They were handsome children with blue black hair and large brown eyes. Obviously intelligent, they carefully watched everything that went on around them. The seemed to exist in their own world, an intimate world, which acknowledged others but did not welcome them. There was a sadness surrounding them that was difficult to understand in children so young. They would tell me when they were ready.
Trust takes time.
As time passed Rahel and Estha gradually began to open up to me. At first it was hard to understand what happened as they each told me different parts of the story at separate times. I slowly managed to put the pieces together. Now I began to understand the extent of their grief. They felt they had been the cause of their mother's leaving and subsequent death.