If you are new to this blog I suggest you go back to the oldest post and work your way forward. On with the story:
Jacob led Pelu back through a part of the city near Brownburgh and Pelu noted with pride that he recognized the area from when they had traveled through it earlier. He could still get lost in the city if he lost track of Jacob but it was a small first step in learning his way around the metropolis. He began looking around as he tried to get his orientation and find which path would lead him back to Dima's house. He didn't look for long, however, because he quickly ran into Jacob who had stopped in front of a storefront and was turning to talk to him. "Sorry," Pelu sputtered. "I was trying to figure out which way it is to your house from here. I recognize this neighborhood." "Well," Jacob replied, "let's see how well you've been paying attention. Which way do you think it is?"
Pelu turned in circles as he surveyed his surroundings. There was a sign over there that he remembered being on his left as they passed it earlier. That meant that they must have come from further down that way, but not much further because they had just turned before they passed the sign. "There" Pelu said as he pointed toward a street. "We came down that road, so if I go up it and turn left I'll get back." "you're learning fast" Jacob said. "It won't be long before you can find your way around better than I can. Here's another place for you to remember. This is where Dima works. If you get in trouble you'll be able to find her here most days. She washes laundry for people who don't have the time for it. Or people who have extra money. They have carts up in some of the richer neighborhoods where they collect laundry and bring it back here to wash it."
Pelu immediately felt the heat and humidity as they stepped into the launderer's. They entered a small front room with only a desk and two doors. Jacob greeted the young woman behind the desk and continued on through the door that led further in. As Pelu followed through the second door, the heat and humidity increased to a point where Pelu wondered how anyone could endure it for more than a few minutes. The room had several low stone stoves that were heating enormous vats of water. Women bent over the vats and stirred the contents with paddles, occasionally pulling out wet laundry and placing it on nearby carts or pulling laundry from other piles to drop it into the boiling water. Other women pushed the carts from pot to pot or through a door in the back that Pelu couldn't see through. He followed Jacob as they wove between the pots to reach one near the back.
"Lunch time" Jacob said as he walked up to the woman stirring the vat. She pulled the wet clothing from her cauldron and straitened up. Pelu hardly recognized Dima as she turned to greet them. She was covered in moisture that made her hair and clothing stick to her body. He couldn't tell if it was perspiration or the moisture that had boiled out of the pots. Her hair was tied back with a lace except for a few strands that were plastered to her forehead. She smiled when she saw Pelu there and he thought that even in such a dismal place, and looking the way she did, that smile made him feel welcome and comfortable. Like all the problems he was facing would work out and there was nothing to worry about.
