How would you interpret this sentence? Finally: “Who mought ye all be?” “I beg your pardon?” “Who’s yer folks?” “My parents both passed away. I don’t have any family.” She took this in slowly, like a snake digesting its catch. Then: “How old be ye?” “Thirty.” Many other questions stood in line after these, each patiently waiting its turn, each one finally spitting, rubbing its hands, and stepping up to position. “Violet says ye be from Mexee-co?” “I lived there. But I was born outside Washington. My mother was Mexican, her father did business with the government here, so that’s how she and my father came to meet. She was too young, the family disowned her over the marriage.” Stop. Filling up a silence with blather, like a radio man. That cannot be what a Parthenia requires. “Well.” A pause. “What brung ye up this air way off the branch?”A good question. Trying to steer the conversation onto her family proved difficult, but ultimately yielded Parthenia’s fascinating diagnosis of Sister Violet’s yen for self-improvement: “Our mother read the books. We believe it made her tubercular.” How would you interpret this sentence: What brung ye up this air way off the branch? Who asked this question? ‘Me’ or ‘she’? What does the ‘branch’ refer to? What’s the meaning of the word ‘air’ in the sentence? PS: It’s from The Lacuna by Kingsolver. Thanks!