Lukels house was the last in a group of homes, and was located at the edge of the plateau, the back wall being right at the edge of the precipice. It was early morning, there was nobody in sight, and the geese of the village were coming along swaying; when they saw me they turned their heads and started hissing. The gate was half opened and I squeezed myself quickly into the yard. From there, I saw the geese reaching the edge of the c’iff and taking off over the plain. Luke was at the door, smiling.
"They return in the evenings, they know how to take care of themselves," he assured me.
I entered the cool house and sat on the bench. The room was small and the white walls were covered with sheets of bark. By the wall was an iron stove with legs like dogls paws that took half the roomls space. It was a warm spring, and the stove was no longer used, and in the kitchen Mayls lovage was drying on the range. Through the open door I noticed a weaving loom.
"Where are your folks?" I asked.
"Mom just went out to freshen up a bit. She's been weaving all night long," he replied.
While talking with Luke about this and that, a noise was heard from the stove; the cast iron rings of the cooking range were shaking and rattling. Putting the lovage bunches aside, I took the burners out and a childls head emerged and got out the stove. "Itls my sister," Luke said, and hurriedly picked her up, and I froze thinking that this was a kidls bed. The girl, who looked about two years old, was naked and I helped Luke wash her in the bath pile and dress her in a white shirt and skirt, and after that she looked like a living dandelion that needed to be sheltered from the wind so it wonlt scatter. She was looking straight at me and I had the strange feeling that she could see through me.
