Chapter 43
“Morning,” Annie mumbled.
Abby looked up from the stack of sticks she was bending over to see her sister approaching, her young nephew on her hip.
“Good morning, Annie,” she said. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“Felix was done sleeping, so I got him out of the hut since I think everyone else could use the additional rest,” Annie explained. “I certainly could have used more rest, Mister!” she finished, tickling her son, who softly giggled in response.
“How was your night outside?” Annie asked.
“It didn’t rain like the first night, so that was a positive,” Abby said, knocking two stones together to try and light the fluff under the sticks with sparks from the rocks.
“I hope I have the same luck on my turn tonight,” Annie commented. “Did Karl and Luther already leave to find breakfast?”
Abby nodded. “So everyone else is still sleeping?” she asked.
“Yes, as far as I could tell,” her sister answered.
“And did anyone have any problems?” Abby asked in a tone more reminiscent of an experienced doctor questioning a new resident.
“If by ‘anyone’ you mean Papa, he was frequently restless and he was talking in his sleep multiple times last night,” Annie replied. “I’m worried about him, Abby. He’s not recovering from the hiber-sleep as well as I’d hoped.”
“He’s also twice our age,” Abby noted, “so I don’t expect him to shake it off like you or me or Luther or Karl.”
“I know that, but it seems like there’s a bit more to what’s happening with him than shaking off the hypoanesthesia,” Annie responded.
“I know,” her sister replied in a softer tone. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
“You never did tell me about how he woke up on the ship,” Annie noted. “I remember you saying he had a rough time. What happened?”
Abby blew on the kindling she had stacked, causing the smoking soft cotton-like material to start a small flame. Then she leaned back on her heels, watching the kindling start to catch.
“He really struggled, Annie,” she said, not turning away from the growing flame. “It was scary. I saw him grab the sides of his cot on the ship, and he tried to lift his head. His eyes were super-wide, but not seeing anything clearly. I ran over to him and began talking to him. He just looked right past me, as if I wasn’t even there. I had Luther help me lift him up under his shoulders. Papa didn’t respond until we got him far enough that his chair started raising up. Then he grabbed one of my arms and one of Luther’s and began crying out ‘What’s happening? Where is Angelica?'”.
“Was he dreaming about Mama again?” Annie asked.
“I don’t know if it was a dream, or if he was imagining,” her sister answered. “I was able to reach the water and tried to get him to drink. But he knocked the glass away and shouted “Let me go find my wife!” I told him his family was here, his grandchildren were here and were watching him, and that, oh baby, I hope you don’t mind, I told him you needed his help since you hadn’t woken up yet. When he heard me say you needed his help, he stopped trying to pull away from Luther and I. I got him another glass of water, and he finally calmed down once he got some liquid down his throat.”
“And then?” Annie asked.
“And then he noticed he was naked, turned around to find the pants and shirt sitting on the pedestal, got dressed, and went over to where you were laying. He watched you for a long time. He asked me questions about how I thought you were doing, commented on how it was good to see your nostrils quiver the way they usually do when you are in deep sleep, and that you and I were the most beautiful, precious and wonderful angels in his life after Mama died.”
Abby looked over at her sister to see Felix’s little hand wiping the tears from his mother’s cheeks. Then he gave his mother a hug around her neck.
Annie returned her son’s hug. “Why can’t he just worry about himself!” she sniffled.
“Because that’s not who he is,” her sister replied. “He’s going to take care of everyone else first. And even then, if he’s not feeling good, he’s always been good about hiding his illnesses. After he was done looking over you, he went to find the kids. He made sure to give each of them hugs, ask them what questions they had about what was going on, and tried to get them to laugh and joke. He would sit whenever he could, making it look like he did it to hold one of the kids or to get on their eye level. But I could tell he was still dizzy and got winded just walking around our collection of cots.”
“I don’t think he’s improved much since then,” Annie noted. “All yesterday he stayed around the hut, saying he enjoyed Mélodie’s company and hearing her stories about her life on Earth and here on Nova and how the colony was progressing. Did he ever tell you he learned French in the Navy? Anyway, he tried going out with Kaden, Beckett and Atticus one time, but he got no further than the edge of camp. I saw him when I came back with some of the fruit we gathered. He was leaning up against the trees over there, and then came back to the cottage, his face pale and asking for some water.”
