The Girl Who Didn't Know What To Believe

lent until then, but just as watchful, leant forward with a
large handkerchief, which Meritxell gratefully took to wipe
her eyes, as well as her nose which had joined in by running
quite unpleasantly. Meritxell also used it to hide behind a
little, to cover her embarrassment as her breathing shivered
and jerked, and then calmed down, allowing her brain to
recover its composure, and try to take charge as if nothing
untoward had just happened.
The storm having passed, Hillary and Eva became quite
maternal and very practical, which is another way of saying
that they unpacked a flask, poured a cup of hot sweet tea in
a plastic cup, and handed it to Meritxell along with a ginger
biscuit. This got the attention of Hume, who decided he
would like to become friends too, and got down and started
exploring among the spilt papers on the floor, all the time
keeping an eye on the biscuits. As Meritxell slowly sipped
her hot tea, Hillary poured two more cups for them, and
then she bent down and picked up Grandpa’s book, which
had fallen onto the floor in the commotion.
“Ah,” she said, “Aristotle! This is your Grandpa’s book
is it?”, and she thumbed through it, noting the pencil marks
in the margins where Grandpa had found something particularly
interesting. “One of my heroes,” she continued,
“Some call him the first scientist, and the first serious biologist!
Eva and I are biologists too, though not always,” and
here she winked at Eva, “as serious as we ought to be.”
Eva saw that Meritxell, whose energies were being rapidly
restored by tea and biscuits, looked a little interested,
and chipped in, “So Meritxell, you say that you don’t trust
anyone or believe what they say any more?” Meritxell sipped
and nodded, a little uncomfortable at implying that
32