Helpless: Day 5

Word Count: 30,056

Summary of Events:

Mikolaj was startled awake in the night by a sound he didn't fully hear, so he went to investigate and discovered the front door was ajar, the bar undamaged and set beside it, while a set of tracks showed in the frost leading to it. Suspicious, Mikolaj searched the house, suspecting someone inside had a secret guest, but found no one, although Klaudia looked to be feigning sleep, which suggested to him that she'd left and returned. The following morning he decided to follow the footprints to see where Klaudia had gone . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

Keeping his cloak wrapped around him closely to ward off the early morning chill, which included a heavy fog that kept him from being able to see even the Książęlas behind him, Mikolaj followed the footprints that headed toward the front door, and were actually a little harder to make out than they’d been last night.

He suspected they were harder to see because it hadn’t been quite so frosty when he’d seen them the night before. More frost had come since they’d been made which had been able to cling where other frost had been melted or even simply crushed by the soles of the shoes which had tread the way.

As a result of the heavy fog still lingering, Mikolaj kept his ears open for any sounds of approaching people or vehicles, lest he startle them, or even get injured by them, as he followed the trail of footsteps in reverse.

Mikolaj wished as he walked and started to notice the moisture in the air dampening his cloak, and even his face, that the fog were rain, and that it would’ve come many times during the summer, while, at the same time, hoping that it was a good omen for the next year, as it was said that fogs, as well as dews in the warm months and frosts in the cold months, were indicators of coming precipitation.

He heard little to no traffic as he walked, although he did notice that the fog seemed to be lifting as he carried on, following the route that led to the village.

By the time he reached the village, the fog was almost nonexistent, but the frost gave a whitened look to everything it touched, most especially roofs.

He was getting near to the bridge when the trail of frosted footprints he was following was lost under the trail of other frosted footprints, for those who lived in the village were already about their daily business, and had clearly not noticed the prints, nor had an inclination not to mar them if they did.

As a result, all Mikolaj knew was that Klaudia had come to the village, but nothing more. He walked over to the bridge over the stream and looked at the water flowing by, moving too swiftly to be frozen by all but the deepest of colds.

There was a bit of ice along the edges, and in the places where rocks or even branches forms small pools or eddies also had delicate icy coverings. It was rather pretty to see, but Mikolaj was still disappointed to have not found where Klaudia had gone. He would have to do his seeking before the sun rose next time around and see if he would be able to avoid the marring of the trail by his neighbours then.

With a disappointed sigh, Mikolaj turned homeward to tell Mama he’d been unable to determine where Klaudia had gone.