70 - THE THREE MARIES

 70 - THE THREE MARIES

The three friends walked together through the meadow... they walked slowly, all senses attentive... prepared for any kind of surprise that might present itself. But... amazing... as much as they looked, no enemy crossed their path. Out of the entire group, they were the only ones who hadn't faced any opponents yet. You could tell they were avoiding them...

The sky was still heavy. The lightning cut the skies clearing the whole world... the thunder sounded stronger and stronger. No sound of the nocturnal creatures was heard... in fact, it seemed that one was walking through another world, as nothing could be heard but the thunder that reverberated throughout the sky. Graça was the first to notice the flickering light that was approaching... it caught the attention of her companions, who immediately put their hands on the butts of their weapons... a few steps away from three, the light took the shape of a person... .it was the Woman in White, who was finally making her appearance...

Alberto continued his fight against his enemy. The beast began to lick its lips, realizing that the doctor was beginning to show signs of fatigue. The doctor began to worry about his situation, because he knew that in his first hesitation the strange being would attack him. Alberto began to wonder if it wouldn't be better to immobilize the creature, since that strange dance performed by the two of them was wearing out their energy... Immediately, he vibrated his whip in the air and made it wrap around his enemy's body, knocking him down at once... the beast struggled, trying to escape the braided leather that bound it, but the small silver ornaments embedded in the tip of the whip prevented it from succeeding in its attempt. At this point Alberto thought about what he would do, and came to the conclusion that there was only one thing to do. Immediately, he drew his revolver and pointed it at the immobilized being, who, upon seeing the barrel of the gun pointed at him, began to laugh, as weapons did not have the power to take his life... what the Papafigo did not count on was that the ammunition used by the good doctor was silver... and the projectile expelled from the gun's chamber dispatched the creature to another plane. Alberto approached the motionless beast with great care, drew the machete he was carrying at his waist, and repeated the gesture that he witnessed Juvêncio doing... he cut off the strange being's head. Immediately the figure decomposed, and soon only memories of the fight remained in the doctor's memory, as the body of his enemy no longer existed...

Juvêncio and Duarte walked side by side, all senses on alert... Duarte still showed signs of tiredness from the fight he'd had against the two enemies... but he knew he couldn't let tiredness win... not tonight, at least. any less. The two continued walking, very cautiously, when they saw a figure walk towards them. Immediately, they stopped and raised their hands to the butt of their weapons. But soon the figure identified itself, it was Zacarias, who was happy to meet them... the three got together and caught up on the news, Zacarias explaining that he had been forced to exterminate the two werewolves, although that was not his wish, Duarte counting that he was saved at the last moment by the quick and accurate action of his colleague in charge... and the three continued their journey, all senses on alert, because according to his account there were still five enemies to defeat...

Alberto began his walk towards what seemed to be the apex of the storm... he went slowly, with measured steps, and redoubled attention, because he knew that there were still dangers hovering in the air... after all, he eliminated only one of the beings that were hunting them that night... after walking for about half an hour... a little more, a little less, he visualized the figure of three beings who were going in the same direction as him... they must have been at a good distance, but if he If he quickened his pace, he would surely catch up with them in a short time. And that's what he did... half an hour later, he could already identify, without fear of making a mistake, who the people in front of him were... and luckily they were his friends...

Now the four walked together aware that, theoretically, there would be five enemies to fight... although, as Zacarias had already explained before, one of them would not confront them at all. The most he could do would be to leave them confused during the battles... but so far this had not happened, which could mean that the Curupira decided not to take any sides in this fight... but it was still too early to reach that conclusion. any conclusion... if only because he could very well have been focused on protecting the Woman in White....

After a good walk the four reached where the three girls were... the three remained still, attentive, fixing a point ahead of where they were. And that's when the four companions realized that Alice was facing the three girls... not very close, to be honest... maybe a hundred, a hundred and fifty meters away. She wasn't alone.... sitting on a throne made of bones, which rested on the back of two serpents, whose scales shone into the night, and their brightness surpassed the glare of the lightning that continued to cut the heavens... and, beside the throne, waiting On the queen's orders, there was the infamous headless mule... therefore, the picture was complete... the female vampire, the tatás oxen and the headless mule... only the curupira was missing, but that one would never allow itself to be seen by the mortals there...

- So they finally arrived...

- Your soldiers gave us a little trouble...

- And now, what will they do?

