Chapter 32

It took Molly a while to clean the years of grime off of the little girl. It seemed to her that this little girl either did not take any baths at all during her lifetime, or the baths had been so infrequent that years must have passed between them. The only part of the small stranger that was clean were her crystal wings.

Eventually Molly finished cleaning Adair, but once she got done she was shocked how much time had passed. The bath water was already cold, and yet the little girl still showed no signs of waking up. Since the middle-aged woman couldn't just leave her in the bathtub until that would change, she decided to dress her in some of Bailey's old clothing. Unfortunately, the wings proved to be a massive hindrance in this task, since they prevented Molly from simply sliding the shirt over Adair's head. 

After some trial and error, the woman just ended up covering the winged girl in a layer of wool and decided that she would make some overalls for Adair. Aside from the clothing issue, Molly was also worried that the winged girl must be starving. It wasn't normal for someone her age to just pass out, and given the state they had found her in, Adair didn't look to be well-nourished. While Molly was afraid to give her anything to eat in the state she was in, the middle-aged woman found it easy enough to have her drink by pouring some water into her mouth.

Comforted by the knowledge that Adair wouldn't die of thirst at least, Molly lay her down on the prepared bed inside the barn, while she went to check on Bob. Unfortunately, when she entered the house, she did not see her husband preparing dinner. The middle-aged woman then went outside to check if something happened to him, yet he was nowhere to be found.

She then went into the shed, but did not see anywhere in there. That is when she called David and Bailey and asked them if they had seen their father. They told their mother that he was still on the side of the road, acting funny. Molly thanked her kids and sent them off to go get some vegetables and meat from the shed.

The Molly then went to the road to see if they were telling the truth but to her shock her husband, was still on all fours, muttering to himself. She had no idea what caused this strange behavior, so she asked him what was going on. However, Bob didn't respond. Molly shook his shoulders in case he hadn't heard her the first time. That's when her husband stood up and the middle-aged woman saw that his eyes were red and tears were still streaming down his face.

This confused Molly even more because she had never seen her husband in such a state. When she asked him what was wrong, he just kept on repeating that they were all doomed. Unable to comprehend what her husband meant, Molly asked Bob to come with her into the house, sit down and explain everything from the beginning. 

After some time  in the comfort of his own home, the middle-aged man seemed to have calmed down somewhat, at least enough to be able to start what had happened. Bob told Molly how he had seen a large beast appear and how he had shot arrows at it. He confessed how he had felt proud of himself that he had managed to repel such a terrifying beast. However, the next moment Bob began crying again, as he admitted that he hadn't even noticed when the girl had appeared. Looking at Adair, she looked just like their god, so by attacking the beast, which must have been her guardian, Bob believed he had cursed their entire family.

He also muttered other things that Molly was not able to catch, but at least the wife now knew what was wrong with her husband, making her shake her head. "Honey, you really need to go to church more often. Aside from having wings, this little girl looks nothing like our god. Just look at how young she is. Maybe if God had a child, then she might look like this, but this little girl is not our God." When Molly said this, her husband broke out into more crying. "That's even worse!!! That means I hurt God's daughter! Please, spare my family, God! They had nothing to do with my erroneous ways!"

Molly didn't know what to do with her husband at that point. It was obvious that no matter what she would say, she knew that it would not have any real effect on her husband. She also knew that trying to explain that this winged girl had no way to be connected to their God would just fall on deaf ears. The middle-aged woman decided to wait for 30 minutes to see if he tired him self out. 

She also realized that perhaps this might become a good turning point for her husband to become more religious. He had often skipped out on church, just given the bare minimum before, and was not even kind to the less fortunate. Potentially now was a good time for him to talk to a priest. So after seeing that he had not calmed down she decided that they would head to the priest. 

Molly knew that he was in no condition though to ready their Pferde for the wagon, so she sighed and grabbed a couple gold coins for dinner and had David and Bailey put away all the food that they had already taken out. The two kids seemed exasperated when she told them to do this and even muttered a few things to themselves about her making up her mind, but their mother didn't care to argue right now.

While the kids did as they had been told, the middle-aged woman prepared the Pferde for travel again and while the kids did not seem too happy to make this travel they still obeyed. And even though it was getting dark, she knew that this was necessary in order to make her husband become normal again. 

She contemplated bringing along the winged girl, but she was worried that it might worsen Bob's condition if she was also in the wagon with them. As such, the mother decided to just leave some water in a bucket and some dried fish next to the little girl, in case she woke up while they were away. 

Molly made sure that the kids had put away all the ingredients for dinner and then gathered them so that they could go to church. When she told them where they were going, though, they both complained, why couldn't they just stay here, that they did not want to go, and that they could make their own food here.

However, when their mother told them that they would go to Russells for dinner afterward, a shocked look appeared on both of their faces, and they happily got into the wagon. Molly kind of hoped that Bob would be the one to control the wagon, but looking at him, her husband didn't really seem to be in any state to drive.

She then made sure that they had all the materials like hay and their wagon pass and then headed out. It took them a bit longer than usual to reach the town, since the Pferde were still tired from their morning journey. A short time later, when they reached the town, they went up to the wagon parking area for the church and showed their pass to be allowed in. They then went to their reserved spot and made sure that everything was secure before heading inside.

The family entered the gray brick church and walked to the back and knocked on the priest's door. Molly called out to Father Edward, informing him that something happened to her husband and requesting some of his time, so he could have a chat with Bob.

Father Edward responded with "Of course, Lady Molly, the church always has time to help the people in need. Please have him sit down in the communal area and I will be there right away." Molly directed her still absent-minded husband to sit down on the closest bench, and they all waited for Father Edward to come out.

Once the priest came out, Molly explained that she and the kids had things to do and left her husband in the care of Father Edward. As promised, the mother brought her kids over to Russells and when the owner saw them he immediately greeted them and had them sit at their designated table. 

When asked if they wanted their usual or if they wanted to try something new, Molly declared that they would go with their usual order. The kids felt aggravated since their mother didn't give them a chance to speak for themselves, but it quickly changed when a server brought in their order.

The dinner was as great as always, making all three of them leave very satisfied. Molly then took the kids around the village to keep them entertained while their father would receive some spiritual guidance, but since it was a Sunday, most of the shops were closed. As such, they just ran up and down the streets until Molly decided that it was probably a good time to go get Bob. The middle-aged woman was worried that if they left any later they would have to travel back in the dark, which she did not want to do.

This was because no matter how safe their town has become under the new mayor, there were still criminals looking for easy targets and unsure how responsive Bob was going to be after talking with Father Edward, the smart thing to do was to leave early rather than late.

Before she went back to check on her husband, she sent the two kids to go check up on the Pferde and make sure they were ready to travel back. She then went back to the church entrance and tried to open the main doors like before, but they were locked. When she knocked, Father Edward quickly answered, though. 

Molly was worried that something had happened to her husband since she did not see Bob with the priest, but the spiritual man quickly reassured her that her husband was fine. Apparently, he was already sitting in their wagon waiting for the rest of his family to be done with their errands.

Molly thanked Father Edward for his time and quickly went to the wagon. There, she checked up on her husband and while he still seemed a little off, he also seemed to be doing much better than before. She was just about to ask if everything was good with him, but realized that it might be to have such a conversation away from the kid's ears. As such, she didn't say anything, and they all headed back to their house.