The three children wrapped themselves in their respective towels and returned to their tent, where Estella laid the pebbles out to dry.
The boys had specially picked some colorful and nicely-shaped pebbles that looked extremely beautiful when the sun’s rays bounced off of them.
Hence, Estella simply couldn’t turn her eyes away.
Roxanne patted the little girl’s head and got up to get their cups.
“You guys must be thirsty after all that fun. Here, have some water.”
As she spoke, she gave the children their respective cups, and they drank their water obediently.
“Mommy.” Archie took a sip of the water and thought it tasted odd.
Upon hearing her son’s voice, Roxanne turned around and cast him a puzzled glance.
Archie got up and walked toward her with the cup in his hands, gesturing for her to look at the water.
Naturally, nothing seemed off to the naked eye.
The situation brought a frown to Roxanne’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Archie’s expression mirrored his mother’s as he looked over at Benny and Estella.
Is it just me, or does the water taste weird? But Benny and Estella seem to think it’s fine.
Suspicious, he brought the cup to his nose and took a few sniffs.
The water didn’t smell odd either.
Roxanne was baffled by her son’s actions and asked again, “Is there something wrong with the water?”
The little boy nodded hesitantly and sounded uncertain as he explained, “I feel like it tastes weird.”
Hearing that, Roxanne turned to look at the other two children, who shook their heads in confusion.
“Archie, maybe you think it’s weird because you had some spring water earlier,” said Benny. He was practically oozing with smugness.
When they fell into the stream earlier, he had witnessed his brother being so startled he swallowed a mouthful of spring water as a result.
Archie couldn’t help but blush when he was exposed, but the rosiness in his cheeks disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.
On the other hand, not knowing that something like that had happened, Roxanne looked at the children amusedly.
Archie brought the cup to his mouth and took another sip of water.
After which, he proceeded to spit it out.
It still didn’t taste right to him.
When she saw this, suspicion arose within Roxanne. She took over the cup and had a sip of water herself.
Over the years, she had developed a keen sense of taste in order to discern between medicinal herbs.
Thus, one small sip was sufficient for her to instantly notice that the water tasted off.
In fact, it tasted rather familiar.
Roxanne felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach, and she quickly looked over at the other children.
Benny and Estella were still drinking their water, having not found anything odd with it.
Afraid that she might have made an error in judgment and not wanting to needlessly scare the children, Roxanne didn’t say anything else and merely stood up quietly.
She scanned her surroundings but didn’t find signs of anyone else having been there.
At that, a hint of hesitation flickered in her eyes.
“Mommy, did this cup get contaminated?” Archie inquired in puzzlement. Hearing her son’s voice, Roxanne snapped back to her senses and flashed him a reassuring smile. “No, something must’ve fallen in it. I’ll get you another cup of water.”
She caressed the boy’s head and got up to toss the water. After that, she refilled the cup. However, Archie refused to drink anything. Regardless if something fell in it or something was wrong with the water, the boy was traumatized.
As such, Roxanne didn’t pressure him but passed him a bottle of mineral water from her bag instead. Only then was Archie willing to gulp down the water.
Meanwhile, Benny and Estella had already finished their water. Their eyes were fixed on the pebbles that the latter had laid out on the ground.
Roxanne didn’t interrupt the two and only instructed her oldest son, “Archie, take care of Benny and Estella. I’ll go pick some medicinal herbs.”
Since it was still early, she wanted to take advantage of the daylight to gather more herbs.
Archie bobbed his head in response.
After watching his mother walk into the distance, he squatted down and joined the two little ones in observing the pebbles.
All of a sudden, Estella furrowed her brows and clutched her stomach, groaning.
A hint of worry glinted in Archie’s eyes as he looked at the little girl. “What’s wrong? Are you tired?”
Estella looked delicate, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this was the first time she’d been so active.
However, she shook her head as her frown deepened. “My tummy hurts…”
Archie couldn’t help but worry about her well-being after hearing that. “I’ll go get Mommy!” he declared.
It doesn’t matter if something happens to Benny or me, but Essie’s so weak and delicate. If she gets sick, I wouldn’t know what to do.
Getting to his feet, he was about to go look for his mother at the place where they found the medicinal herbs when Estella tugged at the hem of his pants.
Puzzled, he lowered his head.
“I must’ve laughed too hard earlier,” said the girl.
She didn’t want Roxanne to worry, so she endured the pain in her stomach and forced herself to smile.
Even so, Archie wasn’t entirely convinced by her.
She seems to be in extreme pain…
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine in a bit,” she reassured him again, determined not to put a damper on Roxanne’s and the boys’ mood.
Upon hearing that, Archie pondered for a while before resuming a squatting position.
At the same time, Benny also experienced the same symptoms as Estella.
He, too, suddenly developed a stomachache, but he chalked it up to catching a cold and endured the pain in silence.
When he heard that Estella was having a stomachache, he cast her a look of concern, but it didn’t take long for the pain in his stomach to grow even more intense.
Benny was about to tell his older brother about it when he noticed the water stains next to Estella’s feet.
He then looked up and realized that the little girl was secretly crying.
“What’s wrong, Essie?”
Concerned about her well-being, Benny endured his discomfort and leaned toward Estella.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.