The box that was the carriage shook wildly when Sal awoke. She held on the carriage like an anchor as it rocked back and forth and sped through the road. Sal caught glimpses of orange blocks moving past her then the dizziness and headache took over. As her body disconnected from contact at the carriage seat another speed bump, she vomited all over the floor. 

When the carriage stopped, the floor felt like it was tilted on one side. At the stark silence, Sal peeked out of the window. A cold wall. She eventually crawled out of the carriage where high walls on both sides flanked her. 

The space where the walls end was bright and teeming with people. It must be the main road. Sal sat on the earth, safely tucked away in a distance, as people passed. Men clothed like the Mercantile with their top hats. Women with large, ballooning skirts. Children running around. People carrying buckets of wares as they hollered the same words over and over again. Closed carriages and open ones where the horse poop mingled with the horse’s tail in plain sight of the passenger. 

Sal crouched down on the earth, protected by her hair from the sight and the brightness of the sun. Hours passed by, and she contented herself at being an observer even as the sun beat down hard and the growling in her stomach told her that it was already past lunchtime. 

“Child. Are you hungry?” 

A tall man in a tailored suit and a top hat stood before her. The man was holding a bag of bread. The aroma of warm bread wafted through her nose. 

“Here, have this.” He handed her the whole bag.  

Sal balked at the idea of receiving food from someone not from the Casa or at worst from the Hospicio but her stomach growled in protest. 

The man opened the bag and placed it on Sal’s hand. 

Sal gave up, the bread tasted a bit salty but not too overpowering as she might gag but it was a bit scalding on the tongue so she spit it out. 

“ You don’t like bread, I see. Well I can get you something else. I was told to fetch you.” The man said. He towered over her and his shadow covered Sal entirely. He dusted off the dirt and mud from Sal’s skirt. “ Come with me.” 

It was now that Sal realized he was a Mercantile. One she has not seen yet, but perhaps a colleague of the colleague of the Signor. Sal slowly got up on her feet. His earlier statement sounding more like a command as she ascertained the straightforward tone in his voice. Sal followed as commanded. She lagged behind a respectful two steps behind him, careful as she is not to come too close but not come too far as to appear being disobedient. 

They stopped in front of a building as big as the Casa but looking more like a single block with one too many windows and a signboard. She was pulled inside before she got a chance to read the sign in full. The inside was teeming with one too many constables and a few other strangers. 

Sal looked for a corner to hide in, but she could not do so without being watched by the crowd. She stayed behind the older man as he conversed with the constables. Their voices grew loud.  

Suddenly, Sal found herself, two constables all over her with a woman by their side. The woman took away her panuelo and shook her skirt. Out tumbled a gold-chained watch. 

“I told you, she was a pickpocket! Greens are nothing but trouble.” 

In a minute, they were upon her towering over her like the giants they are to her and took her to a place with bars as its walls. She imagined herself a doll dragged by its cotton, limp arms, tied with red hemp. The place smelled like urine and dust stored in a covered jar for a long time. 

I’ll take you home, the man said. Sal touched the cold, dusty bars. It is not surprising. Her feet were nailed to the ground and her body willed not to move but the longer she looked at the vacant, lonely space, it looked more and more familiar despite the fright it brings. 

“We’d ship her out already? Was the Head Constable-” 

“It was the Fiore man that turned her in. Even the Head Constable does not like to deal with him anymore. “ 

The other constable took her by the rope. “You lucky creature.” He tugged at the rope and motioned at her with his head to follow towards a carriage. More box-looking it is and had bars for windows. The box carried Sal on a road. It stopped by a noisy place. Sal peeked outside. From the distance, there was a jumble of lights and a cacophony of people. All
jeering like how she imagined a party of goblins would look like. 

“Hey! Get out.” The constable told her. 

He dragged her towards a smaller carriage like the ones Sal is used to seeing. The carriage travelled another few more miles. Sal vomited inside the Casa from the dizziness. 

At last, the carriage stopped in front of a small iron-wrought gate enough to fit a single person that was flanked by concrete walls with overgrown bougainvilleas and other vines. 

“I will be back. Don’t try something stupid” the constable went down of the carriage. 

Sal did as she was told, yet but cannot help as her eyes wandered into the empty garden just beyond the gate. There, in the light of the lamp of the Casa, was the silhouette of a man in a chair. Its form too familiar. 

Sal tripped out of the carriage though her head was still groggy from the travel. Fortunately, she managed to stand and watch the figure from where she stood outside the gate. The gate was not locked so she slipped inside the place. The inside was a vast expanse of grass overlooking a thick grove of trees. It was almost like their Casa. 

The night breeze blew colder when the boy’s face became clear. 

It was Oleon. He sat still on the chair, shoulders slumped like the bored child forced to watch on the side. She stopped herself from
calling out to him. 

“Ate?”