138 An old lady recalls

Zŭmò sat at her feet whilst she steadied herself on the only chair left whole in the entire place. Looking around, it was clear these men, who had come, had done so with the clear intention of destruction, robbery and death. There was an almost military precision in how every item had been broken to the point it could not be repaired, and it was done with the minimum of effort. The only good thing was, they hadn't set fire to the place as well.

Zŭmò looked at her, a shadow of a once proud and caring house keeper. She had helped bring up two very boisterous children whilst juggling the running of a large estate. 

She was my aunt, my mother's sister. Ma and Pa had taken her into our family once they had settled and begun to make enough money to support others. They employed local people in the fields of flowers, the drying sheds and the distillation rooms, whilst Auntie was left, solely in charge of the house, and for the most part, us.

Ma was too busy to do it herself; she was always in the distillation rooms, testing out new oils, producing flowers which held stronger scent for longer, and she propogated the peonies. Those famous peonies which graced the courtyards of some of the wealthiest. Where were they now? Was anything left of them?

"Auntie," Zŭmò touched her arm and looked lovingly into her face. "Can you tell us what happened? Where is everyone?"

She reached out and held his hand in hers, "Give me a few moments to settle myself, then I'll tell you. First, go to what's left of the peony beds and pay your respects to your mother and father. I buried them there."

"What about Mai Mai and my little boy?"

"Mai Mai tried to run with Lu Lu, but they shot her in the back and she fell to the ground. Lu Lu was screaming, "leave my mummy alone", so they wrenched him free and slit his throat. Their comment was, he was making too much noise." She stroked my face, then continued, "I buried them where they fell. I couldn't drag them anywhere else. They are in a mound not far from the cherry tree, I thought she would like that." At that, she dropped her hand and sobbed. "I'm sorry Zŭmò, you are the sole survivor of your family," she paused, "apart from me." Looking up, Zŭmò could see no more tears fell, she'd cried them all and now all that was left was the pain of loss.

He got up, and stepping back, ordered his men to look after her whilst he went in search of the graves of his parents, wife and child. There was nothing he could do for them at the moment, but once this war was finally over, he would create a mausoleum fit for their remains, and he would rebuild Peony House and its flowers and gardens. They would rise from the ashes and become the centre of peony trade once more.

"Auntie, we are going to stay here, okay? We'll sort out some places to sleep and eat. We will sweep up the rubbish and generally tidy the place as best we can without making it obvious from the outside. I can't see them coming back, there's nothing to come back for." 

She shook her head, "No, they've not been back since they ransacked the place." "That's good, so making this our base was a good choice." He smiled at her, "Can you take our rations and create something for us all to eat? There's forty eight of us in total. I'l send over one group and they can go out and hunt as well as collect herbs and other vegetation. You let them know what you want and they will bring it back. Is that alright?"

Auntie was pleased to have something to do. She'd sat idle with her thoughts too long, now she needed to be doing something and nearly fifty men? That was a good number to keep her busy.

Zŭmò turned to the Blades. "Collect your pride together and see Auntie. She'll give you an idea of what to gather. Hunt out as much meat as you can. From what I remember there are plenty of wild pig in the area,  as well as chickens, which will have got loose from the small holdings round here. Its possible you'll manage to find them and perhaps eggs. Anyway, go see Auntie and then head out and do what you do best." He grinned at them as they nodded and went off to see a much happier and brighter old lady, who was in her element, ordering people about and getting things done.

'The story of what happened can wait. Let's get settled in first and she'll tell us in her own time.' Zŭmò turned and went in search of his number two.

By the time the pride returned, the cooking stove had been restored to a usable state, rooms had been prepared for sleeping, what was left of utensils, were gathered. Even chairs had been fashioned out of the remains. All in all, the men had something akin to comfort.

Auntie oversaw the cooking for everyone and once fed, she sat down and began to relate the story.

It had been a particularly hot period and many of the plants were in dire need of water. The well was low, so some of the men had gone out to find a source they could use. 

Unusually, few men were about that evening.

Ma and Pa were inside reviewing the books and sales ledgers, the ladies had all but gone home, leaving only the regular staff who lived on site.

Once nighfall arrived and the lanterns were lit, the family gathered in the courtyard to relax and plan the next day. It was then, a group of about eight men came crashing through the gates. Four of them went off and started smashing everything whilst the other four came into the courtyard and attacked anyone who approached them. Pa did his best to shield Ma, but they overpowered him and held him on the ground. Holding a knife to Ma's throat, they demanded money, jewellery, anything valuable. Pa told them where it all was in the hope they would leave but they didn't, they kept pushing and pushing for more,  but they had it all and there wasn't as much as they had hoped.

Slitting Ma's throat, they turned the knife on Pa. He had given up then. There was nothing else, he threw himself at the man who had killed her and is so doing, ran onto the same blade. He died next to her, holding her hand.

Mai Mai and Lu Lu began running out of one of the side buildings,  in the hope they could escape, but were seen and a knife was thrown, straight through her spine. She died instantly, still holding Lu Lu in her arms. He struggled free and tried to defend his Ma, but they killed him for being too noisy. 

All that was left were two of the women who worked with Auntie in the house and Auntie herself. Auntie stayed quiet and did her best to silence the two women, but they screamed and made so much fuss, the one in charge, ran them both through. He was crotchety and very short tempered. He'd hope for riches, but was coming away with crumbs. 

Auntie stayed quiet and after being slapped around, could give them nothing other than what they had already taken. In a rage, they smashed everything around the house including all the jars of oils. They didn't realise the value was in the philes, not in the jewellery.

"After they left, I stayed still and quiet until morning, then I went to find out what had happened to eveyone. I was in too much shock to move before. What I found, broke my heart. I buried them as best as I could and talked to them as I did so. What else could I do?" She looked at Zŭmò and the other men seated on the floor by her.

"Nothing Auntie. You did all you could."