She Goes with Her Father, 15 and 16

The girls noticed a difference in Ren the next day. He was helpful and respectful. He would always help before but not without prompting. He was respectful before but not sincere in his respect. It seemed he had defiantly grown up over night. Peta suspected the reason but said nothing to anyone.

Aruna was just glad for the help. She was overwhelmed with the thought that she was to be the mother in this home for all time. Boc was such a baby, he would not be grown for years. Would she ever get to have a family of her own? She knew that these were selfish thoughts but they were her own. She did not share them with anyone else.

Father went on three more trading trips that season but his heart was not really in it. His trading went well but he would come home with Ren again, disheartened with no Lina to return to.

Aruna tended the house and continued Peta's education as best she could while caring for the rest of Lina's family. Peta was becoming better at her spinning and weaving, her latest project surprised Aruna and she praised the girl for her apparent gift. It appeared, she realizes smiling, that not only she had inherited her mother's ability to produce wonderful cloth.

The next season Father went out with Ren on the same rout that he had taken Aruna on a year ago. He was well received at his first stop, word had reached them about Lina's death and they shared his sadness. They were happy to see him with his son.

No mention was made of the previous years offer as Mira and Azekiel assumed that Aruna would be acting mother now. They had no interest in burdening their firstborn son with the care of the peddler's family. They wanted him to give them grandchildren of their own. Only Ozo asked how she was doing. He seemed genuinely interested. Rampa thought, if Ozo knew or guessed of Aruna's expressed interest in him, it was unknown, but the ever-wise Rampa logged this conversation in his memory. He looked again at Mira's second born son, cautiously revaluating him. Thinking; Perhaps...

Part sixteen

When he arrived at the second home on the rout he was dismayed to learn that one of the daughters, the eldest had lost her husband to a fall. He had broken his leg badly five moon cycles ago and died suddenly the next day. It brought back his own loss to him in a flood. He closed his eyes and steadied himself grabbing the camel's lead for support.

Denar, the widow was now raising her three young children alone and was ready to give birth to a fourth any day when Rampa arrived. They had not learned of Lina's passing before this and were sympathetic but were beyond dismay at the plight of their own daughter. Rampa was thinking. After careful consideration, he went to speak to the widow. He went to her house, under the guise of extending his sympathy and in passing, turned the conversation to his own plight. Denar, being a sharp witted woman saw the possibility immediately and sat up tall brushing her hair back from her face. She stood to freshen Rampa's tea and wished she had something more prepared to go with his tea.

Rampa knew that it was customary for a widow to morn for one year. Due to the distance between their homes he felt the need shift this a bit, he wanted to offer her the hope of a solution. He presented himself as a potential spouse to her, knowing that many problems would be solved with this marriage. His daughters would be relieved of their obligation, his family would be well cared for and Denar's needs would be met all in the one transaction. She was not coy, her relief was apparent immediately, it was as though a veil of despair was lifted from her entire continence.

Oh yes, how perfect." She replied. Tears, their cause uncertain, came to her eyes as the two went to discuss the possibilities with her parents. Rampa proposed that they the schedule the wedding for his next trip in one year's time. He would bring his whole family to bare witness and for her to meet. They would settle in his home as he had room enough for all of them, her home was already cramped, and with the expected addition of the impending birth they barely had enough room now. It was customary after the weaning of a child for the father to add a room to the house as was needed. Dena's deceased spouse had been in the process of adding the room for her previously child when he took the fatal fall. Her parents agreed to this though it was not the custom for the daughter to leave home when marrying. These were unusual circumstances and required unusual solutions. They were practical people.

Denar's time of confinement came before Rampa left. He stayed to see that she was well before he went on. She brought a daughter into the world. Rampa welcomed the child with tears of joy as though she were his own. He hugged the new mother for a brief moment too long in congratulations. Her parents looked on with tears threatening. Everything would be OK now, Rampa was a good man, he would be good to their daughter. His idea and his caring had solved their problems all around. Denar now had a new reason to look forward. They breathed a sigh of relief, they would be able to relax now in their later years. Thinking further they realized that this marriage tallied to their favor, the fact that the peddler would take a daughter from them should be worth a good bit in trade. These were not a mercenary people, they just thought of the practical results of this situation.