upon himself to personally return the torn, bloody cloth to her.

“I'm sorry,” he began.

In completing his grim task, he reached into the sack, and pulling out the diaper, handed it to the young woman, whose wide eyes stared in horror at the blood that, less than an hour ago, coursed through the veins of her new baby. Slowly taking it from him, her eyes teared up as her face twisted into an expression of pain and grief. Inconsolable, she brought it tightly into her chest but in a sudden flash of anger looked up at Nelu and reaching a hand back, struck him across the face. Those who had gathered quickly broke into a murmur of remarks and questions, as she began ranting.

"This falls to you and that thing in your house! That child is a curse! She is the daughter of the devil himself! If I were not a Christian woman, I would strangle her myself!”

Nelu, now bleeding from his nose, remained calm throughout the incident as Ileana stepped in to defuse the confrontation and gently taking the young woman by the arm, walked her away. Remaining for only a few moments was her husband. His eyes bore into him with the fire of rage that would never subside. The infant was their first child and it’s tragic would scar their souls for the rest of their lives.