And the Mountains Echoed

The narration shifts to Idris and Timur— - the two cousins that lived and grew up across the street from the Wahdatis. There is a girl they are visiting in the hospital. Ara, their guide and worker alongside Mr. Markos, leads them into the hospital, where they are visiting. The girl's name is Roshana (Roshi), a 10-year-old girl and she is about ten years old. Idris and Timur are shocked by her appearance, for she has beenis horribly disfigured.

Amra does not explain who had done what to Roshi, despite being asked by the cousinsthe cousins’ questions. When questioned why they are in Afghanistan, they admit they want to “give back” to their homeland, to “bear witness to the aftermath of all these years of war and destruction” (136). However, the real reason they have come back is to reclaim their family’s property. "reclaim the property that had belonged to their fathers" (136). The value hasd been skyrocketing now that there are a lot of foreign people needing places to live in Kabul while they are rebuilding.

The story moves into a flashback to provide some relational context between these two cousins. The story follows Idris at the death of his father and Timur being right beside him through it all, dramatically crying as though it was his father.