“Good
night, Bertha. I shall always think of you as a kind
and loving person who always gave her all for her friends.”
“You always say the sweetest things. Aggie. I do love you
so. Good night.”
****
Leaving Aggie in the kitchen cleaning, scouring and making everything
as clean and shipshape as she could for the coming festivities,
Bertha made her way the following evening to the shop of the infamous
Augustin. It was located in a rather shabby and run down section
of town and although Bertha felt she was able to handle herself,
she would be more than a little embarrassed to be approached by
some of the horrible creatures she was sure roamed the streets
there.
While passing an alleyway which ran along the rear of Augustin’s
shop, Bertha noticed out of the corner of her eye, a huge hooded
figure of a man, his back to her, standing about twenty or so
feet from the street. At first, Bertha walked past thinking to
ignore, but insatiable curiosity got the better of her and she
retraced her steps and peeked cautiously around the edge of the
building.
The
man was straddling a struggling figure and though he was bent
over, she could see he was making repeated stabbing motions with
a huge bloody knife.
“Ooooohhhh,” Bertha squealed in delight, which prompted
the man to stop what he was doing, stand up straight and turn
to face her. Bertha could see the man’s face was covered
with a hood and he was wearing a floor length black robe. The
man’s eyes seemed to shine through the tiny slits in the
hood, sending chills down Bertha’s spine as he glared at
her.
She didn’t allow him to gain any further edge on her however,
for she turned and ran as fast as she could to the door of Augustin’s
shop. The door was unlocked and as she entered, she turned and
peered out the window to see if the hooded man had followed. The
street was still and not a thing stirred. It was as peaceful as
a graveyard.
A few moments passed as Bertha stared at the vacant street and
then she turned and made her way down the hallway that Aggie and
she had traveled the day before.
Augustin was sitting in a huge easy chair next to a roaring fireplace.
He held a tiny pussycat in his lap. He did not seem startled by
Bertha’s appearance and greeted her
ovially.
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