The Butchers

While walking down the hill again, young Thom had a good view of the village and from one particular side he could hear the recognizable screaming of a pig whose throat was being slit. Inside the village, he followed the plume and crackling sound of fire and eventually the smell of the burnt pig’s hair. Upon arrival at the butcher’s house, he found the pig hanging upside down, its skin being scrapped and washed by two men. Young Thom knew very well that the next step would be even smellier so he hurried to arrest the working men. Already a knife in their hands they greeted the stranger. Once again young Thom introduced himself as the son of the blacksmith and was about to ask for his sister’s whereabouts, but the elder of the two interrupted him before he even could raise the question and the man said they knew nothing of her. From the letters of his mother and sister young Thom knew that this could not be true for his family had lived at the butcher’s house, so he insisted that surely they must know something. The men replied with irritation and demanded that they should be left to work. Young Thom left them, as indeed the men had work to do, but he was set to return that same afternoon. As he walked away, the intestinal sounds behind him made him sped up his pace.
Finding a better place to sleep was the task at hand.
Some of the houses brought back vague memories and young Thom decided to search for the guesthouse that he remembered, mainly from those fancily dressed people that always stayed there. Young Thom slowed down when walking by the blacksmith’s house. The constant hammering sound suddenly stopped and young Thom felt a shiver through his body when he saw the silhouette of a man against the red glow of the fire. Young Thom quickly continued down the road. It seemed more and more people looked through windows and doors to get a glimpse of the stranger of whom they no doubt had all heard by now. Although he replied the looks with nods and smiles, none of the people responded back, and if they did, it was by turning their heads away and continuing with their work.

Next : The Butcher's Daughter