Ayiera opened her eyes. She was in her bed, but she still had her clothes on from the day before. Then she remembered regaining consciousness while a man was carrying her home. Her family had refused to tell her anything and put her strait to bed. Exhausted, she had slept almost right away.
“She’s awake!” she heard Aimee shout from the doorway. She groaned as Aimee pounced on her and hugged her enthusiastically. She seemed to be sore everywhere. Her throat hurt too. Ayiera heard her mother rush in; she felt herself in another hug.
“How’s my darling girl? I’ve been so worried about you.” She looked Ayiera over. “Do you feel sick or have any pain?” She felt Ayiera’s forehead.
“I’m just sore and stiff. Where are my clothes? I really need to change out of this.” She looked down at her red and brown work dress. It had small tears in a couple of places and had many burnt places, especially her sleeves. Aimee brought her another work dress; this one was a blue cotton print.
“Are you sure you feel good enough to get up? After all that happened yesterday…falling with that boy on your back. Ayiera, did you know he was nearly twice your size? I don’t see how you did it.” She shook her head. By now Ayiera had dressed and was standing at the mirror, combing her hair. She noticed that it was singed in several places. She’d have to cut those off later.
“What of the boy? Is he alright?” She began sweeping her hair into a brown net; she didn’t feel like putting it up.
“He has burns on his back and legs from a burning timber that he said fell on him. They tell me you both made it out of the building just before it collapsed.”
“Then the mill is-“
“Totally destroyed, gone.” Said Aleina from the doorway. There was a moment of heavy silence. Ayiera and Aleina exchanged a look of understanding in the mirror.
“Adelae was wondering if Ayiera could eat her lunch with her in her room, now.” Said Aimee, poking her head in the doorway. She had slipped out while Ayiera was changing her clothes.
“Oh Ayiera, I almost forgot! You haven’t eaten since yesterday, you must be famished! Go on and see Adelae and I’ll bring you both something to eat.” Her Mum bustled out, and Ayiera commanded her stiff legs to walk to her mother’s room.
“Don’t tell mother this,” Said Adelae in a hushed tone as the two sat with their mugs of soup. “But if I wouldn’t have been sick yesterday, I would have been right over top of the boilers when they exploded.” The mill had used five large oil-fueled boilers to power the machinery, including the sewing machines that Adelae and Aleina had used to operate.
“But how? I mean, why would you…”
“I was going to meet with the foreman on my floor during lunch break in one of the rooms directly over where the boilers were located. She was going to show me a few tricks she had learned.”
“Have you told this to Aleina?”
“She knows everything, and I know all about what happened the night before.” She looked thoughtfully at her soup. “It’s a bit scary.”
“Ayiera! The doctor says you can meet Patael now. Come!” Aimee had burst into the room and was prancing in excitement.
“Patael?” Ayiera was confused.
“He’s the young man you risked your neck for yesterday. Go ahead and see him, we can talk later.” Adelae smiled.
“Yes, yes. Now come!”
“Alright, I’m coming.” Ayiera allowed Aimee to drag her along. I wonder what this will be like? She wondered.
