The girl folded her arms and said nothing.
Sita narrowed her eyes, then reached into her belt and pulled out her waterskin. “Here,” she said, handing it to the girl. “Have some. You’re probably thirsty.”
This time, the girl didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the waterskin and guzzled half of it before Karim could leap forward, shouting, “Hey! Hey! Not so much, young sena! If we don’t find an oasis to refill those waterskins, we’ll all die out here!”
Sita swatted away his concerns and dropped to one knee in front of the girl. “Better?”
The girl nodded. She bit her lip, then whispered, “Aya.”
“Your name is Aya?”
Another nod.
“Well, Aya, like my hairy friend said, this isn’t a safe place for a young girl to be walking alone. Where is home?”
Aya set her mouth and shook her head.
“Are you lost?”
Aya shook her head again.
No, not lost. She just doesn’t want to tell me where she came from. Is she afraid of going back? Or is there another reason?
Sita frowned. “Did you run away?” she asked.
Aya didn’t reply, but her eyes were suddenly suffused with tears.
Sita reached out to push a lock of hair from the girl’s face. She was glad Aya didn’t recoil. Something about her reminded Sita of Maet.If she had lived, she might have grown to be like this girl. Headstrong, feisty…The thought brought a fresh wave of sorrow upon her.
“Let us help you, Aya,” Sita said, laying a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I understand, wanting to run away. I’m running from something too. But it doesn’t solve our problems, you know. We can’t run forever. Eventually, we have to go back home.”
“Sita…” Karim said.
“One minute,” she replied, not looking at him. Her gaze was locked on Aya’s young, frightened face.
It hurts, See-see.
I’m scared, See-see.
Sita’s heart lurched with the memory.
“Sita…” Karim said again.
“Give me some time, will you?” Sita snapped. “I know we need to find the city, but we can’t leave her here. Iwon’tleave her here. Do you understand?”
Karim’s voice became frantic. “For god’s sake, woman, turn around and look!”
Confused, Sita did as she was told. At first, she couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing. Above and beyond their position, the sky was bright, blue, cloudless. Behind them, however, a wall of thick, yellow clouds reached from the horizon to the zenith. Clouds that churned, flowing over themselves like a charging, living creature. Sita had seen similar phenomena before, butnever so immense.
“Is that—?”
“A sandstorm,” Karim finished. “Big one. We have to find cover.Now!”
Grabbing Aya’s hand, Sita scanned the area for any landforms. There were some boulders in the distance. The three of them and Behkai began to run.
Sita pulled Aya along with her, though with her short legs the child had a difficult time keeping up.
“Faster, Aya!” she yelled.
