Investigate

"Alright," replied Marna.

The four men ordered Marna to go back inside the house, and they followed her in.

"But I haven't bathed yet."

"No need to bathe. Just cook us some rice! We've been here for almost three days, but haven't eaten rice yet."

"If you want to eat, there's leftover rice from last night that I cooked. But it's not enough for all four of you."

The four men glanced at each other, then one of them spoke.

"You go ahead and eat first. You look really hungry," teased one of them. Marna, who initially planned to go to the river, canceled her plan. Reluctantly, she went back into the house to cook for them.

Marna climbed back up to the longhouse. She opened the lid of the water jar and took out some empty cans.

"How many of you are there in total?"

"There are nine of us in total. Cook a lot at once!"