“He isn’t eating much,” Abby commented. “When I asked him about it, he tried to refocus the attention elsewhere. He said he’s worried about Raina not eating enough.”
“I’m worried about that old man eating enough!” Annie replied. “But I’m worried about Raina also. Let’s be honest, Abs, you and I are worried about all of the children. We’re worried about Papa. I’m worried about you. You are worried about me. I suppose we even think about Luther and Karl every once in a while.”
“I don’t know what to do for Raina,” Abby said, not smiling at her sister’s joke. “I don’t know how to help Hazel either. Raina is ill tempered with anyone but Hazel. Hazel won’t let Raina out of her sight. The only person who can feed Raina is Hazel, and Hazel has no interest in anything other than caring for Raina.”
“It’s like the girls are more sensitive to the changes and the impact of their new surroundings than the boys are,” Annie said. “And they try to deal with it by bonding closer with each other. In a way it’s similar to you and I. But we’re the same age and know how to communicate. Raina can’t talk yet.”
“So what do we do?” Abby asked her sister.
“I’m supposed to be the one to ask you that!” Annie chuckled. She walked over, extended her hand, and pulled her sister to a standing position.
“We take care of our families – and each other! – like we always do,” Annie said, hugging her sister.
“Ow!,” Felix said as he was caught in the middle of the embrace, trying to push the two apart. “Too tight! Down please!”
Annie put her son on the ground. “You have to stay here, Felix, next to Mommy and Aunt Abby.” She bent down to the ground and handed him two stones. “Here, make some sparkles.”
Felix started knocking the flint stones together, making occasional small sparks.
“So what did Luther tell you about the conversation he and Karl had with the villagers last night?” Annie asked.
“Probably the same that Karl told you,” Abby replied. “That each family must provide for their own housing and food.”
“And how are we supposed to do that without someone to watch the kids,” Annie wondered. “Papa isn’t in any shape to do that right now. In fact, someone needs to keep an eye on him. And Luther and Karl can’t build a shelter for us on their own, while you or I try to get enough food. I mean, I get it’s tough for the people here, but you’d think they could offer some help.”
“It sounds like the colony has suffered a lot,” Abby said. “If this is what every colony is going through, then this is a much worse situation than I ever imagined. The way Mélodie described it, two-thirds of the original colony is gone.”
“Well, if I counted correctly, only about a third are known to have died,” Annie said. “The other third left this area.”
“And how many of them are still living?” Abby questioned. “Oh, what were we thinking, Annie! Why did we bring our families here? This isn’t any place for children!”
“Don’t say that, Abigail Freeman!” Annie reprimanded her sister. “We don’t know enough about this world yet to make such a statement. And we know there is a reason to be here. God’s got a plan for us, and Mama wouldn’t lead us astray from that plan. We need to keep the faith, trust in the Lord and each other, and we will not only survive, but we will thrive!”
Abby looked at her sister with a weak smile. “You always were a better cheerleader than I was.”
Their conversation was interrupted by two different people approaching from opposite directions.
Theo was walking from the hut towards his mother, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
And from between the huts on the opposite side, a man approached them, examining the two women closely. He did not resemble any of the other Nouveau D’Ivoire colonists, his skin having a light brown complexion.
“Come here, Theo,” Abby said softly but firmly, waving her son towards her briskly. He arrived before the man did. Abby held Theo’s hand and placed him behind her. Annie stepped in front of Felix, blocking the path between the stranger and her son.
“Ola!” The man said with a wave, trying to smile. “Ello! My name is Esteban Torres. Are you the doctors?”
“What is it you want?” Abby said, with no reflection of friendliness in her tone.
“I am from the near colony, Lejano Pueblo. I have come to meet you.” Esteban said. “Oh, and I have these gifts!”
He reached into his bag. “Please, take them,” Esteban said, holding out the bowls he had packed when leaving his hut earlier that morning, now filled with contents. “I make them for my family, and now I am giving them to you.”
Abby didn’t move, but Abby stepped forward and took the bowls. “Thank you,” she said, holding out one of the bowls to her sister.
