find in Sanctuary.’
Masha studied his dark shiny face. He looked as if he might be about forty years
old. The high broad forehead, the long straight nose, the well-shaped mouth
would have made him handsome if his cheeks weren’t so thick and his jowls so
baggy. Despite his fatness, he looked intelligent; the black eyes below the
thick bushy eyebrows were keen and lively.
‘I can’t afford to experiment with Kheem,’ she said.
He smiled, perhaps an acknowledgement that he detected the uncertainty in her
voice.
‘You can’t afford not to,’ he said. ‘If you don’t use this, your child will die.
And the longer you hesitate, the closer she gets to death. Every second counts.’
Masha took the envelope and returned to the water pitcher. She set the spoon
down without spilling its contents and began working as Smhee called out to her
his instructions. He stayed with K-heem, one hand on her forehead, the other on
her chest. Kheem breathed rapidly and shallowly.
Wallu protested. Masha told her to shut up more harshly than she’d intended.
Wallu bit her lip and glared at Smhee.
K-heem was propped up by Smhee, and Masha got her to swallow the greenish water.
Ten minutes or so later, the fever began to go down. An hour later, according to
the sandglass, she was given another spoonful. By dawn, she seemed to be rid of
it, and she was sleeping peacefully.
7
Meantime, Masha and Smhee talked in low tones. Wallu had gone to bed, but not to
sleep, shortly before sunrise. Eevroen had not appeared. Probably he was
sleeping off his liquor in an empty crate on the wharf or in some doorway. Masha