WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIAS Chapter Six

WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIAS

Chapter Six

 Grace was kind of bored. Suddenly she missed the time when she lived in the countryside. Life in the Capitol was quieter, to be sure... but since her mother passed away, she had felt very lonely. It is true that there were friends by her side, but none of them was like Maria Izabel and Rosa, with whom she got into some serious trouble. And sometimes she wondered how her friends were doing back in her hometown...

From the letters she had received from her friends, she learned that Rosa was teaching at the village school, replacing the old teacher who had simply disappeared, without saying where she would go. In fact, no one could remember her. If it weren't for the position she held and probably no one would remember that she ever passed through there... in fact, strange things preceded her departure from the city. The only thing she clearly remembered is that she and her friends, the day before leaving for the Capital, met with the police chief, the coroner, a federal police officer who was investigating something, and Maria Izabel's father. After that, she could even remember that they mounted their horses and left somewhere. And then, nothingness. Just a complete blank, as if someone had erased memories of her. She left for São Paulo, where she would find her mother who was hospitalized at Santa Casa, happily recovered from the illness that had affected her. She rented a house for both of them to live in and started working with sewing... with the money she received for the prize of capturing a bandit, she managed to buy some sewing machines and opened her shop. Business did well, she acquired a fair clientele, and soon she was providing her mother with a comfortable life she had never dreamed of. It wasn't easy, but with hard work and dedication, she managed to win. She regrets that some time later her mother fell ill again and this time the doctors said she would not return. A little over a month after hospitalization, the lady left for the one-way trip. Graça already expected this, although she hoped for a miracle, which did not happen. And on a sad day, where the drizzle fell over the city, Graça said goodbye to her mother and did not shed any tears, because she knew that she had suffered too much in recent years and now she was finally resting. Few people accompanied her to the Necropolis... only her employees. As a sign of mourning, she closed her shop for three days. By letter, she notified friends in her hometown of her mother's death and ended this passage of her life. And she moved on, because she knew there was no point in regretting what had happened...

It had been three years since her mother had left... and since then Graça had plunged headlong into her work. After all, there was no one waiting for her at her house. And loneliness, when it hits, makes us sad, doesn't it? She even tried hanging out with her employees, but there wasn't much to do around town. Visit friends house? It was a few times, but she always ended up regretting the visit... she didn't have much in common with them. In fact, what she missed most on her lonely nights were the rides with her partners, the trouble they got into... and then she kept wondering... could they feel the same too? Maybe Rosa felt it... after all, teaching children to read and write should be boring sometimes... although there are people who enjoy this task, right? But she couldn't see Rosa, all explosive, taking care of small children with all the patience in the world... anyway... as for Maria Izabel... well, she had married, two years after the three of them had separated. .. this after saying, several times, that she couldn't see herself next to Juca... and still managing the store "COISAS DE WOMAN"... yes, Graça didn't understand very well, but what really mattered is that Maria Izabel had indeed married Juca. And, from what she'd told him through the letters, they had two children, a boy and a little girl... well, surely this one shouldn't have much time to remember her time as an adventurer... at least, that's what Grace thought...

Sometimes Graça felt like visiting her hometown, seeing how things were going there... but she soon gave up on the idea... she thought it wouldn't be good to see the place where she was happy in her childhood, because that would bring nostalgia of his mother... and, despite pretending to be strong in front of people, his heart simply bleeds every time he remembered the one who had given him life... and so time went by... the days, which turned into weeks, which turned into months... and there went four years without seeing familiar faces again...

It was almost time to close the shop, and Graça decided to take a walk around town. Walk a little along the lanes, breathe the air that came from the trees around you. Very close to his house there was a small lake, where several streams emptied their waters. t was meager consolation for someone who was used, in another life, to walking along the banks of a raging river. But, in any case, it was better than nothing... at least there were some fish swimming around the lake... and some waterfowl used the place as their private laser area, not least because passers-by used to throw crumbs at them... Graça had already adopted one of the birds... it was a wild duck, not so wild, since every time she saw it, she would come running to meet her. Then she gave him, in the palm of her hand, a good handful of corn, which the bird ate with great pleasure. After the feast was over, the bird curled up between his legs, as if thanking him, and then returned to the water. Sometimes the animal decided to follow her for a part of her path, but soon gave up and returned to the warmth of her little corner... and so, Graça went on with her life.

After feeding her feathered friend and moving on, Grace felt light as a feather. Just like that, she felt an inner peace that she hadn't felt for a long time. This was most likely due to the approaching night, moonlit and with such a beautiful blanket of stars that it was impossible not to be touched by the sight. The nocturnal birds began their song, accompanying the chirping of small insects hidden among the vegetation on the sidewalks...

Walking calmly down the street, after passing the square and following the bed of the river that cut through the center of the city, she soon arrived at the street where she lived. She opened the iron gate and entered, being greeted by Rex, her faithful guard dog. Cidinha, her maid, received her with dinner already on the table. Of course, before tasting the evening meal, she went to take a bath... the water was warm, waiting for her in the bathtub. After taking care of her personal hygiene, Graça finally went to feast on the roast rump with white rice and a mayonnaise salad... meanwhile, she listened to the latest news on the radio in the living room...