—A friend told me. He was going to compose a poem. He’s dead now. He died in the attack. My family is dead too.

—I know.

Zabi made no more mention of her family or the attack that had killed them. She ate the milk curd without any showing any outward display of grief. She possessed a degree of introspection unusual in a young child, perhaps a form of retreat from the horror of the events she’d witnessed. She would need help. She was in shock. At the moment, she was behaving as though events unfolding were quite normal. Unsure what to say to her, he noted the burns on Zabi’s hands and arms and head – they’d been freshly covered with an ointment. He asked:

—May I?

He took her arm and smelled the ointment.

—What is it?

Zabi said:

—It stops the burns from itching. So I don’t scratch them and they can heal, that’s what Nara says.

—Where did you find the ointment? Did the soldiers give it to you?

Nara answered:

—We made it, while you were sleeping. From almond oil, boiled juniper berries and some flowers we found outside. The soldiers gave us the oil. We found the rest of the ingredients. Zabi insisted on the flowers.

Zabi added:

—We didn’t know what kind of flowers they were. I’ve never seen them before. I’ve never been this high up before. This is the first mountain I’ve climbed.

Nara stroked back Zabi’s hair.

—I tried to explain that just because something is pretty, it doesn’t make it harmless.

Zabi replied:

—Before I could use it in the medicine, she ate a flower, just to test to see if it was harmful. I watched her put it on her tongue and then swallow it. The petals were blue.

Zabi paused, looking at her fingers.

—Did you know that the colour red tastes bitter?

Without any preamble, apparently for no reason at all, she began to cry, unable to stop. Nara put an arm around her, careful to avoid her burns. Whatever Leo planned to do, he would have to do it with them. They would come with him. He would not leave them behind.

Same Day

After breakfast, Leo waited for a chance to speak to Nara alone. While Zabi reapplied the ointment, he took his opportunity.

—Walk with me.

They left the cave, following the path down the mountainside, reaching the steep drop. Despite Leo’s urgency, Nara seemed distracted. He touched her arm, trying to get her to focus, unsure how long they had.

—Nara?

She looked up, saying:

—You find it hypocritical of me to look after Zabi as if nothing was wrong. I tried to have her killed and now I tend to her wounds? Tell me, how should I behave?