As the sun was scorching, Rowan, who didn't have the heart to tire Scarlett, declined her offer to support him and, leaning on his walking stick, walked forward unaided.
Yair, next to him, held an umbrella for him. Scarlett and Viviana followed in their wake.
Scarlett didn't know much about Woodlin Town either, so she couldn’t provide Rowan with any information.
Rowan didn't seem to need Scarlett to say anything. He came here because he wanted to find out what the place where Perry had grown up looked like.
Before leaving for this place, he had psyched himself up. The county seat, though much less prosperous than Deeton City, had a lot of tall buildings in it, and the transportation there was very convenient, and it had a modern air about it. Woodlin Town was a town, so Rowan had believed that it was inferior to the county.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
But it surprised Rowan that the town was inferior to such a great extent.
Looking at the dilapidated houses on the two sides and the shabby street, he couldn't imagine what the Booker family’s house was like.
Though Scarlett had never told him explicitly, he could sense that the Booker family had not treated Pearl nicely, because otherwise they would have long since moved out of this town into the county seat, given how great store Scarlett had always put by her filial duties.
Having found out that his daughter had been sold to a place like this, Rowan had mixed feelings.
While Scarlett and the others were progressing, Gormend, having recognized Scarlett, was no longer in the mood for playing cards. He excitedly jumped, set aside his very good hand and hurried in the direction where Scarlett had gone. His " blood brothers" with whom he had been lollygagging called after him at the top of their lungs, but he did not so much as look back at them.
"Cousin!" The sudden sound of the form of address struck Scarlett as rather presumptuous and she couldn't help but frown. Viviana next to her looked at the young man who had come out of nowhere, her face sullen. "Who are you? We don't know you." Having noticed that the young man was gazing at Scarlett offensively, Viviana promptly interposed herself between them to block his view of Scarlett.
Gormend, after taking a closer look at Scarlett, was taken aback. He thought,’ Goodness me! She's so freaking hot! If I marry her, those bastards will be green with envy!" Looking at Viviana who was blocking his view of Scarlett, Gormend mistook her for Pearl. Kyleigh had never told the other Bookers about Pearl's death, but even if she had told them, the Bookers wouldn't have felt much grief over it.
Apart from anything else, Pearl, after marrying Scarlett's father, had never wired any money into the Booker family's account. At first, they were able to trick Pearl into remitting some money to them by telling her that Kyleigh or her husband was ill, but half a year later, Pearl, presumably having realized that they were lying, stopped giving them money. She still mailed them foods or drinks on holidays, but she never offered them any money again.
Gormend chuckled, "Aunt, it's me! I'm Gormend! Your nephew! We haven't seen each other for many years, right? No wonder you don't recognize me! But | recognize my cousin. Scarlett, you're just as stunning as you were in your childhood!" Gormend had hardly finished speaking when he felt a sudden pain in his leg. Rowan had hit him with his walking stick.
"Aargh! Son of a bitch! Who hit me?" Gormend hurriedly clutched his left leg and hopped a few paces away from them. At the sight of Rowan, he huffed with a grimace of pain, "You geezer! Why did you hit me?" Scarlett's face hardened at his words. She hooked her toe under a stone beside her foot, tossed it up, caught it with her hand and directly hurled it at Gormend's mouth when he was not looking.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
Scarlett threw the stone heftily, and it hit Gormend's front teeth, loosening it.
"Who did this to me? Motherf**ker! Show your-!" Before he could finish his sentence, another stone was hurled into his mouth.
The second stone hit his lower teeth.
Gormend hurriedly lifted his hand to cover his mouth. He glanced around and saw that all those in front of him had forbidding faces.
At that moment, Scarlett walked out from behind Viviana. "I don't know you. | have no siblings. My mother had only one brother, and | have only one cousin." Gormend, covering his mouth, said, "NorScarlett. Your name's Thcarlett, wight?" His mouth covered, has his words were somewhat inarticulate.