Angie sat in the backseat of the car next to Brin and looked out the window at the morning scenery. At first, she had been curious and scared by the car, but after riding in it a few times, she had become accustomed to it.
The city center was bustling with activity. Children were walking to school in groups, carrying bags on their backs, and gentlemen and workers, although dressed differently, had bright complexions.
Women were also seen frequently. There were far more women wearing simple jackets and simple-line skirts than in flowing dresses and parasols. Bryn said that single women now work alongside men in factories, offices, newspapers, and other places in society.
Vintergar was really different from Cullinan Island. It was a different world from mainland Trieste, and it was changing in a different direction, Martin said. Fortunately, the language of Trieste and Vintergar was the same, Celtic, so there was no problem in communication.
“Angie. Are you really nervous?”
“No. It’s okay.”
Angie smiled faintly as Bryn took her hand. She was talking to Bryn comfortably like a sister, just like she did to Martin. She always took care of every little thing like an older sister.
“I was thinking that Lorsha and Revan would be a lot like the island...”
“It’ll be more similar to Citadel. Automobiles and electricity aren’t commercialized yet. However, the local towns are developing rapidly, so it’s only a matter of time. Unfortunately, your hometown Lorsha has been difficult to enter due to major construction work for the past few days, so let’s just go to Revan today.”
Martin, sitting next to the driver, added after a pause.
“I wonder how happy Grandma Catherine will be when she sees you. I doubt she will recognize you at first glance, though, as her memories are fading away.”
“Can I take it off inside the house?”
Angie glanced at her hair. It was a brown wig that she occasionally wore when she went out. Bryn had prepared several emergency colors, including brown, platinum blonde, and a reddish-brown color, in addition to the brown one. Angie wanted to dye it, but Bryn was adamantly against it.
"No! No matter how good the medicine is, your hair will be damaged. You have such beautiful blonde hair...I can’t let it get damaged."
“It’ll be okay if you draw the curtains so that people can’t see inside the house from the outside. Don’t worry, Mrs. Linton, who takes care of Grandma, isn’t here today.”
Angie nodded. It had been three months since she had been rescued from the sea and had arrived in Vintergar. She had barely managed to get her body and mind ready to take the train here. She felt like crying.
The first to shed tears was the grandmother. Catherine Beckett recognized Angie at a glance. The moment Angie took off her hat and wig at once, her wrinkled eyes trembled.
"You..."
“Hello, Grandma. It’s nice to see you again... It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. How have you been... ”
“Oh, my God! Are you really Amber? Amber, Lillian, and Ralph’s daughter... You look just like when you were little!”
Catherine grabbed Angie's hand and was overwhelmed with emotion. Angie was in a daze as she was held in the old lady's arms. Although she didn't remember it, she felt warmth spread deep inside her heart when she kissed her cheek and saw her tearful face. She was surprised to see Angie's belly as she hugged her.
“Oh my! Do you have a child? You’re married, too. Didn’t your husband come with you?”
“Yes. That is... ”
“Grandma, I’ll tell you the story later, so please sit down with Bryn for now. I’ll bring out some tea.”
The four of them shared a long and emotional reunion. Catherine heard that Angie had lost all her memories from her childhood in an accident and had been living on a remote island in Trieste, and brought out various items, including old family photos and toys she had played with as a child. Fortunately, Angie seemed to have forgotten about her marriage and husband for a while.
“It’s okay if you don’t remember right away. I’m so grateful that you’re alive and well. When the war broke out and everyone was scattered, I was worried about your family too...”
The old lady wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and trailed off. Angie's real parents, Ralph and Lillian, were also presumed to have died in the war, just like Martin's family. Catherine's eyelids were slowly drooping as she gathered her emotions. It was already nap time.
She went into the bedroom and lay down, insisting that she stay with her until dinner. Angie saw the old woman sinking into the sewage, then left the room and looked around the house. Then she went out into the backyard and stopped in her tracks when she saw the cat on the wall.
“Pumpkin...”
A cat lingered in her mind. A Scottish Fold, whose fur was the color of pumpkin pie, was the cat her grandparents raised. The cat on the wall looked different from Pumpkin and had gray fur, but it had a similar gesture of raising its tail.
“Martin. I... I think I played with a cat here.”
“That’s right, Angie! Do you remember? You used to love having lots of dogs and cats.”
Large St. Bernard dogs and puppies also passed by. She remembered one time when one of them snatched a cookie that the adults had given him and he cried. When he cried out loud, another dog came over and licked his cheek as if to comfort him.