“You are the doctors, yes?” Esteban asked.
“Yes, we are doctors,” Annie replied.
“Ah, good. I only have the two bowls,” Esteban said. “If you are not the doctors, I must take the bowls for the doctors.”
Abby spoke up. “Yes, we are doctors.” She reached over to take one of the gifts from her sister. “What is in the bowls?” she asked the man.
“Fruit and nut,” Esteban said.
“What kind of fruit and nuts,” Abby delved.
“We call the fruit pocazur and the nut mastinuez,” he said.
“And they are safe to eat?” Abby questioned.
“Abby!” Annie said. “They are a gift!”
Abby scowled at her sister.
The stranger held out his hand. “Please?”
Abby gave him the bowl.
Esteban took one of the fruits, put it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed it.
He returned the bowl to Abby and held out his hand to Annie. “Please?” he said again.
Annie gave him the bowl, and Esteban repeated the process with one of the nuts, then returned the bowl to Annie.
“I understand you are afraid on this new world,” Esteban said. “You are good to be afraid as there are many things that can hurt or make you sick. I promise I am here as a friend.”
Annie gave her sister a look of impatience, took a nut from her bowl, a fruit from her sister’s and popped them into her mouth.
Abby shook her head.
Annie returned her attention to the bowl she was holding. “So you said you made this?”
“Yes,” Esteban said.
“What is it made from?” Abby spoke again.
“From, eh, el barro. From ground and water,” the potter explained.
“Clay bowls?” Annie commented. “I’ve not seen any bowls here. They only have large nut shells they use as bowls.”
“Yes, they have a more difficult living in Nuevo Marfil,” Esteban said. “We have better in Lejano Pueblo.”
“Is that the name of your colony?” Annie asked.
Theo interrupted the conversation, pulling on his mother’s tunic. “Mama, I want some! I’m hungry!”
“Not yet,” Annie said to her nephew.
“But you had some, Aunt Annie!” the young boy argued.
“I’m going to let it settle in my stomach and make sure I don’t get a sore tummy,” Annie explained. “We’ll share this with all of the others when they come out, as long as I don’t have a reaction.”
Abby gave her sister a surprised look.
“I’m just as concerned about them as you are, Abs,” Annie said. “But we’ve got to learn when to trust people here.”
Then she turned back to the stranger. “So you said Lay Hano Pueblo is the name of your colony? What does that mean?”
“Ah,” Esteban thought. “A town very distant.”
“A town very distant from where?” Annie asked. And, then, without allowing the man to answer, “Oh, I get it! Very far from Earth! That’s cute.”
“So what do you mean when you say living is more difficult here?” Abby asked the man. “You have a nicer village?”
“We have more people, more houses, more food, more, eh, articulos,” Esteban explained. “More things, like these bowl.”
“Why?” Abby questioned. “Why do you have it better? Are you saying you are smarter? Or have better people?”
“No,” Esteban said. “Here in Nuevo Marfil the people have bad luck.”
“What sort of bad luck are you talking about?” Abby continued.
Again, their conversation was interrupted by people approaching. This time, Hazel came out of the hut with Raina on her hip. And from a perpendicular path, Mélodie, the host of the sisters and their families, was returning from the center of the Nouveau D’Ivoire encampment, carrying two of the large nut husks Annie had just mentioned.
Mélodie gave the man a wary look as she approached.
“Ola!” Esteban greeted her. “My name is Esteban. I am from Lejano Pueblo. I am a friend of Roberto. Do you know Roberto? The Mexican man who is a friend of Mathilde. Do you know Mathilde?”
Mélodie turned to the sisters, the skeptical look still in her face.
“He also told us his name is Esteban. Torres, is it?” Annie asked.
Esteban smiled and nodded.
“What are those?” Mélodie asked in French, her head nodding to one of the bowls the sisters were holding.
Annie translated the questions and the answers as they came
“Clay bowls with fruits and nuts,” Abby answered.
“Did he give them to you?” Mélodie asked.
Before Abby had a chance to respond, Annie jumped in. “It looks like you have something in your hands also. What do you have there, Mélodie?”
“Mel Dee”, a young voice said from behind the sisters.
Everyone turned around.
“Was that Raina?” Abby asked, looking at her older daughter.
