Her Father's Will

The two women held onto each other for comfort as they saw their loved one suffer in pain. With Zafer being unconscious, they could finally cry freely, without worry that it would dishearten his spirit to see them low. They would rather he suffer less than cling onto life just because he was worried they would not be able to take care of themselves out of grief. Even if it meant an eternity of pain for them.

After who knows how much time passed by, Halime brought her mother to her bed. "Ana*, we have to be strong. We must take care of father's buisness. We cannot let his hardwork down. His work must be known, his presence must leave a mark on the world, even long after he is gone. That is our duty as his family. To work towards what he believed in. Insha Allah we will suceed, Ana. We will make him proud, so we can face him in the afterlife."

"May Allah bless you and make your words come true, kizım," Sinem choked out on a sob. Halime wiped her mother's tears and went to prepare her some nourishment. Life must go on. She bore the mantle of responsibility for her family now and by God she would do her best to fulfil it in a way that would be acceptable to God.

Hours later, at night, exhausted to the core, Halime shut her eyes and prayed for the next day to be blessed. She learned quite a bit from what her father had taught her. But, she would have to learn even more. She would have to get involved and immerse herself so she could take up her father's business. In the meanwhile, she had to ask her father's advice on various things related to the business.

**************************************

Morning, the next day

Halime awoke to a city that had busied itself with picking up after the destruction the sandstorm had wrought. The main city was largely undisturbed by the storms with its stone walls but the outskirts where they lived were another story altogether. Hence, people made articles that were easily collapsible and easy to store away when dust storms came, to save the money that would have to be spent on repairs after the dust laden winds ravaged through their lands.

The same was true of Halime's father's business. Their home and other tents, modelled after their nomadic lifestyle of before, remained unaffected, as did the main two story building that archived records and receipts. The wooden windows required cleaning. People never used glass in these parts for windows, for the sake of practicality.

Glass windows were generally used only in the palaces and homes of the affluent, those in the main city, that could afford them.

Besides, dust mired glass was too difficult to clean and more prone to shattering on meeting a stray rock perchance.

Wooden windows meant easy cleaning and more protection to whatever was inside. All the reception building required was a good cleaning. Behind the building was where the famed public serving messenger birds were housed. Birds could not be kept in closed tents, even if their food and other necessities could be managed much the same as storage tents did. There was a stable for this purpose. A stable meant for more than just the horses.

Opposing the section of the stable where the horses were kept, was a section with a partly open roof. A wall of wooden sticks divided the sections. Between the birdhouse wall and stables lay an adequately large section of open ground, where the birds would be let out to feed on grains in the mornings and evenings.

Beyond the bird feeding feeding area was where the birds were kept. On the far end was the section partly covered by the roof. Bird cages, three of them hung from hooks in the roof. Each cage held around 5 to 7 birds. The cages were large and spacious and afforded the birds space without cramping them up. The cages had perches and water bowls.

All of the cages housed pigeons. Apart from this, there was also an expanse of land that would be used to host migratory birds, but that was not a part of this enclosure and a bit far from here. During storms, the open part of the partly open roof would be covered securely by a makeshift roof stored in the pigeon housing area. The place also had window inlets, open squares in the walls, that would be covered by mkeshift window covers made of wood.

The framework of the entire enclosure provided much prtoection for the birds in small sandstorms, but for bigger ones the cages would be transported indoors to the second story of the building. The bird enclosure would have to be built again or repaired from time to time when big storms struck but those did not occur too often.

One would expect that keeping them indoors would save that cost, and it would have. But, Zafer was a God-fearing man. The pigeons were creatures of God and would be treated with love. They would be afforded as much comfort and freedom as possible. Maybe it was this very nature of his that invited God's blessings to his venture.

Now that the storm was passed, Halime had to oversee the cleaning and repair work along with her father's manager. The birds and horses needed calming down. The bird shelter was in need of repair, more hands would have to be hired. The birds had to be transported back out as soon as possible. There were no higher ups where work was concerened.

Overseeing meant more than directing people to work. It meant getting involved in the work onself. This invited respect from the other employees and made the working environment better for all. Their family did not believe in keeping servants. Wealth shared invited more wealth and Zafer chose to provide employment to people who suffered than use slaves.

Their usual staff included a young lad, who was the son of the apothecary's family and a man estranged from his tribe during migration who was good with the horses(they had the job of overseeing the stable and birdhouse), a widowed woman who they had found on the brink of death from starvation(she was the clerk and record keeper), her young daughter( around 7 years of age, she would be paid a pocket money for small odd jobs such as relaying messages or getting groceries etc), and the youngest son of the bread maker, who managed them all along with her father. They also had two men who would run on foit to relay messages to places and such for pocket change. They would hire part time workers for contruction and repair purposes from time to time, when storms hit.

Usually, she and her mother would help out wherever they could.

It was time to get back up on their feet. This time however, she would manage everything instead of her father. She prayed, " My Lord, bless my work and grant me sucess." Then, she went off to begin the days work.

Vocab:

*Ana: Mother/ mom (pronunced Aah-nah)

*kizım: my daughter(pronunced keu-zeum)