52 - A TENSE NIGHT

 52 - A TENSE NIGHT

Duarte had never felt so helpless before in his entire life. He felt like a mere spectator at the meeting scheduled by Delegate Vicente. The subjects they debated were completely foreign to him. First, the Chief asked Zacarias about all the haunting stories he knew, from the most innocent to the most lurid. And I listened to them with all the attention in the world, giving them an importance that they certainly didn't have... after all, they were little stories to scare naughty children at the end of the day... and more than that they couldn't being... who, in their right mind, could really believe in a being who used a whirlpool as a means of transportation and who could be imprisoned in a bottle? Well, by all indications, Vicente believed. In front of him was a notebook, and from time to time he consulted it. When he thought that some point in the story was not clear enough, he would ask his interlocutor to repeat it. He asked a lot of questions about a few topics... i.e. he was really taking this shit seriously. It was after ten at night, and Vicente showed no signs that he was going to end the conversation with Zacarias. Duarte was nervous because, on top of everything else, they still hadn't taken a break, not even to eat something. After much deliberation, he decided to interrupt the conversation, at least for a while...

- Deputy...

- What happened, Duarte?

- I don't know about you, but I believe that no one here has ever eaten anything...

Vicente looked astonished... he hadn't realized that the hours had advanced so much...

- Wow... what time is it, Duarte?

Duarte consulted his patacão, a graduation present he got from his father...

- Eleven at night, boss... and we haven't had dinner yet.... the worst thing is that there's nowhere to eat at this time...

- Guys, forgive me... I didn't see the time pass...

Juvêncio got up from his chair, stretched his whole body... after stretching for a few moments, he invited his companions to follow him... they all went to the inn, where a hearty dinner was waiting for them... the cook kept all food warm. After they had had enough, or as Duarte said at the end of the small feast, "after killing whoever was killing them", Juvêncio decided to continue the meeting right there, not without first asking permission from the owner of the inn...

As the hours went by, nervousness took over the members of the group. And Juvêncio just watched the reactions of each one of the group. In fact, apart from Juvêncio, only Zacarias remained calm. Alice started to show signs of nervousness when the clock showed half past eleven... Duarte showed signs of tiredness since eight and Alberto showed in his face that he really was exhausted. Considering the situation, Juvêncio closed the meeting, and everyone went their separate ways. When everyone was about to leave, Juvêncio made a sign, imperceptible to the others, but which Zacarias noticed right away... and remained seated in his chair. Surely the Chief needed some more information... and he wasn't sleepy, really...

After everyone had left, Juvêncio sat down again, and addressed his remaining friend...

- And then, Zacarias?

- Sorry?

- What did you think?

- Seu Vicente, I didn't understand...

- About the group's reaction, when you were talking about the demonstrations here in the region...

- Ah... well, I was the only one talking all night... I thought the teacher was going to say something too...

- It's about her I wanted to talk...

- Huh?

- You didn't find her a little weird?

- Like this? I didn't understand...

- When you were talking about witches and other beings of the night, she got very upset...

- Well, there are people who don't like these stories....

- I know, I know... but I thought her reaction was very strange...

- Your Delegate, she is a literate person. I am an ignorant of the land. Of course, she doesn't look kindly on the stories I tell...

- But isn't she a scholar of the histories of the land, man?

- Even so... you gathered us together to compare our impressions... and I was talking all night about werewolf, tatá ox, headless mule... we only talked about haunting all night... anyone would be tired of so many stories...

- Have you noticed that in the last hour she was a little nervous?

-Delegate, the girl works at the school... she is the children's teacher... she has to get up early and prepare the class she is going to give to her students... and staying here listening to the stories of an old man? Of course she was going to end up nervous...

- Maybe you're right... but, I don't know... something about her has changed over the hours...

- I didn't notice anything different...

- It could have been tiredness... I don't know... suddenly you're right... I'm the one seeing things where there's nothing...

- What do you need from me?

- For today? Nothing... but... if I don't go too far... would you mind helping me with some things I have to see to tomorrow?

- No problem... I ask my boss for permission...

- Don't worry about it... I've already talked to Mr. Nardi and he left you at my disposal...

Zacarias made an air of displeasure. He didn't like anyone stepping over him. Who did this delegate think he was, to take an attitude about him without consulting him first...? But after pondering for a few moments, he understood the law enforcement officer's situation, and decided to let the misunderstanding go... after all, they had much more important things to resolve...