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. Timur is a successful car salesman. While Idris is struggling through his medical residency, his wife is working as a secretary at a law firm while and preparing for her LSATs. Timur loans Idris the money to pay for his father's funeral and burial. Idris, although he finds Timur’s behavior despicable sometimes, feels obligated and attached to him because he has provided him with financial assistance.

Back in the present narration, Timur and Idris stop at the Wahdati house. There are over twenty 20 people gathered there, expats that have, in various forms, come to help rebuild Kabul. Markos brings in Nabi, and Timur and Idris recognize him and exchange affection. Amra is also there.

Later, when Idris is outside, Amra joins him and notices Idris's slight criticism of his cousin. Idris admits to himself that he is embarrassed of Timur, as he feigns involvement and concern of his “fellow” Afghanis. He feels that he is not like these people. Idris states that “the stories these people have to tell, we're not entitled to them” (148). Amra acknowledges that the stories they share, of what they have been through, are a gift to them.

Amra tells the story of what happened to Roshi, and he agrees to “take it as a gift” (149). Roshi's father and her uncle were having a dispute over land ownership. One believed it belonged to him because he was the oldest, but the younger brother (Roshi's father) said their father passed it onto him, as he was the favored one. The uncle came to his brother's home and his wife, thinking it was a positive meeting, made a celebratory supper. After dinner, the uncle useds an axe and to attacks the family, killing the father and mother first, then going after the children. Roshi's baby brother climbed s into the tandoor still hot from baking bread earlier. He died from too many burns. Roshi only remembers the axe coming down on her and miraculously survived with a serious head injury. The uncle's whereabouts are unknown. Amra has vowed to fight for Roshi.

Back in the present on the following dayThe next day, Timur goes to a nearby town to check out some property,y but Idris stays behind. IdrisHe gets in a cab and is , on his way to the hospital, but he wants to stop at a bazaar first. Idris shows up in Roshi's room in the hospital. Her uncle (mother's side) is visiting. Idris has purchased a VCR and four kids' movies for her to watch. The uncle follows Idris outside and essentially begs for money. He has five children of his own and he won’t be able to find a man to take care of Roshi now. how would Roshi find a man to take care of her now? Idris gives him money to buy her some decent shoes.

Idris feels compelled to visit Roshi every day, and Roshi begins to really enjoy her time with him. Timur warns Idris to not let her get too attached, as they are leaving to go home. Idris ponders bringing her back to the States with him. He tells Amra that he wants to pay for her surgery in California. However, his adjustment back to life in the States is difficult. His work overwhelms him, as he is playing catch-up, and his sleep patterns have not returned to normal. He receives several emails from Amra and some notes from Roshi as well.

A month passes,  and even though he spoke with his chief of staff about a surgery for Roshi, it would be highly unlikely for them to do such a thing. Even though he still gets three emails a week from Amra, he begins to not respond and/or read them:. “In the last month, Roshi has become something abstract to him, like a character in a play. Their connection as frayed [...] the experience has lost its power” (170). His attention is focused on his family in the States, and even though the culture shock hit him as he got home at his awareness of all of the superficial luxuries they enjoy, he recognizes the sacrifices he gave in work to build their lifestyle. He feels disconnected to those he once knew in Afghanistan. In the US, “this is his family. This is his life” (170).

The last portion of this chapter is in the vague future, and Idris is in a line in a bookstore, having a memoir signed by Roshi and another co-author. In the acknowledgment, he reads that her two angels were Amra and Timur. When he approaches her to try and speak with her, he is silent while she signs his book. She seems to not recognize him. When he leaves, he reads the signature, but instead finds she has written two sentences: “Don't worry. You're not in it” (173).