75, Memory Lane

The following day, Ayya found herself standing outside the Korpi household again. This time, only two riders accompanied her and Tenac. Without being told, they took up watch on either side of the gate that led to the backyard. Ayya and Tenac walked up to the door of the house and knocked. A while later, Mrs Korpi opened the door and let out a little surprised sound and then smiled.

“Mary! I didn’t think I would see you so soon,” she said. “Come in, the two of you. I’ll call Erik and Sandra over.”

“No need, we are actually here to talk to you,” Ayya said as they walked through to the kitchen. 

“Me? Good gracious, what can I do for you?” 

“We are trying to figure out why people are getting sick, what is causing it. We can see some patterns, but I think the pattern was different when my parents got ill. But I can’t remember. I would like to ask you some questions if you don’t mind,” Ayya explained as she and Tenac sat down as Mrs Korpi showed them to the table. 

“Of course you don’t. You were so young and had such a heavy burden on your shoulders. Let’s have a cup of tea and you can ask me the questions you need. I may be old, but my memory is just fine,” she said. When they all were sitting down with a cup of tea and plate of biscuits and Marion was playing in his crib, Ayya got started.

“Do you remember if anyone else than my parents got sick around here at the same time?” Ayya asked Mrs Korpi.

“Oh, no. I would have remembered that. No, it was just your parents, my dear. Good neighbours and all,” she answered. 

“Did we do something different from the rest of the neighbourhood? Did something happen around the time they got sick?”

“Oh, that’s a little harder question, let me think. Well, nothing special happened as I can remember. And your parents were like anyone in the neighbourhood. Your mother and me used to go to the market together. The men went to the pub down at Kobler lane. The only thing was how peculiar your father was with the water you used. Do you remember that?” Mrs Korpi asked. Ayya frowned as she tried to remember. There was a memory that surfaced.

“Yes, when he worked on the silver, he would put the finished pieces in a warm bath of some sort. I think he used lemons in the water, but when the traders didn’t come as often, he switched to tomatoes. He would always tell me how important it was to use clean and good quality water,” Ayya said. 

“Yes, he wouldn’t let Magdalena use the local well. Instead, he would go all the way down to the timber ward to get water,” Mrs Korpi tutted.

“I remember. He had a cart he would fill with barrels and it would rattle as he left and it made a clucking sound when he came back. He would fill the big water tub in the garden,” Ayya said. Mrs Korpi chuckled. 

“Yes, my George would always tease him about it.” Tenac had put his hand on Ayya’s back. He understood the bittersweet moment it was for her. They continued to talk a while longer. Erik and Sandra came walking to have their midday meal and were surprised to see Ayya and Tenac sitting at the table. 

“You should have told us we had visitors, mom,” Erik said.

“They came to see me. I didn’t see a reason to disturb your work,” his mother said. 

“We were just about to leave,” Ayya said, standing up. 

“Why don’t you stay for lunch?” Sandra asked. 

“It would have been lovely, but we have an engagement that we must keep,” Ayya told them. They exchanged some pleasantries and then Ayya and Tenac were off. 

“Time to look in on Jason?” Tenac asked. 

“Yes, but we should bring lunch. If he doesn’t like the food, it won’t get better if he’s sad,” Ayya said, going towards the market.

“Do you think the water is important?” Tenac asked as they walked. 

“Yes, I think so. But I can’t be certain until we know if the pattern was the same back then as it is now and if my family was an irregularity,” she said. They stopped by the vegetable stand and bought apples and pears. Then they went to a bakery and bought fresh flat bread and lastly they stopped by the stand with meat skewers. Ayya put the meat into the flatbread and then returned the skewers before they headed toward the facility with the ill. When they walked into the room where Jason was, they saw him sitting on his cot, looking a little lost. 

“Hi there, Jason,” Ayya called. The boy looked up and smiled. 

“Hello Ayya, Tenac,” he said and walked over to them. 

“Don’t you have anyone to play with?” Tenac asked.

