Semua Bab The choices we make: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Mary knew the sun was about to come up. She lay in her bed, waiting for the first light to find its way through the gap in the closed shutters. Under the covers, it was warm, but when Mary got out of bed she knew the chilly morning air would make her shiver. So she stayed under the blanket even though she knew she should get up. Suddenly, there was a loud coughing attack from the bed on the other side of the room. Mary forced herself to get up and wrapped her woollen shawl around her as she rushed to the other bed. It was her mother who had coughed. Mary looked at her mother and saw the glazed look, though it met her gaze, it didn’t seem to see her. Mary was afraid of that look. Her mother had had it for almost three days and Mary’s father had had it for almost five. It had been almost two weeks since her father first got sick and then her mother had fallen ill. Now she was the one who took care of them and the household. She turned around and went back to her own bed. There, her dres

“Are your parents better?” Mrs. Korpi asked.“A little, thank you. Father talked to me today but he’s still weak and needs to sleep,” Mary replied. She stopped when she saw Mrs. Korpi seemed to recoil as she got closer.“Who’s running the shop today?”“I am. We need to bring in some money to be able to buy meat in the market.”“Is it really wise to open the shop? You should perhaps wait until your father or some adult can take care of it.”“I’m sure you’re right, but I have to take care of my parents, so I don’t have a choice.” Mrs. Korpi seemed to hesitate a little. She looked back into the shop and then examined Mary for a while.“How are you, Mary?” she asked.“Thank you, I’m fine,” Mary replied honestly.“You don’t have a fever or cough?”“No, I’m perfectly healthy.” Mrs. Korpi looked at her again.“Mary, I think you’d better come live with us. You shouldn’t be alone here; you’d be better off at our home.” Mary looked at Mrs. Korpi in surprise. Did she really want Mary to leave he

Mary looked around and suddenly realized what was wrong, it was the sound of her parents’ breathing. It no longer sounded strained as it had done in the past week, but it was not the breathing that Mary used to lie and listen to when she couldn’t sleep when her parents had been healthy either. This breathing came quickly; it was as light as a feather and sometimes it seemed to stop for several minutes. Mary knew nothing about sickness, let alone death. But in her heart, she knew the breathing she heard from her parents was wrong. Something was very wrong. The panic quickly crept into her, and Mary felt it take a firm hold of her heart. Why had she stayed so long looking for eggs? She should have stayed inside and taken care of her parents. What would she do now? No one could or would help her. Mary sank to the floor in the middle of the room and cried. All the fear and sadness she had inside her came out in the desperate cry of a ten-year-old girl. After the worst of the crying subsid

Tariana sat and watched the sleeping girl. It had been a long journey from Salmisara to Dermes, and when something had crashed down on her carriage as they went through the city, her imagination had created the most horrible images. She shouldn’t have allowed herself to create such fantasies, but she blamed fatigue. When she discovered it was in fact a little girl, she had been surprised for a moment. It wasn’t often Tariana was surprised, but the small, slender girl with the desperate eyes had succeeded. Tariana remembered the desperation in the girl’s words, how her voice had been panicked. She could still see the tears which had flowed down her cheeks and how she had fought like a beast against Kopa and Term, who had tried to pull her away from the carriage. Tariana’s maternal instinct had awakened, and that’s why she had decided to hear what the girl wanted to say. She still had a hard time believing the story she had heard. Such a young girl had struggled to take care of herself

Mary walked up to the chest that stood by her bedside. It was her father’s chest. She took out the key she had around her neck and opened it. Therein were her father’s silver items, wrapped in cloth and straw. There was also a small bag of the money that Mr. Sansi had received from the sale of her parents’ estate. She searched the items until she found what she was looking for. She picked up a small parcel and unwrapped the fabric that protected the silver object. It wasn’t big but the rose was so cleverly made you’d think it had been a real rose that someone dipped in liquid silver. Mary knew her father had made it for her mother. He would have given it to her for her birthday. Mary was annoyed by a tear that ran down her cheek and wiped it away. She didn’t think her father would be offended if he knew what she was planning to do with it. She wrapped the rose back up and put it on the bed. Then she picked up a new parcel. She unwrapped it and saw a heavy silver buckle. It depicted a