She watched from a far, as a little girl, with big dark green eyes and golden-brown hair that framed her baby face, played on the grass, following a line of ants with her eyes.
"Eleanor, those ants will bite you!" She heard a woman, mid-forties scold, from the spot she was sitting a couple of feets away. "Eleanor, when they bite it stings!" The child didn't listen, she kept on watching the oblivious insects curiously, as her little hands grasped at the daisy flower, not knowing if she kept on concentrated on ants or if she wanted to pick a flower for her new grown-up friend. "Eleanor, it's the last time I warn you!" The woman shouted, earning glances from the few parents and nannies around her. She got up,dusted her khaki shorts and marched towards the toddler, who eyed her in a sort of, trying way, for her age. Eleanor was the greatest of her problems, why couldn't she be quiet and obedient like the other five kids, Grant, Elisabeth, Cassidy, Nathan and Henry? Why had she given everything up to follow her partner on this shitty business anyway? Kidnapping prostitutes's and junkies's children and selling them to people, rich, fancy people who wanted kids, the easy way?
The problem was, their business had worked for thirteen years now, but the last two 'batches' of kids were a hell. With people becoming more and more open to fertility treatments and surrogates, why would they keep on adopting children, much less, ilegally? As a result, these six tykes weren't 'sold', and now were worth half or even less the price they would've been as newborns or even one-year-olds.
"Grant, 'Lisbeth, come here, it's time to leave!" The woman called with a huff, pulling Eleanor forcefully from the ground and attaching her to her hip, as she gathered the rest of the flock. Man, these kids were really the animals… "Cassidy, Nathan, Henry, let's go, come on!" She shouted, her voice authorative and not the least bit patient. The children all gathered around her, some putting their worn shoes back on and others dusting off their clothes.
They were kind of cute, she had to admit, all of them between the ages four and two, Beth being the youngest followed by Grant and Eleanor who were three. Cassidy was four as was Henry and Nathan a month away from being so.
"Aubrey, is it okay if we stop by at the library?" Cassidy inquired, as she blew a small leaf from her sleave, straight, thick and long blonde hair tied in an already messy ponytail, her bangs needing a good trim. Her voice was low, raspy, shy… she had the voice of a subordinate, unspoiles, violently subdued child. She did not have the voice, the lively voice a child her age, any child would. She was an item to be sold, not a person, the same for the rest.
It wasn't frequent that Aubrey felt pity for them, one, because she wasn't supposed to, two, because she didn't want to, and three, because most of all she shouldn't get attached, and neither should they. However, looking into the little girl's sad brown eyes, lifeless eyes, she saw a shadow of hope that represented a small moment of joy, of comfort. Looking around her, towards the faces of the rest of the children, she saw the same, and so it was decided she'd take them to the library to pick out two books, under her name, as they weren't registered, didn't even have birth certificates.