Page 49 - Faraway Frieds

FARAWAY FRIENDS 43
burning, somewhere! Following her dad’s instruc- tions, she was soon racing through the lobby and into the street in front of the hotel — into Dad’s arms.
“Nothing like a little fire to add excitement to our last days here,” he whispered in her ear to mask his relief. Noticing the laptop cradled in MaryCather- ine’s arms, he added, “You must have been Skyping with Brittany.”
“Yep. It’s that time of the week, Dad. I’m going to miss meeting with her. Good practice, I suppose, for when she goes away to college.”
Later that evening, back safely in their rooms on the third floor, the two sat quietly, lost in their own thoughts. Dad finally spoke.
“Any wishes for our last days in Nepal?” he asked. When MaryCatherine didn’t reply, he continued. “I think I know what you’d like most, and I guess I can tell you now. I’ve found Daya.”
MaryCatherine sat up straight and took a deep breath. She was eager to hear news of the young Nepali girl she had met soon after they had arrived. Daya had found a way to pay her school fees herself by raising a pair of pigs and caring for their pig- lets until they were old enough to sell. For a while they had kept in touch. Daya even had spent time with MaryCatherine at the hotel. Then her mother moved to another part of Kathmandu, and Daya