Chapter 17: A Peaceful Life

 

 

 

Chapter 17: A Peaceful Life

 

RATHER than being sad for having left her mother forever, Unen was preoccupied with anxiety over what the future would bring. However, receiving three proper meals a day soon eased most of her worries. Inn beds proved a thousand times more comfortable than her old cot, and she even got to snuggle up in a soft, warm blanket whenever they camped outdoors. She had never known blankets as anything other than sharp, filthy scraps of cloth before.

The man—Hereh—was beyond kind. Not only did he feed her real food, he also taught her many things: about the plants growing along the road; about the forests, land, and rivers they traversed; about their current location with in-depth descriptions of the surrounding terrain; and about the travelers they passed by. The more Unen came to understand, the clearer her thinking became—just like how she was building stamina from receiving good food for her empty belly.

At the same time, discoveries of what she didn’t know increased with every new piece of knowledge. Hereh would always patiently answer her questions of “how” and “why,” but occasionally she would ask a question even he didn’t know the answer to. Yet, he never dismissed or belittled her questions.

But there was one thing Unen could never bring herself to ask him: why had he taken custody of her? What did he say to her mother when he’d left to speak with her? What happened during that conversation?

Just imagining the kind of answers she might receive squeezed her chest with indescribable dread.

There was one thing she knew for sure—she was worth less than a hair decoration to her mother.

The sight of the silver hair ornament adorned with many augites had burned into the back of her eyes. Unen slammed her eyes shut to rid herself of the image before slowly opening them again.

“Shall we get going, Unen?” Hereh held his hand out to her.

He had finished packing their bags, and it was time to move on to the next town.

Unen gave a big nod. “Yeah.”

No matter what Hereh is thinking, I will do what he wants me to do. Unen flattened her lips into a tight line, and reached out to take Hereh’s big, warm hand.

***

HEREH discovered an abandoned cabin in the middle of a forest after about a year of wandering with Unen. After visiting the nearby towns to confirm the cabin no longer belonged to anyone, he laid claim to it and set about repairing the building, reviving the tiny field overrun by wilderness, and making the home livable once again.

Hereh didn’t introduce himself to others as a doctor now that they had decided to settle down in one area. They had more than enough gold saved up, so he instead donned the title of apothecary to supplement their livelihood, selling the medicine he made to the doctor of the nearest town.

Fortunately, the doctor Hereh selected as his business partner was a skilled and reasonable man who knew what he was doing. Thanks to his high appraisal of Hereh’s medicine, they were able to live a humble, yet comfortable, life deep inside the forest, all without even scraping the surface of his savings.

***

“CHECK,” Unen said softly, feeling guilty as she moved her piece on the chess board.

Her opponent slammed his hands on the table in protest. “Wait a minute! I was still thinking about my move!”

Milosh chuckled mirthfully and mussed his son’s hair with his big hand. “Don’t be a sore loser, Simon. You’re older than Unen, aren’t you?”

“Is it okay to cheat if you’re smaller?!”

“Cheat? When Unen asked if you were done with your turn a second ago, you told her to go ahead with hers.”

“I immediately took it back right after!”

“I didn’t hear you say anything of the sort?”

“…I said it under my breath, so you might not have caught it…” Simon pursed his lips.

Hereh gently placed a steaming cup in Simon’s hand. “Thank you for playing with Unen. Why not drink some tea and take a short break? Unen, here are the baked sweets Simon brought with him. I heard Zola baked them. Let’s eat them together.”

“Wow! Thank you, Simon!” Unen speedily set about clearing the table. The few times she tried Zola’s home cooking, it had been mouth wateringly delicious.

“You’d better be thankful,” Simon smirked.

Milosh landed a karate chop on Simon’s head, wiping the expression off his face. “Don’t brag when you weren’t the one who cooked it.”

Hereh flipped open the woven basket’s lid and removed the cloth covering, unleashing the sweet smell of fruit and nuts into the cabin. Unen’s mouth watered as she brought over plates.

“Let’s dig in,” all four said in perfect unison. Only the sounds of them chewing furiously followed.

Milosh looked at Hereh after downing his biscuit. “Hey, Hereh, why don’t you just move to town already? You’re actually a doctor, aren’t you? You can live a comfier life if you move to Yezero.”

“What good comes of inviting competition to your town?” Hereh gave him a teasing smile, but Milosh wasn’t about to give in.

Flashing an intrepid grin, he countered, “No skin off my back if I get a single competitor. Besides, Unen will be turning eight soon. You can’t keep her locked up in this forest forever.”

The comment took Hereh off guard, and his brow wrinkled. But a moment later, it softened as he let out a small sigh. “…I do understand why you bring Simon here with you sometimes. I’m very grateful for it.”

“Then pack your bags and come to town. I don’t care if an adult like you chooses to cut himself off from the world, but you’ve got issues if you’re forcing it upon a child too.” Milosh put his elbows on the table and leaned forward, holding Hereh in his glare.

Unen squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. She had absolutely no complaints with her life in the forest. She was kept busy with farming and chores, and truly valued and enjoyed assisting Hereh with making medicine. Any remaining free time she had was filled with Hereh’s lessons, so she had no time to spare for what Milosh was constantly harping on—the supposed importance for children to spend time with other children their age.

“I fully understand what you’re trying to say. But I—we—can’t leave this forest.”

“Why not?” Milosh huffed gruffly.

Beside him, Simon stood up with a straight face and said, “Thanks for the snack.”

Milosh and Hereh looked away from each other simultaneously, awkwardness coloring their faces.

