She Goes with Her Father 9, 10, 11

Upon awakening the next morning Aruna washed and dressed herself. She went to the hearth to rekindle the fire and start the morning meal. A cup of sage tea was the standard breakfast drink for the family, she made some tea for them all. There was a bit of broth left from her mother's soup last night so she decided to add that to her breakfast. Her mother needed to regain her strength and the broth in her gruel would help. Already she saw Boc looking for larger quantities of foods; other than what his mother's breast supplied. This could only mean that her Mother's milk supply was not adequate. Boc was old enough to survive without nursing but her Mother needed to regain her own strength if she were to successfully fight off this illness. Aruna knew precious little about healing but she know what made a body strong and was determined to use what she knew to help her mother.

Aruna had Lina rest for most of every day and all but drowned her in rich soups, broths and tea until Lina had regained enough strength to resume her some of her duties as mother. Boc had been weaned out of necessity but seemed not to have lost any ground for it. Indeed a stronger, a more rosy cheeked baby had never been seen in the house. Peta had been a big help; together they had managed to allow Lina her much needed rest and nourishment. The two sisters took Ren in hand. They pushed him to spend exuberant energy on gathering and cutting firewood and in tending the small kitchen garden that Lina kept. He was put in charge of Mica when he was not doing his other chores.

Rampa was proud of his family, that they had been able to pull together to allow his Lina to heal made him realize how much they depended on one another. His trade goods resorted and camels rested he was ready for another run, this time to the west. Knowing that his wife was still weak he decided to take Ren with him this time much to the child's delight. This would allow Aruna to help her mother and take the most difficult of the children off their hands.

Aruna explained to Ren what would be expected of him, she thought that there was no reason he could not perform the simple rudimentary tasks and be helpful when they arrived at a homestead. All thought had been pushed from every ones mind of the offer of marriage for Aruna. Her fathers impending travel brought the matter back to the surface in Aruna's mind.

"Father," She began, pausing, not knowing what to say next.

"Yes Daughter," Rampa replied knowing something was troubling Aruna.

"Have you, ... have you spoken to Mother?" she asked tentatively.

"I speak to her every day when I am at home?" He responded leaving the end of his sentence a hanging question.

"I mean about Ozo, and Lazeik's offer?"

There she finally had it out.

"Yes Daughter I have." Rampa replied patiently. "We have decided that if you have no interest in the offer at hand, we will state that you are far too young to accept promises and silently hope that the offer is not presented again later. As far as Ozo goes there is no offer and may not be one ever, there is no telling which way that will turn daughter. We must wait and see."

Aruna was happy with this outcome but still dreaded a possible rekindling of Lazeik's offer.

Part ten

Aruna with her mother and the other children were left at the homestead after Rampa left. They fell into a routine redistributing the necessary chores. Surprisingly Mica wanted to collect the wood in Ren's absence, she had to be kept from the wood cutting for fear that she would loose an appendage to the ax. She also took up the garden and the harvesting of the ripe vegetables. Tarka followed her around as she performed her newly accepted chores as though she was her personal hero. This hero worship further lightened the load of the two older girls.

Mother's health was slow to return to full. Bearing so many children and caring for them for so long with next to no help had taken its toll on her. Her strength was no longer that great, her youth was spent. Though the girls pampered her she still had the lingering cough and she was quickly winded. Though she resisted all attempts to help her with her normal routines they took her longer than usual and she would allow her daughters to help towards the end of strenuous activities.

"Peta," cried Aruna looking at the sky. "Quickly, get the children inside." She snatched up Boc, sending her sister after the other two who were deep in the garden.

There was a dust storm gathering in the East. It darkened the sky and blocked most of the sunlight as in grew larger on the horizon. Mother had been sitting out in the shade of the house, prepping vegetables from the garden for supper. She got up slowly and brought her work inside closing the door after her three middle children. Aruna and Boc were already inside. Aruna and Lina both went to the bladder that hung by the hearth to check the on hand water supply. If the storm lasted, there would be no more, unless someone braved the storm. Mother, seeing how low the supply was, grabbed the bucket and ran to the well before Aruna could stop her. Aruna thought she would go with the other bucket since her Mother was already out there. When she arrived at the well the sand was already stating to fly and her mother's bucket was full. Mother took the other bucket from Aruna and sent her inside with the full one. Aruna protested but her mother already had the wench turning to bring the second bucket back to the surface. She could not let go now or her effort would be lost. Aruna returned to the house with the full bucket, her Mother followed behind her in quick succession. By the time her mother was back inside, the flying sand had managed to obliterate all sight beyond the house. Peta had shuttered the windows tightly and set damp rags in the largest of the cracks in the house. They had been through this before and knew what needed to be done. The sound of the sand hitting the house and the wind driving it ever harder, beating the grit into every nook and corner it could find was deafening. If it went on for days as it often did, they would be hard of hearing for a while after.

