It was a warm sunny day. The caretakers of the Orphanage decided that this June Saturday would be a perfect opportunity to take the kids on a picnic lunch by the sea. After telling the children and letting them run up and change into their outdoor clothes, Mary, Helen, and Martha started packing the picnic lunch. The women were wearing their typical uniforms. A dingy gray dress, black shoes, and their own little accessories. Currently aprons clung to their dresses so that they wouldn't make their dresses dirty with the lunches. Mary, or Mrs. Cole, as the children called her, was the head of the orphanage. She was recently given this title only a year ago when her aunt, the previous head, had moved away to start a family of her own. Mrs. Cole had very sharp features to her, a protruding nose, sharp eyes, and pointy ears. She had short dirty blonde hair and was extremely thin. Her co-workers, Helen and Martha were a different story. Helen was a large red-headed woman who always spoke her mind, which was a very stern one. She didn't much care for caring for children; she was a friend of Mary's aunt and thus the reason why she had a job. The children didn't take to Helen very well as she was very short with the lot of them. However if there could ever be an opposite of Helen, it was Martha. Martha had flowing blonde hair; she was tall and thin and had the fairest skin Mary had ever seen. She could have easily become one of those pin-up girls, if she wanted to. However she was much more modest than that, a very wholesome, innocent child who also spoke her mind as often as Helen, which often created some problems.
"It was so nice of Ms. Ethel and Ms. Melody to help make the picnic lunches for us" said Martha.
"Yes, it was awfully kind of them, but we could have managed ourselves I'm sure" replied Helen.
"Why do you have to be so self-righteous all the time Helen," retorted Martha "Can't you for once, graciously accept the help of others?"
"It's not that, all I'm saying is that we could have made lunch for the three of us and the twenty children by ourselves, we don't need the charity" said Helen matter-of-factly.
"That's enough, the both of you," interrupted Mary as she closed the picnic basket. She hated having to work alone with these two women. "There are more important matters to be disgussed." She paused. She looked down at the basket as she spoke. "We must maintain watch over all the children no matter what. Not a single child must be unaccounted for."
"Yes we know, that's our job, that's what we get paid for. Why are you treating us like morons?" asked Helen hotly.
"I'm not concerned about your abilities to look after children, Helen. I am more concerned about us not letting Tom out of our sight," Mary said.
"Well what's wrong with Tom? Is he sick or something? Should I stay behind with him, I don't mind!" Martha said quickly.
"No, he's perfectly healthy," sighed Mary. Martha had taken a strange liking towards Tom, which was highly peculiar as most of the children and other women thought Tom to be strange. "It's the other children we need to be more concerned about." She hated bringing this up. She wanted to treat all of the children equally and fairly. However, when it came to this particular boy, something was different. He had a strange knack of getting into trouble, though not like the other boys. There were always strange circumstances whenever something happened with Tom, either things would disappear and reappear or children would be hurt without explanation. She looked up from the basket, her co-workers were looking at her questioningly; they had obviously forgotten the last visit to the shore side. "Don't you two remember what happened when Ethel and I took the kids to the sea side last month? Tom, little Betty, and Johnny disappeared and we couldn't find them! When they finally returned, Betty looked like she had been crying and John had lost all the color from his face. When I had asked them what was wrong they both looked at Tom. He had said that they went running off and he went to go find them though I didn't quite believe him."
"I never heard this!" said Martha in shock. "What happened?"
"I still don't know." Mary replied, looking back at the wicker basket as if replaying the moment in her mind. "Tom said that he ran after them, so that they wouldn't get hurt. When he found them, they were in this state. It took a lot of convincing, but he got them to come back. The weird thing was that he had this little smirk the whole time. And at the end of the story he said 'right?' and the two children nodded quickly. I didn't know what to make of it. They still won't talk about it."
"Well perhaps they had seen a snake or something and the children were just scared," Martha tried to stick up for Tom.