Hazel nodded.
Abby stepped over to the girls. “What was that you said, Queen Bee?”
Raina pointed to the woman holding the nut shells, repeating “Mel Dee.”
Abby’s hand cupped her own mouth. “Oh my Lord! That’s the first thing she’s said since we left the ship!”
“Did she say my name?” Mélodie asked, the apprehension leaving her face.
Hazel smiled and nodded again. “She likes you.”
Mélodie stepped closer to the young girls. “Oh, ma petite puce, I like you too!”
“Take this,” the Ivorian host said, handing to Abby a nut shell filled with a yellowish-green gruel. “This is morning soup. I told the cooks I needed an extra amount. This is for the babies. Your boy and your girl.”
Abby took the soup. “Thank you, Mélodie.”
Mélodie continued, “I am going to share this with Monsieur LeeAndré. That man must eat or else he will be too weak. The cooks would give me no more, so you must get your own food for you and your children. Let me see that,” she finished nodding to the bowl Annie was holding.
Annie held out the bowl. “Thank you so much, Mélodie! You have been so kind to us, and especially to our father. Will you have some of this?”
Mélodie looked at the fruit. “Bleuboise?” she asked, turning to Esteban.
“Pocazur,” Esteban replied.
“Every colony has different words,” Mélodie said, shaking her head slightly. Then turning back to Annie. “Give the fruit to your children. It is good for them. Where is your father?”
“He’s still in the hut, along with others,” Annie answered.
“I will tell him it is time to wake up. He must eat,” Mélodie said, and then walked towards her cabin , carrying the second bowl of breakfast soup.
Annie handed the nut shell filled with gruel she was holding to her sister. “Why don’t you give some of this to Felix.”
Then she turned around to her son, “Hold out your hand, Theo.”
Her son obliged, and his mother placed a small handful of the blue fruit in his palm. “Don’t drop any,” his mother directed. “That is all you get for now.”
“What about Raina?” Hazel said.
“I’ll give her something after you eat some of this yourself,” her mother responded.
“But she’s hungry!” Hazel countered, the younger sister squirming in her arms.
“You’ve barely eaten more than Grandpa, young lady. If you are so intent upon taking care of Raina, you have to learn that you need to take care of yourself. A good caregiver is a healthy caregiver. So my rule going forward is if you don’t eat, then you can’t feed Hazel.” Abby said.
“She won’t let anyone else feed her!” Hazel said.
“You won’t let anyone else feed her,” her mother replied.
Mother and daughter stared at each other. Raina, still perched on her older sister’s hip, reached out a hand, making small grunting sounds and grabbing motions.
“Fine!” the older girl said, holding out her own hand.
Abby picked up the bowl of nuts where Annie had set it while she was helping Felix slurp the gruel from the nut shell.
Abby handed her daughter a handful of the nuts. “Raina is too young for these, so don’t give her any.”
Hazel thrust the nuts in her mouth and crunched them fiercely.
Abby then held out the bowl with fruit. “Take some.”
Hazel complied.
“You can give Raina two of them, one at a time. But you need to eat the rest in your hand.” Abby directed.
She watched younger daughter pick a berry from her older sister’s hand, and then her older daughter toss some berries into her own mouth. Then Abby bent down and handed some of the nuts to Theo.
“I will get you more this morning,” Esteban interjected from a few steps away. “I saw a good bush coming here and can show you.”
“Thank you, Esteban,” Annie said, wiping some of the gruel from her son’s chin, and having him lick it off her finger. “It certainly seems our children’s appetites are starting to return.”
Annie stood up and turned to her niece. “Finish your berries and you can feed Raina some soup,” she said.
As Hazel sat down to put Raina in her lap so she could feed her the morning soup, a sequence of bodies exited the small hut. First, Atticus, who, after looking around outside of the entrance, saw the group of people and started walking briskly towards them. Then, Kaden appeared, stretched and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, saw his sibling ahead of him, and began running, passing his younger brother about two-thirds of the distance between hut and mothers. Finally, Beckett came scrambling out of the hut, saw the other two racing in front of him, began running himself, and then quickly stopped, realizing he wouldn’t catch them.
