Burn Marks

The children here all knew Ligo. Several girls came rushing toward her in a pack, asking for gifts. Ligo clapped her hands together and said she had forgotten to bring them today, but she would come again in a couple of days.

The girls were not disappointed. They laughed, touched Ligo's clothes, then ran off elsewhere to continue their games. In the few moments they brushed past, Hesta noticed raised black burn marks on the foreheads of some older children. She stared at one child's forehead. The child grew embarrassed and immediately let down more of her bangs to cover it.

Hesta had initially thought they were tattoos, like the name on Ligo's face. But as she followed Ligo toward the center of the settlement, she saw that many people bore the same marks on their foreheads. Looking more closely, she realized the patterns seemed to vary from person to person.

"What are those things drawn on their heads?"

Ligo had not heard clearly. "What?"

"I saw several people with black marks on their foreheads—is that a tattoo? Or something else?"

"Mm, that is..." Ligo lowered her voice and was about to answer when a girl with a burn mark on her forehead passed by them. She immediately fell silent and smiled in greeting at the girl.

"You know them well?" Hesta asked. "It seems like a lot of people here know you."

"A friend used to come here often," Ligo replied. "I just tagged along enough times for people to recognize me."

"What did she come here for?"

"Mostly to deliver medicine regularly," Ligo said. "Occasionally, if someone was especially sick, she would help drive them to a nearby church hospital."

As they walked, Hesta suddenly stopped. She had spotted a sign by her feet, a round marker bearing