"I disagree," affirmed Helen "that young man has trouble written all over his face. I agree with you Mary, we must keep heavy watch over Tom and if he puts even a toe out of line. He will answer to me. I've never liked that boy. He always seemed, different. I don't like that. He's very cheeky as well."
"Now Helen, don't be so hard on the boy! He is cute as a bug's ear and he's always been a perfect little gentleman to me," said Martha.
"You are too soft on all of those little brats, Martha. The reason he likes you so much is because he can get to you. Unlike me. He knows to watch himself around me," replied Helen.
"That's ENOUGH! The both of you," said Mary as Martha tried to interject. "We must act as if we are watching all of the children equally. But be sure to keep an eye on Tom. Alright?" The two women nodded in silent agreement. They knew that if one said something, the other would retort. "Now let's get going. I'll fetch the children, and Martha, you make sure that all the doors are locked up and that Ms. Susan will be okay with the younger children." Martha nodded and the two headed out the door, with Martha carrying the basket of food.
As they started moving out of the kitchen they heard a bang, scream, and collapse on the floor. Helen had tripped over a broomstick lying on the floor. She had turned herself over and sat on the floor rubbing her ankle. The other women went to go aid their friend.
"Is it broken?" Martha asked hurriedly as she gingerly touched Helen's ankle.
"No, you crumb! I just tripped is all!" screamed Helen. "I'll be fine, just give me some ice and I'll be ready to go to the picnic."
"I don't think that's a good idea" said Mary "It looks pretty bad. Not a break, but maybe a sprain. Let us help you to a couch and you can rest there while we take the rest out to the sea side."
"I'll be fine, besides you surely can't go with just the two of you!" said Helen
"Don't be dingy, you are staying here, Helen. We can't afford for you to go making your leg worse," said Mary.
"Well then you can't go. You and the twit over here can't watch all those children," Helen replied with a stern glance at Martha.
"We've already told the children we were going," Mary said quickly before Martha could argue. "They're all ready, we have the picnic packed, I hate to go back on my word. Even though they are children, Helen" before she could retort.
"Good luck keeping a look out on twenty kids with just the two of you. If something happens and Tom is involved, you won't have my sympathy!" Helen said.
"Alright, let's get you to that couch then." Mary said, trying to silence Helen.
As they were leaving the kitchen, Mary could have sworn she heard footsteps sneaking up the stairs and saw a pair of ankles flying up them. She shrugged it off, helping Helen sit down; she then went to go gather all the children. As she climbed the stairs, she paused. She hasn't remembered putting the broom anywhere in the kitchen. In fact, she distinctly remembered putting it outside of the kitchen door to the room she had just exited. Or maybe she was going a bit crazy, what with all the noise that Martha and Helen produce, it's easy for a woman to lose her head. She continued her journey to the children's rooms.
Little did she know that young Tom Riddle had been eavesdropping on their entire conversation and it was his ankles that she had seen. He was good-looking; he knew that because Ms. Martha always told him so. She liked his dark hair and his bold eyes, she would often say that he looked like a young Robert Donat. Though his clothes didn't help his appearance, but the faded gray shirt and pants looked the same on everyone.
As he closed his bedroom door, he tried to catch his breath. He needed to look as if he hadn't been running. Though it had been worth it, he supposed. He now knew that they suspected him of wrong doing, that day when he tried to bring those two little wimps to the cave. They didn't even step a foot into it when he noticed that Johnny was frozen where he was standing and Betty was crying like a baby. He didn't want to really scare them; he wanted to show them his wonderful find. He thought they'd be thrilled to see the marvelous cave, but when he realized how wrong he was, he brought them back to where Mrs. Cole and the others were. He had to make them believe that he had rescued them from something, or else he could have been in trouble. But that was easy, he had a knack for making people do things for him, it was like he could control them. No matter, they'd never tell. They're too afraid of him. He liked having this kind of position, a king almost. Though he wished it wasn't for something as terrible as being a figure of fear.
