I gently sat down on a worn out wooden chair with the women's gesture and put my hands in my lap politely. The little girl came up to me, grinning ear to ear.

"Miss! Miss! Will you play with me after tea time??" The women sighed heavily.

"Now now, Lula. The miss must be very busy."

"No! Not at all. Of course I can play with you." The little girl, going by the name Lula, clasped her hands together in delight and climbed unto another chair. The women looked relieved and went to prepare some tea in an old fashioned iron kettle. Lula made small talk about her 3 dolls and her 2 pairs of dresses enthusiastically. She noted that they were her most precious belongings in the world.

After about 10 minutes, the women came back with two steaming cups of tea and set them down on the table. She poured Lula some milk and handed it to her. Lula sipped hungrily and I gently sipped mine. It tasted surprisingly bitter, and I smiled. I liked bitter things.

"Now then, Miss. What Is yer name?" I pondered this for a moment: My name always triggered strange reactions, and I could not possibly risk telling them.

"Sia. Sia Jackson." I made up on the spot. The women nodded her head and smiled warmly. I suddenly felt guilt creeping up my back and let out a small shiver. Lula, having finished her milk, stared at me patiently with those big grey eyes. I grinned at her, and she gave me a clumsy grin back. The women let out a deep sigh.

"Ah. She really likes yer. She ain't smiled since the good ol' times before the Rose family came and ruined everythin', eh?"

I almost choked on my tea and set it down as casually as I could as to not draw any attention. Then I causiously rehearsed my question in my head before asking it out loud.

"Do you possibly mean Max Rose and his family?" The women narrowed her eyes at me and asked quite slowly:

"How would yer know 'bout that? Though yer were jus' a traveller."

"I am. I just heard about it from the locals." I tried to keep my voice as level and casual as possible, and it seemed to have worked, for the women slowly loosened her tension and smiled again.

"Yes. The Rose family died jus' few years 'go. When Lula were jus' 'bout 5. Only their son were left behin', I say. He never showed his face to anyone, eh? He jus' kept to the shadows and never came out. Kinda odd if you ask me. Until one day he jus' ruined everythin' by killin' Lil Johney. I dunno wha' made 'em do it, I say. I dunno."

I tried my best not to look uncomfortable and nodded in understanding. My thoughts raced at a dizzying speed, making my head spin slightly. Were Max and Jace THAT rich as to own this whole land, its people AND get away with murder?! That's right. This made them murderers... I felt the shock of it finally hit home and wet, fat tears began streaming down my face. But I had trusted them. How could they lie?

Lula seemed to notice, for she gently squeezed my hand with her small ones and wiped my tears. The women smiled sadly and gently pat my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I apologized in a dry voice, "I just got upset that he treated you this way."

"Don't ya worry, child. He has always been quite the emotionless fellow. I dunno if he ever felt anythin' in his life. Never tried protectin' or carin' 'bout anyone. He jus' let 'em die withou' batting an eye. At his parents funeral he ain't show up, and rumor has it he ain't shed a single tear,"

She paused, finishing off her tea, and continued:

"All he scared of is those panter fellows. That family ain't scared of nothin'. They come before I were born and ma and pa talk 'bout 'em. They say the panters are hunters. Hunters of wha' they never told me." It took a moment for me to process this, and then it hit me like a slap in the face. My questions were suddenly answered and it was such a great shock I felt black spots dancing in my vision. So that was why everyone felt shocked at my name. Why my parents didn't come to Moonbay. Why I was such a charmer.

"I have to tell you something, ma'am," I said shakily, taking a deep breath. "My name is Lyra. Lyra Panter."