Chapter 729 The Midnight Deal
They used wet cloths to cover their noses and mouths.
After a while, the smell faded, and followed by the door pushed open from the outside.
They quickly removed the wet cloths on their faces and threw them into the corner.
A row of lights lit up the room as two men sneaked in. They looked carefully at the girls in bed.
Clarissa felt a light shone briefly on her face as well as a draft of breath.
A low, hoarse voice sounded, "They passed out. Come on over and inspect them!"
As he spoke, the sound of footsteps could be heard.
The sound was more than one set of footsteps.
Bright lights were trained on their faces, and Clarissa could feel the warmth of the lights on her cheeks.
At the same time, her heart went cold.
She heard a strange male voice say, "Well, not bad, both of them are good stuff."
Uncle Jasper smiled nervously and asked, "Then, the price..."
"We'll go with the price you asked! Help me carry her to the car outside," the man answered.
"All right!"
Clarissa felt someone pick her up.
The weightless feeling made her very insecure.
Both she and Nora did not make any movement as previously planned.
Her body swayed in step with the man's walk as he went down the stairs. Then, the door creaked open, and she felt a cold wind in her face.
They were now outside of the house.
"Just put them in the back of the car."
A man's voice instructed the other two men to put them in the back of a tricycle with a tin canopy.
Clarissa felt like she was being lifted, and then her body hit the floor of the canopy. Only then did she heave a sigh of relief.
The door closed with a loud clang followed by a rustling sound of someone locking the door.
In an instant, it was dark all over.
There were men's voices rumbling on the outside.
It sounded like a discussion about some deal.
After a while, there was laughter, as if a deal was reached.
Clarissa could feel the front of the tricycle dip slightly as someone climbed onto it. Soon after, with a rattling sound, the tricycle began to roll forward.
The night was quiet as the tricycle shook and rolled along the bumpy mountain road.
Clarissa did not know how long it was before she cautiously opened her eyes.
It was dark everywhere, so much so that she could not see her own hand.
Beside her, Nora also opened her eyes.
They did not speak and linked their fingers together to indicate that each other was unharmed.
The cold planks underneath her felt very hard as the wheels bounced up and down the mountain road.
Both of them did not dare to speak and stared at each other in the dark.
They did know where the man was heading. However, no matter how bad the situation was now, it was better than running into those assailants.
So, they did not resist when the men took them away. Instead, they played along and got into the tricycle.
From the first day they came to the village, they could see that this village was isolated from the modern world.
There was no electricity, no means of communication, no efficient transport, and not even a piece of decent furniture.
As for transport, this was the first time they were inside an electric-powered tricycle. They never thought that they would meet such a situation.
The two of them did not know whether they should laugh or cry.
Nora inched closer to Clarissa and whispered in her ear, "Who are they? Where are we going?"
Clarissa thought for a while.
There was no doubt that Clarissa would not know who these people were, but she could guess where they were heading.
Quietly, she wrote two words on Nora's palm.
To town.
That surprised Nora and she asked,
"How did you know?"
"I guess."
Clarissa remembered when she asked Uncle Jasper where she could make a phone call.
Uncle Jasper replied that she had to travel tens of kilometers to the nearest town.
Unconsciously, he leaked out a piece of important information.
There were telephones in the town, and that meant electricity as well.
The town was the only place within a few hundred kilometers radius where there was an electricity supply. It was obvious where this electric-powered tricycle originated.
On the other hand, Nora did not think in such detail.
She sat quietly, clenching the small dagger in her waistband. Her body was taut like a strung bow, ready to spring into action.
The tricycle finally stopped after more than an hour.
The two of them looked at each other and did not speak.
They held their breath and listened intently to the sounds outside.
A man yelled in the local dialect that they did not understand.
At this moment, Clarissa was certain they would not have reached the town in such a short time. They must be out in the country somewhere.
Shortly, there was a rush of footsteps.
She could hear sounds of greeting mixed with laughter and hints of seeking favor.
Both hers and Nora's face dropped at this turn of events.
A grim sense of foreboding welled up from the bottom of her heart.
Suddenly, the door to the canopy was opened from the outside.
The moonlight and the light from a torch shone into the canopy. Clarissa and Nora lifted their heads and saw three men standing outside the canopy.
"Hey, are you awake already? Uncle Jasper said that the drug will work for a few hours. How come you are awake so soon?"
The burly man standing in the center questioned suspiciously.
He must be the person who brought them from Uncle Jasper's house. Two other men were standing beside him.
These two men were better dressed than the other man.
They wore old but clean, thin sweaters with grey trousers. Their hairs were sleek and well-kept.
They looked nondescript but better by far that of Uncle Jasper and the rest of the country folks.
They nodded their heads in satisfaction as they sized up Clarissa and Nora.
"Well, well! Not bad! Worth the price!"
As he spoke, one of the men opened the wallet tucked under his arm and took out a thick wad of money.
"Here is the balance of the money. Do count. If there is no problem, we'll take them away."
"All good. Great! Great!"
The burly man took the money and started to count with excitement.
He finished counting shortly.
"The amount is correct. I'll leave these two people with you then."
"All right. Let us have the car too. We'll send it back to you later."
"Sure, no problem."
As the burly man spoke, he turned and left with a wave.
When the burly man was a distance away, the two men smiled and rubbed their hands in glee. Then, they stood in front of the canopy door and ogled at Clarissa's and Nora's delicate faces. They smiled at each other and cheered, "Dude, we strike it rich!"
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