“Unen, I challenge you to tree climbing next. I’ll give you the special privilege of choosing what tree we’ll climb.”

“…Ah, okay.”

Unen was curious to know what direction the adults’ conversation was going to take, but decided to accept Simon’s considerate offer anyway.

“We’re going outside to play,” Unen informed the adults, and followed Simon away from the table.

Hereh’s distressed voice slipped out the door before she could close it.

“Please, Milosh. Don’t ask me anything right now.”

Unen quietly shut the door without waiting to hear Milosh’s answer.

***

IN the end, simple days continued to pass by without much change to Hereh and Unen’s routine.

Then the fated day arrived, three years ago.

On a late-spring afternoon when the sun was at its highest, and just before Unen was about to celebrate her twelfth birthday, a sudden great earthquake struck the entire Baborak Province with Yezero as its epicenter.

At the time, Unen and Hereh had traveled deep into the forest and were standing in front of the distillation furnace making medicine.

Swept off her feet as if someone had knocked her legs out from under her, Unen painfully fell onto her backside. Unrelenting tremors followed, shaking them violently at the center of their gut. Every tree in the forest was teetering; the birds all took flight in a flurry of wings. The brick distillation furnace, which was taller than Hereh, emitted spurts of harsh grinding noises as it fell apart, and shrill shrieks of glass bottles shattering reverberated throughout the clearing.

“Are you all right, Unen?!” Hereh shouted, as he clung fast to a tree that managed to remain standing beside him.

Instead of answering with words, Unen nodded her head over and over again. When the shaking reached a lull, she called, “Hereh, the furnace—”

“I’m more concerned about the town.” Hereh sent his grim gaze beyond the forest. “This is going to be a big disaster…”

Unen gulped. A nearly two-meter tall distillation furnace made of brick had hopelessly crumbled to pieces. It wasn’t hard to imagine what happened to the houses and buildings, which were well over that size and made of far less durable materials.

“…Let’s go, Unen.”

“Okay.”

They returned to the cabin, cautiously treading their way through the countless aftershocks that jolted the earth. Hereh entrusted the medical bag he’d carefully stored in the cabinet to Unen and he carried the other bag, which was filled with bottles of disinfectant and an assortment of other medicines. They hurried west to the town of Yezero.

“Unen.” Hereh said her name but kept his eyes locked on the direction they headed.

“Yes?”

“I once ran from the suffering that transpired in front of me.”

Unen wordlessly waited for him to continue as she ran to keep up with him. They had to watch their step around downed trees and branches.

“But I believe…I mustn’t run away from this disaster. Even if it means…losing our peaceful life. I’m so sorry, Unen,” Hereh whispered, in the stiffest voice Unen had ever heard him speak in. “An equal level of responsibility accompanies power. I will fulfill my job as a doctor. Will you help me, Unen?”

Despite feeling like the anxiety would crush her, Unen gave him a resounding, “Yes!”

***

THE town of Yezero was in a tragic state.

The bridge spanning Kenu River had completely fallen into the river and even parts of the embankment had collapsed. The watermill had lost its foundation and now leaned across the river, creating an unintentional dam, and a fragment of the washed-away bridge had gotten lodged in it. Every building with two stories or more, without exception, had caved in on itself, and the stone dividers and walls that remained had transformed into mountains among the wreckage. Even the one-story wooden houses had sunken roofs.

Hereh headed straight for Milosh’s clinic.

The tremors of the quake must have hit the two banks of the river differently. Many of the buildings located in the same area as the clinic were in a comparably better state. Milosh’s house was barely scathed in spite of its two stories. Unfortunately, all the glass windows he had recently splurged on for the clinic had shattered.

“Hereh! You came?!” Relief washed over Milosh’s face upon seeing Hereh and Unen.

Hereh and Unen weaved their way around the numerous injured already crammed into the clinic, until they reached Milosh. Hereh handed him the bag stuffed with medicine and took control of the situation.

“Leave the inner room open for seriously injured patients. Then get Zola and Simon to help by separating patients according to degree of injury. We’ll treat the most critical patients first,” Hereh directed. “And most important of all, spread word of our medical treatment procedure throughout town, so everyone knows. Only you can do this part, because the residents know and trust you. I’ll help as much as you need with treating the injured.”

“Okay,” Milosh agreed, and called for Zola and Simon.

Not long after, Zola came running inside short of breath. She was blue in the face.

“Milosh! Milosh! Simon, our Simon, hasn’t come home yet!”

“What?!”

“Remember you sent him on an errand to the town hall? I thought he would’ve raced home after all that shaking, but he hasn’t returned yet!”

“Town hall collapsed!” someone shouted from outside the clinic, where they waited for treatment.

Zola screamed and fell to her knees hyperventilating in panic.

Too restless to do nothing, Unen flew out the clinic. She raced outside but didn’t know where the town hall was or what she could even do, and stood rooted to the ground with her fists clenched tightly with a burning impatience to do something.

“Unen, this way!” Hereh dashed out of the clinic after her, but kept running toward the river.

Unen chased after him without a moment’s hesitation.

***

THEY rescued Simon from under what had once been the town hall two hours later.

They managed to save him in such short time because Unen had made use of her small stature and crawled into the cracks and crevices between the wreckage. She pointed out exactly where Simon was buried, then was nearly buried alive herself by a further collapse of stone debris from above when an aftershock shook through the area.

Patiently enduring the intense pain from the injuries she had received from the wreckage caving in on her, Unen waited for Simon’s surgery to end. She prayed to every god in the world for Simon, and for his parents.