Read Online Mud City by Deborah Ellis - Free Book Online

such a fast-moving vehicle.
    If I had one of these, she thought, I could be at the sea in no time.
    They turned into University Town, a neighborhood of big trees, high walls
     and flowered shrubs spilling their blossoms into the street. The noise of the traffic on
     Jamrud Road was left behind as the van made several turns, finally stopping before a
     high metal gate in a wall.
    Tom got out, unlocked and opened the gate, then drove the van through.
    Shauzia and Jasper stepped out of the van into a whole new world.
    “Daddy’s home! Daddy’s home!” The two small boys
     rushed along the front porch and ran through the garden to hug their father. Behind
     them, wiping her hands on a dishcloth, came their mother, Barbara. She put her hands on
     Shauzia’s shoulders.
    “So Tom was able to get you out! Welcome to our home.”
    Shauzia looked up into Barbara’s face. Hersmile
     was warm. Shauzia couldn’t remember anyone smiling at her like that before, except
     Parvana.
    “You must be hungry,” Barbara said. “We have lots of
     food in the house to feed a hungry boy.”
    “The hungry boy is a hungry girl,” Tom said, swinging his
     small giggling son in a circle.
    Barbara looked down at Shauzia. “A girl! Oh, how wonderful!
     I’ll have some company in this house full of boys. Come inside. We’ll get
     you cleaned up and fed, and you can tell us all about yourself.”
    Shauzia’s eyes almost burned from the bright colors of all the
     flowers in the courtyard garden. Birds were singing in the trees. The rest of Peshawar,
     beyond the high walls, might not even have existed.
    Her eyes grew wide when Barbara drew her into the house. The entranceway
     alone was bigger than the room she had shared with her whole family back in Kabul.
    “Tom is an engineer,” Barbara said as she took Shauzia from
     room to room. “He builds bridges, mostly in the northern part of Pakistan.
     We’re here on a two-year contract.Our families thought we
     were nuts to come, especially with the children, but we like a bit of adventure.
     We’re from Toledo, in the United States. There’s not much adventure
     there.”
    Shauzia was glad of Barbara’s chatter. She felt shy amid so much
     wealth. The house had a living room with big windows that looked out onto the garden.
     The chairs looked soft, and there were lots of cushions in pretty colors. A television
     set was showing cartoon characters singing a bouncy English song. Toys littered the
     floor.
    “Here is our dining room,” Barbara said as they passed through
     a room with a long wooden table surrounded by chairs. Shauzia looked at all the dishes
     stacked in a glass-windowed cupboard. “And this is our kitchen.”
    They walked into a large sunny room, the source of the good smells Shauzia
     had been sniffing since she had walked into the house. Tins of food and fancy boxes of
     cookies and crackers were stacked neatly on shelves. A bowl overflowed with fruit.
    Shauzia just wanted to look at everything and smell the good smells, but
     Barbara kept her moving.
    They went upstairs, where there were morerooms and
     more toys on the floor. Children’s clothes were scattered everywhere.
    “Please excuse the mess,” Barbara said, as Shauzia stepped
     over a toy truck. “I’m trying to teach the boys to clean up after
     themselves, but they simply refuse to cooperate.” Then she showed Shauzia a lovely
     blue room with a pattern of little flowers on the wall. There was a Western toilet,
     gleaming taps and a shower stall with a blue curtain.
    My family lived like this once, Shauzia thought, a long, long time ago,
     before the bombs started falling. The memory of it seemed like another person’s
     life, not her own.
    “Into the shower with you,” Barbara said. She showed Shauzia
     how to work the taps. “Use as much soap as you want. Leave your dirty clothes on
     the floor. I’ll find you something clean to wear.”
    Then she left her alone.
    Shauzia was glad for some time