The story was that this village had all its inhabitants die in one day, strangely.
This happened twelve years ago, as John said, there was one survivor, who told those who found him that it was a curse. Then he disappeared without a trace, and the village burned down with everything in it.
Since that day, everyone has avoided it, not only do they not come to it, they do not even pass this road.
"This is not a curse, it doesn't exist at all," she thought, " he said after the news spread that the residents had died because of a curse, days later the village burned down. This is strange."
Stella thought about why the villagers were killed.
"Curiosity will kill me. I want to take a look at it, but without anyone seeing me. I don't want to miss such an opportunity as the place is nearby."
She decided that she would sneak out after the child and his mother fell asleep.
After the two fell asleep, Stella sneaked out of the carriage, carrying one of the oil lamps.
She stealthily passed behind the two men guarding the area.
She had heard from Albert that the village was on the right behind the Willow Forest.
Stella tried to move quickly, but the dress she was wearing got stuck in the branches, and the leather shoes were a bit heavy.
"Ah, Helena, you insisted on me wearing this. If I was wearing pants, what would bother you?"
The dress was blue with white patterns, simple and elegant. Any girl would have been happy to wear it, but Stella had another opinion.
After some time, she passed through the forest and found the abandoned village in front of her.
The place reigned in silence and tranquility.
"It serves as a studio for horror movie scenes."
Stella wandered for some time in the small village. All the houses were burned, and the rubble was overgrown with weeds.
"Oh, my imagination is too wide. I thought I was going to see something interesting. What a disappointment!"
Stella had already turned around to leave, but something caught her eye.
There was a well at the other entrance, covered with a wooden slab, still completely intact. It was the only well in the village.
"Helena's village has three wells. Here, even though it's the same area, they only have one. I think everyone was on good terms."
She tried to remove the wooden board, but to no avail, because it was heavy.
"This needs a strong person to remove it. I will still push it here for a week."
After losing hope, she decided that she would return to the caravan.
When she bent down to pick up the lamp, she saw something shining on the ground. It was covered with dirt and weeds.
"What is this? It looks like gold."
She dug it up and got it.
It was a necklace, a gold thread with a golden ring, decorated with a sun.
"Um, I think I've seen something similar to this before, but where?"
She thought for a long time but still couldn't remember.
"I have a really bad memory."
She cleaned it a little with the tip of her dress and then hid it in her leather bag.
While she was making sure everything was inside the bag, she suddenly felt someone's hand on her shoulder.
"I've been caught."
She quickly closed the leather bag and turned around.
The person who came was Albert. Stella asked him, "Mr. Albert, what brought you here?"
"This question should be asked to you. How did you get here?"
His facial expression was different, he was not smiling as usual.
Stella realized that she had to calm the atmosphere a little, so she smiled and said, "Actually, I came because I'm a fan of such places. I like the atmosphere of thrills and adventure, huh?"
After hearing this, his expression softened a little. He patted her head and said, "But you shouldn't have come alone and sneaked out like that. Everyone was worried about you. They were looking for you everywhere when Mrs. Alma woke up and didn't find you. She was afraid that something had happened to you."
Stella lowered her head regretfully, "I apologize for disturbing you. I acted recklessly."
"No problem, but you shouldn't repeat it. Separation from the group in such places is dangerous. You may be in troubles."
"Yes, you're right. I'll keep that in mind."
Albert smiled his usual smile and said, "Then come on, we shouldn't be late, otherwise Alma will lose her nerves from anxiety."
"Well, let's go."
The two made their way back. Albert was unusually silent.
After some time, Stella noticed that they took a different path than the one she had come from.
"He seems to know the area well. He is also a brave person for coming to the cursed village, as Alma described."
After the silence, Stella decided to talk to him about the village.
"Mr. Albert, do you believe in curses?"
"No. Do you?"
"Me too. If you believed in them, you wouldn't have followed me. I apologize, my question was out of place."
"So you're like me. I knew that since I met you. You dared to stay in a forest alone for a couple of days. You also like adventures."
There was silence for a moment, then he continued, "Courage is a good quality, Alina, but when you cross the line, it becomes stupidity."
"Yes, he's right," Stella remembered the courage that made her accept Emma's offer.
The atmosphere was silent again. Both of them were people who didn't like to talk too much.
But at one point, Albert spoke and broke it.
"Do you know the story of this place?"
"I heard about it from some people in the caravan. They say that this curse killed all the inhabitants in one day and burned them too."
"Actually, they also don't know many details. Would you like to hear what else I know?"