Eden

40

I pull up another bucketful of water, and try to think of something else to ask. There's so much that's new, and so many things I'm curious about here, that, slightly oddly, I'm having trouble thinking of anything to actually talk about. And also, I've almost filled the water-barrel to the top, which means the water-seller is probably about to leave, which means the conversation will be over, and I don't want it to be. I don't want to lose the only connection I have to anyone here, and especially someone who seems to know a little of how this place works.

I try to think of something more to say, but my mind seems to have gone blank.

I lift the bucket up over the side of the bridge, and tip it out into the barrel, and then lower it again for what will probably be the last time. Guessing from the water level inside the barrel, I mean. I glance over the side, and make sure the bucket is in the river beneath us, and then start pulling it up, still wondering what to ask.

I pull, and as I do, I look down quickly at the barrel on the ground beside me, just to make sure I'm not going to bump it with my foot. I look, and then I have a sudden thought.

"Um," I say. "Is it tiring carrying that barrel around all the time?"

The water-seller looks at me. "I'm used to it," she says.

"But is it tiring? I mean, it must be heavy..."

"I'm used to it," she says again.

"Because I just wondered," I say, deciding to be annoyingly persistent again, since it worked fairly well last time. "Perhaps I could carry it for you?"

"Why?" she says.

"Well," I say. "Perhaps if I carried it for a while, like to give you a rest, then you could pay me for doing that? I mean, pay me by getting us something to eat?"

"I can carry the barrel on my own."

"I know," I say, wondering if I'm explaining this badly, because she doesn't seem to understand. "I know you can, but wouldn't it be nicer not to have to? You could have a rest, is all, while I do the work."

She looks at me and seems to be thinking.

"Please?" I say. "I only just got here, and I need to get some food. And I'm happy to help you if you can pay me? So would that be okay if we did that?"

"You want me to feed both of you," the water-seller says, looking at Lexi. "Even though she doesn't help?"

"Well," I say. "Um, yes. Would you mind?"

The water-seller doesn't seem sure. She really doesn't seem to approve of Lexi not helping me do things.

"I'll get her to help," I say quickly. Before that can turn into a problem. "We'll both carry the barrel, or something."

The water-seller thinks, and then nods slowly. "All right," she says. "I'll show you what to do."