ON THE ROAD

That evening, as they were having one of the last foods from the lunchboxes, Almathea turned to Evy. The little girl was shoving mouthful after mouthful of food into her mouth. It almost looked like she was not breathing in between her bites. They had each taken a separate lunchbox since Evy had claimed that if they did not finish all the food soon, it might all go to waste.

Almathea did not believe it, however, she still instructed Evy to eat as much as she could so that the food would not go to waste. Who knew the small girl would take her words quite literally and shove food in her mouth as if the meal was going to be their last?

Almathea patted her head, "Don't eat so quickly, you might choke."

Evy looked up at Almathea with a wronged look, "Don't pat my head, Thea. I am not a little child. Where did you get this food anyway, it's so good!"

Somewhere during the day, Evy had begun calling Almathea 'Thea' with the excuse that her name was too long. Almathea fell silent after that, feeling like her heart was aching after Evy called her that. She did not know how to explain it, but it was almost like someone else had called her that before. That person was also very close to her as well.

Evy, on the other hand, took Thea's silence as a sign of her acceptance.

Almathea did not have the strength to argue with her on the matter, so she silently allowed the short girl to call her as such. Despite the faint painful feeling she had, she felt happy when Evy gave her a nickname. It was an unexplainable feeling of joy.

As she watched Evy eat, Almathea felt as if she wanted to know more about the little girl that she was traveling with. Curious, she spoke up in between her bites, "How long have you been alone?"

Evy paused mid-bite, and her gaze went to Almathea. She did not speak and a frown fell upon her pale lips. Almathea shook her head, "You do not have to answer if it makes you feel uncomfortable. I was just curious. After all, you seem more accustomed to life outside more than I am. To be honest, I don't think I have ever been outside."

Evy raised her head to look at Almathea, "I thought you couldn't remember anything from your past?"

Almathea shrugged, "It's just a feeling. Everything seems new to me. Wouldn't that mean that I have never been outside before?"

Evy did not understand what Almathea meant by that, but she did not ask. "I think that maybe the feeling of being outside, you must have forgotten it as well."

Almathea hummed in response, "Maybe."

They continued to eat in silence for another few minutes before Evy sighed. She placed down the almost empty dish and turned to Almathea, "It has been close to a week and a half since I parted from my family. I had to leave for their safety since if I was discovered, then they would have been killed together with me."

Almathea felt confused after hearing Evy speak, "Why would they be killed together with you? I think that every problem can be solved as long as you have people to solve it with you." She felt an unexplainable burst of sadness as she said these words.

Evy gave her a small smile, "It would not have worked out. Leaving them was the best option. As such, they would not have to worry every few seconds of anyone finding out about my existence."

A large smile covered Evy's face, "Forget about me. Do you seriously not know where you got all this food from? Could it be that you cooked it?"

Almathea searched her memories before shaking her head, "I don't think that I can be the one who cooked it. Just the thought of cooking something feels confusing to me."

Evy patted her chin using her oily hand. The action caused her previously dark skin to shine in front of the small fire they had burning in front of them. "Then could it be that you are a noble child?"

"Noble child?"

Evy's head bobbed up and down, "Yes. I heard from my pa that only noble's daughters are not allowed in the kitchens. Their families worry that something might happen to them as they are cooking that would make them unable to get a husband." As she was speaking these words, she had lowered her voice and moved a little closer to Almathea as if she was speaking a large secret.

Almathea could not help but laugh upon hearing these words. She then smacked the back of Evy's head using the handle of her wooden spoon, "There is no way that I am a noble's child. Why would they throw me out if I were one?"

She had a sad smile on her face as she said these words. Over the period of time, after she had woken up, she had come to the conclusion that she was an unwanted child, otherwise, what would be the reason why she woke up on a cart without even a single one of her memories.

Evy did not push her any further. Her head bowed down as she went back to shoving the cold food into her mouth.

.

A few days had passed since the duo had begun their journey on the road.

Almathea had discovered that Evy was really as helpful as she had claimed. Their food supply had ended a few days before, so they needed to find something to eat in the wild. They were traveling by donkey which was significantly slower than those who passed by them driving horse-drawn carriages.

Evy was good at almost everything. She could catch fish and rabbits for them to eat, she could light a fire when they needed one. The most interesting part was that she could build a small stick and leaf covering for their little cart for when it rained. Despite her small stature, she was much stronger than she appeared.

Unlike Almathea 'who was tall but as useless as a twig.' This was just a small example of the insults that Evy had hurled at Almathea after she discovered that Almathea was good at nothing. She couldn't identify good wild vegetables to eat, she couldn't light a fire, she could not wash her clothes.

However, Evy still helped her do everything no matter how much she complained. For this Almathea was eternally grateful.

They had avoided talking to people for most of the part. Luckily though, all the people they found on this road did not even take a glance at them. They seemed to be in too much of a hurry to consider the two little girls who were traveling on their own.

.

S/T:

Almathea the useless twig: ...

.

A/N:

Evy is pronounced as E-vii