Chapter 140. Map to Papileo

Margaret walked steadily around the dinner table with a medium-sized pot tucked in the inner elbow of her right arm and pressed against her chest by her palm, serving dinner—warm vegetable soup—to Isaiah and Nicholas.

She walked past Isaiah to where Nicholas sat and transferred a cooking spoonful of soup from the pot into his bowl. Nicholas licked his lower lip, staring as the brown, shiny liquid streamed into his bowl. He held a piece of bread in his right hand, squeezing it tightly as the aroma went up his nostrils, filling his heart with delight.

“Thank you, Margret,” he smiled at his big sister after she was done serving him, and she smiled back, stroking his head with her left palm. Isaiah watched Margret quietly as she walked back to a corner of the room to keep the pot. Margret walked back to the table, drew out her seat, and dropped into it, pushing out a long sigh. Her gaze instinctively shifted between Isaiah and her meal twice before she realized that he was s