A sign appeared on the road ahead, "There is a small town!" Fan Fan reported.
Elspeth has seen this sign, but hopes to ignore it.
"Please, Elspeth, let's at least see if there are any soldiers there? I'm hungry too."
This is a bad idea. Elspeth felt that her stomach was complaining. She drank very little water herself and tried to leave most of the water to Fan Fan. However, without food, she could not go further. "Well, we have to leave this road, and then take the small road to town," she said. "But if I see any signs of soldiers, we will leave immediately. Understand?"
Fan Fan nodded enthusiastically.
The sign read: Grandi, fortunately, they didn't see a soldier when they entered the city, "Follow me," Elspeth said, walking all the way out of the woods.
Grandi is bigger than most of the small villages and small towns she and Fanfan encountered during their journey. People rushed into the market through the busy streets. Gentlemen and ladies were all dressed in elegant clothes. The appearance of these clothes was very beautiful, which made Elspey think of the homemade dresses her mother had made for her.
She held Fan Fan's hand, and they walked to the side of the street. Elspeth couldn't let herself look into people's eyes, but she felt that their eyes were the same. Although she tried to wash clothes in streams and ponds along the way, the clothes were already soiled. There are grass, mud, leaves and scattered insects on her pajamas. She realized that the two of them had different looks, which made her want to cry, but she didn't.
"Look over there," Van Fan said as he broke free from Elspeth's hand and crossed the dirt road.
A group of horses roared, "Fan Fan, no!" Elspeth cried.
The driver pulled the carriage tightly so that his livestock would not knock Fan Fan down. "What are you doing, kid?" the driver said, jumping from his seat, "Do you want to kill yourself?" His voice was roaring, and Fan Fan froze in front of him like a hypnotized frog NS.
The man grabbed Fan Fan's arm and pulled the boy's foot off the ground. Elspeth ran up to them. "Sorry, sir, my brother accidentally escaped from me."
The man raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "You two are not from Grandi, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"We have gone a long way, without food and water, sir," Elspeth said. She felt ashamed, but hunger and thirst forced her to admit it.
The man looked around and other carriages passed them in the street. For all sāo activities, few people seem to be interested in what happened, "I think you want a charity-how can my hard-earned money be put into your pocket?"
Elspeth lowered his head, "No, sir, I will not ask you for money, but if you have some water, I will be very grateful for your kindness."
The man sighed and relaxed Fan Fan's arm, but did not let go of him. "Can you cook, girl?"
Elspers raised his eyes, "Cooking? Oh, yes, I can, my mother taught me."
"Where are your parents?" he asked.
"Dead, sir."
He stood quietly, thinking for a while, because the traffic around them was jammed. "I'll make a deal with you," he said. "I will provide food, you will cook, and then we will talk. Okay?"
Elspeth relaxed, "Yes, sir, that's great, thank you very much."
The man completely let go of Fan Fan, and the boy returned to her. "This is Mr. Hollinger. Go to the back of the carriage, and I will take you to the farm."
Elspeth smiled and did hurriedly as instructed. When Mr. Hollinger returned to his seat, she helped Van Fan get into the carriage. "hurry up!"
"Fan Fan, we can have a home-cooked meal," she whispered excitedly, but Fan Fan glared at the man sitting in front of them, "I don't like him."
"Shh!" She hissed, "If you want to eat, you will be good."
Fan Fan folded his arms and leaned against the side of the carriage, and Elspers smiled and blinked at him. He smiled, she always did, "You will understand," Elspeth said. "The situation is improving now."
Fanfan woke up when he heard the sound of the discs in the next room. He sat in the middle of the room, listening to the voices of his sister Elspeth and their benefactor, Mr. Hollinger. "You call this a meal?" Mr. Hollinger complained. "You might think that after living on my farm for so long, you can make it well."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Hollinger," Elspeth said.
"I don't understand why I agreed to take you two in," Mr. Hollinger continued.
Fan Fan wrapped the sheet around his fist, and his knuckles turned white.
"We are grateful to you, Mr. Hollinger," Elspeth said. Fan Fan heard that his sister started collecting broken tableware from the floor.
"Thank you so much? Ha! For nine years, I have endured your stale cooking skills and your brother's laziness."
Lazy? Fan Fan said angrily, but he stayed in the room.
"It would be great if my Ethel was still alive," Hollinger complained.
"I'm sure she is cute," Elspeth said, "you must love her very much."
Fan Fan heard: A chair slid across the floor, a cup hit the table top, and the front door slammed shut.
When Fan Fan opened the door of the room, he saw part of Hollinger's breakfast lying on the wooden floor, and his sister was cleaning it. The plate broke and the cup tilted to the side of the table. Van Fan noticed that Mr. Hollinger had hardly left any food, only fragments of dirty dishes for her to clean.
Fan Fan and his sister knelt on the floor, and he began to pick up some broken pieces. "I hope he can stay away from you," Fan Fan said.
"I'm fine, don't make a fuss about these nasty things now, I will take care of it." She took out the pottery fragments from his hand and quickly cleaned up the remaining dirt.
Fan Fan patted his sister on the shoulder, Elspeth flinched, Fan Fan quickly pulled out his hand, his anger ignited. He stood there and followed Elspeth to the door. Fan Fan barely crossed the threshold, so she caught him and begged him to say nothing, "I'm fine, Fan Fan."
"It's okay? He's whipping you! I will stop this once and for all."
"No!" she insisted. "We need a place to live. I will not let you live on the street. I promised my mother that I will take care of you. This is what I will do." Her eyes made him wince.
"Sorry, Elspeth, I don't want to make you more sad," Van Fan said.
"Fan Fan, Mr. Hollinger, he is a good person at heart, but a little confused."
"You mean he upsets us," Fan Fan spit.
"This is much better than the hurt and oppression you get from Morey," she whispered.
"Morey doesn't care about us."
Elspeth stared into his eyes, searching for something, "Have you forgotten our mother and father? He wants us all to die for a reason." (to be continued) (end of this chapter)