BXBX NOVEL Chapter 330 - Palm Reading
One of the women is cooking food for breakfast, the other took care of the babies, and the children are playing, running around. The two men were nowhere to be seen. They must be outside the cave.
Mende doesn't mind, sooner or later, they will be gone and she will be left alone in the cave. She has no regrets about helping them and giving them temporary shelter for a few days. It's better this way than letting them freeze to death in the wilderness.
They looked harmless to her. Just a bunch of people who ran into bad luck. She pitied the babies, the children, and the women the most.
Mende volunteered to hold the baby girl in her arms so that her mother can dry their clothes near the fire. The chubby baby looked at her and smiled brightly. The baby seems not afraid of her wrinkled skin. She nuzzled its tiny feet, the baby giggled loudly.
The two women looked at Grandma and smiled appreciatively.
After the food was cooked, the women set the table and they began eating their breakfast.
Minutes went by.
After she finished eating, Mende wore the hat on her head and picked up the two baskets, walking towards the mouth of the cave.
Outside.
She looked heavenward, the rain was still falling from the sky but not as heavy compared to yesterday. It would be a miracle if the rain will finally stop falling today.
She inspected the vegetables. Some of them were already damaged by the heavy rainfall yesterday. The majority aren't damaged yet. If she will not harvest them today, they will rot in the coming days and their hard work will fall in vain. She and her visitors can't eat all the vegetables in one go. Since they are leafy vegetables they will perish easily! She and her sister planted these vegetables for food consumption and also to sell them to the public market to earn some money.
She has to do something before it's too late!
She starts uprooting the green leafy vegetables that are still looking good and puts them in the basket.
A few moments later.
The men appeared in the clearing and saw Grandma harvesting the vegetables.
"Grandma, we will help you!" the men volunteered.
"Okay, much better!" Mende replied. "Where have you been, guys?" she asked.
"We're trying to explore the area and see if there are good places around here where can erect our huts. We want our next home to be in an elevated area, a bit far from the river or stream to avoid flooding and landslide," the older guy replied.
"Ah, okay. Don't worry, If I see a nice area around here, I'll inform you guys," she said.
"Thanks Grandma!" the men replied in chorus.
They continue harvesting the vegetables.
"Grandma, what are you going to do with this vegetables?" the guy asked curiously.
"I will sell them in the market today," Mende replied.
Half an hour later.
The baskets were already filled with green leafy vegetables.
Mende addressed the men. "Help me wash the vegetables in the streams," she said.
"No problem, Grandma. Please lead the way to the stream," the older guy said.
"Okay, follow me," Mende responded.
The two men picked up the basket and followed Grandma to the stream.
When they arrived at the area, the water is muddy. They have to find the part of the area where the water is clearer. They finally found it a few meters away, in the higher part of the stream.
The guy pointed at the area where fishes and shrimps are gasping for breath in the shallow area of the stream. "Looks like they are washed out from the flood," he commented and went to the area and began to pick up the fish and shrimp.
The other guy cut banana leaves nearby and helped his brother picked up the rest of the fish and shrimp.
For a few seconds, Mende watched the men doing their thing. Then she lowered herself on the rock and set to work. She washed the vegetables carefully so as not to incur any further damage on the leaves.
She finished washing the vegetables, the men also finished picking up fish and shrimp. She looked at them. "Let's go!"
"Okay, Grandma!" the men replied in unison.
One of the men picked up the baskets and lead the way.
By the time they arrived at the cave, the rain has stopped falling for real.
"Thanks God! The rain is finally gone!" the men said happily.
They entered the cave.
The older guy handed the fish and shrimp to his wife to be cleaned.
A few minutes later, the two men ate their breakfast in silence.
After the men finished eating, Mende addressed them. "I need one volunteer to go with me to the market so that I can teach you the safe path to take around this area. The travel by foot takes three hours, then we will ride a carriage going to the market to sell our vegetables. One of you must stay here to guard the women and children and get water from the stream," she said.
The younger guy named, Amed, raised his head. "I'll accompany you to the market and help you sell the vegetable Grandma," he said.
"Good! Get ready, we will leave in a few minutes," Mende spoke.
Fifteen minutes later.
They're ready to go.
Amed picked up the baskets and followed Grandma to the entrance of the cave.
Mende and the guy began their three hours journey passing the wooded area, streams, and slippery path. Then they took a few minutes rest every time they passed a stream to wash their slippers coated with mud.
One hour later, they passed another stream.
They washed their mud-coated slippers.
"Our journey is much safer if the path is dry. I don't recommend passing this path if there is a heavy rain the day before because the path is slippery. If not only for the nearly damaged vegetables, I won't go through the hassle in going to the market at this current condition," Mende explained.
"I understand your reason, Grandma," Amed said.
"Alright, let's resume our journey," Mende said and began walking again.
They left the stream and continue walking on the path.
Mende looked heavenward and smiled in glee. The sun is finally shining in the sky!
Their energy rose along with the sun's glare. They walked faster this time.
After three hours, they finally reached the end of the path.
Mende looked at her companion. "We will walk a few minutes more and we will see the main road ahead," she said.
Amed nods his head excitedly.
A few minutes later.
They finally reached the main road.
Mende hailed the carriage coming their way.
They boarded the carriage which was already full of passengers.
A few passengers looked admiringly at the green leafy vegetables.
"Grandma, is your vegetables for sale?" one of the ladies asked.
Mende nodded her head. "Yes..."
"How much?"
"One silver coin for two bundles," Mende replied.
"Okay, I will buy five bundles. I'll give the rest to my sister and mother," the lady said.
After picking up ten bundles and putting them in her bag, the lady gave Mende five silver coins.
"Thank you, my lady!" Mende said happily.
Four more passengers followed suit.
By the time they reached the public market, one basket was already empty, sold out.
Mende brought Amed to her favorite spot and lined up along with the other vendors. "Let's stay here, this is our spot," she said. She looked at the street vendors, they're already eating their meals for lunch. "Wait here... I'll buy you a food," she said.
"Take your time, Grandma. I'll take care of the vegetables," the guy said.
Mende went to the eatery and bought one serving of rice and a vegetable dish for Amed. She gave the food to Amed. "Eat your lunch first," she said.
"Thank you so much, Grandma!" Amed said in a grateful voice. "How about you?" he asked.
"You eat first. After you're done eating your lunch, I'll take mine," Mende replied.
Amed starts eating his meals.
A lady come and bought two bundles of vegetables.
After he's done eating, Mende pointed to the area where the drinking water is available for everyone. "You can drink unlimited free water there. The next wooden structure ten meters from the water is the public toilet it's free to use for everyone," she said.
"Thank you, Grandma!" Ahmed said and rose to his feet, he marched going in the direction of the drinking water.
Another lady come and bought two bundles of Bok Choy.
"Thank you for buying my products, my lady!" Mende said cheerfully.
"You're welcome!" the lady smiled and left.
The rent collector come and collected the rent from the vendors. The proceeds will be used to maintain the free drinking water and the cleanliness of the public toilet.
Amed finally returned to Mende's side after using the toilet. "Grandma, I'm back. You can eat your lunch now," he said.
"Okay," Mende stood up and walked in the direction of the eatery. She went inside and ordered one serving of rice and hot noodle soup, mixed with few pieces of chicken meat.
After she finished eating lunch, she left the eatery and strolled around the area, looking at the stalls selling different goods and foods.
At the end of the line, she comes to a small shop that has signage that says...
'Palm Reading for 1 Silver Coin!'