‘Not really, Jamie, the only other child my age, got picked up by his aunt this morning,” he told them. 

“Sorry to hear that,” Tenac said.

“How about some lunch?” Ayya asked. “I have meat skewers,” she added. Jason’s eyes lit up.

“Really?” 

“Really,” she said and held out her free hand. He took it and Tenac led the way to what had become their spot. Tenac helped Jason up on a crate and Ayya handed him a rolled up bread and then gave one to Tenac. They sat and ate in silence. Ayya made sure Jason ate all of his food, which didn’t seem to be an issue. He had a good appetite. When he was finished, she asked him if he wanted an apple or a pear. He took a pear and happily ate it. 

“How are you feeling today?” Ayya asked him as they all were done. 

“I’m okay. It’s a little boring and when I think about my mother and sister, I feel really sad,” he said. 

“I can understand that. I lost my parents to the sickness as well. I was a couple of years older than you,” she told him.

“Really?” he asked.

“Yes. And I was really sad for a long time, but then life continued and everyday I was a little less sad. That doesn’t mean I don’t love them, I still do,” she said. He nodded. They stayed and talked to him for a while before they followed him back to his cot. Ayya left the rest of the apples and pears with him, but he had to promise to eat his food before he ate the fruit. 

“Do we have time to talk to Sister Agatha?” Ayya asked Tenac.

“If you need to talk to her, we have time to do it,” he said. She smiled, and they went to find Sister Agatha. 

“Lady Ayya, is everything okay?” the sister greeted them.

“It is, and with you?”

“As good as it can be,” the sister answered. 

“I was wondering if I could ask for your help,” Ayya said. 

“Of course. What can I do?”

“It’s regarding the young boy we talked about yesterday. He is the only child his age here that is healthy. I know his family is still alive, but would it be possible for him to be transferred to the orphanage by the market?” Ayya asked. Sister Agatha smiled.

“It’s nice to see that someone takes care of the smaller ones in our flock. I don’t see why it would be an issue. I agree with you that the boy would be better off with other children. We would need the approval of the headmistress of the orphanage,” she said. 

“I will go and speak to her. Is it still Sister Agnes?” Ayya asked. 

“No, she retired two years ago. It’s Sister Loise now,” Sister Agatha told her. 

“I remember her,” Ayya smiled. Ayya and Tenac set out toward the orphanage. “I’m sorry that I’m dragging you all over the city,” Ayya told Tenac and the two riders.

“It’s nice to move around after being in the room for days,” one of them told her. They caused quite a stir as they reached the orphanage. The children didn’t dare to come too close, but they stood at a distance and watched them. Ayya and Tenac were invited into Sister Loise’s office. 

“Mary, when they told me it was you, I didn’t believe them. That will teach me to be weak in my faith,” she chuckled and embraced Ayya. 

“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice,” Ayya said. 

“Don’t mention it. Pleas sit and tell me what I can do for you,” the sister told them. 

“We are looking into what is causing the sickness to see if we can find a cure,” Ayya started.

“So I have heard. I had no idea it was you. We are grateful for your help.” 

“We are glad to do it. During my work, we met a little boy named Jason. He is in the facility where they treat the ill. His mother and sister are on death’s door and his father is ill as well. There are no other children his age and Jason just said goodbye to his mother and sister yesterday. I would like to ask if it would be okay for him to come and live here?” Ayya asked.

“Oh my, poor angel. We would love to take him in. We have free beds, so he is more than welcome,” Sister Loise said. Ayya smiled at her. 

“Thank you. I promised his mother I would make sure he was safe. I can’t think of a safer place than this,” Ayya told her.

“You flatter me. We try our best. When can we expect Jason?” 

“We will go and collect him when we leave here. I guess we should go around his house to collect some things for him,” Ayya said, remembering how Kopa had made sure to take her father’s chest with a few of her things when they first met. 

“That is a good idea. We will expect you some time before dinner then,” the sister said. 

“That sounds accurate,” Ayya agreed.