Alex, answering Arthur's question, said, "An organic farming startup."
Arthur's mouth dropped open, "What, farming?!"
"Not just farming—organic farming. There's a big difference. I've seen old businessmen give up everything to start organic farms these days because it's a good business. And I believe I can do it too. I can make this a successful startup."
"Yeah, I know all that, but do you actually know how to farm?"
"I don't—yet. But I'll learn."
"And how's that?"
"Dude, YouTube teaches everything now. There are live sessions, too. Besides, the internet isn't just for using WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook—understood?"
"Alright, fair point, but where are you going to do farming? Do you have land to grow stuff on?"
"Arthur, are you blind? Didn't you see the empty five acres outside the Graveyard Manor?"
"Buddy, that's not land, that's a cemetery. You're forgetting your Graveyard Manor is built on top of an old graveyard! You want to farm over a graveyard?"
"Dude, what are you saying? Who builds a graveyard on five acres? Maybe just this manor was built on the cemetery and the rest is fine. And tell me one thing—aren't you my friend? You should be motivating me, I'm trying something new. It'll create employment and help the country grow. Why are you demotivating me?"
Arthur realized his mistake and said, "Sorry, man, I forgot that it's better to become the kind of person who gives jobs, not just works them. I'm with you in your mission—just call and I'll be right there. Whatever help you need."
"Thank you, dude. With a friend like you, no challenge can stop me. So, let's get to work!"
"What work?"
Looking around, Alex said, "You've forgotten already? Last night, I told you that first thing this morning we'd have to clean this manor—can't you see how dusty it is?"
"Yeah, you're right. But look at how huge this place is—even if we spend two days straight cleaning, we won't clear half this dust."
"So what should we do? You want to just leave it like this, not clean at all?"
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I meant we should call for help. With two or three people cleaning, it'd be done faster."
"Who would we call? Who wants to come clean up Graveyard Manor?"
"You're forgetting our old pal is still here in the village. I'll call him."
"Who?"
"Terry the Turtle."
Alex, thinking, said, "You mean the same 'Turtle' whose real name was Terence, and we called him Turtle because he did everything so slowly?"
"Yep, that one."
"Is he still as slow as when we were kids?"
"You'll see when you meet him."
Arthur took out his phone and dialed Turtle.
On the phone, Arthur said, "Hey, Turtle, where are you?"
Turtle's voice came from the other side, "Arthur, I'm by the Wishborne River."
"What are you doing by the Wishborne River so early? No toilet at your place, or what—needed to take a morning dump at the river?"
"Dude, I'm not in the mood for your jokes."
"What's got your head so hot so early in the morning? What happened?"
"Dude, there's been a huge incident here at the Wishborne River."
"What—you said, incident? But what?"
"Come see for yourself. I can't make sense of it."
With that, the line went dead.
Arthur muttered, "Hello... Hey, hello? At least tell me what happened!"
As soon as the call ended, Alex asked, "What happened? Why do you look so worried?"
"Dude, there's been some incident at the Wishborne River."
"An incident? What kind?"
"I don't know, man, but I'm scared."
"Scared? Why?"
"Because, dude, last night, both of us were at the Wishborne River. What if, after we left, Elysira hunted someone?"
Alex, annoyed, said to Arthur, "Dude, you're starting again, your story begins and ends with Elysira! Who knows, maybe something else happened at the river."
"Then you tell me, Alex—what could have happened there?"
"We'll only know when we get there."
"Let's go, then."
Alex and Arthur set out for the Wishborne River. As they reached the door of the manor, Arthur noticed two black umbrellas lying next to it.
Arthur said, "Hey, Alex, take one of these umbrellas."
"Umbrella? Why? I already looked out the window—weather's clear. I don't think it'll rain."
"Just do what I say, don't ask questions. Alright?"
"Alright, fine."
Alex took the umbrella and the two headed for the Wishborne River.
When they reached the river, they saw a huge crowd had gathered—as if the entire village was there. Arthur started looking for Turtle in the crowd.
Arthur scratched his head. "How are we supposed to spot Turtle in this crowd? He's short and skinny, probably stuck somewhere in all these people."
Alex scratched his head too, "You're wondering how to find Turtle, and I'm wondering why this huge crowd is here. I don't think I've even seen this many people at the village fair."
"Yeah, you're right. I've never seen this many people at once since we came back to the village. I don't even get what's going on—let's get closer."
Arthur and Alex began to push through the crowd. After a few steps, they finally spotted Turtle.
Arthur said to Alex, "Look, there's Turtle!"
"Where?"
Arthur pointed ahead, "Over there."
"I don't see him—where?"
Arthur called out, "Turtle! Hey, Turtle!"
About twenty-five steps away stood a skinny guy in a black undershirt with a dark complexion and short hair. He saw Arthur and slowly said, "Arthur, you made it."
