19. A disastrous journey

They departed from the border villages while the air was still a little damp, before the first light of the day. They walked for hours, before they found a local carriage headed for the capital city. The carriage was old and worn out, the air inside stuffy due to the five adults and two children who were squeezed inside the passengers side. The sound of the man in the middle snoring kept interfering with the other people's desire for peace, and the bumpy potholed road didn't make it any better as the carriage threw them up and down, even as it kept making creaking sounds. It went at a slow pace, the weight of the goods tied behind it drawing it back even as it continue to force itself on.

Emma placed her elbow on the inner door handle and rested her head on top of it, but the handle fell of. She sat stiffly keeping her hands to herself while Yue struggled to keep the snoring man kept falling onto his shoulder repeatedly. Emma began laughing as it became a serious struggle between Yue and the man who insisted on sleeping on his shoulder, he sighed in exasperation, tired of struggling with him, and let him rest his head on his shoulder. He felt a wet patch on his shoulder and saw drool dropping onto his shoulder from the mans mouth. His face squeezed in disgust, but there was nothing he could do "what is wrong?" Emma asked on noticing his discomfort, she strained her neck to look at where he was pointing at with his eyes. She began laughing again, but kept quiet the moment the woman by the left window glared at her.

The carriage went on till the midday, before the coachman stopped the carriage at a market in a different town to lunch and stretch their bodies. Emma went along with the snoring man to the market to buy some food items, while Yue stayed back to protect their money and few belongings, the woman with the children handed her youngest over to Yue and told him to hold onto the child while she fed the eldest from the provisions she had brought. He held the child awkwardly, making faces at the child who kept glaring at him, he felt something warm drop onto his arm, as the air was polluted with an awful smell. He dropped the child to the floor his scream of horror mixed with the child's loud cry. Emma and the snoring man returned after a short while to a crowd gathered around the carriage, with people holding the mother from lunging towards Yue who stood in the midst of the crowd with a wronged face while he pointed at the spot where poop had fallen on him. " you should not have handed your child to a stranger...you are such a careless mother...how can you even consider him in the wrong" many shouted at her, accusing her of intentionally looking for a brawl but she shed tears trying to convince the crowd that she was the one who had been wronged. The coachman arrived and shouted at the crowd to disperse, and told everyone to board as they were going to resume their journey. The woman boarded, holding onto her two children, as tears fell down her face while she kept looking at Yue and Emma hatefully. The next to go in was a tiyng lady who couldn't be bothered by anything, and pushed the woman's baby away from her." Please hold your children tightly" she warned and rested her head, dozing off. They all boarded the carriage and struggled to eat in the tight space while Emma and the snoring man kept looking back and forth at Yue and the mother of children wondering what had caused the fight.