The Protector [ENGLISH]

➷ 2

Chapter One: Unexpected Visitor - Part 2

I left our house and closed the fence in front of the garden behind us. We had four trees. Lemon, apple, olive and pomegranate. One of each. We also had a small garden where we planted tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. We didn't have any animals, so meat, milk and eggs meant still a significant expense for us, but these days I was trying to convince my aunt that we could have chickens.

Yes, there were not many people living on Mount Matea, but there was a huge city at the foot of the mountain, maybe I could find chicken cheaply there. "But in exchange for what?" I thought. I had no skills other than a little sewing. While I was wandering in thoughts, my feet had already followed the path they knew by heart. When I knocked on Uncle Rimi's door, a little girl opened the door.

"Good morning," I said and smiled. "I'm Belina Darens, your neighbour Talina Andas is my aunt. Uncle Rimi was letting me pick plums from your tree, I came to pick a few more if you have permission." I said swiftly.

She was a blonde-haired, robust girl, around 6-7 years old, but tall for her age. "My father is not at home." She said. "You can come in, ask my mom if you want."

So I took off my shoes and entered with some trepidation. Their living room was as big as our entire house.

"Mom!" called the girl. "Aunt Talina's daughter has arrived."

Someone shouted, accompanied by the sound of footsteps approaching from the back room.

"Talina doesn't have a daughter, Ursula!" She got excited when he entered the living room and saw that I was inside. "Oh she's her nephew." She corrected her when she saw me. "Bels, welcome. Would you like some mint tea, dear?"

"Thank you, Aunt Nana. Don't bother," I said hesitantly

"I just brewed it, dear." She said and took out three glasses, she was walking with a limp so she was making a lot of noise while walking. Her daughter brought the tea in a very elegant glass cup and saucer.

"Thank you." I said and took a sip. I ate the ginger cinnamon cookie next to the tea by biting it into small bites. It had been a long time since I had eaten butter, its flavor was spreading in my mouth with every stroke of my tongue. The taste was mesmerizing. Could today be a holiday? I guess pumpkin dessert with cream would appear magically in the evening.

"Uncle Rimi was letting me pick plums, that's why I came." I said then.

"Of course," She said affectionately. "Ursula, help Belina to tidy it up nicely."
"I won't take that much." I said timidly. "Just a few, thank you very much."

"Dear, neither Ursula nor her little brother likes plums. Rimi won't be here for a while either. Look, four trees full of plums are almost going bad, pick them all up and take them away if you want."

With that said, an idea appeared in my mind. "Aunt Nana, I'll collect them all for you then," I said with excitement. "So maybe if you give me a little more than usual, I won't say no." After all, by collecting it, I would have earned it for my own effort. There would be no problem. "There's no need for Ursula to help, I can handle this today."

"Can you climb?" The girl asked in surprise. "Sure," I said. "I just need a few baskets and a cover if there's... Did you have a ladder?"
"The stairs are in the back." When she said that, I moved in the direction she showed, it was a wooden and very solid looking staircase. Their house was at least twice the size of ours. There was a lot of pottery in their kitchen. They were probably full of food...

If there was a man working at home, hunger was no longer a big problem for everyone. Nobody had any interest in having new clothes made, they just came to us to have them repaired. But Aunt Talina said she was sure it wouldn't go that way. After a few years, hunger and war would be completely erased from our minds, and clothing would then regain its former importance. Babels were as stylish as they were beautiful.