Mina learns more about Yuila and Edvard, about the girl’s secrets, her fears, and Edvard’s family.
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♫♪Suggested Music: from Great Empires on AudioNetwork
Mina knew her mother had always been slow, then rash, about problems. Mina sighed. Sometimes slow, simmering pots suddenly boiled over.
At least in Chicago Mina felt her parents would get back together quicker. Now, in . . .
What was the name of that place they had moved to? She frowned at the copper pot over the fire as bubbles rose from the bottom. Now reconciliation seemed less likely.
But her mother's extreme actions were generally in a good direction, in the larger scheme of things. She couldn't see how this move was good, not when it took them away from her dad.
Unless, Mina thought, making her father follow them out of Chicago would take him away from whatever the problem was. She sighed slowly. That meant another woman.
"It will work out soon, Mina."
She flinched and looked to where Edvard stood nearby, holding what appeared to be a small butchered goat by a short rope in one hand and another bucket of water in the other. "What?" she asked shakily. "What did you say?"
"I said it will be dark soon, Mina." He held the skinned and dressed animal tighter, puzzled by her confused expression. "Are you all right?"
"Yes." She stood and shook out her skirts as he approached. She tried to smile. "So that's a mouflon."
"You've never seen one?"
"No. I thought they'd look more like a sheep."
He nodded. "They do farther up in the mountains. Longer hair, thicker horns." He laid the bow and quiver near a tree. "I'm going to section in up. Do you want some for the . . . Are you making soup?"
"I hope so."
He rested the animal on one of the larger rocks and placed the hunting knife at its rear quarter. "Will that do it?"
She nodded and he cut off the hind leg. "I'll take care of it," she said. "The water's already boiling."
"All right." He handed her the shank portion and took the rest of the animal to a small boulder near one of the trees.
Mina set to work rinsing off the few stray hairs from the portion of meat and began cutting off bite size chunks into the pot. "Do you think the trade road will be safe by the time we get to it?"
"Yes. I don't think we'll have a problem with the Derans."
Mina added a dozen pieces of meat to the pot and stirred it, looking to where Yuila was picking through the berries in her basket. Why did she misunderstand what Edvard said lately? Was she that occupied in her own thoughts? The sharp blade of her knife cut into the dark red meat.
"What's the next town we go through?"
"Sel Deuo. It's a lot bigger than Dimitar, and I'd really rather avoid it, but we'll need supplies."
She nodded, adding more meat to the soup. "How far away is it?"
"About three days, once we get on the road."
Well, everything he had said then sounded normal enough, she thought, nodding. She put the rest of the cubed meat into the pot. She washed her hands with some of the water he had brought and stepped closer to watch him part out the mouflon. "How will we keep it from spoiling?"
"Well, we'll just have to eat it." He grinned when she looked apprehensive about the suggestion. "We'll roast it tonight, and eat it over the next day, Mina. We don't have time to do anything else with it. I tried to get a small one."
She looked to Yuila at the berry bushes. "Yuila said she didn't try to go out last night."
"Do you believe her?"
"I don't know, Edvard. She said she wouldn't try to. I think she's a little scared of you."
"Because I stepped on her leg?"
"No. Oh, you're joking." She laughed and shook her head.
"That's better."
"What's better?"
He shrugged, parting the final section of the small animal. "A smile, instead of that serious face you had on earlier."
She found herself grinning wider at his words.
"I mean, it's just a spoon, Mina."
"I wasn't grieving over a spoon." She batted at his arm.
"Hey, you'll make me cut my hand off."
Her eyes widened when she looked down to the rock. "You did not," she said as his elbow nudged her shoulder until she pushed back.
He divided the meat into two piles of larger and smaller portions. "But, really, is something wrong?"
"No," she said after a moment. She took a deep breath and looked to Yuila. "I guess I should help her find her way back before there are no berries left."
"Maybe you should."
Yuila had found more than blackberries. Supper consisted of mouflon and vegetable soup, roasted mouflon, the berries, and the remaining quince wine. Mina sat beside Yuila after they had finished eating, investigating one of the husked berries the younger girl had picked. The papery outer husk was dry and crinkly, like a little Chinese lantern, and inside was a single golden berry that tasted much like a mellow pineapple.
Yuila made a face as she ate one. "Ugh. Sour." She tried another one and smiled at Mina. "That one was better."
Mina looked to where Edvard was bringing the horses closer to their camp. "Can you stay invisible for long, Yuila?"
The girl's eyes dropped to the husked berry in her fingers. "Sometimes, but not often. I'm at level two."
"What's level one?"
Yuila looked to Edvard near the trees, then back to Mina. "I'm not supposed to talk to anyone about it. Not out of Prima Lūce."
"I won't tell anyone," Mina assured, eating another berry. Yuila was right, she thought, swallowing the tepid yellow pulp and seeds. They could be sour.
"Well, I'm at level two. Level one is invisibility." Yuila took a moment to sort through the basket for more ripe berries. "Level two is invisibility, and the ability to make your clothes invisible. And for longer periods of time."
"How are you doing at level two?"
The girl shrugged. "I need a lot more practice. I should be meditating for an hour at night. At least an hour." She looked to Edvard with the horses accusingly.
"What's level three?"
Yuila sighed. "I'm not supposed to tell you, Sapo."
Mina nodded. "Okay. I understand." She hunted through the berries and found one with a worm in the husk. She threw it into the weeds.
Yuila sighed again. "I trust you, Sapo, but I'm not allowed to tell you."
Mina smiled at the girl's worried expression. "Then don't tell me, Yuila. I was just curious. I don't want you to get in trouble."
"No one would know, anyway," the girl said, opening a husk to reveal the berry.
"If it's wrong, it's wrong, even if no one finds out, Yuila."
"Now you sound like my mother." Yuila ate the berry. "She's going to have a baby boy."
Mina looked quickly to the girl. It was the first she had mentioned of her mother being pregnant. She had said very little about her home, in fact. "You'll be a big sister, Yuila. How lucky for you."
"Why? I'll have to hold it, and wash it, and carry it." She made a guttural sound. "And change it. Ugh."
"Babies can be fun, too." She watched Yuila settle against the fallen tree behind them and sulk. "You'll like holding a baby."
"How do you know? Do you have any babies?"
"Of course not."
"Because they're not fun," Yuila determined.
Mina sat against the tree with her. "I don't not have a baby because they're not fun, Yuila. I'm not married, and even if I was, it doesn't mean I'd have a baby." Well, not in the other world, she thought, sighing. "Is that why you ran away, Yuila?"
"No."
"You can tell me, Yuila. I won't tell anyone."
The girl frowned, settling closer, and reached for another berry. For a few long moments she carefully studied the husk the small fruit was wrapped in, then peeled back the papery outing. "The third level is being able to see another Crone who is invisible."
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