The morning sunlight slowly filtered through the pathways between the trees. In the moonlight of the night, Martha, who had fallen asleep in Daryl's tent, opened her eyes with a shiver. She looked at Daryl. He was still in slumber. Martha, in haste to return to her own tent, quickly rose. She gently pulled aside the curtain of the tent and peered out. After making sure that no one was there, Martha hurried toward her own tent.
But the policeman's wife, Wendy Bird, saw Martha coming out of Daryl's tent.
When Martha reached near the tent, she noticed the curtain slightly open. No sound came from inside. With fear, she pulled the curtain aside and looked in. Her eyes began to tremble. Her grandmother was lying on the ground. Her face had turned dark and wrinkled. Her eyes were wide open, and her neck was dark in color.,as if someone had strangled her to death. Blood that had flowed from her grandmother's mouth was still spread across her clothes. The smell of death filled the tent. Martha's breath stopped.
"Grandmother!" she screamed loudly.
Hearing Martha's cry, the first to arrive was Wendy Bird. The moment she saw that sight, even she lost control of her body. Very soon, everyone on the island, having heard Martha's scream, rushed to the spot.
What everyone saw there was the silent body of the grandmother lying on the ground. No one could raise a voice. Only a silence, like held breath, remained among them. Daniel stepped forward.
He tried to lift Martha, who was kneeling beside her grandmother, but quickly realized it would not be right to let her remain there any longer. So Daniel entrusted her to Peter, asking him to take her outside the tent. Then he moved closer to the grandmother's body. His eyes searched her entire form. Other than the marks of strangulation on her neck, he could not find any wounds or bruises anywhere else.
Daniel gently tried to close her wide-open eyes with his hands. But he could not make those eyes close. At that moment, Daniel turned his face toward the others.
"These hours have already passed since she died. Because now, even though I tried to close her eyes, I could not do it. (After two hours of death, it becomes difficult to close the eyes. But if more than two hours have passed, then it will never again be possible to close them.) If we leave her body like this any longer, there is a chance it will begin to decay. We have only one path before us. We must bury her. To give grandmother a final journey.,that is the last duty the living must do for the dead."
As Daniel spoke these words, a small trace of sorrow could be seen in his eyes. Francis stood a little apart from everyone else, silently watching all of this. No one ate food, no one drank water, no one spoke a word. At the very same place where Rose had been buried, they decided to dig the grave for grandmother.
The warmth and coldness of the soil there were equally soft. If buried there, they might finally find peace. Not a single tool for digging was in their hands. Since the soil was from the shore, they managed to dig a grave with their bare hands and with strong wooden branches. The scent of the earth filled the air. Everyone's hearts grew heavier. Martha stood right next to the grave. Her eyes were clouded, yet not a single tear came out. Everything had already dried away. Because of their united effort, at last the grave was ready. If they dug only a small grave, there was a chance that some animal from the forest might easily uncover it and drag the body away. Therefore, just like they had done before, they were forced to dig a large grave. A few of them together carried the grandmother's body from the tent to the edge of the grave. Her face was still terrifying. The marks on her neck were visible in a way that could never be hidden. Yet they covered her neck with a piece of cloth. Then, they covered her entire body.
They carefully lowered grandmother into the grave. Martha's legs were trembling, yet she stepped forward. Kneeling down, she took a handful of soil from the ground. She threw it onto grandmother's body.
"Forgive me. Now you may rest. I will never forget you."
Martha's final words faded softly into silence. Her voice lingered in the minds of everyone around her. One by one, each person took a handful of soil in their hands and dropped it into the grave.
"Grandmother's dearest belongings are in a box. She once told me, when I die, bury those things with me in my grave," Martha said, her voice trembling. She asked them to bring the box. At once, Peter went to Martha's tent. Not long after, he returned, carrying it in his hands.
He opened the box, and together they placed everything inside into Sarah's grave. Those were her husband's belongings.,some clothes and a few other items. That was all she had ever kept as his memory.
As everyone together filled the grave with soil, Wendy Bird's eyes remained fixed upon Martha's face.
"I can see deep sorrow in her eyes. But this morning, I saw her coming out of Daryl's tent. Was she with him through the night? If so, then Grandmother must have been alone in her own tent. Perhaps that is why such a cruel death befell her."
Such thoughts began to take root in Wendy Bird's mind. She realized the incident was turning into something far darker. By then, Grandmother's body had already been completely covered with earth.
The night spent in the dark with Daryl last night, and the weight of meeting her grandmother's death this morning, had completely broken Martha's heart.The wind blew, and in that breeze, the leaves of the trees gently began to fall. Everyone stood together in silence for a moment in her memory. In that silence, they realized that even greater dangers were yet to come. That morning, they had fruits for breakfast. But with her grandmother gone, Martha had no desire to eat. She remained inside her tent.
That day they did not decide to hunt the pig. Instead, they thought they would go into the forest and collect some fruits. This time the ones who went into the forest were Daniel, Francis, David, and Doctor John. Doctor John was ready to go with them only because of his own insistence. Since they had come to collect fruits, they did not have to go much deeper into the forest. After collecting the fruits they needed, they sat down under that tree itself to rest for a while.
" How would Martha's grandmother have died? Do any of you have any guess?" David asked them.
" If you ask like that, I have a guess. She had told us about a terrifying figure that had troubled Rose, hadn't she? Sometimes, could it be that terrifying figure who killed her?But, even if we think like that, a doubt still remains there. When that terrifying figure killed her, why didn't Martha, who was sleeping beside her, know it? And also, when Rose was troubled, her whole body was full of wounds. But on that grandmother's body, except for the mark on the neck, I could not find even a single wound anywhere else. These are the two reasons that push me back from this guess." Daniel said to everyone.
Hearing this, the doctor, after thinking of something, raised his voice.
" Everyone must listen patiently to what I say. The one who attacked Rose was not an animal. She had told me that before she died. Such a terrifying creature does not exist on this island. She lied. But she did not tell me the reason for the wounds."
To make them understand one truth, the doctor had to tell another lie. He took a breath and then continued.
" On this island, only I know that truth. I revealed this truth to you so that you will not turn in the wrong direction. It is for the sake of saying this that I came with you into this forest. We must find out as soon as possible how they died. David must take this up.You have to question everyone, that's your job now."
From the doctor's words, the other three realized the truth., that there was a killer among them. Francis, as always, had kept a little distance from the group, quietly listening to everything. In his hand, a half burnt cigarette still smoldered.
"Doctor, are you saying… that there's a killer among us?" Daniel asked.
" I cannot say that with certainty. But the circumstances are telling me so. Tonight, after supper, we must question everyone. Through that, perhaps we may come to understand what truly happened to that grandmother."
David slowly nodded at the doctor's words.
"But never should anyone on the shore know that I am going to question. If they come to know, sometimes the murderer might be able to weave a good story." David revealed his police wit.
Are you fool? Didn't I just hear everything now? What if I myself am the murderer?
Francis took a puff of smoke and said.
His words at first shocked everyone, but later they understood that Francis had said it just in jest. They wondered how he could make jokes even in such situations.
"Nothing will ever be the same here again. Among us, there might be a murderer." Daniel said this and stood up with the bag full of fruits. He started walking toward the shore. The others followed behind him. Along with them walked the unanswered questions in all of their minds.
To be continued.....