“Miss Mélodie said you had something to eat for us!” Kaden said, breathing heavily as he stopped in front of the group.
“No fair!” Atticus said, shoving his brother’s shoulder when he arrived. “I got started first!”
“But I got here first,” Kaden said, returning the shove to his younger brother.
“Don’t start already!” Annie said to her sons.
The two boys calmed down.
“Is there anything left?”, their cousin said once he got to the group.
“Are there more children?” Esteban asked, looking a bit concerned.
“No, this is it. All seven of them,” Abby said.
“And they all are from you?” Esteban questioned.
“The two loving brothers and the toddler boy are Annie’s”, Abby answered. “The two girls, that quiet young man, and the late-arriver are mine.”
“And your husbands are still sleeping?” the neighboring colonist asked.
“No, they left before sunrise to get some fruits for breakfast,” Abby said. “They should be back soon.”
The assembled group heard a shout come from the hut, and turned around to see Mélodie exit, fists balled, and then pivot to yell back into the entrance “Tu es fou, vieil homme têtu! Tu va mourir de faim!”
The owner of the hut stomped over to her guests gathered around the small fire.
“Why does he have such a hard head!” Mélodie said to Annie in frustration, knocking on her own skull for emphasis. “Does he come to a new world just to die here?”
Annie nodded, giving her sister the bowl of berries she was still holding.
Abby stepped over to the boys with the bowls and began talking quietly to them.
“Papa is extremely stubborn,” Annie replied to Mélodie. “He has told us each day that the children need to eat first.”
“I tell him I gave you food for the babies! And I tell him he is not taking my food. I have extra for him.” Mélodie shared.
“He won’t listen to us, Mélodie. He has to see it with his own eyes that people have enough to eat,” Annie said.
“Then they should go out and get food for themselves and their grandfather or he will die,” Mélodie said, pointing to the three pre-teen boys.
The boys were not listening to the adults talking, instead trying to wrest control of the bowls.
“Hey, I’m not done with my share!” Atticus said as his older brother pulled the container with just a few berries left in it.
“I’m not either!” Kaden said, yanking the bowl, causing it to fall to the ground and spill the remaining fruit.
“Stop it!” Annie shouted at her sons. “Oh my goodness! Look what you did! Is the bowl broken? That is a gift from this man!”
The tussling stopped.
“I would be happy to help them find much more pocazur and mastinuez now for them and for the grandfather,” Esteban offered again.
Abby turned to the man from the neighboring colony. “Why are you so interested in helping us? What is it you want from us?” she asked, the skepticism returning to her voice.
“Why does everyone have to want something?” Annie countered. “Why can’t people just want to be nice?”
“I hope I am nice,” Esteban interjected. “But your sister is correct to ask what I want.”
He turned to Abby. “I am a father. My wife is pregnant and will deliver the baby in some number of days soon. As a father, I want the best for my wife and our baby. You are doctors. I am told one of you is a family doctor and maybe you know how to help a woman deliver the baby. So I want you to come to our colony to help. We have other women who are also pregnant. So you can help not only my wife and baby, but also others in the colony.”
“How many pregnant women are there?” Abby asked.
“I know of two others besides my Isabella, but many others are trying,” Esteban shared. “I promise you I will not let the boys go where I cannot see them. And we will be back before the sun is half-way to mid-day. We will have fruit and nuts for you, your children, and your father to eat for two days.”
Abby turned to her sister.
“We have to learn to trust people here,” Annie said. “This is not Chicago. This is not Bissau. This is a place where communities must work together to thrive.”
Abby sighed heavily. “And this is a place where prioritizing the survival of one’s family and one’s clan over another is also heavily valued, based on what I can gather from our first two days here. I will go with the boys, I will stay alert and learn what I can. Do the same here with Mélodie, be alert and learn what you can – please. Then we can make the best decision when all of us are back here. Let me have this moment of insecurity, Annie, and humor me like you so often do.”
It was Annie’s turn to sigh. She turned to the three boys who were still standing in the place when Annie had yelled at them. “Well, pick up the bowl,” she motioned to Kaden. “Is it broken?”
He bent over, retrieved the rounded clay and examined it closely. “No, mam,” the eleven-year old replied, handing his mother the pottery.