Her head hurt so much that it felt like it was going to split open. As Angie stumbled, Martin quickly helped her up. Bryn, who was standing with a stick, also came over to her side.
“Angie, are you okay?”
“Yeah... A lot of things suddenly came to mind... I’ll sit down for a moment.”
The cat on the fence meowed and then jumped up toward the neighbor's house. Angie sat on the back porch for a moment to catch her breath. Suddenly, a wave of memories surged into her head like a tidal wave.
“As expected... When you come to a place that actually existed, the memories really start to come to mind. Just like me.”
“Martin was like this too?”
“Yeah. I was at the Vintergar homeless facility for the first few months, and then I looked around and found an orphanage where I might have been. On the way to the orphanage, while looking at the buildings and facilities, a lot of things suddenly came to mind. Just like you are now.”
Angie nodded faintly. From the moment she completely left the island, not only the rose tea that she had stopped drinking, but also the food, water, and everything else made from ingredients grown on the island, there were times when unfamiliar afterimages would occasionally come to mind and disappear. Just like the song that came to mind occasionally on the island. In that state, when she returned to a place where she had actually stayed in the past, all the lost images would burst out at once.
“I just want to walk around the village for a bit. My grandmother is sleeping, so just this area.”
Angie pulled her hat down low and stood up. The three of them left the house through the back door.
“Angie, let’s go to Lake Revan. The lake we saw on our way here. It’s shallow, so when the kids got together, they often played on the bridge. If we go there, we might remember something more.”
Angie nodded. Everyone walked leisurely toward the lake, following Bryn’s steps with her stick. It was a quiet and peaceful afternoon. The pastoral atmosphere unique to the countryside was the very essence of peace. There were hardly any people in the alley and around the lake during peak work hours.
Angie stopped walking and stood in front of the bench under the arched door. Another image flashed through her mind. Little girls were huddled together on the bench, playing tea time games with their princess dolls. When boys of the same age came running and interrupted or played a prank, they all shouted and jeered in unison.
The faces in her memory were all blurry. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make out the outlines of their facial features. However, the cheerful laughter and the lively shouts like the sound of a bell were as vivid as if it were yesterday. Perhaps the trajectory of memory is more closely connected to auditory senses than to visual ones.
She sat on the bench and stared blankly at the old bridge pier.
Amber-
Someone ran up and picked her up in a flash. It was her father. Next to her, her mother’s delicate figure was vaguely visible. Her two faces couldn’t be seen clearly. Only the warm hands of the two, and the tones of their affectionate whispers could faintly shine.
Both eyes fluttered shut like a baby's and closed on their own. Angie's head was dizzy from the strangeness of tracing the edge of a very beautiful memory. At the same time, it was as transparent as the sky that was beginning to clear up.
"Lake. It was a town with Lake Revan. Revan. Lorsha was in ruins from the air raids. So the charity guys decided to take us to Revan next month. It's safe there... My grandparents, aunts...uncles will be there too."
Angie flinched and opened her eyes.
Ten? Eleven?
She was young, talking to a group of soldiers. The men in the Vintergar uniform were friendly, but they were persistent in urging her and her friends from the shelter.
"But next month is too far. If you go with us now, you can get there this evening. So come with us. And your friends with us. We will protect you."
"Yes? Tonight...that soon?"
"They say it's quick if you go by sea. If you just get on a boat and cross the strait, it's closer than by land."
Angie and the girls eventually followed the group of soldiers who were disguised as ignorant men. The Duke of John Fitzroy Blackwell's men carried on smoothly as usual.
When she was taken back to the ship, given a sleeping pill, and finally woke up as Remedy on Cullinan Island... everything was different.
"But next month is too far. If you go with us now, you can get there this evening. So come with us. And your friends with us. We will protect you."
"Yes? Tonight...that soon?"
"They say it's quick if you go by sea. If you just get on a boat and cross the strait, it's closer than by land."
Angie and the girls eventually followed the group of soldiers who were disguised as ignorant men. The Duke of John Fitzroy Blackwell's men carried on smoothly as usual.
When she was taken back to the ship, given a sleeping pill, and finally woke up as Remedy on Cullinan Island... everything was different.
Amber Wynn was someone else named Angie Ridsdel. She was the beloved only daughter of the Ridsdel couple and had lived on the island since birth, but she had lost her memories and was controlled by manipulated images of her past, spending the last nine years of her life unaware of anything.
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