Chapter Twenty
Among the Revolutionaries
The rich smell of coffee dragged Valentina awake. She knew the smell from the marketplace back home but had never tasted it; in the days when she could have afforded it she had been too young to want to try any. She opened her eyes to find Stephen Hero bent over her camp bed, a steaming mug in his hands.
“Good morning,” he said. “We’re going to be moving out soon. You’re coming with us?”
“Yes, of course,” Valentina said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Everything from the night before after telling her long tale was a blur; she only vaguely remembered being led by someone to the far end of the room and given a blanket to roll up in. The air was cooler this far from the oil stove, but the mug Hero pressed into her hands warmed her