“You are so very lucky,” his mother said. “Now listen. You and Atticus are going with Aunt Abby and with Mr. Torres to do chores now. This is not a hike in the forest to look for interesting things. This is not about having fun. This is about being responsible and helping collect some food. You’ve seen that Grandpa hasn’t been eating enough, right? So you need to follow Mr. Torres and listen to him and to Aunt Abby, and collect enough of the good food Mr. Torres shows you so all of us, especially Grandpa, can have full stomachs today. Is that understood?”
“Yes, mam,” both of her sons replied in unison, with Beckett nodding in agreement.
“Okay, then, let’s get going!” Abby said. “Lead the way, Senor Torres!”
Esteban started back in the direction he arrived, glancing over his shoulder to make sure his new companions were following. Abby was walking with the three boys, speaking to them but in a voice quiet enough that Esteban couldn’t make out what she was saying. He turned forward and picked up the pace.
“So,…”
The one-time builder jerked and took a half-step, catching himself from falling forward.
“I’m sorry,” Abby said, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It is ok,” Esteban said. “I saw you talking with your children and didn’t expect you to be next to me so quickly.”
“I’m so sorry,” Abby said, stifling a giggle. “I’m accustomed to walking quickly on my hospital rounds. Um, can I ask you a few questions while we are walking?”
“Of course,” Esteban said.
“How far did you say your colony is from here? And I’m ok converting from kilometers to miles, so don’t worry about that.” Abby asked.
“I can tell you it takes about one-fourth of a morning to get from Lejano Pueblo to Nueva Marfil,” Esteban said. “I cannot tell you how many minutes or how many kilometers it is. But if I had to guess, it would be close to 10 kilometers. The days are definitely longer here than on Earth, but it doesn’t really matter since it’s all about the amount of sunlight during the day, and all about which of the moons are in the sky at night.”
“Ten kilometers is a long distance for the children and their grandfather to walk,” Abby noted.
“Your family and the family of your sister can stay in our colony,” Esteban said. “We have a place you can use immediately, and we have many more people that can share the work of supporting your family while you provide medical attention.”
“You will share your hut with us? Then we are crowding you like we are Mélodie,” Abby said.
“No, you will have your own hut,” Esteban explained. “It is twice the size of the hut your children are staying in. And I will help you build a new place even bigger. On Earth my company built homes from natural material. So with the workers, who will be your husbands, the three of us can build a cabin with enough size for your families in twenty days.”
“That sounds like a long time to wait for a place to live,” Abby said. “Why not build here?”
“The people in this colony have been here for one-hundred and twenty days, and they struggle to have a roof for everyone. We have a roof for everyone in our colony, and have many more people.”
“How many more?”
“Almost twice the number. And we are now building new cabins to replace the ones we put up quickly. And we have people that are good at hunting animals. And we have people who left when we arrived who are now coming back because they understand how good our colony is doing,” Esteban continued.
“You make it sound so good, but there is one important factor. None of us speak Spanish,” Abby pointed out.
“You forget that the United States still has a big influence on Mexico, despite our closed border,” Esteban said. “There are many people in Lejano Pueblo that speak English as well as I do, and many more who speak it better. Besides, in this new world where our towns are no longer as segregated as on Earth, would it not be good to learn another language, especially for the children?”
Abby became thoughtful for a moment, walking in silence beside her guide.
At the same time, Abby was learning more about Lejano Pueblo, Annie was delving into the history of Nouveau D’Ivoire.
“The man from the Mexican colony said you have bad luck here,” Annie mentioned to Mélodie as they were snapping and cutting up root vegetables for the afternoon meal. “What do you think he meant about that?”
Mélodie looked up without stopping her work. “Exactly what he said.”
“What sort of bad luck,” Annie pressed.
Mélodie returned her gaze to the vegetables. “It started even before we arrived on this planet. Based on what we have learned from the other four colonies we have talked to, our ship had problems. Around one-hundred people died on the voyage here from the other colonies. On our ship, it was around one-hundred and fifty. And another one-hundred died in the first fifteen days here, since they could not have the strength to hunt or gather food and their bodies could not stay healthy.”
