“You pushed her?” he whispered in horror.
The villagers began shouting angrily.
Agnes could not speak.
Her silence condemned her.
Then Sarah asked quietly, “Where is Isidora?”
Agnes sobbed harder.
“She married your suitor that day.”
An old man stepped forward.
“Since then, no one has seen her. Those men were not real suitors. They were human traffickers. They disguised themselves as wealthy men and took girls away.”
A heavy silence fell.
Sarah felt her chest tighten.
“So that is how I would have disappeared,” she whispered.
The villagers waited for rage.
But instead, Sarah’s eyes filled with tears.
“I never wished that for her,” she said softly. “Yes, she betrayed me. But I never wished that kind of fate on her.”
For the first time, Agnes fully understood the weight of what she had done. She had not only tried to murder Sarah—she had also sent her own daughter into darkness.
Sarah walked quietly to the chariot, opened a small bag, and returned with beautiful clothes, jewelry, and fine fabric. She placed them gently into Matilda’s hands.
“Thank you,” Sarah said.
Matilda blinked through tears. “For what?”
“For being kind to me when no one else was. For sharing your food with me. For helping me with the work when it became too much.”
Matilda burst into tears and hugged her.
Then Sarah whispered in her ear, “Next time I come, pack your things. You will leave this place with me.”
Matilda’s face lit up.
“Really?”
Sarah nodded. “You deserve better too.”
She climbed back into the chariot.
But before the horses could move, Jon stepped in front of them.
“Please,” he said, his voice breaking. “My daughter, forgive me.”
