“Look what you made me do!” Liberty shouted in frustration, knowing that if Ezekiel saw the dirtied laundry there would be serious repercussions. Soaking wet, she fell to her knees and picked up the clothes.

A’shai could see the terror fill her as she scrambled nervously. As much as he hated chores he knew that he owed her one. He wouldn’t be reprimanded if Ezekiel found out but she would, and the last thing he wanted to do was get her into trouble. He bent down and helped her out.

“Just go away,” she mumbled as she put the clothes into the basin and grabbed water buckets to go retrieve more water from the river.

“Sorry!” he screamed after her. “I was only playing. Hey, wait up!” A’shai said as he ran after Liberty. “Where are you going? Hey! I want to help.”

“You’ve helped plenty!” she shot back as she stomped away.

A’shai knew that if she tried to bring the water to the well it would take all day. A’shai scooped up the dirty clothes and ran after her. He was a thinker and would rather let his brain do the hard work than his body.

“What are you doing?” she asked in annoyance.

“You can wash and dry the clothes by the river. Trust me. It’ll be done before my dad even knows we’re missing,” A’shai stated. He ran past her. “Come on!”

Reluctantly Liberty ran after him until she was out of breath. By the time she caught up to him, A’shai had the clothes in a fishing net that he threw into the flowing water. She stopped and looked at him in amazement while thinking, Why didn’t I think of that?

He sat on the shore and then patted the space beside him. “So what’s your name anyway?” he asked.

She sat down a few spaces down from him and replied, “Liberty.”

It was all they said to one another the entire day but the ice had finally been broken, and Liberty appreciated A’shai’s offer to help. Hours later as the sun began to set, A’shai helped her remove the clothes from the tree branches they had dried on and then they raced one another back to the village.