Duha lives alone by necessity not by choice. The world passes her by for the most part. Her past prevents her from getting close to other yaspilrmeth. The world around her is changing to the point where even she can't hide from it anymore. The Drago...
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Katja looks sad and is trying to hide it. "Pup you seem subdued." She nodded as we met up with Michi. "We will talk before I leave."
She nodded again. She is very subdued. Is it because I'm leaving? I hope it's that rather than anything else. Michi took Pup's other hand. "I think I have found a good house."
Katja didn't say anything as he led us to a small cottage on the very edge of the village. It had served the shaking for the most part. The only evidence that something had happened to it was the cracks in the plaster on the outside. Walking in, it felt similar to the farmhouse Michi lived in with its low beamed ceiling and open plan. The one change was the stairs. The ground floor was a living space with a nice fireplace and a large kitchen. Going upstairs I found three bedrooms.
"Pup pick your room." I said to her with a smile.
She looked up at me with her eyes all big. She looks like a pup when she does that. I couldn't help but smile wider. "I can choose?"
I nodded. She looked at all three and then picked the smallest. "Why this one?" She pointed out the window and I could see the garden out the front below was full of flowers. "Ahh. I see." She stood in the room looking out the window at the garden. Her posture told me how sad she felt. "What's wrong Katja?"
She looked up at the use of her name and I saw the tears in her eyes. "You're going away."
"I'll be back, Katja; I will be fine."
She shook her head. "You're the only person that was nice to me and now you are leaving too."
I crossed the space in two strides gathering her up in my arms and holding her tightly. "I'm not leaving you. We are making a home here. We will find you some nice furniture and make this room yours, then I will go away. I wouldn't be making a home with you and Michi if I was never coming back would I?"
Her tears stopped her from answering. I stroked her hair and held her as she cried. I heard a sound and looked over my shoulder. Michi stood in the doorway with the boy wriggling in his arms. "Duha is right. We are doing this for you."
She turned her head at his voice but tucked it in again to cry more. After a while, the tears stopped and she stood there in my arms. "I need you to set up this home for me Katja. I need to know that my family is safe and has more than a den under a tree with a nice lake nearby. The boy needs a name and a home to grow up in with his sister. Michi needs a cooker to cook on. I can't fight knowing that you could be hurt out here alone, away from the protection of other people. If I can come home to this house with all of you I will fight harder to come back." She moved away from me back to the window and I knelt next to her to be on her level. "What can I do to show you I will come back?"
She shook herself off. "We will make this place ours.... then we will wait for you to come....home."
I smiled. "Then let's go and find some furniture." She nodded, wiping her eyes. I took her hand and headed back out of the house with Michi in tow.