Boc started to cry. Peta being nearest to him took him to her lap and started to croon to him but he would not be comforted. He stretched his baby plump arms towards his mother. She rose to take the child from Peta and doubled over with coughing. This time it was a dry cough. Nothing was coming up but there was a lot of irritation going on. Aruna sighed, she wished her mother had not been so insistent at the well, the flying sand is hard for one with good lungs to deal with. Her mother's stubborn nature may have cost her her health again. She put on tea water hoping to settle her mother's chest with a warm cup, praying that the steam and warm tea would sooth the dry sounding cough. Mother took the cup thankfully and tried to sip it between bouts of coughing. The steam helped a little but it cooled too fast and she could not drink much since she could not stop the coughing. Aruna took the cup from her mother and set it close by. She started to prepare the evening meal, she was disheartened by her mother's new bout of coughing and hoped that it would clear in a little while. She added soup to the menu again, hoping that her mother would be able to at least get it down. Lina's coughing let up a bit towards bedtime. Either the inflammation was going down or mother was just too tired to cough....

Part eleven

Morning broke and Aruna rose to start the morning meal. It was still blowing outside, she did not have to look to know that the sand still beat upon her home. She could hear it all night in her dreams. After she stoked the cook fire, Aruna looked in on her Mother, she was alarmed by what she saw. Her mother had a habit of tucking her rag that she coughed into under her pillow when she slept with a cold. The rag was stained with blood. Aruna knew this was not good. She had heard stories about young, strong people loosing their lives once their lungs began to bleed. Her mother still slept deeply, at least now she was not coughing. Aruna did not know what to do. Frightened she found herself longing for her father's reassuring presence. With the storm still raging she knew there was no way anyone could go for help, and she would not know who to go to in this instance.

In her sleep her mother's breath sounded hesitant, not nearly strong enough. Aruna sighed and turned towards the hearth. Being the eldest was a burden she did not feel prepared for now. If only father were here. All she could think of was her need for an elder wiser parent to help her to deal with this dilemma. She clung to hope but knew, in reality, down deep inside, that her mother might die. There was precious little she could do to keep it form happening. She would then be alone with the children. The childcare aspects did not frighten her nearly as much as the prospect of life without her mother's comforting and strong presence. If only mother had not gone to the well. If only she could have let Aruna take the second bucket. Mother was so stubborn. If only she would cling to life with the same tenacity that she clung to that water bucket. If only...

Peta stirred in her bed cloths pushing Aruna's worry away for the moment. She welcomed the distraction. The other children would wake soon and hungry. Aruna hurried to finish cooking break fast, at least she would not have to think about her mother's health for now. If she just did not have to focus on her mother, she would be able to get through the morning. She made a thin broth for her mother and some more sage tea. The children all took their gruel with tea and she had it ready for them when they woke. Her mother, though awake, did not leave her bed for breakfast. When the children were finished Aruna brought her meal to her in her bed. She looked so pale, fragile and painfully thin, Aruna felt the urge to try to protect her. The storm raged on without and within. Lina motioned her to sit on the edge of the bed, she needed to speak to Aruna alone. Aruna sat with trepidation.

"Aruna," she began, looking intensely at her daughter, "I am not well, I might not be able to get better this time."

"No Mother, I will make you another pot of soup, the steam and the goodness in the soup will allow your lungs to heal." Aruna was pleading with her mother, she desperately did not want to be left without her. She was greatly distressed and did not know which way to turn.

"Aruna", her mother continued breathing with difficulty, "If I leave you, you know how to care for the children. I am confident that they well cared for with you to take my place."

After catching her breath again she continued, "One never knows for sure but I think my time may be approaching. There is blood coming from my lungs child."

"No Mother," she almost screamed, "that is just from the sand that got into your lungs. It was harsh, it irritated my breathing too," She pleaded, "You will heal and be as good as ever." "You just need to rest." She was trying to convince herself as well as her mother.

"I have said what I needed to say" mother finished, she lacked the strength for the effort of arguing. Aruna felt she was being dismissed.

In a final plea with fate she told her mother, "You rest this morning, I will take care of everything while you just take your rest." Her mother closed her eyes in resignation. Aruna left the bed area with tears in hers, disheartened.