Chapter 2

"Isn't that Nathan? What brings you here so early in the morning? How did you know I was here?"

"Serio, please help. My son, Ethan, is dying."

Father, who had been standing in the doorway with a narrow gap, now opened the door wide and looked behind Nathan. Behind Nathan stood a woman who appeared to be his wife, holding a limp child. Beside them stood a gaunt camel. I watched from my hiding place.

"Come in for now."

Father invited the three of them in, laid the child on a long sofa, and poured water into a copper cup, bringing it close to the child’s mouth. Ethan’s lips were cracked and his skin was dry. His dark brown hair was dirty, and his green eyes had no life in them.

When Ethan was propped up and the cup of water was brought to his lips, he opened his eyes and, with both hands, grabbed the cup and drank the water in one gulp.

"I’ll make some milk porridge right away."

Mother Ilda stood at the kitchen counter in the corner of the room, warming the camel’s milk she had just milked this morning, and stirred in some boiled wheat. She added a little salt and honey, then served it in a bowl.

After being given water to drink, Nathan’s wife, Benita, scooped up the milk porridge with a spoon, blew on it to cool it down, and brought it to Ethan’s mouth. Ethan snatched the spoon from his mother and ate the milk porridge greedily. After finishing, Ethan fell asleep.

"Thank you. You saved us. We haven’t had a proper drink or meal for days."

"We tried to feed Ethan as much as possible, but we finally ran out of food."

Hearing this, Mother quickly went to the kitchen and laid out a generous meal on the table.

"Alesia, it’s okay. Come out."

I, who had been trained to hide when people came, finally emerged from behind the food shelf at Father’s call.

"Hello, you must be Alesia? I’m Nathan, who lived next door when you were born. The sleeping child is Ethan, who is two years younger than you. This is Ethan’s mother, Benita."

It was the first time I had seen anyone other than my parents at home, and I didn’t know how to respond in such a situation. Confused, I hid behind Father.

"Alesia, in this situation, you say ‘hello.’"

"H-hello."

"Hello, Alesia."

When Benita smiled at me, I hid behind Father again.

"Nathan, Benita, please eat first. Then I’d like to hear why you came here."

Nathan and Benita initially ate hesitantly, but soon began eating with more enthusiasm. Mother served the adults soft milk porridge and soup, tender bird meat, and wheat dumplings, along with milk tea with honey.

I sat in the corner of the room, holding a handmade doll, and listened intently to the adults’ conversation.

"Actually, when I went to the market a while ago, I saw you. You looked very healthy, and the vegetables you were carrying were impressive. I was curious, so I followed you to find out where you lived. I’m sorry. By the way, did you really bring a sick child all the way here? That’s reckless. Is the well that’s drying up the only one in the area?"

"I followed you, yes. And yes, I brought a sick child here. It’s reckless, I know. But the well in our area has been drying up for a while now."

"Is it the only one drying up?"

"Yes. Recently, we can’t even get clean drinking water. The poor are getting sick from contaminated water and can’t afford to see a doctor, so the number of sick children and elderly is increasing. But other areas won’t accept us."

"Oh..."

Mother covered her mouth with her fingertips and let out a sad sigh.

"The area where you lived can’t grow crops properly because of the lack of water. But the vegetables and fruits you bring are fresh and well-watered. Serio, don’t you have a hidden well? The area around this house is lush with vegetables and fruit trees, but there’s no sign of a spring. So, there must be a hidden well, right?"

"There is no hidden well. If we hid a well, we’d be executed. I wouldn’t do such a terrifying thing. We have Alesia, you know?"

"Then how do you grow crops and fruit trees?"

Father sighed deeply.

The day he had feared had finally come.

He had moved to a secluded desert to avoid drawing attention.

(If I had gotten the information about the water shortage earlier, I could have managed to hide it. My efforts to avoid contact with others backfired, and I missed the news about the water shortage.)

Father regretted this at that moment.

"Dear, let’s let Nathan and his family live here."

"Ilda..."

"If we only think about our own happiness, we’ll incur the wrath of God."

Mother had become more devout since raising me.

Facing Nathan and Benita, who were watching us intently, Father told them only part of the truth.

"Will you live here and build a house? I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but there is no spring or well here. However, it rains every night in this area, and only in this area."