I felt a panic rising in me. Travelers passing through Sema don’t even notice me; I’m just a worker at the inn. So why was this one staring at me so? He took a step towards me and I flinched. I wanted to bolt, but I was determined to hold my ground to see what this stranger wanted. He seemed to notice my slight movement and stopped moving. He was tall and dark, wearing black leather from head to toe. The hat sitting on his head had a wide brim, shadowing his eyes, and he had a scarf covering his mouth and nose. We stood staring at each other for a long time. A small breeze blew and a dead leaf fluttered inches from my face. I flinched, and in that moment the stranger placed something gingerly on the ground, mounted his horse and rode away. He was so quick this took mear seconds, yet his movements were so fluid it seemed as though he were moving in slow motion. My head was swimming.
‘What’s going on?’
‘Who was that man?’
‘What should I do?’
I just stood there not knowing what to do, and then I remembered he placed something on the ground. My eyes moved from the point where the rider had disapeared towards the spot on the ground where the object was. The grass was so tall I could only see bits of white showing through the blades. Well I wasn’t going to find out what it is just standing here. I took a deep breath and started to move forward…
To Be Continued...
