Ayna Persia July 1918 A SOUND A VERY quiet sound woke Samira What was it She listened but she kept her eyes tightly closed hoping she could drift back into sleep We always hear noises when we sleep on the roof she told herself It must be the donkey stamping its hoof or Papa snoring She put out her hand and touched her little sister Maryam who was sleeping beside her Maybe it was just a dream Then she heard it again Metal clinking against metal and then a voice whispering Samira sat up The sky was clear and black There was no moon but the stars gave enough light that she could see Mama lying on her sleeping mat on the other side of Maryam Beyond her was Papa and then her brother Benyamin They were all sleeping quietly She listened holding her breath Where had the sound come from again There was no more clinking but the whispering came Samira pushed her thin summer quilt aside and stood up
The clay floor was rough under her bare feet as she silently crossed the flat roof She was sure now The whispering was coming from the garden behind the house Boys from a nearby village sometimes sneaked into Ayna to steal a few ripe melons Well she would catch them this time There was a wall around the edge of the roof but by standing on tiptoe Samira could see over it and over the wall that surrounded the village The garden was on a hillside so she could see the almond tree and the rows of peppers and eggplants and the tangle of melon vines Among the melons were three figures dressed in bulky clothes and wearing strange peaked caps No village boy wore such a cap and these were not boys Then Samira saw a glint of starlight on something shiny They were men There it was again It was the blade of a knife The man was lifting a melon and cutting it from the vine He lowered it to the ground and its pale round shape disappeared They are thieves thought Samira That man is cutting melons and putting them in a sack The man stood up and lifted the sack to his shoulder and Samira saw that he had a rifle strapped to his back The knife in his hand clinked against the rifle barrel That was
the sound that had wakened her Samira turned to call for Papa but suddenly a hand gripped her around the ankle She looked down and saw her father crouched beside her He let go of her ankle and pulled her down and put his hand over her mouth He leaned close and whispered so softly that she could hardly hear him Be quiet They must not know you saw them Samira tried to open her mouth to ask a question but Papa held his hand firm and whispered again I’ll tell you in the morning Don’t stand up She nodded and he let her go She crawled over to her sleeping mat Papa pulled the quilt up around her and patted her on the shoulder Sleep he said without making a sound Then he moved away on his hands and knees Samira reached for Maryam and pulled her close For a long time she lay with her eyes open listening But it was quiet now and after a while she fell asleep When she woke she was alone She sat up and looked around the roof that covered her house and the connected house where Uncle Avram lived with his family On warm nights both families liked to sleep on the roof out in the fresh air But now the sun was high in the sky Everyone else
would have drunk their tea and eaten their morning bread and cheese Benyamin had probably gone to school and Papa would be out in the garden Suddenly Samira remembered the dark figures stealing melons She scrambled up pulled on her skirt and blouse and climbed quickly down the ladder In the house it was bread-baking day Mama was kneading dough in a big bowl while Maryam played with her doll as she always did while Mama worked But this morning Papa was there too He had a basket in his arms It was empty except for one pale green melon Samira he said I let you sleep because you were disturbed by the men in the garden last night Do you remember anything about them Samira closed her eyes trying to see again the figures in the starlight There were three of them she said They wore stiff jackets and caps that covered their ears They had knives and they were cutting melons She opened her eyes And they had rifles Who were they Papa Uniforms and guns said Papa They were soldiers not ordinary thieves I’ve heard that deserters from the Turkish army have come through the mountains into Persia They don’t want to fight in the war anymore but they don’t mind stealing They were hungry and our melons are just