- We came to neutralize her....

- But do you even know what I am?

- A vampire....

- No... a goddess. I cannot be destroyed by you... even if this body is destroyed, my essence will remain in the Universe... and I will return.

- And why did you decide to settle here, among us?

- It wasn't deliberate... as you noticed, my human counterpart didn't have the slightest idea who he was, really... just like you don't know who he is, right, Zacarias?

All eyes turned to the old cowboy. What was that strange woman trying to say?

- You know I can't fight against your group... that's why you chose it... and even gathered the three angels of death to take me back, right?

- Yes, you are right. Does that mean you're going to surrender peacefully?

- Why not? A fight between us would just be a waste of energy... I already know what the result of the fight would be, really....

"But you're not even going to pretend you want to fight us?"

- For what? You will defeat me, it is written... then I will return to Paradis all bruised and it will take me a few millennia to recover... and you will also end up taking casualties... and I'm sure none of us want that, do we?

- And what will your return to Mother Earth be like?

- Well... the three angels will escort me to the portal... from there, I'll go alone... and don't worry... nobody will remember me or anything that happened in the meantime. ..

- But....

Alberto took two steps forward and went to Alice....

- You say that no one will remember what happened in the last few days... and the dead?

- They will not return... but, for the people who knew them, it will be as if they never existed...

- Including the five who died today?

- Including them...

Duarte decides to ask a question, too...

- But, come here... if you had already decided to return to Mother Earth, why all this carnival?

Alice gives her an icy look, but she decides to answer...

- What fun would I just disappear? Since I've decided to leave, let it be in style....

- So the serpents and the beast...

- They were never asked to fight against you... not tonight, at least...

The three beasts, who were beside Alice, turned into steeds adorned with shiny stones... the throne she was sitting on also turned into a steed... The three girls, without uttering a single word, walked towards the animals and mounted them... once again Alice addressed Zacarias...

- I know you don't remember... but we've been lovers for a long time... and when you get tired of playing mortal on this plane, return to my arms in Paradis...

Everyone looked at Zacarias, without understanding exactly what the goddess wanted to say... but she didn't speak... she mounted her steed and, in the company of the three Marias, gained heights, because her mounts were winged... and little by little disappeared in the sky, which began to calm down, until the stars and the moon dominated the entire firmament....

Graça was euphoric, waiting for the departure of the train that would take her to the Capital, where she would meet her mother, completely cured of the illness that had affected her. The girl decided that she would stay in the big city, where she would be able to take better care of her mother... after all, the prize money she had received, not without a little pang in her conscience, would allow her and her mother to live comfortably for a while. good time...

Rosa took over the village school, as there was no teacher on staff... and she was able to teach the little ones. Soon, everyone got used to the rather clumsy way of the new teacher, who from time to time appeared with something new for her students... yes, she won over everyone in the community...

Maria decided to give Juca a chance and they started what could be a great romance in the future... but they started slowly, just holding hands on the walks they took in the late afternoon, when Maria closed her clothing store... women's things ... and they would go for a walk along the riverbank, enjoying the sunset and then the birth of the moon and stars....

Alberto decided to leave the small town and return to the Capital... he felt an emptiness in his chest, but he didn't know exactly why... the only thing he was sure of was that something was missing in his life... once and for all every now and then a glimpse would happen and he would see a face, half erased, of a beautiful woman... but he couldn't say who it was... the only strange thing was that when he saw that image, a deep calm took over his whole body. to be...

Duarte managed to solve all the cases in his jurisdiction... he had no more open cases, and for this feat he received a medal from the governor for the good services rendered... he couldn't quite understand how he managed to solve the cases, But the important thing was the end result...

On a beautiful afternoon, Juvêncio mounted his horse Tornado and said goodbye to the village... he could have taken the same train that Graça had taken, but he preferred to ride through the meadows and remember a time that had already passed and would never return...

And Zechariah? Well, he resumed his duties as a handyman on the Nardi farm, and supervised all the work, always attentive to anything different that occurred in the immediate area under his responsibility. He continued his research on strange events and kept them religiously in his mind... in fact, no one ever knew who Zacarias was, in reality... one fine day at dusk, he said goodbye to his wife and children, set up his horse and disappeared over the horizon... and no one ever heard of that caboclo who was a jack of all trades... ah, yes... Maria ended up marrying Juca, who took over her father-in-law's place on the farm ....