She shook her head. He understood. Either they were dead, or they had left the two girls behind. Families started out bringing all their children. But after weeks of walking and running out of food, the weakest children died. Parents abandoned daughters so that sons could eat. Some, too exhausted to carry their children anymore, left behind the smallest ones who couldn’t walk. There were always orphans at refugee camps, children picked up by kindly strangers or by workers from the camp. They were mostly girls, some still babies, starving and lice infested.

He would take her to the orphanage in Lu’an. Which was already overcrowded. There was nowhere else.

“Did you see horses?” he asked, unable to help himself. She just gazed at him with the same blank look and shook her head again.

They got back on the road to Lu’an, Old Fan carrying the dead child, Professor Kang holding the older sister by the hand.

Chapter 19

The prospect of staying in a big city and comparing stories with other students lifted Minghua 123’s spirits. The city of Wuhan, their next destination, had transformed into a hub for military and civilian evacuees, including universities. From Wuhan, they might even catch a train to Changsha, where the rest of Minghua University waited for them.

They were six days on the road from Lu’an to Wuhan when Professor Kang returned from a meeting in the village of Fanzhen with a smile of satisfaction. The army was moving a detachment of soldiers to Wuhan by riverboat. The officer in charge had agreed to take some of Minghua’s students. They just had to get to the wharf, only a few miles from the village.

Minghua 123’s female students would take the boat, which was scheduled to reach Wuhan just a day or two ahead of the main group. It wasn’t that much faster, but it meant the girls wouldn’t have to walk the whole way. Minghua 123 unanimously voted for Professor Kang and another elderly professor to accompany the girls, and to save them from the long walk.

The antiquated tugboat sailed that night. There was no moon, a good omen. The tugboat stayed close to shore, so weighed down an occasional wave splashed over its bow and wet the deck. The two barges it towed were equally overburdened, soldiers and supplies sharing the space with equipment, students, and the Library of Legends, stacked in their new crates.