Arthur beckoned, "Yeah, come here, man."
Turtle started pushing through the crowd toward Arthur. He was moving so slowly, it felt like he'd take half an hour to get there.
Alex said, hand on his head, "Man, he's still as slow as ever. Let's just go to him; otherwise we'll be here 'til tomorrow."
"Yeah, let's."
Alex and Arthur walked over to Turtle.
Turtle squinted at Alex. "Who's this you brought with you?"
Before Alex could answer, Arthur said, "Don't you recognize him? That's Alex—our childhood friend, the one who always saved you from getting whacked by the teacher."
Turtle, remembering, said, "Oh, this is Alex! When did you get here?"
Arthur cut him off, "I'll tell you later. First, explain to me what happened here—why's there such a crowd?"
Turtle grabbed Arthur's hand, "Man, I can't say. My heart's too weak. You should go see for yourself."
Turtle, with Alex and Arthur, started pushing through the crowd toward the riverbank. When they reached it, what they saw left Arthur and Alex frozen in shock. At the edge of the river, there were thirty or forty dead crows.
Alex, stunned, said, "What—how did so many crows die?"
Arthur was so disturbed, he couldn't even speak.
Turtle looked at the dead crows and said, "That's just it, Alex. For years, there haven't been any crows in our village, and today, when we finally see them, it's so many—dead!"
Near them, a few men were talking among themselves.
The first man said, "Il a donné un nouveau regard à la Chine, Kocha lui a fait signe, le jeu de la mort a commencé Kocha."
The second man replied, "La chaleur est bonne, la laine et le menton sont le premier menton de la mort."
Alex, puzzled, said, "What are these guys talking about?"
Arthur answered, "They're speaking French. You know in our Greenridge area people speak Chinese, Hindi, Russian, Greek."
Alex, annoyed, said, "Man, I didn't ask for the history of local dialects! I want to know what these guys are saying—I don't speak French."
"Okay, okay, they're saying, 'She is coming, she has given a sign, the game of death has begun—this is the first sign of death.'"
Alex, bewildered, said, "Who are they talking about? Who is coming—and what sign did she give?"
Turtle whispered, "Elysira, Alex—Elysira is coming. This is her sign of death."
Before Alex could react, Arthur, thinking, said, "Alex, I think all this is happening because of us."
"Because of us? How?"
"Look, last night, both of us opened the Graveyard Manor's door—and now, all these crows died this morning. That can't be a coincidence. This has never happened before."
Turtle's jaw dropped, "Wait, you guys opened the Graveyard Manor? Why? Do you not know that Graveyard Manor is Elysira's second lair? Now she won't spare anyone—all the men will be her prey."
Alex tried to calm him, "Turtle, it's nothing like that. I'll tell you how those crows died. Last night, Arthur brought this device, it was making weird noises—maybe the crows couldn't handle it and died. You know how sound waves affect birds, right?"
Arthur said, "Dude, don't blame everything on my electromagnetic field device. Even if I assume you're right, why did only the crows die? Other animals could have died too, but all the bodies here are just crows."
With that, Alex fell quiet—he had no answer.
Arthur continued, "This is a sign, Alex—a death omen. Don't you know about crows?"
"Don't know what?"
"In scriptures, the crow is seen as Yama's messenger. It's believed crows go to the underworld and inform about the deeds of people on earth. The crow keeps the ledger of one's life—but in omens, crows don't just signal from the afterlife; they warn humans here, too. All these crows dying means there's going to be a lot of death in the village soon."
Turtle supported Arthur, "Yeah, he's right. My grandma told me that in old times, if a crow sat on someone's head and pecked, it meant something bad was coming. To avert the disaster, that person would write a letter to relatives claiming he had died. His family would mourn, and then a second letter would be sent saying the first was false—a hoax. The belief was that the disaster the crow brought would be averted by the fake news."
"What! Why?"
"Because after hearing false news of death, the person's family grieved as if it had already happened, and the evil omen was tricked into leaving."
Alex rolled his eyes, "If you two know all this, then you must know about load Ram's great devotee—he was blessed with choosing his own moment of death, and today crows are seen as his embodiment. Sure, it's believed if a crow sits on your head and pecks it's unlucky, but if a crow just sits, it's actually very auspicious. Now tell me, how do we know if it just sat or also pecked? Neither of you can answer that!"
Arthur and Turtle stayed quiet.
Alex went on, "Look, every religion has its own beliefs: for some, seeing a crow is lucky, for others unlucky, and some don't care about such things at all. I'm one of those. This is all superstition, nothing more, understand?"
Turtle, shivering, said, "Man, believe it or not, but you guys did wrong opening the Graveyard Manor. Do you even know how many people gave their lives to shut that Manor's door?"
Alex, shocked, asked, "What—people died to close the door? Why?"