“Two-hundred people left soon after the ship landed, since they did not want to be part of a large group of people,” Mélodie continued. “But the many people that died in the first days scared many of the other people that did survive the trip, since they had the idea there was a disease that caused the deaths. So another two-hundred people left before we have been here for thirty days.”
“What about the other colonies?” Annie asked. “Didn’t they offer any help?”
“Yes, some of the people from Nouvelle Mexique agreed to provide some advice and limited assistance, after they heard of our problems from people that were leaving and passed through their colony,” Mélodie explained. “That is how Roberto first came here. But when we suggested we should combine colonies, the people from Nouvelle Mexique said no, that there was not enough food close to where they live to support everyone.”
“Since then, another sixty or so people from our original ship have died or left the colony. So now, when your ship from Kansas arrived, we are about one of three compared to when we left Toumodi.”
Mélodie looked up from her work again, this time pausing the food preparation motions. “You are a doctor, yes? Does it look like we have a disease? Am I full of malady?”
Annie stopped her own work, met Mélodie’s gaze, and put her hand on top of the other woman’s hand. “I don’t need to be a doctor to recognize that you are a strong woman who took a big risk to come here. You are determined and I have every expectation you will do well.”
“So you cannot tell me if I am healthy or not healthy,” Mélodie countered.
“I cannot do a full health analysis since we do not have any of the diagnostic equipment here,” Annie answered. “So I have to rely on the old techniques of observation and assessment. As I said, you exhibit the form of someone in good health. Do you feel illness has been a problem for people in the colony?”
“No, people that left the ship healthy have not started showing any illness,” Mélodie answered. “Some have eaten bad food, or had accidents. And two people were killed in animal encounters. But people have been sad and disappointed. At least until your ship landed. People are happy to have new arrivals, especially people who are healthy.”
“In a newborn population, I would call this a failure to thrive,” Annie said.
“What does that mean?” Mélodie asked.
“There are too many changes, too much expected of a body already in stress, so the body stops working,” the doctor explained. “Bad luck.”
By the time the sun reached the midpoint in the sky, everyone had made their way back to Mélodie’s hut. Abby, Luther, Annie and Karl had taken a moment to talk while the children were playing hide and seek, with Raina being the seeker chasing after the others.
Annie called the children over to gather next to LeeAndré, who had been watching the game, resting his back against the hut.
“Children, we have some news to share,” Abby said. “Mr. Torres has given us a very generous offer. He agreed to let us stay in a cabin in his village while he helps us build our new house.”
Abby turned to the former construction company owner. “We would like to take you up on your offer, Mr. Torres.
Esteban smiled widely.
“But we would like to build the house here, in Nouvelle D’Ivoire,” Abby continued.
The smile disappeared from Esteban’s face.
“That was not part of the offer,” he said. “We build your house in Lejano Pueblo so you can help with the people in our colony.”
“We will help provide whatever health care we can,” Annie jumped in. “And we will continue to provide that help even after our home is built here. Either Abby or I will be in your colony at least two of every three days. We need our family home to be here, since this is where our ship landed, and this is where we feel we should live. However, we very much appreciate your very generous offer of a place to stay, so we can not take housing that the people of Nouvelle D’Ivoire can afford to give up right now. So we will temporarily move to Lay Hano Pueblo.”
“Not me,” LeeAndré said from outside the circle of people. “No one asked me. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here.”
“Papa!” Abby said. “You need to be with us right now until you regain your strength. You aren’t eating well. You aren’t sleeping well.”
“I’m not going, so that’s that,” LeeAndré said.
“But,,,” Annie started.
“I’ll take care of him,” Mélodie interrupted. “I can tell he is a stubborn man.” The Ivorian native sat down next to the elder gentleman and took his hand in hers. “I can see he is not going to change his mind. So I will take care of him. And you will eat what I tell you to eat!”
LeeAndré looked at her and then broke out in a big smile. “You heard her,” he translated. “I’m staying here and she’s going to make sure I eat. How much better could that be?”
“But,,,” Annie started again then stopped. “Very well, that’s how it will be.”
“Is that it? Are we done with the news?” Atticus asked. “Can we finish playing our game before we leave?”
And with that any attempt the sisters had at trying to have a serious family meeting ended, with everyone laughing and talking all at once.