where more people can be found,” Helaine told Rani.
“It’s so far, far away,” Rani whispered in fright.
“Listen to the wind. That’s the sound of the spirits of the Gobi Desert. Dad said it would guide
its people to find their goals.”
Helaine and Rani went across the Alashan Pleatau in the intense heat, rationing their bucket
of water; feeding on berries and roots found in bushes and burrows. They were making a good
pace, and they were only a hundred miles from their destination. Helaine decided to take a rest.
She found a tall tree next to a small oasis, made a fire, and together they stopped for a break.
“Get some wild onions, Rani, so we can feed ourselves before we continue,” Helaine asked
Rani politely.
“I am too tired and it’s getting dark,” Rani didn’t budge and started bugging Helaine, who
curled up next to the fire.
“I have shown you how to find wild onions many times and it’s about the time for you to
practise yourself.”
Rani reluctantly ran off to the bushes. After a whole hour, Rani was still out of sight.
“It’s been a long time since she’s been away… Where is she?”
Fear and worry began to appear in Helaine’s mind. She hurried out to the bushes, looking
for Rani, but to no avail. Helaine started to panic. She was apprehensive that something terrible
had happened to Rani. Suddenly, she heard a faint whimpering noise below her. It was Rani! She
was holding a pile of fruit in her palm. Her lips were smudged with juice. Helaine picked up the
‘onions’ and took a look at them. No, they were not onions, but the fruit of the Goyo plant, a
poisonous plant that could put a person into death. Suddenly, the guilt consumed Helaine. She had
not told Rani about Goyo. It was all her fault. If Rani could not be healed with the leaves of the
Convovulus before sunrise, she could not be saved. There was no time to lose. She laid Rani on
the ground then dashed off to the hills. “Don’t worry, you’ll be okay,” Helaine whispered to Rani
before she left, though she doubted even if she herself could manage to come back in time.
Helaine travelled across the mountains to a valley with dense shrubs and trees. This was her
best bet. She rushed down in search for the white flowers of the Convovulus.
All of a sudden, she felt a sharp pain on her ankle. She picked up the plant. It was the toxic
Khalgai plant. Helaine tumbled down in pain and sweat. Pictures and words of her mother and
sister were whirling in her mind. The agony made her wonder if she could ever make her journey
back to Rani, her beloved sister; her only family; her everything. No, she had to fight for Rani’s
life. Helaine stood up and stumbled through the bushes for the Convovulus. A white flower under
the bush caught her eye. This was it! Helaine quickly gathered the leaves of the Convovulus
carefully. Helaine gazed up. It was almost sunrise. Time was running out. Helaine ran as if her
clothes were on fire, even though her wound was still stinging from the cut. Helaine finally
reached the fireplace. She immediately fed the leaves to her sister.
“Thank you,” Rani said gratefully in her coarse voice.
However, the toxins from the wound finally caught up with Helaine. She was about to faint,
when a vaguely familiar palm caught her arm. She looked up in her bleary eyes, and noticed a
person she had been so familiar with, the person who had loved her so much. It was mother ShanXi.
“I escaped the sandstorm and found a cover behind a boulder. I then headed to the west after
I failed to find you and your sister in our ger.” Mother told Helaine, stroking her head gently. How
blessed they were! They were all resilient daughters of the Gobi Desert. They followed the wind
and were united.
