Parvana's Journey Read Online Free Page B

She couldn’t spare a cloth to wrap them in, so the red dirt was plopped right on top of the covers.
    She patted down the soil, then kicked some rocks and pebbles on top so no one would be able to tell something was buried there. She thought of her father being underground with his books. Now he would have something to read.
    With a heavy heart, Parvana picked up her bundles and the baby, and walked on.

FOUR
    Crouching near the mouth of the cave, Parvana listened for the sounds of something that might have gone in there before her.
    Hassan fussed and wriggled. Parvana put a finger over his lips, but he either didn’t understand or he didn’t care. He kept whining and kicking and making screechy little baby noises.
    Carrying a baby on a journey was different from carrying a bundle. A bundle could be tossed over one shoulder or the other. A bundle could be dropped when her arms were tired, or even thrown to the ground when she was frustrated and didn’t know which way to go next.
    But a baby had to be carried carefully and couldn’t be dropped, tossed or thrown. Hassan was cute, but he could also be heavy and cranky and smelly to carry.
    Parvana’s back and shoulders ached. There was no comfortable way to carry everything she needed, and not even multiplication tables took away the pain.
    The cave, by a small stream, would be a good place to rest for a few days, as long as there were no wolves inside.
    Hassan let out a big squeal, and Parvana gave up any hope of trying to sneak in. She walked up to the entrance and peered in, then stepped inside.
    The cave was more of a low-hanging rock than a real cave. As her eyes began to get used to the dimmer light, she could see bits of the back wall. The cave was tall enough for her to stand up in and wide enough for her to stretch out, with plenty of room left over for her bundles. The rocks rose up around it like a cocoon, creating a cozy shelter where she could sleep safely without the risk of anyone creeping up on her. She would stay here for a while and rest her arms.
    “Get out of my cave!”
    Parvana spun around and was running away before the voice stopped echoing off the cave walls. Fear kept her legs moving long after she was exhausted.
    When she finally slowed down, her brain began to tell her something she had been too scared to hear moments earlier.
    The voice that had yelled at her from the back of the cave was a child’s voice.
    Parvana stopped running and caught her breath. She turned around and looked back at the cave. She wasn’t going to let some child keep her from getting a few days of rest!
    “Let’s go and see who’s in there,” she said to Hassan.
    She went back to the mouth of the cave.
    “Hello,” she called in.
    “I told you to get out of my cave!” the voice shouted. It was definitely a child’s voice.
    “How do I know it’s your cave?” Parvana asked.
    “I’ve got a gun. Go away or I’ll shoot you.”
    Parvana hesitated. Lots of young boys in Afghanistan did have guns. But if he had a gun, why hadn’t he shot at her already?
    “I don’t believe you,” Parvana said. “I don’t think you’re a killer. I think you’re a kid just like me.”
    She took a few more steps forward, trying to see in the dark.
    A stone hit her on the shoulder.
    “Stop that!” she shouted. “I’m carrying a baby.”
    “I warned you to stay away.”
    “All right, you win,” Parvana said. “Hassan and I will leave you alone. We just thought you’d like to share our meal, but I guess you’d rather throw stones.”
    There was a moment’s silence.
    “Leave the food and go.”
    “I have to cook it first,” Parvana said over her shoulder as she walked away. “If you want it, come out and get it.”
    Parvana put down the baby where she could watch him and kept talking while she gathered dried grasses and stalks from dead weeds for a cook fire. The water in the stream was clear and moving swiftly, so she thought it would be safe to drink without