None of them liked him, including the women that worked there. The women were never really mean, except Ms. Helen, she didn't dislike Tom, she hated him. She didn't like any of the children, though she specifically hated Tom more than the rest. Then there was Ms. Martha, lovely Ms. Martha who would sneak him treats after dinner and sing him lullabies. She was the only reason why he left his cave; otherwise he would stay there or run away. She was the one person who made him smile, the only one to see his true smile. He liked how she would tell him how handsome he was and run her fingers through his hair. He always wanted to touch her hair; it was so beautiful, long and blonde.
His door opened. "Come along Tom, it's time to go," said Mary.
"Okay, Mrs. Cole, I'll be down in a minute," he said smiling.
After she closed his door his smile faded. As nice as she was, Mrs. Cole was also prejudice towards him. She couldn't be trusted. He sat and thought about Ms. Martha and his cave for a bit. It was very odd how he had found his cave. He was playing in the grass and he saw a garden snake. Little Betty said "Ew, let's get out of here! It might bite us!" But Tom was more interested in staying with the snake. Snakes were such interesting creatures after all. They moved without arms or legs, they ate things bigger than themselves, it was all quite fascinating and Tom was hoping to see this snake eat its next meal. He sat and watched it for a little bit. The snake slowly shifting through the grass, then very abruptly it turned to face Tom. This startled him and he jumped back. The snake moved forward toward him and Tom said "Please go away!"
Then to his surprise, the snake replied "If you wish," and went back to the grass.
Shocked and amazed at what had just happened Tom quickly responded "Did you just speak to me?"
"Why of course, typically humans don't hear what I say, but I always respond when spoken to" replied the snake.
"Oh," said Tom. This was very strange; none of the other children ever said anything about talking with snakes. "Wait, where are you going?"
"Ah, so now you want to chat? Well, I'm going home now, I haven't found any dinner and I'm rather disappointed with my luck."
"Where do you live?"
"In the cave a few yards over there."
Tom looked to his right. There was nothing but hills and cliffs. "I don't see anything. Are you sure you are heading in the right direction?"
"Yes of course!" Snapped the snake, "Wouldn't I know where my home is?"
"Well I suppose." He was very confused, he couldn't see any cave. Why couldn't he see it? "Can I carry you home, so I could see the cave?"
"It would be faster," the snake thought aloud. "Alright, you carry me and I'll show you the cave."
Tom scooped up the snake, he was very excited. He walked to his right for a few feet and then came to a cliff when the snake told him to stop. "Here we are!" cried the snake.
"I still don't see anything." Tom said, still rather confused.
"Of course you don't, you're standing on it! It will be rather hard for you to get to my home. Thanks for the ride." And the snake slithered away.
Tom was disappointed. He was standing right on top of it and he couldn't get inside! He thought to himself "I wish I could be in that cave." He said this to himself a few times, closing his eyes. And when he opened them, he was standing at the mouth of what seemed a very dark and deep cave. He didn't know how he did it, but he was standing outside of the desired cave! After realizing that he could do this, he thought about being back on top of the cave, and he was! He quickly went to join the rest of the group. When he returned he asked Ms. Martha if she had ever spoken to a snake.
She smiled and said "No silly boy, snakes can't talk!"
He thought about telling her everything that happened, but he didn't want her to think that he was weird, like the rest of them. He just smiled, took her hand, and walked back to the orphanage with the rest of the children. The next time he went, he tried to bring Johnny and Betty, though that didn't turn out so well. He was going to try again today, hopefully with another accomplice, who was braver. As he left his bedroom and joined the other children by the door, he saw Ms. Helen sitting on the couch with a bag of ice on her leg.
"Now, Ms. Helen has hurt her leg children, so I'll ask you to be very good for me and Ms. Mary. Okay?" asked Ms. Martha sweetly, her long white-blonde hair shinning with the sunlight coming in from the light.
"Okay" the children chanted in unison.
As they were leaving, Tom took one last glance at Ms. Helen. She looked very cross as usual. If it wasn't for the ice pack, you'd think she would have just been lazing around on the couch. He grinned slightly and thought 'She deserved it, that evil old witch.'