Wind by Naomi kritzer(13)

*
Some days passed, with the unchanging routine of Dagmar’s cottage flowing around Zimeya like ants around a puddle. Dagmar fought with her husband, made breakfast, argued with Madel, washed up. One morning a baby was coming, so she had Madel sit with Zimeya in case she needed anything.
Zimeya had stopped pretending she couldn’t understand Madel, though when Madel (who was not worried about being nosy) asked her how she’d wound up naked and with a broken leg in a sheep pasture high in the mountains, she said she didn’t remember. Madel didn’t really believe her but she knew she’d get in trouble if she harangued the patient to tell her the truth, so she pouted a little and dropped the subject.

“Are you the youngest?” Zimeya asked her.
“Yes, of four,” Madel said. “I have two older brothers and an older sister. They’re all married with families of their own.”
“Are you thinking of getting married?”
“No,” Madel said. “I want to go to the great city to study art. I may not have enough excess Air to have magical powers, but I think I have enough to become an artist. This village is too small and none of the boys interest me. My mother never should have stayed.”